If you are not available during the conference itself but you have a
neat idea that you'd like to share, please propose it anyway! You can
always handle questions after the conference, and we might even be
able to coordinate with other Emacs meetups for events in other timezones. (If
you're an Emacs meetup organizer and would like to make this happen,
let's [get in touch](https://emacsconf.org/contact/)!)
# Talk formats
We'd like EmacsConf 2023 to inspire lots of different people to
explore lots of different things in Emacs. We hope to put together a
stream of quick ideas followed by lots of conversation over IRC and/or
Q&A sessions, with occasional deep dives into topics that many people
might find interesting or useful.
Formats:
- **5-10 minute lightning talk:** Just the essentials! If you can
squeeze your prerecorded talk into 5-10 minutes by focusing on the
essentials (not by talking faster!), we might be able to repeat it
during the conference in order to fill gaps.
- **20-minute talk:** short enough to keep people's attention, long
enough to get into some details.
There will be time for questions and answers after your talk, so you
don't need to include that in your talk timing. Just like in EmacsConf
2022, you can answer questions via a BigBlueButton room, IRC, the
Etherpad, the wiki, or e-mail (your choice). The stream will move on
to the next talk at the scheduled time, but interested people can keep
hanging out with you for a longer conversation.
Other session formats such as tutorials, workshops, and hangouts are
welcome as well, in case you would find those other formats preferable
to a traditional talk format. If you're interested in these or other
session types, please let us know [publicly](https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-org) or [privately](https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-org-private). We'll be
happy to work something out with you.
# Preparing and submitting your proposal
It can be challenging and intimidating to prepare and submit a
proposal to a conference, and we want to help make it less so. Come
say hi to us on our IRC channel `#emacsconf` on `irc.libera.chat`, and
we'd be happy to try and answer any questions or concerns you may have
about writing your proposal or submitting it. We'd also love to
receive suggestions on how we can best help you and other prospective
speakers interested in giving a talk at EmacsConf.
Once you're ready to submit your proposal, the [submit](https://emacsconf.org/2023/submit/) page has the
instructions on how to submit your talk.
If you'd like to propose something other than a talk, like restreaming
the conference, you can also use this CFP to share your ideas with us.
# What happens after you submit your proposal?
The submissions will be reviewed by a selection committee. ([Volunteers
welcome!](https://emacsconf.org/2023/volunteer/))
If your talk is approved, we'd love it if you could help us make sure
the conference runs smoothly. After we email you with the time
allotted for your talk, we'll ask you to
- prepare a prerecording of your talk, or record it with our help if
that'd be easier for you; and
- schedule a short tech-check if you'd like to answer questions in a
live session.
Subscribe to our main mailing list, [emacsconf-discuss](https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-discuss), for discussion
and announcements about the EmacsConf conference.
We look forward to your ideas and submissions!
# Getting involved
If you would like to help with the conference (planning the sessions,
reviewing proposals, helping with infrastructure, making sessions more
accessible, editing video transcripts, etc.), see our [volunteer](https://emacsconf.org/2023/volunteer) page
and come say hi to us at `#emacsconf` on `irc.libera.chat`.
In addition to the [emacsconf-discuss](https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-discuss) list, feel free to subscribe to
[emacsconf-org](https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-org) as well, for discussions related to organizing the
conference by the EmacsConf organizers and volunteers.
We'd really appreciate your help in making EmacsConf 2023 the best one
so far!
# Commitment to freedom
We remain fully committed to freedom, and we will continue
using our infrastructure and streaming setup consisting entirely
of [free software](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html), much like previous EmacsConf conferences.
Articles and documentation about the EmacsConf infrastructure are
still underway, and will be announced on the emacsconf-discuss list
when available. If you are curious about the EmacsConf infrastructure
or are interested in working on it, please join our `#emacsconf-infra`
channel on `irc.libera.chat` and say hi!