NoSQL Now!
Call for Presentations Now Open!

Presentation Proposal Due Date: April 10, 2012
UPDATE: Deadline Extended to April 20, 2012

1. Read the General Overview:
Overview	Review Process and Program Advisory Committee			Proposal Deadline	Questions
2. Review the following details...
What You Will Be Asked to Provide	Topic Areas to be Covered	Presentation Formats	Key Dates and Speaker Deadlines	Speaker Terms and Conditions	Questions & Inquiries
Then...		3.Submit your proposal here

Topics to be covered at include:

• NoSQL success stories
• Adoption strategies
• Big Data
• Business Applications
• Business Intelligence and Analytics
• Case Studies/Use Cases
• Cloud Computing
• Data & Enterprise Architecture
• Graph Databases
• Hadoop
• Hardware Solutions
• Modeling
• New Products & Companies
• NoSQL Architecture and Design
• Performance
• Research
• Scaleability
• Security
• NoSQL Software Development
• Storage
• Unstructured Data
• XML and XQuery

Overview

NoSQL Now! is a conference covering the dynamic field of NoSQL technologies (Not Only SQL). The only criteria for the subject matter of presentations is that they do not cover SQL-exclusive solutions.  Note papers that include SQL extensions and SQL-hybrid topics are also encouraged. This page describes the speaking opportunities available at the conference, and some guidelines for submitting your proposal.

We recognize that many organizations using NoSQL technologies may have very different business requirements, backgrounds and perspectives.  The purpose of the conference is not to promote a single “best” NoSQL architecture or product.  Our goal is to celebrate the diversity of NoSQL solutions and help businesses develop objective evaluation processes to match the right NoSQL solution with the right business challenge.

The conference will provide a mix of presentations at all technical levels.  We strongly encourage presenters to have material that will be appropriate for business decision makers, as well as development staff.

Because we may receive a large number of presentations, it will not be possible to accept all proposals.  This conference has a focus on the business orientation of NoSQL technologies.  Therefore, positive weighting will be given to presentations that:

1. Name a specific customer or organization that uses NoSQL in production systems.
2. Provide documented ROI with comparisons to costs of traditional SQL technologies.
3. Show innovative uses of NoSQL technologies in new problem domains.
4. Provide detailed lessons learned of NoSQL projects (even project failures).
5. Discuss a detailed architectural trade-off analysis and objective cost/benefit measures.
6. Provide guidelines and road-maps for other organizations considering NoSQL solutions.

In an effort to deal with the high demand for speaking opportunities, participants with similar presentation topics may be requested to participate jointly in panel sessions. 

Please take note that the following presentation formats are available:

Reviewed and Invited Presentation formats - to be selected by the Program Advisory Committee:

• Full Conference Sessions – 50 minutes
• Half-Conference Sessions – 30 minutes
• Half-Day Tutorials – 2 hours and 45 minutes

Presentation Opportunities - Available to All Conference Registrants

• Lightning Talks – 5 minutes
• Affiliated Conferences and Meetings - co-located with NoSQL Now! Feel free to propose user groups, standards meetings, etc.
• Communities of Practice - 50 minutes (generally focused on a specific product, technology or industry)
• Sponsored Session – Product/Company Showcase - 30 minutes

These formats are designed to optimize the mix of educational presentations, case studies and discussion panels, as well as provide more opportunities for product developers and entrepreneurs to bring their work to the attention of customers, business partners and investors. A more complete explanation of these formats is available below.

Questions
Questions regarding speaking opportunities can be addressed to Tony Shaw at tony@dataversity.net and Dan McCreary at dan@danmccreary.com 

 NoSQL Now!
CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

Presentation Formats

Reviewed and Invited Presentation formats:

• Full Conference Sessions – 50 minutes
• Half-Conference Sessions – 30 minutes
• Half-Day Tutorials – 2 hours 45 minutes

Presentation Opportunities for All Conference Registrants
(available options require registration for the conference as sponsor or attendee)

• Lightning Talks – 5 minutes
• Affiliated Conferences and Meetings - co-located with NoSQL Now!
• Communities of Practice - 50 minutes
• Sponsored Session – Product/Company Showcase - 30 minutes

Reviewed and Invited Presentation formats:

The following presentation formats are available to speakers for NoSQL Now! formal educational conference program.  All proposals are reviewed by the Program Advisory Committee (PAC) for quality and relevance, and the best are chosen for inclusion.  Multiple speakers may be proposed, and multiple presentation options may be proposed. The first (primary) speaker receives complimentary conference attendance. Additional speakers or panelists register at a discounted rate which is half the normal registration fee.

Full Conference Session – 50 minutes
A presentation by one or more speakers, selected for inclusion after a comprehensive review by the conference committee.  This is the typical presentation format for case studies, technical discussions, and instructional presentations.

Half-Conference Session – 30 minutes
Similar to a full conference session only shorter. Half-sessions are often combined with similar topics to fill a full-hour time slot. Half-sessions are ideal for shorter case studies, technology overviews, and new ideas. Half-session proposals have a higher chance of selection than full session proposals.

Half-Day Tutorials - 2 hours and 45 minutes
In-depth educational presentations, designed to provide the audience with detailed technical information, skills or methodologies. Tutorial speakers receive an honorarium (fee) for their participation, which is $600 for a half-day, plus an additional 25% bonus to tutorial speakers who provide their presentation slides by the materials deadline.

