Hi there!

Thanks again for agreeing to be a speaker at this year’s conference. It’s no exaggeration that 80% of conference success comes down to having great speakers, which is why we’ve asked you to present.

Our goal is to make your speaking experience both enjoyable and productive. To that end, we aim to give you plenty of support, while keeping the administrative hassles down. (We’re also one of the few conferences that surveys speakers, not just attendees, after the conference to find out what we can do better next year.)

On this page, we’ve provided a range of resources for you. If you have any questions whatsoever, don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected].

On this page

1. Conference location
2. Conference dates
3. Important deadlines
4. Complimentary registration
5. Getting your flight paid for
6. Your speaker “buddy”
7. Preparing your presentation
8. Invite to the speakers dinner
9. At the conference
10. Presenting on the day
11. Post-Conference
12. Spreading the word about the conference

1. Conference location

Aerial UTS Function Centre. Building 10, Level 7/235 Jones St, Ultimo NSW 2007 Australia

2. Conference dates

Date	What’s happening
Wednesday October 18, 12.00pm – 2.00pm	Exclusive session for Step Two Forum members and international speakers
Wednesday October 18, 6.30pm	Speakers dinner
Thursday October 19, 8.00am	AV check for all speakers
Thursday October 19, 8.45am-5pm	Conference day
Thursday October 19, 5pm-7pm	Informal drinks and networking

3. Important deadlines

In order for us to best promote and organise your session and our full programme we will need a few things from you, please send them to [email protected].

Date	What’s due	More information
Thursday August 17	Finalise title, bio and outline
Thursday August 24	Submit draft session slides	PowerPoint or Keynote
Wednesday September 20	Cut-off date for travel reimbursements	If you are eligible for a travel reimbursement you will have been sent a travel reimbursement form
Thursday October 12	Final session slides	Presentations will be submitted via a dropbox link that will be shared with speakers closer to the conference date

4. Complimentary conference registration

All speakers are entitled to complimentary conference registration, and we will sort that out for you (if you have any dietary requirements please let us know).

5. Covering your conference expenses

If you’re traveling to the conference from overseas, interstate or more than 3 hours drive from Sydney we will help with some of your travel-related costs, as follows:

• Accommodation details are as per your individual speaker agreement. The official accommodation provider for DEX 2023 is the Four Points by Sheraton Sydney, Central Park.
• Meals will be catered for on conference day, and the speaker dinner, and conference accommodation includes complimentary breakfast.
• If airfare costs are covered in your speaker agreement, please return the travel reimbursement form alongside your flight confirmation details (no later than Wednesday, September 20).
• Any other expenses (including other meals and ground transport) will need to be covered by you.

6. Your speaker “buddy”

We want you to be a rockstar at our conference! Ok, that’s a big ask, but we definitely want you (and the audience) to enjoy the experience.

To help with this, a Step Two team member will be assigned as a “buddy” to each speaker to assist with the preparation of your session. This may involve session structure, assistance with content, delivery techniques and run through opportunities.

The involvement of your buddy will be at your discretion, depending on your experience and confidence. We’re here to help in any way we can, and your buddy will be allocated in the coming weeks at which point you’ll be contacted by them directly.

7. Preparing your presentation

The quality level is high and our experience is that the more successful sessions are generally the more visual presentations.

We do not require you to put any conference branding on your slides and prefer you to make the session your own.

To create your presentation,

• we request that you stick to using PowerPoint. Avoid using Prezi, Sway or other similar presentation software.
• Contact us ASAP if you desire to use your own device rather than the conference laptop.
• Presentations should be created in 16:9 format for a full screen format.
• Our conference is a vendor free event, we do not allow canvassing in any way and prefer that our speakers keep their sessions to an informative manner and avoid over promotion.

We will be planning session times over the coming months and you will be advised of the timing of your session in due course.

All presentations will be submitted via Dropbox (a link will be sent to you closer to the conference).

You can browse presentations from past conferences to get an idea of what’s expected.

8. Invite to the speakers dinner

We believe in making the conference worthwhile for speakers, not just for the participants on the day. To provide an opportunity for speakers to make connections, we’ve organised a pre-conference speakers dinner.

When: Wednesday October 18, 6.30pm – 8:30pm Where: Andiamo Trattoria, 9 Kensington St, Chippendale

This will be a special evening for speakers to get to know each other prior to the conference. It’s also completely free – our thanks to you for speaking at the conference!

Please advise the conference buddy if you will be in attendance, as well as any dietary requirements (we’ll understand if your travel bookings mean you can’t make it to the speakers dinner.)

9. At the conference

A few important details for the conference itself:

• It’s important that you actively participate in the conference, and we expect all speakers to attend the full event including the informal drinks and networking. Please do make yourself available after your talk to answer questions sparked by your rock-star presentation!
• You are expected to be at the conference venue at 8am for the AV check. Please contact us asap if this is going to be a problem for you.
• When you arrive at the conference, check in at the registration desk to collect your badge and touch base with the conference team.

10. Presenting on the day

• Please be present for an AV check at 8am on the morning of the conference. It’s important that you attend, to ensure you and the AV team are fully prepared and for you to meet the person chairing your session.
• The room will be set up with tables in open rounds, with dual projector screens.
• We’ll provide you with a headset microphone, clicker and comfort monitor. Afternoon speakers will also have a lectern. Ideally your clothing should be able to clip the lapel mic and attach the battery box to your waist. Outfits with belts or waistbands that can support the battery box are best.
• There will be a technician in the room to assist with any needs.
• To facilitate the smooth running of the conference, we discourage speakers from using their own laptops. Instead, your presentation will be pre-loaded on to the presentation system in advance (please also bring along a copy on USB just in case.)
• Please ensure that all fonts & videos are downloaded and embedded in your presentation with any audio or video snippets before submitted it in Dropbox. Also, save a copy of the font & video into the same Dropbox folder.
• The equipment we use has standard fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS, etc. If you use a non-standard font, again you will need to provide it to us with your presentation.
• Note that using your own laptop is only permitted if pre-approved by the conference team. In this case it is your responsibility to have a HDMI port or adapter.
• There will be a presenter screen/comfort monitor running in speaker mode at the front of the stage, showing your speaker notes (if any).
• Please advise the conference lead if you have any special requirements or challenging elements in your presentation e.g. internet, sound, video, etc.

11. Post-Conference

After the conference we ask that speakers are able to upload their presentation on Linkedin’s Slideshare for public viewing. We will ask you to provide the shareable link for us to embed onto your speaker page. This will allow delegates to have access to the PDF version of your presentation.

All presentations will be available to attendees via the Step Two speaker page in PDF format. Please contact us in advance if you do not want your presentation shared.

12. Spreading the word about the conference

While we’ll be shouting from the rooftops about this year’s conference, we do encourage you to promote your session and involvement with the event.

The hashtag will be #DEX2023

Please feel free to blog, tweet and encourage everyone to attend.