2024 Speaker Request for proposals.
ABOUT MEWC
The Maine Women's Conference (MEWC) aims to bring women together to connect, educate, inspire, and empower each other to assume new and expanded roles in the workforce, our lives, and communities. We believe that empowering women strengthens society and that experiences change lives. Our conference is designed for participants who represent “every woman.” This woman resides in and out of the workplace, is involved in myriad lifestyles and endeavors, and is in pursuit of individual goals for herself, her professional endeavors, and her family.
CONFERENCE DETAILS
Our day-long conference will include a keynote speaker, breakout sessions, community building/networking sessions, an exhibit hall, breakfast and lunch, as well as a cocktail party at the end of the day. We are looking for high-energy, uplifting breakout sessions that include engaging learning opportunities that add immediate value. Each session will have 20-100 attendees and should be approximately 40 minutes long to allow ample time for Q&A.
CONFERENCE THEME
This year's conference theme is "Let's Influence Tomorrow!"
SUBMISSION PROCESS
HOW TO SUBMIT
To submit a proposal for consideration, applicants must complete the following Google form and upload all required proposal documents. We ask that you follow the following guidelines when submitting a proposal---
Stick to the requested word count for the title, description, and takeaways. If you need more space to tell us about yourself, your background, or your topic, please use the “Additional Comments” section.
Make sure the title and description of your proposal are strong and engaging, as we are looking for sessions that will grab the attention of our attendees.
Your description should set up the problem that your presentation will solve for audience members. Start with a question, statistic, or unusual fact or two to encourage the reader to continue reading the description. Once you grab their attention, follow with how you will deliver the solution to the problem. Include anything unique you offer as a methodology for learning.
Keep your “takeaways” simple and with a clear outcome. Three to five bullets should be adequate to communicate the value of your session. Be specific. Continue the phrase “You will walk away with….”
Since the style of our breakout sessions is designed for speakers to engage and interact with our audience members, we strongly consider how a speaker demonstrates their style of audience engagement. For this reason, we require a video of you as a speaker conducting a presentation to demonstrate who you are as a presenter. We understand that obtaining such a video is often challenging. Please feel free to record and submit a two- to three-minute video of you introducing yourself, your topic, and your objectives for your session, or link us to one of your social media events. Please visit our website and review the descriptions of sessions selected during previous conferences. https://www.themainewomensconference.org/2023agenda
DEADLINE
The deadline for proposal submissions is February 21. Proposals received after that date will not be considered.
TOPICS OF INTEREST
While we will consider a wide variety of presentation topics, we have chosen five areas of special focus to ensure we provide valuable programming to all women in Maine.
Personal Development: Session topics include things like confidence building, communication, self-reflection, mindset growth, and other areas of self-improvement.
Health & Wellness: Mental health, stress management, and physical well-being.
Family & Caregiving: Including raising children (all ages), marriage/relationships, caring for aging or disabled family members, and juggling family/home responsibilities.
Career & Professional Development: For working women, entrepreneurs, and business leaders.
Social Activism: Including volunteering and philanthropy; diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB); and issues affecting our communities throughout Maine.
Community Building: We plan to include one interactive session to encourage active social engagement and community building for our attendees. This will occur in the ballroom, so there will be room to move around throughout the session. We would love to hear your creative ideas for facilitating such an exercise.
WHAT TO EXPECT AND WHAT'S EXPECTED OF YOU
We anticipate speakers will dedicate a total of 3 hours to the conference. We expect speakers to dedicate the following hours to the following tasks:
TIME COMMITMENT
Pre-Conference
Once selected speakers are expected to attend a 30-minute meeting with the Programming Chair in March 2024, to discuss the conference in greater detail, workshop and content expectations, and event logistics.
Speakers will be expected to attend a 30-minute meeting with the Programming Chair before the conference to ensure alignment on tech and “run of show” in September 2024.
During the Conference
Speakers are expected to deliver a workshop that is 40 minutes during the conference
Post-Conference:
Speakers will complete an evaluation form from the MEWC, so the board can learn what went well and areas of opportunity for the future
BENEFITS FOR SPEAKERS
Selected speakers will benefit from MEWC’s active event promotion, including recognition on our website, emails, and social media.
Speakers are not financially compensated for their participation in the conference.
NEXT STEPS
We understand that creating a proposal takes a lot of work, and we want you to know that we value your contribution. The MEWC Programming Committee will review all submissions after the deadline and will contact all applicants on March 5 to inform them of the Board's decision.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to our programming chair, Astride Jeannot.