Launch Portland 2025 CFP

docs/_data/portland-2025-config.yaml

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 name: Portland
 
-shortcode: portland 
+shortcode: portland
 year: 2025
 city: Portland
 local_area: Oregon
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ buttons:
       link: /news/welcome
     # - text: Sponsor us
     #   link: /sponsors/prospectus
-    # - text: Submit a Talk
-    #   link: /cfp
+    - text: Submit a Talk
+      link: /cfp
     # - text: See the Schedule!
     #   link: /schedule
     # - text: Buy a Ticket!
@@ -155,11 +155,11 @@ about:
   job_fair_room: Sponsor area
 
 cfp:
-  url: ""                                         # Open October 6 (Mon) -> 9 weeks to submit
-  ends: "January 21, 2025"                        # (Mon) 1 week, to review. It'll take a little longer to announce
+  url: "https://pretalx.com/wtd-portland-2025/cfp" # Open October 6 (Mon) -> 9 weeks to submit
+  ends: "January 21, 2025"                         # (Mon) 1 week, to review. It'll take a little longer to announce
   notification: "February 04, 2025"                # (Mon) 8 weeks to write and prepare
   slides_by: "April 28, 2025"                      # (Mon) 1 week before
-  preview: "TODO"                                 # Preview URL TODO
+  preview: "TODO"                                  # Preview URL TODO
 
 unconf:
   url: ""
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ sponsors:
     # - name: gitbook
     #   link: https://www.gitbook.com/?ref=writethedocs
     #   brand: GitBook
-    #   text: "GitBook combines powerful docs with AI-powered search and insights to give technical teams a single source of truth for their knowledge. 
+    #   text: "GitBook combines powerful docs with AI-powered search and insights to give technical teams a single source of truth for their knowledge.
     #          Effortlessly create, surface and improve public and internal documentation that your users and teams will love. "
     # - name: readme
     #   link: https://readme.com/?ref=writethedocs
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ sponsors:
 # Things that change over time, listed in order of change
 flaglanding: True
 flaghassponsors: True
-flagcfp: False
+flagcfp: True
 flagticketsonsale: False
 flagsoldout: False
 flagspeakersannounced: False

docs/_data/schema-config.yaml

@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@ cfp-details:
   notification: str(required=True)
   video_by: str(required=False)
   slides_by: str(required=False)
+  info_by: str(required=False)
   gifts_by: str(required=False)
   preview: str(required=False)
 

docs/_templates/2025/menu-desktop.html

@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
   <li>
     <ul class="uk-navbar-nav">
       <li>
-        <a href="{{ pathto('conf/'+shortcode+'/'+year_str+'/') }}"">About</a>
+        <a href="{{ pathto('conf/'+shortcode+'/'+year_str+'/about') }}"">About</a>
         <div class="uk-navbar-dropdown">
           <ul class="uk-nav uk-navbar-dropdown-nav">
             <li><a href="{{ pathto('conf/'+shortcode+'/'+year_str+'/venue') }}">Venue</a></li>
@@ -98,5 +98,5 @@
   {% if flagcfp %}
   <li><a href="{{ pathto('conf/'+shortcode+'/'+year_str+'/cfp') }}" class="uk-button uk-button-ghost uk-text-uppercase">Speak</a></li>
   {% endif %}
-  
+
 </ul>

docs/conf/portland/2025/cfp.rst

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 Call for Proposals
 ==================
 
-It's that time of year again: We're now accepting talk proposals for our next **in-person** {{ city }} conference, coming up on {{date.main}}.
+It's that time of year again: We're now accepting talk proposals for our next **in-person** {{ city }} conference, on {{date.main}}.
 
