DEV Community: Benjamin Dunphy

How to write an effective conference talk abstract

Benjamin Dunphy — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 04:49:02 +0000

Introduction

There are many ways to grow your professional career: core competencies, specialization, networking, salesmanship. Yet these traits mean little if few people know about them. Therefore, one can and should promote these traits with blogging, tweeting, and contributing to open source. However, the apex of self-promotion is a conference talk — not just because it requires each of the aforementioned traits (with an added dose of bravery), but principally because it establishes you as a leader among your peers, and the unrivaled visibility it provides you.

Unless you're a seasoned speaker who's getting invited to speak at the event, your main tool for convincing the organizer that you're the right person to speak is the CFP. Below is a formula that will help you get the message of your talk across more effectively.

What an effective CFP submission looks like

When reviewing talks for Reactathon 2020, I had to read over 160 submissions. From there I parsed out the best talks, and discussed the top submissions with my committee. Here is the best abstract I came across that year:

Diagrams, user stories, tests, documentation. If you just sighed, you're one of many developers who know the hardships of keeping these vital parts of software in sync with the apps you develop. But what if there was a way to autogenerate these? Enter model-driven development.
In this talk, we'll explore how state machines and statecharts can be used to model even the most complex logic and automatically visualize, generate tests, produce documentation, and more. Learn how to leverage models, save time, and ship faster, more robust React apps .

This is an abstract by then-Microsoft software engineer (now Stately founder) David Khourshid. What makes this such an effective abstract is the format, the deliberate sentences, and what each sentence represents.

Sentence 1 is the Statement/Hook. It communicates what the talk is about with concise language:

Diagrams, user stories, tests, documentation.

Sentence 2 states the problem. It even evokes a bit of empathy and emotion:

If you just sighed, you're one of many developers who know the hardships of keeping these vital parts of software in sync with the apps you develop.

Sentence 3 introduces intrigue and teases a solution. In this instance, it’s in the form of a query and a statement:

But what if there was a way to autogenerate these? Enter model-driven development.

The final sentences describe precisely what we’ll learn:

In this talk, we'll explore how state machines and statecharts can be used to model even the most complex logic and automatically visualize, generate tests, produce documentation, and more. Learn how to leverage models, save time, and ship faster, more robust React apps.

The entire abstract is simple, elegant, and effective.

What a CFP submission should NOT be

In reviewing the talk submissions for Reactathon, there were so many poorly-written abstracts that I had to suffer through. This is not surprising, since effective writing is a skill, not an innate talent. But like any skill, it can be learned.

For the purposes of education, I’ve selected a random talk submission that was rejected. I literally scrolled and picked one that didn’t ramble on for too long. The author shall remain anonymous. If you find that this is yours, please don’t take this as an insult. I hope that you see this for how it’s intended: constructive criticism for the community to learn a new skill to make their next talk submission more effective. Even if I do get a little carried away with the adjectives sometimes.

Here is the random bad submission I selected:

Gatsbyjs is a very fast piece of software, and it's fast in many different ways: scalability via CDNs, Progressive Web Apps, prefetching, and more. Gatsbyjs is not only a static site generator for creating static sites, but it can also help teams build complex applications very fast thanks to its modern web tech like React, Webpack, and GraphQL. In our experience, these modern tools enable cross-functional teams to work very fast by facilitating the interaction between design and development. That being said, Gatsbyjs has its limitations and it can’t build any website. In this talk, we'll discuss two projects where Gatsbyjs was used to build the solution, one project to which Gatsbyjs worked very well, and another project where in the middle of the project it turned out Gatsbyjs was not a good tool for the problem.

Breaking down a poor CFP submission

Here are the main issues with the above CFP submission, as read from top to bottom:

The first sentence is incredibly dull. Additionally, it’s a run-on sentence.
Great, more about Gatsby. But what’s the problem? Why do I care? Oh, buzzword technology eh? Will that pique my interest?
Oh, so you have experience with this? Huh.
“That being said...” Ok so now you’re negating the positives you just stated, and planting another negative in my mind. Why?
Finally, I’m learning what this talk is about: 1 project where Gatsby worked well, and 1 project where it didn’t. Great, so why did it take so long to understand that? Did any readers actually get to this point?

How to improve a poor CFP submission

Here’s how I turned this poor abstract into a more effective one, using the same 4-step method from David’s abstract above:

If you’re like me, you love static frameworks for their simplicity & the wonderful developer experience. However, this simplicity doesn’t always scale. But what if we could use these same frameworks for larger, more complex applications?
In this talk, we’ll discuss how to scale a static web app beyond its usual limits. Paired with a Gatsby framework, we’ll leverage modern web technologies like Webpack and GraphQL to make a scalable architecture that allows cross-functional teams to move fast. By the end of the talk, we’ll understand when and how to use a static framework like Gatsby for more complex scenarios, and how they might limit you at your own organization.

