Proposal Submission FAQ
Outline of the Proposal Submission Process
- Proposal Submission Phase (September 23rd to November 1st)
- Authors submit proposals
- Reviewers assigned
- Reviewers post comments & conduct preliminary reviews
- Reviewing Period (through November 30th)
- Submissions are closed
- Editing and comments are still active
- Authors make final changes
- Accept/Decline period (through December 14th)
- No more changes or comments can be made
- Program Committee make accept/decline decisions
- Feedback & Publication (December 15th)
- Authors are sent accept/decline letters
- Reviews can be seen by the authors
- Summary made available to the public
- Authors can make final comments on proposals
- Schedule (January 1st)
- Program Committee publishes the schedule
Proposal Authors
How do I submit a talk proposal?
See: http://us.pycon.org/2011/speaker/proposals
How about tutorial proposals?
See: http://us.pycon.org/2011/speaker/tutorials
I've submitted my application, now what?
Now you wait. Three (or more) reviewers have been assigned to your proposal. The reviewers will look over your document and pass along any feedback they feel would be useful. Working together, you have the highest likelihood of getting accepted. Note that this doesn't guarantee acceptance, but greatly increases your chances. You can feel free to post comments or ask questions of the review team until the final selection has been made.
What if the reviewers play favorites?
Every proposal is reviewed in detail by at least 3 reviewers, and the decision to accept or decline a talk is made by the program committee as a whole. Reviewers are asked to be upfront about conflicts of interest and not to give a detailed review of proposals where a conflict exists.
If a known conflict of interest comes up; the reviewer and member of the committee will be asked to refrain and recuse themselves from the process.
Help! I can't edit my co-authors!
Due to permissions issues, only the primary author (the person who created the proposal) has the right to edit co-authors, although all authors (primary author and co-authors) can edit the proposal.
Help! I can't add XXX as a co-author!
In order for a person to be a co-author they need to have an account on the site. If they are also a reviewer, and are assigned to review your proposal, they must first 'opt-out' of reviewing your proposal before you can assign them as a co-author.
What if someone steals my paper?
We take every precaution to keep all of your proposal attachments safe. We encourage you to attach notes or images to your paper to help reviewers get an understanding of the subject matter. We would also like you to feel safe in knowing that the things you attach are only seen by the reviewers.
Panel Discussions
What is a panel discussion?
A panel discussion is one in which a group of people discuss a list of pre-determined topics or bullet points. Due to the interaction, panel discussions must be 45min long with the last 10-15min dedicated to audience questions and interaction. A panel is usually made up of 4-6 people with one person being the panel moderator.
How do I propose a panel?
Panel discussions proposals are made just like any other talk proposal with some requirements:
- The person making the proposal will be the panel moderator.
- The talk title must start with 'Panel: '.
- The duration must be 45min.
- The 'panel' category must be selected.
- The panel members must be assigned as co-authors by the end of the reviewing period.
- The proposal description must include talking points.
Must I have commitment from potential panelists before submitting my proposal?
No. You do not need to have solid commitments on the panelists before submitting a proposal. You do however need to have a commitment from them by the end of the reviewing period, Jan. 20th. A person will only be considered as a panelist if they have been added as a co-author to the proposal.
As a panel moderator, what are my responsibilities?
The moderator is responsible for keeping the discussion on track and making sure panelists have roughly equal time. The moderator is responsible for coordinating the panelists, during the proposal submission process and at the conference. This includes getting commitments from panelists before the proposal submission deadline, getting agreement on the discussion topics, and making sure the panelists make it to the talk. A session chair will be present during the talk to make sure the equipment is working, handle microphones, and remind you of the time; but they are not responsible for co-ordinating the panelists.
PyCon Reviewers
This idea is awesome! Who can I tell?
No content, reviews, comments or enclosed documents are to be disclosed to individuals not on the reviewing staff.
I think this proposal *could* be good, but it's lacking. What should I do?
Please ask the author to flesh out their proposal, via comments. Be specific about which parts of their proposal are lacking. Suggest additions or changes they could make that would improve the proposal.