 Every year, Write the Docs invites people from all across our community to come up on stage to share their insights and experience. Whether you've worked on documentation for decades or you've just started this year, we want to hear from you!
 Read on to learn more about the goals of the conference and what we look for in talk proposals.
@@ -13,18 +13,13 @@ Read on to learn more about the goals of the conference and what we look for in
 
 In the meantime, mark your calendars:
 
-**The deadline for submitting proposals is 11:59 PM {{tz}} on {{cfp.ends}}.**
+- **Deadline: {{cfp.ends}} at 11:59 PM {{tz}}**
+- **Acceptance emails: by {{cfp.notification}}**
 
-We'll let you know if your proposal has been accepted by the end of {{cfp.notification}}.
 {% else %}
 We will announce the CFP dates soon.
 {% endif %}
 
-.. contents::
-    :local:
-    :depth: 1
-    :backlinks: none
-
 {% if flagcfp %}
 
 Ready to submit your talk?
@@ -40,16 +35,21 @@ You can do that here:
 
 {% endif %}
 
+.. contents::
+    :local:
+    :depth: 1
+    :backlinks: none
+
 Conference goals
 ----------------
 
-Write the Docs conferences are our chance to get together to explore and celebrate the craft of documentation in a positive, inclusive environment.
+Write the Docs conferences are our opportunity to get together to explore and celebrate the craft of documentation in a positive, inclusive environment.
 
-Between the talks on stage, the discussions in the unconference, the collaboration on the writing day and other conversations, 100% of the content for our conferences comes from our community! Whether your job title is writer, developer, product manager, support advocate, librarian, or one of a hundred others, your perspective on what makes good docs is what this conference is all about.
+**Our goal is to give documentarians a chance to connect and learn from each other.**
 
-Our goal is to give documentarians a chance to connect and learn from each other. You'll have the chance to compare notes on what's happening in the industry, dig into questions of convention and good practice, and generally nerd out about all the things we love about documentation.
+Between the talks on stage, the discussions in the Unconference, the collaboration on Writing Day and other conversations, 100% of the content for our conferences comes from our community! Your perspective on what makes good docs is what this conference is all about.
 
-This year, as usual, we're trying to iterate on our tried and tested processes, both to improve our program and to give you, the speakers, a better idea of what to expect.
+You'll have the chance to compare notes on what's happening in the industry, dig into questions of convention and good practice, and generally nerd out about all the things we love about documentation.
 
 Who we're looking for
 ---------------------
@@ -60,73 +60,72 @@ That said, there are some more helpful and concrete pointers below.
 
 **Diverse group of speakers**
 
-We welcome talks from first-time speakers, from industry experts, and from everyone in between.
-Whatever your background and experience, we prefer hearing about new approaches rather than about tried-and-tested technology.
-We especially welcome talks from underrepresented groups within the tech community.
-We want to hear a variety of viewpoints, so we limit speakers to two talks in any four year period at each location.
-That said, we do strongly prefer talks written and given by a single speaker, and if you're planning to submit with a co-speaker, please let us know why you're doing so.
-
-If you're a WTD conference organizer, please only submit talks to conferences you're not actively organizing.
-
-
-**Mix of roles and perspectives**
+We welcome first-time speakers, industry experts, and everyone in between. We especially welcome talks from underrepresented groups within the tech community.
 
-Talks from the scientific community, fiction writers, system administrators, and support staff – in addition to technical writers and software developers – are all valuable to our attendees.
+We want to hear a variety of viewpoints, so we limit speakers to two talks in any four year period at each location.
 
-**Diverse audience**
+**Number of speakers**
 
-Likewise, we love the diversity of our community, and we encourage support-folks to attend talks about programming, developers to attend talks about writing, writers to attend talks about data, and so on and so forth.
+We prefer talks *presented* by one *single speaker*. If you're planning to submit with a co-speaker, please let us know why, and take note that it will affect the chances of your talk being selected.
 
-**Past speakers**
+You are of course welcome to write the talk with other people, if only one person is presenting.
 
-Past speaker roles include but are not limited to
+**Mix of roles and perspectives**
 
-* Writers
-* Developers
-* Designers
-* Testers
-* Support folks
-* Developer advocates
-* Community managers
-* Scientists
-* Librarians
-* Teachers
+Talks from the scientific community, fiction writers, system administrators, and support staff – as well as technical writers and software developers – all are valuable to our attendees.
 
 What we’re looking for
 ----------------------
 
-**Diverse topics**
+**Broad topics**
 
-The focus of Write the Docs is software documentation, but we actively seek talks that address a wide range of related subjects, at various levels of expertise.
+The focus of Write the Docs is software documentation, and we actively seek talks that address a wide range of related subjects, at various levels of expertise.
 Documentation perspectives from other fields are welcome, as are topics from adjacent fields!
 
