CodeLand 2021 CFP

Thank you for your interest in speaking at CodeLand 2021, the tech industry’s friendliest conference for early-career programmers and their mentors! The conference will be held on September 23-24, 2021 from 9am-3pm PT / 12-6pm ET / 4-10pm UTC on each day. For the second year in a row, it is taking place virtual-only, on the CodeNewbie Community.

Talk Format

While CodeLand 2021 content as a whole (keynotes, talks, panels, and workshops) will be published to the conference site as a combination of on-demand and live-streamed videos, this CFP is only seeking proposals for talks that will be pre-recorded as a 15-minute video. If your talk would be longer than 15 minutes or can only be given live, please do not submit it to the CodeLand 2021 CFP.

Accepted speakers will be asked to participate in a live group panel session during the conference as well. Participation in a panel is suggested but not required. Participating speakers should be prepared to answer moderated attendee questions about their talk during their panel.

Timeline

This CFP will be open until July 20, 2021 at 11:59pm UTC. We are unable to accept any proposals after that time. Our aim is to have every proposal responded to with an acceptance, waitlist, or decline by August 17, 2021. If that date has passed (in all timezones) and you have not heard from us yet, please email us.

How to Submit a Proposal

This CFP is a little more involved than some others, and we recommend that you click "Submit a proposal" first to carefully read through the information we're asking you to provide (including all descriptions) before you submit your proposal in full. We do recommend that you fill in every field to give our Committee a comprehensive idea of what your talk would cover, and how. We do not consider any details about your talk proposal outside of what is submitted here.

If you have multiple ideas for great CodeLand 2021 talks, you are more than welcome to submit multiple times! In the first round of review, the Committee does not see your identity nor whether you've submitted other proposals.

All talks at CodeLand 2021 must comply with the CodeNewbie Code of Conduct. Please review this in full before submitting a proposal.

Themes

CodeLand's primary audience is early-career programmers and their mentors, and therefore, all proposals should be targeted to that specific group. Additionally, this year, we have provided specific themes that we're suggesting that proposed talks may fall into, described below. Please select one during the submission process that applies to your proposal.

If you feel your proposal could fall into more than one theme, please still select only one and make note of the others in your Talk Outline. If it doesn't fit into any of the below themes, please select "Other" and suggest a theme for your proposal.

Code for Good

Software developers aren't just coders — we're architects of the future. What can we do to make sure this future is sustainable, accessible, and serves all human beings?

Guiding questions:

• What's an overlooked area of technology that impacts climate change?
• How can we improve coding curriculums to better instill web-accessibility best practices?
• How does racial bias affect software and tools we use on a daily basis?

Early-Career Confidence

Early-career developers deserve respect and confidence from their teachers, mentors, and colleagues. When negotiation tactics, empathetic career advice, and motivation are shared with the next generation of tech, we all benefit.

Guiding questions:

• What would a career in technology look like if we listened to newbies from the start?
• Looking back on your career in tech, what do you wish you knew early on?
• What can senior developers learn from early-career developers?
• What skills can early-career developers foster for a long and satisfying career?

Open Source Strong

Contributing to open source for the first time shouldn't be nerve-wracking. In fact, when equipped with the right advice, the world of open source offers limitless possibilities and education for early-career developers.

Guiding questions:

• Why should an early-career developer contribute to an open-source project?
• What some best practices for finding an open-source project to contribute to?
• What is the proper etiquette for collaborating with open-source project maintainers?

Path to Programmer

When it comes to programming, everyone needs to start somewhere. Whether you have a master's in CompSci, you're a self-taught dev with decades of experience, or you changed careers later in life, we can all learn from your experiences.

Guiding questions:

• Why should more CodeNewbies consider a self-taught approach to programming?
• How did you overcome unique obstacles to pursue coding?
• How did you change careers later in life to become a professional software developer?

Technical Deep Dives

CodeNewbies: you are capable of more than you think! With endless fascinating concepts to explore as a dev, now is the perfect time to level up. All you need is a bit of curiosity to explore high-level concepts.

Guiding questions:

• How can the basics of a particular programming language be described through the analogy of cooking?
• What does a specific project planning methodology look like in practice?
• What can early-career developers learn from a specific legacy system migration?

Review Process

The first round of proposal review is anonymous, meaning that your name and biographical information are hidden from reviewers. Please respect this by removing any potentially identifying information from the other fields. If you have questions on this, you can email us at codeland@codenewbie.org -- no Committee members will see that email.

Biographical information is visible in the second round of review, which helps us to ensure that we consider any relevant experience or credentials and that we select a diverse group of speakers.

Speaker Benefits

CodeLand 2021 speakers receive a $200.00 USD speaking stipend. We also provide the opportunity to receive speaking mentorship from a member of our Program Committee.

Virtual Speaking Support

Selected speakers should expect to meet with members of our Program Committee at least once and perhaps more during the preparation process, as we help ensure that your presentation, slides, and recording environment are appropriate and meaningful for the CodeLand 2021 audience. We are happy to provide as much support to new speakers as you need, from deep dives on your talk topic, to specific recommendations on affordable equipment to ensure a flawless recording, to guidance on making your presentation as accessible and inclusive as possible.

Contact

As noted above, every proposal submission will be responded to by August 17, 2021, whether or not the talk is accepted. Please only contact us with questions on the status of your proposal if you have not heard from us after that date. If you have any other questions in the meantime though, don't hesitate to email codeland@codenewbie.org. Thank you!