Are you interested in sharing your browser and mobile automation or testing experience? Then we want to hear from you! We are looking for presentations from a diverse range of speakers from across the automation and testing communities – the SeleniumConf and AppiumConf thrives on having talks ranging from introductory to advanced. Have something to say but don’t have any speaking experience? We welcome your proposal and can provide guidance and feedback to help you share your story. We want you to submit a proposal if you are reading this and are interested in speaking at the next in-person conference.
Before sending us your submission, please take the time to read through this page. If you’d like to discuss anything related to the call for proposals or your talk idea, feel free to email us at organizers@seleniumconf.org.
Please note: We are using Sessionize for speaking proposal submissions. If you do not already have a Sessionize account, you must create one to access the CFP portal (or log in if you already have one). Use the button below to access Sessionize.
Submit a TalkWhat topics are we looking for?
We expect over 400 browser and mobile automation professionals, including developers, testers, quality managers, and test architects, to join us in Valencia next year. Attendees are eager for actionable insights—ideas, implementations, experiences, and solutions they can apply directly within their teams or organizations after the event. If you have practical experience with Selenium, the WebDriver ecosystem, or related topics in test automation, we’d love to hear from you! This year, we’re particularly interested in the following topics:
- Browser and Mobile Automation: Practical guides, tools, and experiences related to automating testing for both web and mobile applications.
- AI in Testing: Leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance browser and mobile automation, optimize test coverage, or improve defect detection.
- Video Game Automation and Testing: Techniques and tools for automating the testing of video games, including mobile and browser-based games.
- Accessibility Automation: Methods for automating accessibility testing in browser and mobile environments, ensuring digital inclusivity.
- Observability in Testing: Using automated testing for real-time observability into application behavior and performance.
- Synthetic Monitoring: Implementing synthetic monitoring for proactive performance and availability checks within automated test suites.
- WebDriver Ecosystem: Enhancing Selenium and Appium with frameworks like Webdriver.io, Selenide, Serenity/JS, Nightwatch, and more.
- Continuous Testing: Integrating test automation into CI/CD pipelines for faster and smarter releases.
- Scaling Test Automation: Strategies for scaling automation efforts across teams, applications, and environments.
- Testability in Software Development: Designing software with testing in mind, focusing on testability from the outset.
- Advanced Design Patterns: Topics like Domain Driven Design, Page Objects, and other design patterns that support robust and maintainable test automation.
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Insights on how RPA intersects with test automation and enhances business workflows.
- Quality Engineering: Leading or managing large-scale automated testing projects and teams focusing on improving quality.
Presentations are 40 minutes long, including Q&A (if you want to set aside time for this – there’s always the “hallway track” to meet with attendees who want to discuss your presentation). The schedule will be divided into 2 tracks, grouping talks by topic whenever possible. Most importantly, all speakers must agree to abide by the conference Code of Conduct.
Speaker Travel Support
If your talk is selected, you’ll receive:
- Economy airfare & ground transportation
- Lodging at the conference hotel
- A free ticket to the conference (of course), excluding workshops
- A special speakers’ dinner before the conference
We will record all talks and make them available for free after the conference. The speaker owns the copyright to the talk.
We welcome applications from less experienced speakers and will work with you to help you prepare.
Timeline
October 15, 2024 – Call For Proposals opens.
December 1, 2024 – Call For Proposals closes.
December 23, 2024 – Accepted speakers notified.
January 10, 2025 – Speakers confirmed.
January 17, 2025 – Full agenda posted on the conference website
March 27-28, 2025 – SeleniumConf & AppiumConf keynotes/track sessions
April 2025 – Recordings available on our YouTube channel.
Resources
Credit: Content inspired by ConfEngine.
Your submission stands the best chance to be selected if it’s unique, well-written, and fully fleshed out – put yourself in the audience’s shoes; after reading your presentation description, would you be interested in hearing the talk? Here are some additional resources to help out:
Selection Criteria
In terms of the overarching themes or values in proposals, we look at the following criteria during selection:
Diversity—We wish to be more inclusive as a platform (different approaches, frameworks, tools, including gender, countries, background, etc.).
