PanelPicker

Appoint a primary contact for your session, known as the organizer, to facilitate correspondence throughout the PanelPicker process and beyond, if accepted. The session organizer can also be a proposed speaker, but they are not assumed to be participating as a speaker unless indicated. Remember that the session organizer serves as the main point of contact for the session, and is responsible for communicating information to the speakers and ensuring the success of the session.

The information required in this step serves as the foundation for your session idea. Your selections will help the community understand and differentiate your proposal among many others

• Clearly identify the intended audience for your session, as well as the background knowledge required to help attendees understand who will benefit most from your session and to further refine your session goals. We encourage specificity, as reviewers want to know exactly who your session is for.
• Try to keep your title as concise and explanatory as possible. Make sure your proposal is easily accessible to the community with a great title that clearly speaks to the audience you are trying to reach. (max. 60 characters including spaces)
• Choose the format that best fits your session structure and presentation style. Reflect on the goals of your session idea — are you looking to engage in a thought-provoking discussion, lead a learning activity, or find your next collaborator? Reference the corresponding options to determine which format best suits your idea.
• Further clarify the focus of your idea by selecting two tags from the menu that will help the community search for your session and home in on the specifics of your content.
• Select a thematic track that generally aligns with your idea so that attendees looking for similar content can find your session. Your idea may fit under multiple track options, so focus on the track that best represents your session content and goals.
• Designate a session focus area to set the level of education your session content will be addressing. The SXSW EDU program covers the entire learning lifecycle, and this allows your session to better stand out within the community. If your idea focuses on multiple levels of education or covers broader initiatives within the education space, please select “Convergence.”

Describe your session content (max. 600 characters including spaces) and session takeaways (max. 150 characters each including spaces). Accurately define the comprehensive focus of your idea in a compelling manner and provide three specific and concrete learnings that attendees will gain from attending your session. The SXSW EDU community looks for actionable insights that they can implement in their own work and development. Please keep in mind the following tips:

• Depth is more important than breadth in making your idea an impactful session.
• The audience at SXSW EDU is well-versed in the current education landscape. Given the limited space, your description does not need to reference broad statements and statistics about the state of education, and should focus on the specific content of your session.
• Please do not include speaker names or organization references in the session description as these are listed separately in the application process and beyond.
• Use paragraph form for your description (no bullets or lists).
• Be sure to spell out the first mention of any acronyms you include.
• Advertorial or brand-centered descriptions are not allowed. If you are interested in promoting your brand at SXSW EDU, email sales@sxswedu.com.
• Please note that session takeaways are not required for Meetup proposals, as the Meetup format is NOT presentation-based.

Add a short creative video and/or visual aids to serve as the digital face of your proposal. You must provide at least one resource to support your programming idea. Videos are highly preferred, and there’s no need for high-value production, as we just want to hear you speak — just record yourself on your phone or computer pitching your idea! Please note that you must have clear rights to whatever resources you include. Please enable closed captioning for any videos you include and make sure they are publicly viewable.

Speakers are an important part of your proposal and play a large role in the evaluation of your idea. Be prepared to enter each proposed speaker’s name, contact information, short bio, and diversity contributions. Although most of this information is kept confidential, know that each speaker’s name, title, organization, and bio will be shared with the community.

• SXSW EDU values diversity in perspective, opinion, and representation and the most interesting sessions are ones that offer many different perspectives. For each proposed speaker, you will be asked to address how they contribute to the diversity of the session.
• Keep in mind the maximum speaker limits associated with your selected session format. For example, the panel format is limited to a maximum of four speakers, including the moderator, if desired.
• Moderators are optional but should be independent, neutral facilitators in the discussion. Please note the moderator counts toward your maximum speaker limit.
• While a particular speaker may be proposed for multiple sessions, in the interest of providing diverse perspectives, speakers will be limited to participating in two (2) programmed sessions (with the exception of Mentor sessions).
• You must have consent from all listed speakers to be included in your proposal.