Finding presenters
We encourage you to find people willing to present at your celebration for free. Most of the time you can find people in your community or in nearby cities willing to give a presentation at no charge. There are many great IA thought leaders around the world willing to waive their speaking fee for your celebration, especially if the day is free to attendees.
Whether your day includes presentations, panel discussions, design slams or workshops, there are many ways to find people that are willing to present and take part in your location’s celebration.
The most convenient way to discover speakers in your area is to ask those that are active in your location. Whether they are well-known in your community, are less presentation-experienced but looking to expand their audience, work outside of our field but have knowledge that compliments the IA profession, or are an appropriate inclusion to speak to our global theme, your immediate network is a great place to start. Ask around and see who may be willing to speak, or ask if they know people who may be interested.
Some speakers are willing to travel for speaking engagements and may still be willing to waive their standard speaking fee. However, if you find a speaker from a different location, you may need to reimburse them for travel expenses and hotel accommodations.
If you’d like to pursue external speakers, we encourage you to be realistic about your fundraising prospects and fully consider the costs that will need to be covered before reaching out to speakers.
TIP: If you cannot find speakers in your location, try collaborating with another location within a close timezone and share a speaker through a live video feed.
REMINDER: If you invite national or international speakers, be sure to make it clear that accommodations such as hotel and travel will (or will not) be covered by your location. They will appreciate knowing early in the process whether expenses will be covered.