How the improved CFP breaks down:

If you’re like me, you love static frameworks for their simplicity & the wonderful developer experience. // Simple. Positive. Hook the reader into wanting to reading more.
However, this simplicity doesn’t always scale. // Problem-statement; plainly-stated.
But what if we could use these same frameworks for larger, more complex applications? // Intrigue, and tease a solution to the problem.
In this talk, we’ll discuss how to scale a static web app beyond its usual limits. Paired with a Gatsby framework, we’ll leverage modern web technologies like Webpack and GraphQL to make a scalable architecture that allows cross-functional teams to move fast. By the end of the talk, we’ll understand when and how to use a static framework like Gatsby for more complex scenarios, and how they might limit you at your own organization. // Concise statements about what the attendee will learn from this talk.

Would this talk get accepted at Reactathon, or another conference? I’m not sure. 2022 is not 2020, so static websites are not as hot as they once were — at least not in the same way. The content of any talk is extremely important. But if you’re submitting a subject to a conference, the first thing that will be considered apart from the subject matter is how it is presented. Many others will likely present similar content, and therefore it is up to how you present and sell that content — and your presentation — that determines whether or not your talk will be accepted.

Conclusions

Conference speaking

It is better to be invited to speak at conferences than to submit to CFPs. But you will not be invited until you have mastered the CFP submission in addition to the art of speaking. And you will not be continuously invited unless you speak frequently and/or you are active on blogs, twitter, open source, etc. The more visible and productive you are, the better your chances of being a featured/invited speaker at a conference.

CFP Tips

Remember when I told you that I received over 160 submissions at Reactathon 2020? I didn’t just turn away people I didn’t know. I turned away many well-known senior and staff engineers at Flexport, Netflix, Google, GitHub, Adobe, and countless others. Many of these abstracts fell into the “great” category, as did the subjects they were about, and were the speakers who wanted to present them. But there’s a limited amount of space and time at an event, and only so many openings on the schedule that an organizer can fit.

At the end of the day, it’s a numbers game. So submit early, and submit often -- and don't take it personal if you are not accepted.

A winning formula

When you’re starting your speaking career, you may consider following this formula:

Organize your thoughts effectively with a blog post (public or private)
Reduce the blog post to an abstract of 4 - 6 sentences using the above formula
Get really good & comfortable at talking about that subject and other subjects, verbally & out-loud (at least on-camera, in-person if possible)
Speak about this topic and other things you are an expert on and passionate about
Speak anywhere and everywhere. Analyze your talks and improve
Cut out “umms” if you can. Don’t be afraid of dead air — it can be powerful
Learn about effective body language and power poses

Got any specific questions? Follow me and tweet me @benghamine with any questions. DM’s always open! And check out Reactathon -- we're back IRL in 2022!

Full list of in-person React conferences in 2022

Benjamin Dunphy — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 21:20:57 +0000

React is a JavaScript library for building modern, powerful user interfaces. It was developed by Facebook engineers and introduced to the world in 2013 as an open source project. Today, it has emerged as the dominant frontend tool preferred by developers -- leading other libraries and frameworks in usage, adoption, developer experience, and interest.

Conferences are beneficial to engineers and their companies for so many reasons. Here are just a few:

Stay up to date. Learn from experienced engineers, maintainers, and core contributors who present what they've been working on the last year (or 2, or 5). JavaScript and React are ever-evolving, and to fall behind these changes is to invite problems into your code and company.
Gain perspective & insight. Conferences aren't just about the talks -- you will also engage in conversations about the technology you love with engineers from other companies. They may help you to solve a problem you've been having, or see something in a way that you and your company have never thought about.
Get inspired. There is something magical about putting hundreds of like-minded folks -- each with their own unique experiences -- in the same location for a day or two. It's thrilling to experience the connections you'll make with other engineers, which brings direct benefit back to the company in terms of education, perspective, and inspiration.

Know any other reasons why you should attend a conference? Leave a comment below.

Here is the full list of conferences dedicated exclusively to React (so far) happening IN-PERSON around the world in 2022:

React Live

Date: April 1, 2022
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Indoors or Outdoors?: Indoors
Notable Speakers: Maggie Appleton, Nader Dabit, Michael Jackson, Debbie O'Brien and more.
Venue: Theater Amsterdam
Hotel Room Block: No, but provide a recommended hotel link
Accepting talk proposals: Closed
Website: https://www.reactlive.nl/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reactlivenl
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, bowling, laser tag
Covid Safety:

Requirements EITHER full vaccination OR valid negative PCR test OR recovery certificate
Require Masks? No
Require Social Distancing? No
Event Outdoors? No
More Covid safety info here

Sponsors: Passionate People, Edge & Node, Storyblok, Sourcegraph
Sponsorship Guide: Yes
Diversity/Scholarship: No
Price: €214 EUR
Workshops: No
About:
An exclusive Full Day In-Person React Conference hosted at the Greatest Conference Venue in the World here in the beautiful city of Amsterdam in The Netherlands. We are ecstatic to announce the return of React Conference Live which last time hosted 800+ Attendees in 2019. You will have the unique opportunity to learn, mingle, network and have fun with colleagues at Theater Amsterdam. Watch 15 React Experts share their knowledge in-person on the tremendous stage of Theater Amsterdam on Friday 1st April 2022.

