Speaking at DjangoCon US

Why Speak at DjangoCon US?

Presenters receive a free ticket to DjangoCon US and up to $500 in travel cost reimbursement!
A professionally produced video of your talk will be published on our YouTube channel. (You may opt-out of this.)
Professional photographer on hand to photograph your talk. (Also optional.)
Expose the Django community to new tools, practices, or ideas.
Expand your technical, professional, and personal networks.
Share your discoveries with a large audience.
Give back to the Django community!

COVID-19 / Public Health

Please see our Public Health Policy for more information.

At this time, we are planning on all presenters being in Chicago to present their talks in person. Things may always change depending on public health needs.

Proposing to DjangoCon US

Selection process

We'll choose a selection of talks and tutorials that we feel add to the most enjoyable and engaging program for our attendees. Volunteers from the Django community are invited to help us pick talks, and we rely heavily on them to help us select interesting and beneficial ones for our attendees. Community volunteers and conference organizers will review anonymized submissions and collectively decide which ones to accept.

Talks (September 8th, 9th, & 10th)

Length: 25 minutes or 45 minutes

We are looking for original and exciting talks that can benefit the diverse interests of our audience. Don't feel boxed into Django-centric themes; we also love talks about community, web development, user experience, etc. If you're a first-timer - don't fret! We would love to be remembered as the conference where you started your speaking career.

Here are some examples of what has been accepted over the last couple of years:

Deep Dive Talks (September 10th)

This year, we will be curating a deep dive day to focus on exploring Django and Django-adjacent topics in detail. Deep dive day is meant to follow in the footsteps of Django Under the Hood and will provide a range of topics presented in-depth, targeting varying levels of Django experience. Talks of this nature will mix community submissions and personal invitations. If you believe your talk is a good fit, please indicate so on your submission to our CFP by choosing the “deep dive” tag!

Lightning Talks (September 8th, 9th, & 10th)

Not up for a full-on talk or tutorial? Looking to give your first talk at a conference? Lightning talks are talks under 5 minutes with or without slides on almost any topic you want! Even if you're nervous or shy, remember: it's a maximum of 5 minutes. Sign-ups will happen at the conference.

Speaker Travel Assistance

As we have in the past, this year, we have set aside up to $500 per speaker to help offset the cost of travel to the conference. In order to maximize the amount we can provide, we ask that speakers who will be reimbursed by their employer decline the assistance offered so it can be spread out among speakers who do not receive travel reimbursement. Receipts for travel expenses will be required.

Pre-conference information

You will have the option to upload a rough transcript of your talk approximately two weeks before the conference to give the captioning team a chance to train on any jargon you might use in your talk. This is by no means required but it will provide a more accessible experience to your audience.

The organizing team reserves the right to request a review of draft slides at any point up to the start of the conference for any reason including but not limited to content, messaging quality, and more. Failure to provide these slides in a timely manner may result in your removal from the program. We understand that the slides are draft quality and will not be shared outside the program and code of conduct teams.