Back to all Articles Jul 3 2019insights

ffconf's Call For Papers

Though this post is timestamped, it applies to nearly every year of ffconf CFP it includes both what I want to hear about (to give you an idea whether something you're passionate about aligns with the topics), and also mine and Julie's promise to our speakers.

You can also follow the @ffconf twitter account for the latest announcements to find out how to join in on this fun!

Topics I'm interested in hearing about

Here are the topics that I often think about around ffconf in no particular order.

Code, development

  • Testing, in particular integration tests and selenium/full end to end cross browser testing
  • Accessibility first hand, what is the impact of our work? (example)
  • Forget ESNext: what about ES2049 aka "ES Blade Runner"?
  • Forget ES Blade Runner: what about "CSS Ghost Machine" or "HTML is still kicking"!
  • Tick box guide to security and/or performance
  • How our development practices are changing
  • Data science with the web (example)
  • Fun, eccentric, art (example)

Process, ideas

  • The army of one: the developer that does it all (what motivates you day-to-day, what inspires you, any war stories from the web)
  • The (social) importance of progressive web apps (example)
  • History of the tech we take for granted (example)
  • Using a browser in ways that was never intended

Bettering ourselves and others

  • Community and how do we reduce the ratio of White Dudes in web (example)
  • Is (or are) there other languages/disciplines that web developers should learn from?
  • What it's like to start out in web development (1st person POV). What's hard, what's easy, what helps, what doesn't? (example)
  • Teaching the next generation of developers (in, or straight of school) (example)
  • The sharp end of open source (example)

If you're passionate about something and it's not listed or a variation of what's listed - please ahead and get in touch anyway; I want to hear from you.

Topics that don't work, unless they're genuinely going to change the World, then CFPs like these generally be rejected immediately (sorry):

  • What's great about some new fancy pants library or plugin
  • Your company's new shiny product
  • Talks that are extremely similar to recent years of ffconf talks (do check previous years)

Send us the title of your talk, an outline of the talk and any extra information you want us to know about the idea:

Apply now

When will you hear back?

It takes me a long time to process and decide on CFPs, so whilst there's not 8 sessions up on the site, it means your talk is still up for consideration. I will respond to everyone with a yay or nay eventually. If you want to come to ffconf, regardless of whether your CFP is selected, please buy a ticket and if your talk is selected, the ticket will be refunded and returns to the public pool of tickets.

Our promise to you

All our speakers are treated the same. We will, as always:

  • Pay and organise your travel (or you're welcome to organise yourself if you prefer). If you're flying long haul, we'll upgrade you to premium class (or whatever the name is for "above economy")
  • Put you up in our "speaker hotel". It's not that cool, but it's right in town and two minutes walk from our venue. We're also open to offering the hotel stay. If you want an extra day or two here and there, then that's cool too (obviously if everyone does this, it breaks our bank, but so far it's worked)
  • Arrange your travel and help you with anything you need ahead of the event
  • £500 honorarium - we know it's not much for the work you've put in, but it's a thank you
  • We can, if you need or want it, provide you with a mifi preloaded with data
  • We'll endeavour to feed and water you as much as we can (including a speaker meal and lunch and if you're partial to a tipple, we'll pay for all these too)
  • 40 minute talk, generally we don't do Q&A and it's best to err on the side of "there is no wifi"
  • A free pass to the next ffconf, and for evermore part of our growing and much loved speaker alumni. If you bought a ticket for ffconf, we'll refund the ticket (as we don't expect, or want, our speakers to pay)
  • Uphold our conference code of conduct (available on our yearly sites), both for you, and our attendees

So I hope to hear from you soon!

Apply now

Get the latest insights & news for ffconf

Announcements for conference details, workshops, products and more – including early bird access and video releases from previous years.