Presentation Opportunities for All Conference Registrants
The following presentation formats are designed to give more opportunities for attendees to discuss their work and meet like-minded colleagues. Some of these are very short and others are discussions rather than presentations, but all formats are published in the conference agenda, thereby enabling you to get the full benefit of exposure to the broad audience of potential customers, partners and investors attending NoSQL Now!  Please note that we do our utmost to fit all relevant proposals into the agenda from these categories, however all of the following categories require the speaker be a registered attendee of the conference, either as a paid attendee or sponsor.

Lightning Talk – 5 minutes/10 slides maximum
Lightning talks are 5-minute presentations. Numerous lightning talks are combined into 25 or 50 minute times lots within the formal conference agenda. Lightning talks can be about ideas, solutions, methods, products, research projects or implementation experience and they can be on any topic you like. Lightning talks have only one speaker. Lightning talks are the most likely way to be selected to speak at the conference because of the short format. They are also a great way to expose your idea to lots of people, because the sessions are always well attended.  Lightning talks can be proposed nearer to the conference date. However the earlier you submit your proposal, the greater your chances of inclusion.

Affiliated Conferences and Meetings
NoSQL Now! encourages affiliated communities and events, such as user group meetings, Meetups and special interest groups, to co-locate with us. Affiliated meetings can be scheduled before, during or after the official NoSQL Now! dates, taking advantage of our venue and audience. Because these meetings tend to have special requirements, we recommend you make your proposal through the CFP process and email Tony Shaw at tony@dataversity.net with your Affiliated meeting request.

Community of Practice (CoP)
Community of Practice sessions are generally during conference breaks and lunches, or in the evening.  They are designed to appeal to a community of individuals such as participants from a particular industry, or developers and users of specific tools or technologies. The format for CoPs is usually a facilitated discussion, rather than a formal presentation.

Sponsored Session - Product/Company Showcase
Sponsored Sessions are appropriate when you have a product/service offering or a commercial announcement.  There is a fee payable for Sponsored Sessions, which is reasonable, but which varies according to the overall level of sponsorship you may be undertaking at the NoSQL Now! show.  Contact Tony Shaw at tony@dataversity.net for sponsorship details.

Panel Session
Panel Sessions may be proposed on any topic you wish. If you know the panelists you intend to invite (which is highly desirable) then you should include their names and organizations within the abstract. 

Key Dates

Speaker Terms and Conditions

Every speaker must agree to the following terms and conditions in order to be accepted:

PRESENTATION DEADLINES, COPYRIGHT and APPROVAL TERMS

1. All speakers must agree to provide their presentation to DATAVERSITY, no later than August 1, 2012. This is necessary to prepare the conference materials. Speakers who do not meet this deadline risk being replaced on the program.
2. By accepting this invitation, the speaker agrees to the standard copyright and reproduction terms of this event. These terms are:
   • Copyright in original presentation material remains with the speaker
   • DATAVERSITY (and/or related entities) is granted the right to record, reproduce and distribute each presentation in all forms of printed and electronic conference materials, including, but not limited to, the non-attendee conference proceedings, printed attendee notes, conference-related web sites, and audio and/or video recordings (digital and/or analog), without royalties or fees payable to speaker.
3. All sessions will be rated by the audience for commercial content. Any speaker who is judged by the audience to have made an inappropriate sales pitch for his/her own company, book, product or service (except during Sponsored presentations) or whose presentation is otherwise deemed objectionable during a conference session risks having their presentation interrupted and/or halted, and may not be invited to participate at future conferences.
4. By accepting this invitation, speaker agrees that he/she has the legal and financial permission from his/her company or others to make the presentation under the terms outlined herein and that the presentation shall not infringe the rights of any third party. If you do not have approval at this time, you may accept the invitation but must indicate your restrictions and/or approval time-frame in the comments field below.

Financial Terms

1. REGISTRATION FEES - Please note the registration requirements for your speaking category carefully:
2.  
   • For TUTORIAL, KEYNOTE, CONFERENCE-FULL, and CONFERENCE-HALF presentations, one speaker for each proposed and selected presentation is granted a free pass to the entire conference.
   • ADDITIONAL speakers who were originally nominated in the speaking proposal must register and pay for their conference attendance at a significantly discounted rate of $495. Such registration must be completed at least one month prior to the start of the conference in order to be included in the conference program and materials.
   • Additional speakers who were not originally nominated in the speaking proposal must register and pay for their conference attendance at the regular registration rates prevailing at the time of their registration. Such registration must be completed at least one month prior to the start of the conference in order to be included in the conference program and materials.
   • For ALL OTHER TALKS (Lightning, CoP, Affiliated and Sponsored presentations), each speaker must register and pay for their conference attendance at the regular registration rates prevailing at the time of their registration. Such registration must be completed at least one month prior to the start of the conference in order to be included in the conference program and materials.
3. EXPENSES - All speakers are responsible for their own travel and living expenses.
4. HONORARIUM for Tutorials will be:
   • $600 per half-day (2 hours and 45 minutes), plus a 25% bonus for submitting final presentations by the deadline of August 1, 2012.
   • All other speakers/presentations do not receive an honorarium.

Questions and Inquiries

All questions and inquiries about:

1. Speaking or Sponsorship may be directed to Tony Shaw at tony@dataversity.net
2. Attendance and general Inquiries may be directed to Nerrisa Waite at events@dataversity.net

Start the proposal process HERE.