Make Your Voice Heard at the Higher Ed Summit 2017!

By: Joanna Iturbe

Howdy! If you haven’t already heard, the Salesforce.org Higher Education Summit 2017 is in Austin, Texas, April 27-29. If you haven’t been to a Summit before, hold on to your horses, because it’s a boot-scootin’ good time full of great sessions and awesome networking opportunities. If you have been to a Summit before, then I’m sure you’re already hooked, like I am.

Even though the Summit isn’t for another three months, the Call for Proposals, to be a session speaker, closes Wednesday, February 8!

What does that mean to you? That means, if you haven’t already submitted one (or more!) proposals, click the link above and make sure your voice is heard at the Summit!

If you need more convincing, read on as I debunk the top 5 reasons I hear people use when they don’t submit proposals:

1. I’ve never presented before.
You have to start somewhere, and what better place to start than surrounded by some of the most supportive, collaborative and friendly colleagues this side of the Mississippi? As I have prepared to present at previous conferences, I found great support on the Power of Us Hub and among my co-workers in refining my content as well as getting feedback on the presentation. If you want to ease your way into presenting, you can submit a joint proposal with a colleague from your institution (or another institution!)

2. What if my proposal isn’t any good?
Have you ever heard someone say, “There are no bad questions”? Well, there are no bad proposals. If you have an idea, submit it. What’s the worst that could happen? (Hint: The answer is, it doesn’t get accepted…And, what’s so bad about that?)

3. But, I’m not an expert in the area I’m considering submitting a proposal.
If you have a story to tell, we want to hear it, regardless of your level of expertise. There’s a question in the submission form that asks what the ideal audience is for your presentation, and you can select one of the following: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Dean level and above. Choose according to how you believe your session will be presented. The point is, if you have a session idea, you should take the opportunity to highlight your university, the work you’re doing and yourself!

4. I don’t have the time to put together a proposal.
Rubbish. Have you seen the submission form? All you have to do is answer a few straight-forward questions, paste a brief bio, a 150-word abstract and the three takeaways you hope your session attendees will collect during your presentation. And, voila, your proposal is complete!

5. I don’t know if I’m going to the Summit yet!
This a great opportunity to help you figure it out. If your session is approved then you will have more weight with your higher-ups to get approval to attend, and if it doesn’t get accepted then no harm done, and we still hope to see you there!

In summary, submit early (well, it’s too late to submit early, but better late than never!) and submit often! I look forward to seeing all of y’all at the Summit, and I especially look forward to all of the great sessions I know our community will put together for a hugely successful 5th annual Higher Ed Summit!

Yee haw!