 **Practicality and positivity**
 
-We prefer talks backed by experience and experimentation to talks about theory, and we definitely don't like talks that bad-mouth technologies or approaches.
-Don't tell us why you hate something – tell us how you overcame the problems it was causing.
+We prefer talks backed by experience and experimentation to talks about theory, and we definitely don't like talks that bad-mouth technologies or approaches. Don't tell us why you hate something – tell us how you overcame the problems it was causing.
 
 **Process over tooling**
 
-We tend to avoid talks about specific tools, which often turn into marketing pitches or tutorials.
-We would much rather hear about process, culture, data, people, or the metaphysical side effects of spending your life thinking about docs.
+We tend to avoid talks about specific tooling, which often turn into marketing pitches or tutorials. We would much rather hear about process, culture, data, people, or the metaphysical side effects of spending your life thinking about docs.
+
+**New ideas**
+
+This isn't a hard and fast rule, but we're more likely to include talks on topics that have not been covered before than talks that have been touched on in multiple recent conferences.
+
+**Benefit to the community**
+
+How does your talk help improve the quality of documentation everywhere? Are you trying a new approach? Are you solving a known problem? Have you done the research into how folks have tried to solve your issue before?
 
 **Audience awareness**
 
-When crafting talk proposals, remember that you're going to be talking to a mix of levels of expertise, skill sets, and professions.
+When crafting talk proposals, remember that you're going to be speaking to a mix of levels of expertise, skill sets, and professions.
 Your talk doesn't have to be relevant to everyone, but it should be relevant to most people and shouldn't make too many assumptions about what people already know.
-If you are making those assumptions about what your audience knows, it helps everyone if you state them up front explicitly.
+If you are making assumptions about what your audience knows, state them up front explicitly.
 
-It can be  helpful to check out topics that might be related to your talk from previous years as well:
+Check out topics that might be related to your talk from previous years:
 
 * `Portland {{year-1}} <https://www.writethedocs.org/conf/portland/{{year-1}}/speakers/>`_
 * `Atlantic {{year-1}} <https://www.writethedocs.org/conf/atlantic/{{year-1}}/speakers/>`_
 * `Portland {{year-2}} <https://www.writethedocs.org/conf/portland/{{year-2}}/speakers/>`_
-* `Prague {{year-2}} <https://www.writethedocs.org/conf/prague/{{year-2}}/speakers/>`_
+* `Atlantic {{year-2}} <https://www.writethedocs.org/conf/atlantic/{{year-2}}/speakers/>`_
+
+Writing your proposal
+---------------------
+
+Make sure you read this entire page before putting your proposal together, and pay particular attention to the following points:
+
+- **Spoilers** It's pretty normal not to want to include your main point in your abstract, but please make sure to highlight it for the selection committee!
+- **Research** We don't need all talks to be about an entirely new topic, but if you're suggesting a talk that looks really similar to one that was given last year, demonstrate that you realize this and mention why yours is different.
+- **Tooling** We're pretty serious about preferring talks about people, process or principles than talks about tooling. If you are submitting a proposal about tooling, tell us what makes this one special.
+- **Example proposal** Check out our :doc:`example proposal <example-proposal>` so you know what we expect to see in each field.
 
-Not sure about speaking?
+
+Unsure about speaking?
 ------------------------
 
-Don't worry too much about whether we will accept your talk proposal, just submit it anyway, and leave the selection up to us. Just because you're not sure whether your topic is a good fit, feel you don't have enough speaking experience for a conference, or you think someone else may be able to give a better talk on your topic does not mean you don't have awesome things to say.
+Don't worry too much about whether we will accept your talk proposal. We encourage you to submit it anyway! You may be unsure if your topic is a good fit, whether you have enough speaking experience, or if someone else might give a better talk on your topic, but that does not mean you don't have valuable and awesome insights to share.
 
 If you need a hand preparing or honing your talk proposal, there are lots of good places to start:
 
@@ -136,47 +135,53 @@ If you need a hand preparing or honing your talk proposal, there are lots of goo
 * **Twitter hivemind** – If Twitter is more your speed, `#writethedocs <https://twitter.com/hashtag/writethedocs>`__ will get you there.
 
