Guiding Principles

When selecting proposals, we will be guided by our foundational principles for the Forum:

We want to ensure that all speakers are highly experienced and high-caliber. We generally will not accept speakers who lack extensive experience and name-recognition.

All speakers should focus on substance and keep promotion to a bare minimum. A very brief mention of products and services is fine, but the Forum aims to avoid the more significantly promotional talks common at some other events. If speakers engaging in too much promotion, they will not be invited back.

Speakers should be interactive and engage the audience. Hands-on activities, using scenarios, and other techniques to facilitate the involvement of the audience is strongly encouraged. We understand that not all presentations lend themselves to interaction, and we are not rigidly requiring interaction. But we have a strong preference for proposals with interactive sessions.

Speakers should provide sophisticated and useful content.  We strive for rigor and practical takeaways. Even in Level 101 sessions, information should not be very basic and easy.

Speakers should be mindful that the audience consists of seasoned professionals with different backgrounds, from law to technology. Sessions should provide real value to the audience and should be respectful of the audience’s extensive experience. Jargon should be avoided wherever possible.

Sessions should aim for a good balance in speaker backgrounds. We are aiming to unite privacy and security, so we will look most favorably on session proposals that session proposals that are inclusive of both privacy and security as well as speakers with different backgrounds (law, technology, academic, policymaker, etc.).