Culture > Speaker guidelines
Published on Jul 5, 2020 by La Vesha Parker
Liz Barry speaking at the Jun 20 ProgHacknight
#First off, welcome!
Progressive HackNight NYC is thrilled to have you as a speaker! We aim to create a safe, harassment-free space for our speakers and attendees. Five basic guidelines:
1. No hate speech
2. Be sure that your talk fits within the agreed-upon time frame
We’ll coordinate a speaking schedule with you before the hack night, and will help you keep track of the time you have left as you present in order to make sure we have enough time for breakout sessions.
3. Use gender-neutral language
We want everyone to feel comfortable here! Unless you are positive of how someone identifies, try saying something like “question from the person in the red shirt in the front?” instead of “question from the guy in the front?”. When talking about a theoretical person, use “they/them” pronouns when possible to be inclusive to all genders.
4. Frame discussions around dissenting opinions and viewpoints in a productive way
We are a progressive hack night, but there is a difference between discussing and supporting what you believe in and insulting other beliefs with no end game. Naturally, we all share different beliefs, but Progressive HackNight is a space in which we agree not to insult others in our dialogue and talks.
5. Be clear about the type of talk you plan to give
Will this be a crowd-sourced discussion? Or perhaps a more formal talk? We can accommodate many different types of talks, but want to set expectations with attendees and let them know what to expect ahead of time.
Process
1 week before talk
We will reach out to you about a week ahead of time for an abstract and any slides you’ll have, so we can promote them on the site. We’re available to answer any questions you have about speaking and timelines.
The night of talk
Please arrive by 6:30pm the day of and check in with a member of a steering committee. We will be clearly visible from our steering committee pins.
After the talk
Reach out to the steering committee if you’d like feedback on your talk, and we will send a request for feedback to the attendees and send it your way! If you discussed an organization or project that you’d like help with, we can forward that information to attendees as well.
Questions?
Hop into the #speaker-questions
channel of our Slack, and someone should be able to help you out! If you have an urgent question or need, please email us at [email protected].
We are stoked to work with you!
If you would like to speak at ProgHacknight, email the Steering committee!
About the author
La Vesha Parker
Vesha is a member of the ProgHacknight Steering Committee