S1 E8 Writing a Conference Proposal
Episode Audio
Joe Waddington shares what he learned after writing his first conference proposal.
Connect with Joe on LinkedIn.
Transcript:
The following transcript was auto-generated and may contain typos or spelling errors.
Amy Petricek
Welcome to the share what you learned podcast. I'm Amy Petricek, learning enthusiast and the host, the share what you learned podcast is designed for learning professionals to share something they're learning in the field of instructional design. Today, I'm talking to Joe Waddington about his recent journey of writing his first conference proposal. Joe, welcome to the show. Thanks, Amy. It's so lovely to have you here. Would you mind introducing yourself to us?
Joe Waddington
Sure. My name is Joe Waddington. I'm a elearning developer designer for the state of Washington, Department of enterprise services. We create elearning for all the state employees mostly around HR and leadership oriented stuff, stuff like ethics and sexual harassment, those types of things. I've been in the training field for about 20 years. But I I'm one of those accidental trainers. And I started my career out of college as a probation officer and took a position in the training department as a way to get a break from the caseload thinking, Oh, yeah, I just need a year or two break, and then I'll be back. And I never looked back, I never came back, went back to the probation world and just loved the training environment. So I've been here. I've been doing elearning development full time for about nine years now for eight or nine years. And this is really where my niches,
Amy Petricek
I first met Joe through our local ATD chapter, and got to chat with him offline and learn that he is truly a whiz at what he does. And despite maybe coming in through the back door, through another profession, golly, he knows his stuff. And I'm so excited to talk with you today about conference proposals, because I'm sure you have a wealth of knowledge to share with us, and I can't wait to hear all about it. So we're gonna like maybe start back at square one here, which is can you tell us a little bit about devlearn? For those who might be newer to the l&d space.
Joe Waddington
Sure, definitely is a conference sponsored by the learning Guild, formerly the elearning Guild. And but it's designed for learning professionals who want to explore some of the emerging ideas, strategies, best practices and technology in the training world. It is it is this massive conference. They do two a year one in Vegas and one in Orlando, that's the place in lots of panels, lots of exhibitors lots of opportunities to to network with people who understand the work that we do, and understand what it takes to develop quality training. And one of my favorite parts about devlearn is is demo fest. Demo fest is they clear out the ballroom. And they set up a bunch of individual tables and people do demos of stuff that they've developed over the year. And it's a great place to just walk in and look at all the cool stuff that people have done. Try and reverse it, reverse engineer it in your head and go get ideas for what you want to do when you get back home.
Amy Petricek
That almost sounds I love it. First of all, but my head immediately went to like science fair projects. Like there's like a room of people standing around showcasing all the cool stuff they've been learning and building and then they get to showcase it or share it with other people how
Joe Waddington
I had thought about that. But yeah, it's definitely like that. But it's stuff I care about.
Amy Petricek
Instead of like how to make a volcano, you know, hit or miss. Very cool. Well, and this last year was a bit unique because the dev learn. The big dev learn conference that happens in Vegas was virtual, but they're looking to bring it back to a face to face this coming October, correct?
Joe Waddington
Yes. Yeah, definitely. Right now, they they're saying that it is going to be live. And so I I have my fingers crossed, I missed the interaction with the people. I liked the virtual conference. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed it. But there's something about about just being surrounded by your people. You know,
Amy Petricek
I've never been to devlearn or not, not yet. I haven't checked it off my bucket list. But everyone who goes seems to have great stories, great takeaways, and just wants to like chitter chatter about it for a couple of weeks on end, because there were so many good nuggets along the way. So it sounds like as a learning development professional, it sounds like it's something you don't want to miss out on.
Joe Waddington
Yeah, it's it's kind of it's one of the one of the methods for us learning developer.
Amy Petricek
So dev learn is the very first conference that you've written your very first proposal for what drew you to take that leap? Um,
Joe Waddington
it was it was a process I'm always looking for for ways to kind of change changed the way I i experiences i'd attended a few years for three or four years now. And I've always entertained the idea of presenting. But but it was one of those things, it was nothing ever I really was ever proactive about. It was kind of a pipe dream. And it just seemed like a lot of work, it still seems like a lot of work.
