Our Agile Manchester Call for Speakers is now closed for 2024.

The information below is for reference only.

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We are looking for session proposals for Agile Manchester on 15-17 May.

Agile Manchester is a leading conference on approaches to flow, lean and agile development.  The event has a strong practical focus with talks, workshops, discussions and hands-on activities and attracts professionals across all sectors and at all levels.

The deadline for all submissions was 27 November 2023.

Spoken with us before? Got a session in mind already?

Submit your session now

​​​​​​​Submit a proposal

If you have skills, experience or knowledge to share with our community of professionals, we want to hear from you. We’re interested in any aspect of agile, lean or flow-based delivery.

We particularly welcome and support first-time speakers.

If you would like to discuss a session proposal with us, please contact us. Even if you just have a vague idea, we can offer guidance on whether it might work and how best to put together a proposal.

The deadline for submissions is 27 November 2023.

Themes and topics of interest

Agile in practice 
  • Successful agile delivery
  • Effective delivery processes
  • Technical practices
  • Design practices
  • UX practices
  • UR practices
  • Measuring impact
  • Real enterprise agile
Product
  • Product Management
  • Product strategy
  • Product operations
  • Applying data to guide products
  • Product-led organisations
  • Internal product management
Sustainability | Environmental responsibility

The climate crisis is the biggest challenge facing us all. As the creators and curators of software systems we have a responsibility to ensure that we take into account the environmental impact of running those systems and the activity around their creation.

  • Measuring environmental footprint
  • Building sustainability in
  • Engaging the organisation
Happy people | Team management
  • Culture
  • Diversity
  • Team building
  • Team success

This is not an exhaustive list. You may have something new or different in mind and we would love to hear about it. 

You can also take a look at our archive of past conferences for inspiration.

Our participants like to hear a range of perspectives on any subject. For instance, on transformation you might want to present:

  • a case study on leading transformation
  • a talk about your experience of being part of a transformation programme
  • a group discussion about relationships with stakeholders in transformation 

We want our participants to have an idea of what they will get out of a session before they join it. So it’s essential to think about the clear learning points, or takeaways, your session will offer and include them in your proposal.

We are always keen to include new content, new approaches and new speakers. If you have something in mind that you want to share with our community, please submit it.

If you're not sure or need advice, contact us; we can help you work out whether your idea would make a good session and how best to put together a proposal.

Types of session

Agile Manchester has a strong practical focus. Our participants want to hear about actions or approaches they can take away and use in their own organisations.

We encourage interactive sessions that involve the audience in the discussion or give them hands-on experience. You are also welcome to present a session about something specific you've done, but you should try to structure it so people can participate and not simply sit and listen.

Our most common types of session are:

  • case studies
  • talks
  • workshops
  • informal or format-based discussions

You can read about these in more detail in our guidelines for submitting a proposal.

We also welcome novel session formats and are very supportive of experimental sessions that may never have been tried before. Feel free to contact us if you’d like to discuss it before you submit your proposal.

​​​​​​​Our participants

Agile Manchester attracts a diverse group of participants. Some are relatively new to agile practices, while others have worked in this sector for many years. Some have very broad experience, while others are specialists in a particular field.

Inclusivity and diversity

We aim to be inclusive and diverse, both in terms of our speakers and our participants.

We want to ensure participants can take part in all aspects of the event in a positive environment. We provide a safe place to share ideas and try new things. 

Our Code of Conduct describes the behaviour we expect from every Agile Manchester participant.

 

How to submit a proposal

Our review panel will use your proposal to decide whether to accept your session onto the programme. They need a clear picture of what your session will offer participants and how you will deliver that.

What to include in your proposal

Your proposal should include:

  • a descriptive and engaging title
  • a short summary, which will be included on the event website to help participants decide whether to go to your session
  • a longer description that lets the panel make an informed decision about your session but won’t be available to participants
  • between 3 and 5 key points, or takeaways, for participants
  • the type or format of session you are planning to run
  • the duration of your session
  • any costs you want us to cover, such as accommodation

There is more information about what to include in our guidelines for submitting a proposal.

