Grace the Stage at MozCon 2017: The Door is Open for Community Speaker Pitches

Some of the best talks at MozCon each year come from the community speakers—those who’re able to make a pitch to grace the stage.

This group enjoys the same privileges as the other speakers, including being able to deliver a keynote-style talk, and are always well-received by the audience.

If you’re eager to be a member of this group, step right up.

We’re now open for MozCon community speaker’s pitches.

We’d be happy to have your best effort.

(This year, we’ll have six speakers.)

The nuts & bolts:

• Submitting is as simple as filling out the form below
• Only submit one talk (the one you’re most passionate about)
• Pitches must be related to online marketing & 15 minutes long
• Submissions close Sunday, April 16th at 5pm PDT
• All decisions are final
• Talks must must adhere to the MozCon Code of Conduct
• You’ll be required to be present at MozCon in Seattle

if you submit a pitch, you’ll hear back from us regardless of whether you’re accepted or denied.

Community speakers receive…

• At least 15 minutes on the MozCon stage for a keynote-style presentation, plus 5 minutes of Q&A
• A free ticket to MozCon. (If you already have one, we’ll either refund or transfer the ticket to someone else.)
• Four nights of lodging covered by us at our partner hotel
• A reimbursement for your travel (flight, train, car, etc.), up to $500 domestic and $750 international
• A free ticket for you to give to anyone, plus a code for $300 off another ticket
• An invitation for you and your significant other to join us for the speakers’ dinner.

If you’re curious about what the process look like, take a look at what Zeph Snapp wrote about his experience as a community speaker.

Long-time community member Samuel Scott, one of our fantastic community speakers at MozCon 2016!

How do you pick speakers?

The selection committee, comprised of Mozzers, reviews every pitch. Initially, we review only the topics. This helps us make sure the topics match our audience.

Later we look at the entirety of the pitch, with an eye for what the finished product would look like on stage.

Things to consider for your pitch:

• Focus your pitch on online marketing. MozCon is all about actionable information.
• Your pitch is for MozCon organizations, so detail what you’re talking about. We need to know the actual tactics you’ll be sharing.
• Read this post on how to prepare for speaking, from pitching to the actual gig.
• Review the topics already accepted to ensure there is no overlap.
• Honor the form’s word limits. (Linking to Google Docs, for example, will result in an immediate disqualification.)
• No one from the speaker selection committee will be able to evaluate your pitch in advance.
• Lobbying on social media is frowned upon and won’t do you any good.
• Link to a video of you presenting and to your SlideShare channel (or wherever we can take a look at decks you’ve created in the past)

A little weak in the knees about speaking at MozCon?

Don’t be scurred.

We’ve got your back.

Whether a speaker has hundreds of talks under her belt or is giving her first talk, we work with them to deliver a product she’lll be proud of and the audience will both love and learn from.

We provide instruction on topics and review the content in its entirety.

We encourage pitches from speakers of all backgrounds, knowledge levels, and speaking experiences.

A few additional things we help with:

• Discuss and refine your topic
• Assist in honing topic title and description
• Review outlines and drafts
• Best practices and guidance for slide decks, specifically for our stage
• A comprehensive, step-by-step guide for show flow
• Serve as an audience for practicing your talk
• Review your final deck
• Sunday night pre-MozCon tour of the stage to meet our A/V crew, see your presentation on the screens, and test the clicker
• A 15-person dedicated crew to make your A/V outstanding
• Whatever else we can do to make your talk outstanding

Now over to you.

If you’ve ever had a vision of making onto the MozCon stage, this is your best shot.

So, umm, shouldn’t you be typing feverishly in the Google Form above?

Good luck.