BILT ANZ 2020 Abstracts Now Open

It’s already that time of year again – spring is here and abstracts for BILT ANZ are open for submissions. While winter next year may seem a long time away, there is a lot of work for the BILT committee and our speakers, that needs to happen between now and then.

The first step is that some of you will decide to speak! Maybe you have spoken at BILT before, and maybe you haven’t (don’t let that stop you).  If you have a great idea for a class, give yourself the first chance and submit an abstract.  Whilst submitting an abstract might look pretty easy – it’s just 500 words and a few questions – getting accepted is a bit harder. With a bit of care and planning though, it’s possible to give yourself a better chance of success.

What we would like to see most is always great quality abstracts. We don’t need every class to be the latest shiny new technology. We want our delegates to come away feeling like they have both learnt a lot and been excited. Sometimes this means something new and sometimes this means teaching basics really well and providing those little tips and tricks that really help productivity or to get someone to the next level.

Little things like spell checking your submission and answering all the questions in full will help your submission a lot. If your topic is basic, or alternatively complex, to help you get across your ideas you might need to attach some documents – anything from an image, to a full presentation given elsewhere could help explain your idea and give your abstract the edge.

While we are always looking for traditional presentations, you can also get creative with your class structure. Maybe you need a whole day to teach a masterclass or maybe a workshop suits your content. Just remember you have to demonstrate to us that you understand your topic and you have the depth of content to suit the length and style of class you are proposing.

When preparing your abstract, it is always good to put the hat of the attendee on and ask yourself, is what I’m presenting something that I would attend, something that would extend my knowledge and make me feel like it was worthwhile? Because remember – the other attendees at BILT are people a lot like you!

Sessions that can offer the most benefit are where people are discussing their learnings within a project or practice viewpoint. Whether this is how they’ve developed a training programme, implemented a particular efficiency workflow or taken an outside the box approach to a problem, keep in mind, sometimes the best advice to share is what didn’t work so well, followed with what you’d do next time. While we don’t expect you to share all your secrets, one of the reasons people enjoy coming to BILT is the real project perspectives and insight they get from our speakers, rather than just glossy promotions.

To help you get started some of the specific types of sessions we always like to see are:

·  Technology – learnings from pushing the boundary of technology

·  Soft skills – Understanding the generation gap and how to harness this

·  Case study – what did / didn’t work at a project level and why… 

This year for the first time we will be doing blind abstract reviews, which means on our first review we won’t know who has submitted the abstract.  This will give all the best abstract ideas the chance to be considered purely on merit, with no bias or consideration of who the speaker might be. So, not only will you have to have a good idea to get through the process, you have to give us the confidence that you are the right person to present it!  Make sure you fully complete your biography – sell yourself up!  Particularly if you are a first time speaker at BILT, make sure you explain your other experience so the committee can get an idea of if you might be right for our audience, and for a 75 minute session – which is a long time.  Perhaps get yourself a co-speaker to help you out.

Abstracts are due on 17 November but please don’t leave it till the last minute! Give it the time and you’ll increase your chance of success.  Don’t forget, we also expect speakers to have permission from their company to present the material and attend the conference prior to submitting an abstract.

Any questions?  Get in touch, reach out to any of the BILT committee, our speaker managers Clay Hickling at clay.hickling@dbeinstitute.org & Melanie Tristram at melanie.tristram@dbeinstitute.org or find us on twitter @BILTevent.