[[!meta title="Call for Proposals"]] [[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2020 Amin Bandali"]] **EmacsConf 2020 | November 28 and 29, 2020 | Online Conference** The Call for Proposals for EmacsConf 2020 talks is now open, until **September 30, 2020**. After a successful [[EmacsConf 2019|2019]], we are back again this year and we are once again calling for your participation! EmacsConf is the conference about the joy of [Emacs][emacs], Emacs Lisp, and memorizing key sequences. We are holding EmacsConf 2020 as a virtual (online) conference again this year, more so now than ever, given the current state of the world. We will continue using our infrastructure comprising only of [free software][freesw] much like the last EmacsConf. We welcome speakers of **all backgrounds** and **all levels of experience**, including newcomers submitting a proposal to give their first talk! ### Important Dates Please mark the following (tentative) dates in your calendar:
CFP Opens August 17, 2020
CFP Closes September 30, 2020
Speaker Notifications October 24, 2020
Schedule Published November 7, 2020
EmacsConf 2020! November 28 and 29, 2020
Note that although we will try our best to stick to the above dates, we are currently treating them as somewhat tentative, in case an urgent matter comes up and things have be scheduled around. ### Talk Formats The following are the main formats for EmacsConf 2020 talks: - **10 minutes** (Lightning talk): Quickly present a cool project, concept, or trick! - **20 minutes** (Standard talk): Introduce the audience to a new Emacs mode, concept, or just talk about something not necessarily shiny and new but that you find really neat nonetheless. - **45 minutes** (Extended talk): Take your time going more in depth, and/or do a demo! Extended talks are a great way of really educating the audience about something you enjoy. Other session formats such as tutorials and workshops could be arranged as well. If you are interested in these or other kinds of sessions, let us know and we can try to arrange it! Keynote speaker(s) for EmacsConf 2020 will be introduced in a future announcement. ### Topic Ideas Not sure what to give a talk about? You might find some neat ideas on the [[ideas]] page (feel free to add yours there too)! If you're still not sure, come by our IRC channel `#emacsconf` on `irc.freenode.net` and say hi. You can join the chat using [your favourite IRC client](irc://irc.freenode.net:6667/emacsconf) or the [freenode webchat](https://webchat.freenode.net/#emacsconf). A great way to write a strong proposal is to start by exploring the programs from previous years: [[2019|2019/schedule]], [[2015|2015/schedule]], [[2013|2013#program]]. ### Submission Once you're ready to submit your proposal, the [[submit]] page has the instructions on how to submit your talk. We are committed to increasing the participation of speakers belonging to groups traditionally underrepresented at free software conferences, including women and people of colour. If you're comfortable sharing demographic information, please include them in your submission email, but your proposal will not be judged negatively if you leave them out. ### Getting Involved If you would like to get involved with the various aspects of organizing the conference like planning the sessions or help setting up the infrastructure, see our [[planning]] page and come say hi to us at `#emacsconf` on `irc.freenode.net`. Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list [emacsconf-discuss](//lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-discuss) for discussion and announcements about the EmacsConf conference. We look forward to your ideas and submissions! [emacs]: //www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html [freesw]: //www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html