What not to include in your proposal

Your proposal should not include:

  • information that could identify any of the speakers, as our review and selection process is anonymous
  • content that does not focus on the audience’s needs, for example, a hard sell about you or your organisation, or a set of opinions not backed up with evidence
  • links to video, audio, websites or blog posts - we will not consider these when reviewing the proposal

Want more information on session submission?

Proposal submission guidelines

Our review and selection process

After the deadline closes, our selection panel will review all submissions. This usually takes around 4 weeks and we will contact you once the panel has completed the review. 

The review process is anonymous - all speaker names, biographies and other details are removed - to ensure the panel selects sessions on their merit and not on how well a speaker is known. 

Our programme chair and review panel are all respected members of the agile and lean delivery community.

Factors that are considered when reviewing a proposal include whether:

  • the session will align with the conference themes and complement other sessions
  • the subject to be covered is clearly defined
  • the subject will be of interest to the audience
  • the content is of high quality
  • the session will be well organised and well delivered

We’ll let you know the result of our panel’s review, even if you’re not successful this time. If you are interested in receiving any feedback our reviewers have about your proposal, let us know. 

 

How we support our speakers

Agile Manchester is organised by Software Acumen, professional conference organisers since 2007.  Our experienced, full-time team is there to ensure you get the most out of participating in the event.

Free speaker tickets

We offer at least 1 free ticket to the whole event for every session in the programme. The number of free tickets will depend on the number of named speakers and the session’s duration. 

We give:
- 1 free ticket for a session between 45 and 60 minutes
- up to 2 free tickets for a 90 minute session
- up to 3 free tickets for a 120+ minute session 
We allocate free tickets to speakers in the order they are named on the proposal, unless you tell us otherwise. We also offer a discounted ticket for any named speaker who does not qualify for a free ticket.

Your speaker ticket includes:
- participation in the full event programme, including social activities
- lunch and refreshments at scheduled breaks

 If you have any questions about speaker tickets, contact us.

Expenses

We cover speakers’ travel and accommodation expenses in line with our speaker expenses policy. 

We will consider the financial cost of a session as part of our decision on whether to select it for the programme.

If we accept your session, we’ll suggest a financial amount to cover expenses, depending on your location. 

 Read our expenses policy here

Mentoring for new speakers

We like to help develop speakers and provide a platform for a range of backgrounds, experience and perspectives. 

If you’ve not spoken at Agile Manchester before, we can suggest someone suitable to act as a sounding board or provide mentoring to help you:

prepare your proposal
develop your session if it is accepted on the programme

 If you’re interested in being mentored, contact us as soon as possible.

Supplies

We provide standard supplies for sessions, like sticky notes, markers, pens and paper. We’ll cover the cost of, or supply directly, any additional materials you need to run your session, for example printing. Just tell us what you need when you submit your proposal.

Audiovisual equipment

We provide screens and connections to display material from speakers’ own laptops.

Local knowledge

We’ve run Agile Manchester for several years and know the local area well. Contact us if you have any questions about travel or accommodation, or if you want to know more about what to do or see in and around Manchester when you visit.

 Find out more about Manchester

What we expect from our speakers

If your session is included in our programme, there are a few things we need you to agree to as a speaker at Agile Manchester. Do not submit a proposal if you feel you cannot agree to these.

As a speaker you will:

  • abide by our Code of Conduct 
  • promote your session in the build-up to the event
  • deliver your session and otherwise participate in the event
  • respond to any requests we make to ensure your session is ready, such as making sure the review panel’s feedback has been addressed, or reviewing the programme or your slides 
  • avoid any activity before the event that would bring it into disrepute or violate the code of conduct
  • ensure you have the correct visa if you are traveling from outside the UK

Our full terms and conditions are set out in the submission form.

Are you ready to speak at Agile Manchester?

Submit your session here