Don’t invite speakers you’re not sure about

To find cool speakers for an IT-conference is not an easy task, because media persons known to a wide range of people can be uninteresting for the IT-community and good experts often have problems with public speeches. The task of an organizer is to avoid boring speeches and lecturers, who appear at all conferences with the same material, as well as not to run into specialists on “successful success”.

The best option is to call speakers that you know personally or have seen in action. Work with those who know how to “ignite” the audience and can prepare a “factual” report with insights from personal experience and figures. Another option – celebrity speakers, top managers of the largest companies, representatives of Western IT-giants.

The ideal speaker for an IT conference works in a company with a modern technological stack, is published on industry portals, has at least some experience in public speaking (spoke at mixups, business breakfasts), is deeply immersed in the subject, follows the news agenda and knows what the IT-community is concerned about.

There are a lot of requirements, but there are enough specialists on the market who meet them. And do you know what the secret is? You do not have to look for such speakers: if your event is known in the community, they will start to come to you with proposals, you just need to raise the whistle.

But even if you do not have a reputation, you can find options. In addition to the main stage they made barcamps – platforms for performances, which are in no way moderated by the organizers. Perform whoever you want.

This self-regulating system has worked perfectly for 8 years: at barcamps an interesting program is formed and participants are happy to listen to colleagues from the industry. A good report and an interesting presentation – and the speaker will be listened to. And if he came to get publicity, the participants will go to do other things, as there are many other activities going on in parallel.