Amy Petricek
Appreciate your honesty.
Joe Waddington
we got a new administrator on board. Her name's Wendy Andrus, lovely lady just amazing. And we were talking about my professional growth and development, and the importance that I be able to continue to, to learn about my work. There's, there's an old saying that says, even the cobblers kids need shoes. And I find in in, in the training world, we spend so much time teaching others and helping others to grow and learn that we don't take time to develop ourselves. And so this is when I first heard this, somebody say this, this kind of became my mantra in my push to go and expand my learning. And so I was expressed, explaining to her the importance of going to conferences like devlearn, and going out and experiencing these types of events, and how that would better the work that I was doing for the agency. And she asked me, if I'd ever considered doing a presentation for it. And I'm going, well, kinda sorta, not really. Okay. And it was really because of her and, and her planting the idea and kind of pushing me to to take that leap. When the call for speakers came out, I immediately thought of her my my kind of promise to her that I okay, I'll do this, clicking and dragging my feet along the way. And she definitely offered, she offered to help and kind of be my mentor and guide in this process and watch out for me and help me through the process. So yeah, I think a lot of it I attribute to hers is kind of forcing me to the to the edge and taking that step.
Amy Petricek
So the power of the gentle nudge? Yes, definitely. Yeah, well, it's that, I think so many times, we kind of, we do what we're comfortable with. And those things that push us a little bit out of our comfort zone, take that little bit of a nudge to be like, you're right, I should push myself just a little bit and try this new thing. And I'm gonna, like just say what you did was not just like a little thing, you did a really big thing. So Bravo.
Joe Waddington
You know, the There comes a time I think, where, where some, at some point in the conferences, and these types of events will become routine to an attendee where they they go, and they think they might have seen it, or have done it or are wondering really what they're what they're going to get out of it. And so sometimes just shifting the paradigm just a little bit, will help that. I know, I I'm a big geek, and I go to geek conferences all the time. And so a few years ago, I decided to shift the paradigm and, and instead of just attending volunteer to work there, and that really changed my focus on how I viewed these conventions, and really gave me a different interaction. The next year, I tried to go back as just an attendee, and it was it wasn't the same. I think I think forcing yourself to change that paradigm a little bit, really brings on new experiences.
Amy Petricek
Absolutely. I can totally see that. And will you ever go back to being just an attendee? Or no, you can't go back and
Joe Waddington
not that not the not at this conference that I work at? It, it totally is a different experience. That's good
Amy Petricek
to know. I think a lot of people don't have that complexity of experience. So a great thing you bring to the table there. Um, so when I'm thinking about writing a proposal, I think, well, there's this thought of like, Hmm, what should I put in a proposal to like I have a submitted proposal. So what were some of the resources or people that helped you get from that step one, I think I want to submit a proposal to it's actually submitted.
Joe Waddington
When the when the call came out from the learning yield. I said, Oh, gee, I better I better submit and then the next thought was, Oh crap, what do I talk about? And in trying to really find out what what I knew enough about to to be able to expound on for for 30 to 45 minutes and then that people would find interesting was was kind of the kind of a tough choice. And so I again went to Wendy and asked After a little bit, and, and she helped me narrow it down to my work with communities of practice within the state, I'd helped stand up two different elearning communities of practice one with the Department of Labor and Industries, and then again, at the statewide level, in department of enterprise services. And so it was really that experience of trying to build a community of practice and in, identify the values behind it, what, what it brings to the table, why they're important, and maybe a little bit of a case study approach to, to what we had to do at the agency and statewide level to get people to come. And so that was that was the first piece just tried to figure out what am I going to talk about? So after the after I landed on what the topic was, it was okay, how do I do this? How do I write this proposal, and the learning guild is, is very community friendly, they are very good at helping people who, whether it's your first time at one of their conferences, or in this case, the first time submitting a proposal for one of their conferences, and they had a webinar a couple weeks after the announcement came out. And it was hosted by or facilitated by Bianca woods, Mark Brits. I think that's his last name. And they are the they are the people who are going to be making the decisions around whether your proposal gets selected or not. And so they're doing the pre screening any of these entries. And they have this webinar that said, Hey, if you're a first time proposal, first time submitting a proposal, come join us. And it was an open q&a. It wasn't, hey, here's how to do it. It was just ask us any question, we'll answer it. Because if you have the question 10 to one, all these other people do as well, that really helped me identify what I was missing in the process, they had some really good guides on how to write a proposal, what worked, what didn't work, a really good example of what a good proposal looked like and what it included. And it helped me understand that, that my proposal had to be more than just a catchy title. And in order to get people to attend, one of the other things that they offered was a pre screening of your proposal. So if you got it done before the deadline, you can send it to them, and they would send it back to you with their thoughts and notes on how to make it better. And so I got mine done, I bounced it off all my people around me, and then finally sent it in. And Bianca Woods got back to me, and really helped me focus and flesh out the ideas. Take it from a presentation that anybody can do to a presentation that really applied to me and my story and my experiences. She helped identify the gaps that I had in in my proposal and really helped me make it my own.
