Call for Speakers for future SAP Tech Nights in Melbourne

[pjcools]

CALL FOR SPEAKERS!!!!

Getting really excited for the next SAP Tech Night here in Melbourne currently planned for Thursday 6th June. This will be the 2nd SAP Tech Night / SAP Inside Track #sitMEL this year in Melbourne with many more being planned. An invite will be coming out soon for this so stay tuned!

With the inaugural SAP Stammtisch Melbourne event on Wednesday 16th May happening there is definitely momentum and excitement building in the Melbourne SAP Community - may this continue!!!!!!

Organisation for future SAP Tech Night events is underway and for this we are extending invitations out to all, to speak. The events are community based events so everyone is welcome to submit a talk, regardless of the topic or their experience or background. We did earlier this year call out for topics, and of course they are still welcome, but this request now is for people to put up their hand up to speak. The submission form to speak is below.

It was great to see bohan and gdevsingh present at the first SAP Tech Night - this was their first public presentation and the community audience received this well. While we welcome all speakers, we are especially encouraging female speakers which historically is quite low at these types of events.

There are no topics penciled in as yet, so you can propose a talk on any subject that interests you. Your talk can be deeply technical, completely non-technical or anywhere in between. Also, if presenting slides is not your thing, feel free to use a whiteboard instead, do live coding, or something else entirely. The SAP Community does not discriminate on topics or methods - all are welcome. Talks are usually 30 minutes long, always given on-site and in English.

To submit your proposal, please fill out this submission form, which will stay open for the coming months as we confirm the dates, topics and speakers of future SAP Tech Nights here in Melbourne in 2019.

If you have any questions, you are more than welcome to comment below, or ask us on Twitter using hashtag #sitMEL or "@sitmelbourne".

Let's invigorate the SAP Community here in Melbourne together!!

P.S. The fine print: SAP Tech Night Melbourne is a not-for-profit community event, and attending is free. Additionally, speakers are not paid for this. However, there are drinks and food provided for each of the events.

[sveabecker]

This is great, Phil. I hope you will get many female speakers for now and coming #sitMEL.

I wish you good success.

Cheers, Svea

[pjcools]

Thanks svea.becker for your continued support. Cannot wait to see the topics and new speakers. Really exciting!!

[Paras_AU]

phil.cooley Submitted my list of topics ,..., might need some support in terms of Access to Ariba and/or S4HANA environment ..., to prepare live or recorded demos ..,

[mmcisme1]

Agree - Women speakers are very cool!  I got to speak at Teched a couple of years so of course I'm not biased at all.  🙂

There are a lot less women speakers and I don't really know why.  There are enough of us running around to session at things like Teched.

I hope you have a great Tech Night and a lot of fun!

[pjcools]

Wow, that would have been fantastic to speak at TechEd! Cool! Yeah, I am not sure why and numbers down not only in speaking but attendance generally. The last SAP Tech Night in Melbourne only had 2 women attend hence trying to get numbers up for the rest to be held this year.

Thanks for your well wishes!

[pjcools]

Thanks paras.arora2 for submitting your speaker spots, will take them into consideration. THANKS!

[mmcisme1]

That first time speaking is the challenge.  After that - as long as you plan well - Canned examples help.  I had a nightmare once where my connection was down.  YIKES.  Since then I make sure I have those examples.

Speaking at TechEd was amazing.

Here's some things I learned.  Believe it our not, I'm usually shy.  I try to push myself at any of these events.

• Meet more people, and they approach me to talk with  me.  Perfect for a shy person.


• Learn your subject manner in depth.  I get ready for those questions.


• A few years ago, my job was outsourced.  If you are speaking, your next employer could be in the audience.


• It is fun - after the nerves go away and you are up there.  Sharing information is a huge deal for me.  So I tried to share what I knew.


• I did get my current job because of the blogs I wrote.  BUT I did drop that I had spoken at TechEd.   So the speakers for Tech nights can drop that in an interview - if needed.

I may have to write a blog...  I think I have something similar to this out there somewhere.

 

[pjcools]

Nice advice!! Definitely good to have backup slides just in case the Live Demos do not work. It does happen so you need to be prepared.

Some others that I go through when I speak:

• Practice a number of times prior. Perform a run through with a few colleagues to get some feedback - this includes reviewing the slide pack and that practical elements make sense.


• Have a plan -> what you will start with, end with and of course the in between!


• For first timers, see if you can get a colleague to assist so you are not alone up there. This can also make things more interesting.

Yeah, sounds  like a good blog topic and especially would look at ways to increase women speakers so if you have any ideas about this...blog away!! This may help the SAP Tech Nights in Melbourne!!! 🙂