In general, talks that are advanced architecture talks or product vendor pitches are NOT good targets for this event. Neither are talks on how to use a specific technology.

Please keep in mind that we have a very limited number of speaking slots for each event. Please do not be discouraged, we just have very few open slots and many great talk proposals will not be accepted.

We’re open to interesting and unusual sessions, but we’ll also include a few sessions that are introductory as well. Also we hope that possible speakers will be open to suggestions in how their talk might fit in (e.g. if we have two speakers talking about overlapping topics, we’ll do an introduction so that you don’t overlap in talking about the same thing).

We strive for strong speaker diversity while asking that talk proposals focus on topics and ideas that fit in with the HalfStack concept. We also aim for original talks, though we appreciate that strong talk proposals are likely to be accepted at many events.

Note that sponsorship does not influence talk selection. Our committee selects talks based on a number of factors, with the primary goal being an event with a very enjoyable narrative.

If you have videos or abstracts from previous sessions, please share.

PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT MORE THAN TWO TALK PROPOSALS. If you're having difficulty deciding on your best topic, please ask a friend for their feedback rather than submitting 10 talk proposals.

We will review talk proposals as they get submitted, so the early bird is favored by our process. We'll make a note here when each event has no more capacity for additional speakers. We strive to provide an individual response to each talk proposal.

If you've already purchased a conference pass, we will either refund your ticket or you may assign your ticket to someone else.

There will be a speaker dinner the night before each even except the online event.

We have a lot of fun with HalfStack, and we expect our speakers to be part of that experience. For example, we invite speakers to contribute questions to our pub quiz, share fun details on social media, participate in interviews, etc. This is all optional, but this is not an event where you show up for your session and then leave, but instead is a great opportunity to participate with the community. Note these guidelines are for our in-person events.