Full speaker line-up¶

Every year, we look to bring a wide range of voices to the Write the Docs stage. Because the role of “documentarian” looks so different to each of us, we aim for a line-up that spans a good mix of practical, philosophical, and technical topics – with the odd whimsical one thrown in for good measure. We’re really excited about the presentations we’ve got this year – we hope you are too!

• Aaron Collier – Seeing your docs through different eyes: Mapping doc users’ experiences

• Kelly O’Brien – Surprise! You’re a designer now.

• Prerana Pradhan – Fostering Technical Writing in Developing Nations

• Ellie Farrier – Wild Geeks: Poetry in the Digital Age

• Ben Ahmady – Write the API docs before the API exists

• Jen Lambourne – The UK government meets docs as code

• Brian Lemke – How to launch your startup with good docs

• Arran Southall – Fostering Talent: Mentorship, Peer Reviews and Going Beyond Your Job Description

• Karen Sawrey – Disagree with “I Agree”. Enforcing better data privacy through the language of documentation

• Plamena Maleva – The Power of Empathy in Support Documentation: A 5-Step Guide

• Kayla Lee – The Super Effective Writing Process of Grammy-winning Artists

• Zachary Sarah Corleissen – Found in Translation: Lessons from a Year of Open Source Localization

• Ilona Koren-Deutsch – Inclusive environments are better: science says so

• James Scott – 101 to 404s: How to write great error messages

• Alison MacNeil – Documenting known unknowns

Head over to the Speakers page to see the full abstracts. We believe there’s something there for everyone to enjoy, and also something that will broaden your horizons a bit.

Call for volunteers¶

There is plenty to do during the conference and volunteers are essential to the success of all our events! We are looking for folks who are willing to help out during the conference. If you volunteer for two or more shifts (at an average of three hours each), you will receive a free ticket for the conference.

We are looking for folks to help out in these roles:

• Venue set up - Prepping the main conference hall on Saturday (after the boat ride), including preparing the registration desk, laying out swag, arranging writing day boards, and other light physical labor
• Writing day - Assisting the Writing Day coordinator, including general information inquiries, directing attendees to specific tables, helping writing day project leads with logistical questions, and other duties as assigned
• Registration desk/Info - Registering people in the main conference hall and answering any questions
• Speakers - Finding speakers and making sure that they’re where they need to be when it comes time to speak
• Talk Timing - Keeping track of the length of the talks and warning speakers when they’re running out of time
• A/V and tech support - Assisting presenters at the time of their greatest need while on stage - issues with slides, video, or audio portions of their presentation. Please apply for this role if you have some A/V knowledge; experience troubleshooting different operating systems is a plus!
• Unconference - Camping out in the unconference area downstairs, keeping the place in order, updating unconference room schedule, and so on
• Job Fair- Helping vendors set up their tables before the job fair, or helping with setting the room back for the unconference sessions that follow in the afternoon
• Venue take down - What’s more fun than setting things up? Taking them down! Helping with taking down the conference set up and leaving the conference hall better than we found it
• Prague expert - If you are a Prague local and would like to share your tips and recommendations or answer questions about places to eat, sightseeing, services, accommodation, or other events that are happening around the conference, we’d love to have you on board!
• Floaters - Other duties as assigned ;) Assisting with odds and ends, requests from other volunteers and organizers, as well as answering questions; overall, being generally helpful

If you’re not sure how to do any of these tasks, don’t worry, the organizers will be available for questions and any problems you may encounter. We also have a dedicated volunteer coordinator and some volunteers from previous years will join us again, so you will have support.

To register as a volunteer for the conference, please read and fill out the Call for Volunteers form. You will receive additional information by mid-July regarding shifts, detailed duties, and other updates to the volunteer duties and schedules.

Please email our volunteer coordinator Sasha Romijn at sasha@writethedocs.org if you have any questions about volunteering for the conference.

Tickets are going fast!¶

If you don’t have your ticket yet, now’s a great time to snap one up. Last year we reached capacity nearly one month before the conference, and this year we expect to reach it even sooner, so if you’re planning to come, don’t leave it to the last minute.

Buy your tickets here!

Diversity tickets reminder¶

If you are still considering whether to apply for our new diversity ticket program, head on over to the DiversityTickets.org Event page and check it out. This program is run in collaboration with the wonderful folks at DiversityTickets.org, a non-profit organization that shares qualifying events with various diversity organizations and helps people from underrepresented groups find events to attend.

Diversity scholarship tickets are free, and we hope to welcome more people from all walks of life to join our community. The deadline for applications is 7th July.

Please share this campaign with your social networks and encourage folks to apply if they are interested to join us!

Conference shirts¶

Following the success of our pilot last year, once again we’ll be selling t-shirts separately from your conference ticket. This is due partially to the logistics of sizing, ordering, and managing stock, but also to help reduce waste from the inevitable leftovers that we find ourselves with every year.

Head over to our Write the Docs Prague 2019 Pop-Up Shop and order this year’s shirt. We have several cuts and fabrics available, and we believe that you’ll be able to find the size and style that fits you. The campaign will run until 30th September in case anyone wants to order their shirts after the conference, but if you want to sport your new threads at the conference, we recommend to order at least 2-3 weeks in advance.

And don’t worry, you’ll still have our delightful Write the Docs Prague 2019 bags as a souvenir from the conference even if you decide not to order a shirt.

Thanks to our sponsors¶

We are so grateful to have our sponsors help in bringing these events to life every year. Thanks to the following companies for supporting the Write the Docs community:

Red Hat

Umbraco

Buildkite

Want to support our community? Head over to our sponsorship prospectus for details on how your company can get involved! We have several types of sponsorship available, including tables at the job fair that we’ll be hosting on Tuesday.

Stay tuned¶

Over the next weeks we’ll continue to publish updates about the various events and activities that make Write the Docs events such a unique experience, as well as the presentation schedule, trip planning tips, etc.

Hope to see all of you soon in Prague!

The Write the Docs Team