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Anonymity Guidelines

Why is the CFP anonymous?

PyCon AU aims to curate a diverse and interesting lineup of talks. In order to review talk proposals with as little bias as is possible, we have made our proposal review process anonymous.

This may be different to the processes you have seen at other conferences, so we have created this guide for you. If you have questions that aren't answered here, you can email program@pycon.org.au

TLDR: Put any and all personally-identifiable information in the "Profile" section of your submission. This is where we want it to be!

Call For Proposals

Important: If we identify that you have included information that identifies you, the organisers will edit your proposal before the review process begins. We can't guarantee it will sound exactly how you intended it, so we encourage you to make very sure that you have removed identifying information before you submit your talk proposal to us.

How do I write a proposal that doesn’t identify me?

The basic guiding principle is to give only the information about yourself that is relevant to the talk. This means:

  • Don't include your name, your pronouns (he/she/they), or other references to your gender ("this guy", "her work")
  • Don't include links to your website, or videos of you giving the talk
  • Don't mention your affiliation with your employer or your project, unless it directly relates to the talk:

Irrelevant affiliation

The speaker, who is a Lead Canine Appreciator for Dog Patting Corp, will explore how to build a home automation system using MicroPython.

  • exclamation iconAvoid irrelevant affiliation that can identify who you are.

Relevant affiliation

This talk will explore the ways that the Dog Patting Corp team used Python to make their work patting dogs easier.

  • check iconOnly mention organisations in ways that do not identify who you are.

How do I tell you about myself and why I am the best person to give this talk… without identifying myself?

There is plenty you can say about your work without including your name, references to your gender, or other links. You can accomplish this even without referring to your employer’s name or affiliation with a project.

Things we want to hear about:

  • why you are passionate about this topic
  • research or work you have already done on this topic
  • research or work you are planning to do on this topic
  • what you’re interested in
  • what kinds of industries you are (or have been) involved in
  • what kind of experience you are bringing to this topic

Example 1

I have worked in the dog patting industry for several years and am particularly interested in the problems of how to pat extremely fluffy dogs. I have also worked on patting short-haired dogs. This experience gives me a unique perspective on the problem of dog patting, which I am looking forward to sharing with the audience.

I am also passionate about the history of dog patting, and have both attended and run several workshops on the cultural legacy of being nice to our canine companions.

Example 2

I started dog patting this year. I have a lot of thoughts about effective ways to teach dog patting to beginners, and I am enthusiastic about making other people's journeys into the world of patting dogs more enjoyable and accessible.