MTF 2024
Call for papers

From Panels to presentations, Manchester Tech festival provides over 200 speaking opportunities to the tech community

Bigger than ever, our core festival will take place 4th and 8th November across a number of venues in Manchester including Brooklyn Heights, Barclays Digital Security Hub (DiSH) and the iconic Victoria Baths.

This year, surrounding the core festival, we will be hosting a number of fringe events with our partners. This will take place between Monday 28th October and Friday 1st November. 

Across the two weeks, our speaking opportunities span over 20 different tech topics including StartUp ScaleUp, Cyber Security, Tech 4 Good, Pathways into Tech, Cyber, Software Engineering, Tech Quality and more!

So, whether you’re a seasoned speaker or its your first time, we are looking for a diverse range of speakers to bring our festival to life. We are proud of our truly inclusive and vibrant community and look forward to receiving your application.

Apply to Speak >

How to apply

To apply we ask for:

  • The proposed title for your talk
  • Description of your talk. This should be between 800-1000 characters long (roughly 200 words)
  • A biography. This should be between 500-700 characters and outline your past speaking experience and relevant career highlights
  • Whether you are happy to sit on a panel. This will not go against you in the evaluation process, it simply helps us to plan the festival!

 

We will also ask for your personal details including Name, Email, Job Title (Speaker tagline), and the company you work for. These will be used to process your application only. 

FAQ

Most frequent questions and answers

Manchester Tech Festival is split into several different tracks, that are showcased across the entire festival. We are looking for presentations in the following core areas:

Leadership, Pathways into Tech, Product, Tech Quality, Software Engineering, UX, Women in Tech, Tech for Good, Diversity & Inclusion, Neurodiversity in Tech, Start Up Scale Up, Cyber, Data and Cloud & DevOps, LGBTQ+ In Tech

In addition, we welcome applications that cover:

AI, AR, Blockchain & Cyrpto, Digital Transformation, Ecommerce, FinTech, Infosec, Innovation, Machine Learning, Mobile, Pathways into Tech, Product, Recruitment, Retail, Sustainability

Manchester Tech Festival is all about inclusion, whether you have spoken publicly before or attended a panel makes no difference to us. We encourage you to submit your ideas if there is something you feel passionate about, you’ve made a discovery or want to share your experience in the tech industry. No Idea is a bad idea! All we ask is that you are available on the dates shown above – and mark this clearly in your application using the tick boxes provided. 

Each year MTF receive an extremely high volume of speaking applications. Therefore we are unable to feedback on your application to speak. We will keep you application on file for up to 12 months and will only be in touch with successful applicants. 

Manchester Tech Festival is not-for profit project, and therefore we will not reimburse expenses associated with speaking. This ensures we can reinvest as much money as possible into making our events the best they can be.

Yes! We know that you may have a lot you want to talk about or expertise in more than one area, that’s why we welcome more than one submission per person. However, due to the number of applications we receive each year, we limit applications to a maximum of three per person. 

If this is your first time public speaking or you need a refresh, we’ve got you covered! In the lead up to the event we will be providing support sessions for those who are selected. Further to this we will provide a briefing session; an opportunity for you to meet your panel members and our moderators before the event takes place, so that by the time the main event is here you’re confident and ready to share your knowledge and experience with the MTF community.




Once you have submitted your application, a minimum of three expert judges will score your application in four main areas:

  • Relevance. Is your talk relevant to the categories you have chosen and the attendees of the festival
  • Creativity. Is your talk something new? Is it interesting and will it engage the audience?
  • Accuracy. Is your talk factually correct and can the content be substantiated if challenged?
  • Easy to understand. Is your talk easy for our audience to understand or is it just too tech heavy?

 

We will also take into consideration any previous speaking experience, but don’t let this put you off applying if you are new to speaking, we will simply use this to gauge where you would be best placed within the festival if you are selected!

Once your applications are scored, they will be compared with other applications by our entire judging panel. If selected you will receive an email with an offer to speak at the festival and must confirm this offer to us by the deadline given.

Our judging panel is made up of industry professionals from borth our sponsors and organising board. Our strict process ensures that all of our judging panel members remain impartial throughout the process and their expertise ensure we have the best talks throughout the festival.