Swift Connection is the new FrenchKit, the French conference dedicated to Swift, iOS, macOS and the ecosystems of Apple technologies since 2016.

In 2023 we are back on September 21-22 for a 1.5 day conference around the development of Swift and iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS (and maybe more) apps!

**Key info**

• Swift Connection will be held in Paris on September 21-22, 2023
• All contents will be in English

**Format types**

Swift Connection will feature talks having the following kinds:

• Short: 15 minutes (~10 for the talk + ~5 for Q&A) in front of the whole audience
• Regular: 35 minutes (~30 for the talk + ~5 for Q&A) in front of the whole audience
• Classrooms: 75 minutes in smaller groups of ~30-50 people
• Masterclass: 75 minutes for a larger group of ~100 people

Short, regular talks and masterclasses will be recorded and published to YouTube and our Async Platform. (But feel free to let us know if you don't want your talk to be recorded.)

**Selection Criteria**

Our goal is pretty simple: scout the best talks for the community. That being said, we should give our definition of a “good talk”. For us, a good talk is a talk with:

• Intermediate to advanced tech topics (except for very new frameworks and APIs, such as recent Swift / Apple announcements).
• Practical and pragmatic contents, mainly related to code and technical practices (we want to get our hands dirty).
• Actionable takeaways, bringing elements that can be effectively used on a daily basis.

We also take some soft skills in consideration:

• Ability to make a clear synthesis of a topic,
• Ability to speak in English in front of an audience (to native French speakers: Tech Connection has some experience with French speakers not really comfortable with English, we can help on this).

Although not required, feel free to share your Twitter account, GitHub profile or past conferences videos!

**I’m a newbie, there is no chance for me** (or not)

Turns out, there is more than a chance! We'd like featuring both experienced speakers as well as newcomers to the stage. As a result, we always try our best to help inexperienced speakers to get the best out of their talks! That's why each speaker goes through a Talk Review process for helping him rehearse or fine-tune their talk.

That said, since it's quite time-consuming, please bear in mind that we won't be able to help every speaker fine-tune their talk. That's why we are limiting the number of newcomers on stage to 2-3 speakers. Also, in case you already gave talks at local meetups, let us know as it's usually a very good first step. In the end, everyone experiences the "imposter syndrome", don't let it restrain you from submitting a CfP!

You never made a talk in English in front of an audience? Here are 2 tips:

• If feel your English is not great: you can fix it by rehearsing your talk a lot
• Once on stage, no pressure! Also, you won't be seeing the audience, as the venue is dark!

TL;DR: most rockstar speakers made their first talk ever at an international conference: if you have a cool subject to share with the community: just apply to the CfP!

**I consider myself as diversity representative**

You’re more than welcome on stage! In fact, we strongly encourage you to apply to this CfP. According to our Code of Conduct, Tech Connection does not make any discrimination based on the people. We only filter by evaluating topics, talks proposals or skills mentioned above.

**Process**

The whole process - from the CfP to presenting at the Conference - is composed of 5 steps.

1. **CfP Opens**

From May 17 to June 18, 2023, 23:59 (Paris time) this page will be open to submissions.

2. **Talk Selection**

As soon as the CfP closes, the Content Committee will start the selection process, step by step:

• The committee removes all the really-off-topic proposals (e.g. a Marketing Automation talk).
• Every member of the committee reads each proposal, and gives it a mark.
• Once all proposals have been reviewed, the committee selects the ones with the best marks and further reviews them. At this point, the committee needs to build a coherent lineup - nobody wants to see the same topic twice in a day. That’s why we’ll return, for each talk, one among three options:
  • Accepted: congratulations! Your proposal has been accepted. You’re now a confirmed speaker.
  • Declined: unfortunately your proposal hasn’t been selected. It doesn't necessarily mean that’s a bad proposal, it might just be a coherence issue with the rest of the lineup.
  • Request for Modification: we love your proposal, but we have an issue fitting it with the rest of the lineup. We might ask you to change the format of the talk, or to focus on some parts more than others. Needless to say, feel free to accept or deny.

How long does it take? It mainly depends on the quantity and quality of the proposals we received. It takes a lot of time, and we prefer not to provide any date. That said, most of us have been speakers in the past and we know how stressful it is to wait for a CfP feedback: we’ll try to make this stress last as short as possible.

3. **Talk Preparation**

Before starting the preparation phase, please anticipate as much as possible to make sure you have everything to be able to travel to France (valid passport and visa according to where you're travelling from). If you have any trouble getting a visa or else, please let us know as soon as possible.

If you’re at this step: congratulations you’re now a confirmed speaker. We’ll quickly get back to you to manage all the logistics, travels and accommodation.

Meanwhile, feel free to reach us for any question you may have or for help prepare your talk.

About one month before the conference, we’ll make a talk review call. This 45-ish-minute call will cover:

• Last logistics details
• A review of your talk, with focus on these points:
  • Coherence with other talks (like: “this speaker explains X in a talk before, could you consider it as an intro to your subject” or “this speaker and you have opposite/similar views of this topic, can we setup a common Q&A ?”
  • An external point of view on your talk
  • Allow the MC to prepare your Q&A
  • Get all the technical details about your talk (to be sure that everything will be ready for you on D-Day.)
  • Early feedback on the format of your slides (cf “Your Slides” below)
• Any questions you might have.

If you need more help: don’t hesitate to ask for an early talk review call. It will help you to receive early feedback and gives us time to iterate with you on multiple calls.

4. **The day before the conference**

The day before the conference brings two major moments in your experience as a speaker:

1. We need to have a finalized version of your slides and/or contents (including fonts, images, videos, etc). Even if your talk is presented from your own computer, we’ll need to have a backup version (cf “Your Slides” below). It saved us a lot of stress in the past.
2. You’re invited to the Speaker’s Dinner! That’s the best moment to meet other speakers and all the team. All details will be sent before the conference. The dinner will usually take place at around 7 PM, at a location not far from the venue.

**5. Conference day**

We ask you to be in the venue at least 1h30 before your talk (for first speakers in the morning: 45 minutes is enough). However, we strongly encourage you to attend and enjoy the whole conference. As a speaker, you’re our guest.

If you need to rehearse your talk: we have an isolated and quiet space backstage for this.

All the details about conference day will be given at the speaker diner.

Your Slides

Unless specified otherwise, our projector supports an aspect ratio of 16:9, with a 1080p resolution. The venue room will be dark during the presentation, so adjust your colors accordingly (for example: avoid a full white slide after 5 minutes of dark content).

Please favor large font sizes for an adapted visibility and don’t forget considering high contrast between your background and your foreground colors in order to provide an accessible experience to the entirety of the audience. When audience reads your slide, they don’t listen to you. So: help them by making slides as readable as possible.

Also, we recommend avoiding including too much code in the same slide to avoid people trying to understand your code while you are speaking. Please note that font sizes, basic accessibility rules and text density will be reviewed during our review call.

**Code of Conduct**

Swift Connection is dedicated to providing a fun harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion.

You can find our code of conduct here: Tech Connection Code of Conduct.

**Travel assistance**

For confirmed speakers, we’ll be offering:

• A free ticket for the conference (of course!)
• A speakers’ dinner the evening before the conference
• Travel from your location to Paris if needed
• Accommodation for two nights in Paris if needed

**Team**

Swift Connection is brought to you by La Tech Connection (formerly known as The Guys From FrenchKit). Our editorial committee is composed by:

• Audrey Sobgou Zebaze
• Denis Poifol
• Julien Datour

**Question**

If you have any question about the conference, feel free to drop us a mail at [email protected] or take a look at our FAQ.