Amy Petricek
I think what I love in all that is that the learning guild isn't trying to keep everything behind this secret mystery curtain, but that they really like peeled it back and said this is what it takes to be considered and, and to potentially join the conference. And I think I would feel so empowered, like I had the keys to unlock the thing.
Joe Waddington
Definitely, you know, sometimes you go to some of these conferences, and it's the same people speaking over and over and over again. It it really wasn't that you you get the feeling that they are looking for new faces, new voices, new new people to to join in the fold. Don't get me wrong there. There are some people who who, who present regularly at the conferences. And there are some people that as soon as I see their name on the list, I'll go flocked to their panel. Okay, that's a must go. But it's it, they are really open to the idea of having a broad spectrum of things that they have topics for their, for their panels, and having a broad spectrum of speakers for it.
Amy Petricek
Fantastic. If you could do this all over again, the process of writing a proposal, is there anything that you would do differently in your preparation process?
Joe Waddington
I think I would have reached out more to the people in my network, looking for people who had done this process before I was going in completely blind and really wasn't sure of what it would take Thought I could just come there with an idea and a catchy title and, and be able to BS my way through the process and get there. It took, it took more work than I was expecting to do to get it ready. It wasn't hard work. It wasn't heavy lifting. But it was just like I said, I thought it would be something that I could just fake my way through. It was interesting, because shortly after I submitted my proposal I posted on on LinkedIn, Hey, I got my proposal done. Yay, me. Now it's Dalits the hardship await process. Right. And immediately, I started hearing from people saying, Hey, I just did my first proposal to or last year was my first time getting in and I got accepted. And that there's some of the there were there were a couple people, hey, I've submitted five or six times, just got accepted. And so if if I'd been a little bit more proactive, I think reaching out to that network for their experience and, and their ideas and going through this process, especially those who'd been through it several times, and maybe hadn't got accepted the first time but got accepted the fifth or sixth time what changed or what shifted on there. And to make that happen?
Amy Petricek
Well, I think one of the things that stood out to me was just the humility you offered in that LinkedIn post. That's how I, I knew that you did this, and then reached out to you and said, Hey, I would love to hear what you're learning from that and chat with you on the podcast about it. And I think, you know, to put yourself out there in that way, and not know if your proposals been accepted yet is pretty courageous. And so I'm just giving you like a virtual high five, Bravo, my friend, Bravo,
Joe Waddington
Paul, and you know, I'm, I'm not super active on LinkedIn, I go there, I am kind of a lurker on LinkedIn. Look at all the cool stuff that everybody else is doing. And so and what blew me away was this is probably this post was probably my most active post, or paid it, it's like, wow, that's kind of cool.