Balance—We strive to strike a balance between the different types of presentations and experience levels (getting started, intermediate, advanced) that speakers bring to the conference.
Equality – We encourage women, persons of color, students, and participants from underrepresented communities to submit a speaking proposal. However, this does not mean that we are biased, and we select just about any proposal based not only on the fact that it came from an under-represented community. Nevertheless, if we have to choose between one out of two equal proposals, we will pick the one proposed by someone from one of these communities.
Practicality—People come to a conference to learn, network, have an experience, and leave feeling motivated. Proposals that facilitate this are, therefore, always preferred. Though some theory is good, if the proposal lacks practical application, it does not help participants.
Learning—People learn more by doing than by listening. Therefore, the winning proposals take people on a learning journey and incorporate an element of “learning by doing.”
Originality – People prefer hearing about an idea from its original creator rather than someone else. However, you may take an idea, tweak it in your context, and gain some insight(s) while doing so – People also like to hear first-hand experiences from those who are not creators of the original idea. Ultimately, we are looking for thought leadership.
Radical ideas—We greatly respect people who want to push boundaries and challenge the status quo. Given that we lean towards unconventional ideas, we try our best to support such people and raise awareness of their work.
Tips for Proposals
Submit your proposal early. The program committee will provide feedback on talks that come into our system, and we will work with you to improve your proposal, but this is only feasible if your proposal is submitted well before the deadline.
When writing your proposal, please consider the following:
- Who is the intended audience for your presentation? (be specific; “Selenium or Appium users” is not a good answer to this question).
- What will attendees learn from your presentation? When they leave the room, what will they know that they didn’t know before?
- Your speaking proposal should include 3-5 bullet points highlighting key takeaways.
- It is not necessary to have written your entire talk already, but you should know what your presentation will be about.
- Ensure that your presentation will be relevant to a non-trivial set of people.
- Include links to source code, articles, blog posts, videos, or other resources that add context to your proposal.
- If you’ve given a talk, tutorial, or other presentation before, especially at an earlier SeConf or another conference, include that information and a link to slides or a video if available.
Good Proposal Attributes
Summary: The summary must convey excitement, be convincing, and sell. Since it is the only thing attendees see, it should be created to draw them into your session instead of the numerous others that they can visit at the same time. Attendees should also be able to show the abstract to their manager/team and easily make them understand the value of the session.
Catchy title: A catchy title helps build a more robust mental model and better focus on the session’s abstract. But remember that there is a fine line between catchy and corny.
Sell yourself: Reviewers should be confident that you are a good presenter and will successfully facilitate the session. Remember to include links to other materials/websites that may be instrumental in validating your skills as a great presenter.
Prior experience with sessions: Share your experiences giving sessions. Include links to slides, videos, or people’s blogs about those sessions. If you plan a test run at the local user group or meetup, mention it. It makes a massive difference in the reviewers’ confidence about the quality of delivery.
Clarity: Create a clear statement of what the attendees will do or expect and what will be done in the session. Proposers sometimes err by focusing so much on selling their ideas in a catchy way that it remains unclear what will be done in the session. Highlight whether you will be including coding samples or a demo.
Clear learning objective: Clearly state how the lives of attendees will become better, more effective, and more enjoyable as a result of attending the session.
Enjoyment: Make the reviewer feel the attendees will enjoy themselves during the session. They should learn specific concepts, skills, principles, approaches, and frameworks at best.
Language:
Do’s
- Use active language:
- ‘Learn/experience…”
- Use words/phrases like “Master,” “Learn,”
- “Experience”, “Do”, “Participate
- “As you participate, you learn…”
Don’ts
- Include passive language:
- “This session allows you to learn…”
- Include words like “Might,” “Could,” and “Intend.”
- “You can participate.”
Submit a Talk
Important note: If you do not already have a Sessionize account, you must create one to access the CFP portal (or log in if you already have one).
