Call for Speakers

WordCamp Philly is looking for speakers to share their knowledge and stories on September 26, 2020.

We’re accepting applications through 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Wednesday, July 22. Applicants are asked to limit their submissions to three proposed talks.

Virtual Venue, New Format

WordCamp Philly is back on September 26, 2020 as a virtual experience. We are looking for speakers, especially from the Philadelphia region, to share their knowledge and stories with the WordPress community.

While we are looking for traditional speaker talks with slides, we are also seeking other formats to make the virtual conference an engaging experience for the community. Send us your ideas! You may submit more than one talk, but limit your submissions to three talks. Fill out the form below for each proposed talk.

Application Deadline

The deadline to apply is 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Wednesday, July 22.

Session Options

We are seeking a variety of formats for the virtual sessions. In addition to the traditional speaker talks with slides, we’d also like to see other options to engage the virtual audience. Examples might be an interview, panel, live-coding, a code review, or challenges.

In addition to the formats mentioned, we are also excited to present more interactive opportunities. These “community” options could be a longer session that would take place in a Zoom room where participants and facilitators can interact with each other in a main room and/or breakout rooms. This might be a workshop of some sort, a coding competition, a discussion circle, or something else – be creative!

Sessions with single or multiple presenters are welcome.

There are a couple of options your session length:

Lightning Talk – This is a 10-minute prerecorded session where you will be available live to answer questions following your prerecorded talk.
Full Session – This is generally a 30 minute time slot for a live session with audience Q&A or for a community interactive session.

What Do I Need?

Speakers will be expected to provide a speaker bio and submit their slides or recording in advance.

Exact dates and additional details will be given to speakers once they have received their acceptance emails and confirmed they are available to give their talk, but plan on earlier in September.

Whether you are recording your talk or presenting live, you will need a microphone and webcam. The day you speak, you will also need an internet connection to participate in the Q & A.

We will be providing additional resources as well as hands-on, virtual support and walkthroughs for approved speakers shortly before the conference. This way speakers will be familiar with procedures and as comfortable as possible with the format.

Still have Questions?

We will be running two speaker Q&A sessions where we provide additional information about topics, formats, the application process and your questions.

Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at noon Eastern via Zoom. (ended)
Monday, July 20, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. The link will be posted the day of the meeting.

We Welcome Diversity

Diversity in Background We welcome speakers from all backgrounds and levels of experience with WordPress. Don’t let gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, age or any other factor discourage you from applying to speak.
Diversity in Speaking Experience First-time WordCamp speakers are welcome in Philly. We love to have new voices in the WordPress community at our events.
Diversity in Topics We want to hear your story. Your topic might be in one of these areas:
- Development
- Design
- SEO and Analytics
- Business and Freelancing
- Tools and Workflow
- Community Issues and Involvement
- Corporate, Non-Profit and Education
- Areas of focus not listed above are encouraged to submit

Apply Now

Speaker applications are now closed.