Speak

 About You

 

AlterConf's mission is to provide paid opportunities to marginalized people in the tech and gaming industries. You do not have to be an experienced speaker; your voice is valued here!

You should be a member of a marginalized group in tech or gaming. This includes, but isn't limited to:

  • people of color, including Indigenous/Native people
  • underrepresented genders of all expressions and identities; cis and trans, agender and non-binary
  • sexuality minorities, including asexual and aromantic people
  • people with disabilities, both visible and invisible
  • neurodivergent people
  • people with chronic illnesses or diseases
  • religious and ethnic minorities
  • people who don't speak English as a first language or at all
  • undocumented people (US), naturalized people, and refugees
  • age minorities (under 21, over 50)
  • working class people and people experiencing poverty
  • homeless and home/food insecure people
  • caregivers of children or other dependents
  • people who have experienced trauma and its aftermath (PTSD, anxiety, etc)
  • people living with or recovering from substance abuse
 

 Topics

 

We're looking for local speakers to critically analyze tech and gaming in relation to any aspect of diversity or inclusivity.

Your talk can:

  • Describe the impact of marginalization, good or bad, on your career.
  • Highlight an organization you work for or with to increase inclusion or provide support to marginalized people already in the industry.
  • Critique the culture, processes, or landscape of tech or gaming.
  • Discuss a project you're working on that highlights an aspect of the human experience not recognized by mainstream tech or gaming.
  • Present relevant research you've done.

Don't know what to talk about? Check out our wishlist for talks.

 

 Format

 
  • Choose your own format, such as a formal talk, panel, short documentary, spoken word, stand-up routine, etc.
  • Choose a length between 5 and 25 minutes.
  • We prefer talks in English, but we’ll find a translator if your talk in another language is accepted.
  • Speak on a topic that affects a marginalized group (or groups) you belong to, not on another group's behalf.
  • You're welcome to promote a project or organization you're working on if it's relevant, but no sales pitches, please.

 Language & Content

 
  • Read and follow the code of conduct.
  • Talks centering around sex or containing sexualized content are expected to follow these guidelines on when sexual material is appropriate.
  • Slurs and other disparaging remarks are not welcome at AlterConf. The exception is in individuals using words meant to disparage individuals in their own identity group(s), where descriptions of such support talk content and are necessary to understanding an issue.
  • Be as thorough as possible when assigning trigger warnings to your talk.
  • Avoid microaggressions.
 

 Slide & Presentation Guidelines

 
  • Use Keynote, Power Point, Open Office, or Google Presentations for your slides. We'll provide you with a place to share your slides no later than 5 days before the conference so our interpreters can familiarize themselves with your content. That said, sometimes computers just fail, your slides disappear from Dropbox, or the wifi goes down. It's never a bad idea to bring another copy of your slides — on your computer, on Dropbox, or on a USB thumb drive, etc.
  • Minimal slides are best - avoid walls of text and long lists of bullets.
  • Be mindful of the colors you use. Aim for high contrast slides, avoiding colors that may be difficult to see for those with colorblindness.
  • Make text as large as possible, at least 68pt.
  • Choose fonts with adequate spacing between letters, avoiding narrow-lettered fonts.
  • Leave the bottom ⅓ of your slides free of text to ensure nothing is obscured.
  • Avoid the use of flashing videos or animations, as these may cause seizures and migraines in some.
  • Use slides to support your points, not to make the points themselves. Your talk should lose nothing if the slides aren’t visible. Some attendees might not be able to see your slides, so please make sure that your talk won't lose any of the message without them! Generally describe graphs, images, and other information for the audience.
  • Use safe language. AlterConf prides itself in fostering an inclusive, safe environment for everyone. Please be thoughtful in the language and imagery you use in your talk. In the past our largest issues have been around microaggressions, ableism, and gender essentialism. We're happy to gut check anything for you if you'd like help!
  • Take a breath between each slide transition and remind yourself to speak slowly. We may have attendees that are hard of hearing, Deaf, who aren't as fluent in English, or just need a minute to catch up -- they’ll appreciate it, too. Additionally, the conference will be live captioned and slower speech helps the captioner accurately represent what you say.
 

 Help

 

Marginalized people often aren’t given the same opportunities as their less-marginalized or non-marginalized counterparts. You might not have as much experience speaking publicly and that can be stressful.

We want you to succeed and so does everyone in the audience at AlterConf. This may be the most welcoming crowd you ever face!

We want to make everyone, regardless of experience or level of knowledge, comfortable submitting a talk and presenting at AlterConf.

We're happy to help, including:

  • Working with you on your talk title and abstract.
  • Synthesizing the ideas for your talk.
  • Answering questions about Keynote, Power Point, or Google Presentations.
  • Reviewing your slides or other materials
  • Serving as a practice audience for your talk
  • Easing your nerves in any other way we can.
 

 Dates

 

The call for proposals deadline is listed on each conference's page in the "Speak" section. You can submit a talk before the conference date or call for proposals deadline is announced but we don’t accept proposals after the deadline.

You'll receive a response shortly after the call for proposals deadline has passed, typically within one week.

 Selection

 

Expect to go through the call for proposal process — we rarely accept talks any other way.

The selection process has two stages:

  1. First, speaker information is hidden to remove any biases from the selection process. Our group of reviewers choose submissions that include unique topics and complete ideas.
  2. Second, we reveal speaker information to verify that speakers are from the marginalized group(s) their talks address and that we haven't selected more than one talk per speaker.
 

 Perks

 
Ticket

Because it'd be silly to pay to attend an event where you'll be speaking. You'll have full access to the conference, including a healthful meal and other amenities.

Honorarium

Speakers are gifted an honorarium. As we're a local-centric conference, we do not cover travel or lodging expenses.

Accessibility

If you require accommodation beyond a sign language interpreter, live captioning, accessible seating, or childcare, let us know. We'll make the event accessible, comfortable, and safe for you.

 

 Video & Photos

 

If you consent to your talk being recorded and/or photographed, your talk will be published on the internet for free along with captioning/transcripts, your slides or other materials, tweets about your talk, photos, and blog posts people may have written about it. It is our policy to disable comments on the video and talk page on the AlterConf site.

We promise to present you and your talk in a positive light so you can share your talk with friends, colleagues, and other event organizers you submit talks to. You're welcome to embed the video on your site.

You retain all rights to your slides and materials. We'll never sell your talk video, photos, or materials you supply to us.

We explicitly ask for permission for AlterConf to record or photograph you separately from asking on behalf of attendees. We are happy to honor and enforce your wishes.

 Apply

 
Apply to Speak