Amy Petricek
Yeah, that's, that's incredible. You're leaving a footprint? I love it. So what was it encouragement? or advice would you give to someone who's never submitted a proposal as well,
Joe Waddington
I would say, take advantage of the resources that you have available to you attend any webinars or any help, that the the conference is willing to offer, whether it's learning yelled a TD, or, or any of these other groups, do some pre screening ahead of time, bounce your proposal off of your peers, your mentors, your co workers, anybody who's willing to take by the five minutes that it is to read to read your proposal and give you feedback. Look to those people around you that can act as a sounding board. And everybody has some good feedback, and everybody wants to see you succeed. And so utilize them. For the learning Guild, definitely go to their website. Like you said, they're very open to having a diverse group of speakers, and very helpful in that process. Their website alone for Hey, hey, do you want to speak at our conference? is amazingly helpful. Lots of questions, lots of FAQs, lots of resources for for those people who are doing it for the first time. And then don't be afraid to take that leap, take that step. It's definitely an adventure. And even if I don't get selected throughout this, through this process, it will be something that I'll go Yeah, okay. And maybe I'll do it again next year. I don't know the wedding will give me a choice, you might kind of keep nudging me and pushing me off that cliff,
Amy Petricek
the nudges are gonna get less and less subtle. I appreciate you sharing that. I think it is scary. And to hear for me, someone who's never submitted a conference proposal to hear that there are resources out there. I know firsthand that I can speak for, not for but about Bianca woods, specifically that she was posting stuff on LinkedIn saying, if you have questions, please reach out to me and was really offering that direct contact for people to for her as a resource. And so I'm, I'm encouraged and I don't know, maybe someday you'll find me speaking at a conference. Who knows? I am definitely there if you are. Oh, you're so kind. Thank you. Well, let's transition over to our rapid round questions. giome. Okay, we're starting out with learning is
Joe Waddington
social. It really is. It's when when you want to learn something, you know, you go to the interwebs or you go to the go to the YouTubes and look for resources, but sometimes it takes just talking to somebody and going How do I do this to really learn? And so learning is definitely a social aspect.
Amy Petricek
I will put both of my hands up. I'm a big time social learner. I'd much rather talk to someone about a thing than read about a thing. And I will learn it so much faster when I talk to a person
Joe Waddington
about it. Well, he did. Right now I'm trying to I've been playing disc golf. And I suck at it. And I just I watched YouTube videos going, Okay, yeah, that's not helping me. I'm to the point now where I need to go find a coach and find somebody who's going to be stand right there. Next to me and tell me why my throws aren't going as far as everybody else's.
Amy Petricek
Well, I can't wait to see where that journey takes you. It will be an amazing depth disc golfer before we know it. I'm sure.
Joe Waddington
I'd be happy just be an adequate for this play.
Amy Petricek
Fair enough. Fair enough. You're mustering up the courage to learn something new. What song do you put on
Joe Waddington
Spotify playlist? it I don't know that I have any one song that I go to. When when I'm in the working grind mode. It's It's It's instrumental music. When I'm when I'm in the grind of working and just want some background noise. It can be everything from musicals to heavy metal. Yeah, I have a very eclectic taste. And so I don't know that I have one song, it really just depends on the on the mood that I'm in. And so Spotify playlist just taught that a lot.
Amy Petricek
That's what the Spotify as I'm calling it, that that's why Spotify is there, right? It's great. The PlayList, we find the playlist we jam, that's what we do. Yep. So you're asked to do a brand new task with a skill set you do not yet have where do you turn?
Joe Waddington
Google? Google is my friend. And if I don't know something, I will turn to Google. And because there there's, there's a rule on the internet that if you can think it, it probably exist on the internet. And so I am getting old and my memories, like I said, and so I've had to go back and re relearn things. I was in working in Photoshop the other day and and how do I do that? I know, I know how to do that quick google search. Okay. That's how
Amy Petricek
I commonly refer to Google as the all knowing Google. Like, I don't know, but let's ask the all knowing Google like it will know. without learning fill in the blank.
Joe Waddington
without learning, life is stagnant. We are always learning some more often than others. But if you don't take time to learn, learn something when something new regularly, you grow stagnant. And so I think you have to continue to learn or, or you become this vegetable on the couch.
Amy Petricek
I do like vegetables but vegetable on the couch no fine. Job. What's the best way for someone to get in contact with you after the show if they maybe are wanting to write their first conference proposal or just wanting to get to know you a little bit better?
Joe Waddington
LinkedIn is probably the best way to reach out to me want to just get together and pick my brain or chat? Well,
Amy Petricek
thanks so much, Joe, for sharing all about your process of learning conference proposals today. Be sure to check out dev learn to register for this year's conference. I also want to give a shout out to you my listeners for learning with us today. Until next time, stay open, receptive and counting.