 Selection process
-------------------
+-----------------
 
-We have a small panel of proposal reviewers, and make sure to have a similar diversity in the panel as we're aiming for in our speakers.
-We rate talks out of five, and then discuss the top rated proposals.
+We have a small panel of proposal reviewers. We ensure that the diversity in the panel reflects who we aim to have as speakers.
 
-We actively balance for diversity in as many ways as we can, which means that we do not review talks anonymously. Maybe one day the industry will be in a place where can do that, but we're not there yet.
+Proposals are rated on a scale of five, after which we meet and discuss the top-rated submissions in detail.
 
-Presentation format
--------------------
+To actively promote diversity, we choose not to review talks anonymously, allowing us to intentionally balance various perspectives and backgrounds.
 
-Presentations will be scheduled in 30-minute blocks, delivered **in-person, on-stage, live**.
+{% if flagcfp %}
 
-Speaker benefits & logistics
-----------------------------
+Speaker benefits
+----------------
 
-If you are selected to speak at Write the Docs, we will waive your attendance fee.
-If speaking incurs any costs that are difficult for you to cover, please `let us know <mailto:{{email}}>`_ and we'll do our best to help out.
+- Opportunity to share your views and perspectives with the community!
+- Waived attendance fee.
+- Supplemental financial support if needed. If speaking incurs any costs that are difficult for you to cover, `contact us <mailto:{{email}}>`_ and we'll do our best to help out.
 
 If you already have a ticket, we will of course refund it - just drop us an email at `{{email}} <mailto:{{email}}>`_.
 
-{% if flagcfp %}
+Speaker logistics
+-----------------
 
-**You'll hear from us with our proposal decisions by the end of {{cfp.notification}}**.
+Presentations will be **{{date.short}}**, scheduled in 30-minute blocks, delivered **in-person, on-stage, live in {{city}}**.
+Please plan to attend the whole event.
 
-**You'll be delivering your talk live, in-person in Portland, Oregon**.
+All Speakers must read, understand, and agree to our :doc:`/code-of-conduct`. All talks and slides will need to follow our Code of Conduct. If you are unsure about any aspect of this, please ask us for clarification.
 
-{% endif %}
+Timeline overview
+-----------------
 
-Note that all Speakers must read, understand, and agree to our :doc:`/code-of-conduct`. All talks and slides will need to follow our Code of Conduct. If you are unsure about any aspect of this, please ask us for clarification.
+**{{cfp.ends}}**
+    Call for Proposal ends
 
-Example proposal
-----------------
+**{{cfp.notification}}**
+    We'll let you know whether your proposal was accepted, and ask for some supplementary information about you.
+    Make sure to confirm your talk as soon as you get the email.
 
-If you'd like some guidance on how to create a talk proposal, take a look at our :doc:`Example proposal <example-proposal>`.
+**{{cfp.slides_by}}**
+    We'll ask for a copy of your slides so our human captioners can prepare for your talk
 
-Questions?
-----------
+**{{date.short}}**
+    Folks start giving talks on stage!
 
-If you have any questions, please email us at `{{email}} <mailto:{{email}}>`_ and let us know.
+Example proposal
+----------------
 
-{% if flagcfp %}
+Take a look at our :doc:`Example proposal <example-proposal>`, with additional guidance on the proposal format:
 
 Submit your proposal
 --------------------------
@@ -191,10 +196,11 @@ Submit your proposal at {{cfp.url}}. You'll need to sign up for a Pretalx accoun
         </div>
     </div>
 
+You'll be able to edit your proposal up until the submission deadline. Please be considerate of our reviewers when making changes to talks you've already submitted.
+
 {% endif %}
 
-Write the Docs Atlantic 2024
-----------------------------
+Questions?
+----------
 
-If you want to speak at Write the Docs but can't or don't want to attend an in-person event, keep an eye out for Write the Docs Atlantic, coming later in 2024.
-This conference is entirely virtual, between the Central European Summer Time (CEST) and Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) time zones, so you can present or attend from anywhere.
+Email any questions about this process to us at `{{email}} <mailto:{{email}}>`_.