Highlights/Marketing Video:

React Miami

Date: April 18 - 19, 2022
Location: Miami Beach, Florida
Indoors or Outdoors?: Indoors
Notable Speakers: Tejas Kumar, Nader Dabit, Jenn Creighton, Kent C. Dodds and more.
Venue: Miami Beach Convention Center
Hotel Room Block: No information
Accepting talk proposals: Closed
Website: https://www.reactmiami.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReactMiamiConf
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, + free access to eMerge Americas Conference
Covid Safety:

Require Vaccination? No
Require Negative Test for Admission? No
Require Masks? Yes
Require Social Distancing? Yes
Event Outdoors? No
More Covid safety info here

Sponsors: None
Sponsorship Guide: Pricing & tiers here, full guide on request
Diversity/Scholarship: Yes. Deadline March 11
Price: $749 USD
Workshops: No
About:
The first React Conference in Miami for and by the community located just four blocks from the beach with the Miami Beach Botanical Garden right outside event doors! We're bringing together industry leaders to share the latest in React ranging from technical writing to web3 and everything in between! React Miami will be organized April 18 - 19, 2022 at the Miami Beach Convention Center within the eMerge Americas Conference gathering 400+ React developers to learn, have fun, network, and mingle.

Reactathon

Date: May 3 - 5, 2022
Location: Berkeley, CA
Indoors or Outdoors?: Fully-outdoors
Notable Speakers: Ryan Florence, Kent C. Dodds, Lydia Hallie, Simona Cotin, Jenn Creighton and more.
Venue: Cal Shakes Bruns Amphitheater & Grounds
Hotel Room Block: Yes, coming soon (downtown Berkeley, CA)
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Closes EOD February 24, US-Pacific time.
Website: https://www.reactathon.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reactathon
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, workshops, topic tables, onsite & offsite afterparties, social activities, hiking tours, unconference icebreakers
Covid Safety:

Require Vaccination? Yes
Require Negative Test for Admission? Yes
Require Masks? Tentatively no
Require Social Distancing? Tentatively no
Event Outdoors? Yes; fully-outdoors
More Covid safety info here

Sponsors: Vercel, Hasura, Auth0, Stately AI, Lumigo, Prisma, Sanity,
Sponsorship Guide: Yes. Email here for the full sponsorship guide
Diversity/Scholarship: Yes. Deadline March 24.
Price: Starting at $499 USD
Workshops: Yes, in-person & sold separately (May 3 & May 6). Announcing February 2

About:
Since 2017, Reactathon has brought frontend and fullstack engineers together to learn, connect, and inspire. For 2022, we return in-person at a beautiful outdoor venue in San Francisco's East Bay. With the addition of the optional Serverless in the Park on May 5, you'll enjoy 2.5 days of talks from industry leaders, 6 different workshops, and true connections with your peers. There's so much to look forward to & experience! Note: The author of this blog post is the organizer of Reactathon.

Highlights/Marketing Video:

App.JS Conf

Date: June 3 - 4, 2022
Location: Krakow, Poland
Indoors or outdoors? Unknown
Notable Speakers: Unknown
Venue: Unknown
Hotel Room Block: No
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Deadline unknown.
Website: https://appjs.co/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/appjsconf
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks
Covid Safety:

Require Vaccination? Unknown
Require Negative Test for Admission? Unknown
Require Masks? Unknown
Require Social Distancing? Unknown
Event Outdoors? Unknown
No covid safety info provided as of this writing

Sponsors: None. Partners: Expo, Software Mansion
Sponsorship Guide: Yes
Diversity/Scholarship: Unknown
Price: Unknown
Workshops: Unknown

About:
App.js is an appreciation event for the open-source and React Native community. Check out the previous edition and join us in 2022!

React Summit

Date: June 17, 2022
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Indoors or Outdoors?: Unknown
Notable Speakers: Ken Wheeler, Sunil Pai, Anjana Vakil, Sara Vieira and more.
Venue: Unknown
Hotel Room Block: No
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Deadline March 20.
Website: https://reactsummit.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reactsummit
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, workshops, city tours, afterparty, community pre-parties & meetups
Covid Safety:

Require Vaccination? Unknown
Require Negative Test for Admission? Unknown
Require Masks? Unknown
Require Social Distancing? Unknown
Event Outdoors? Unknown
No covid safety info provided as of this writing

Sponsors: None
Sponsorship Guide: Yes
Diversity/Scholarship: Yes, although no application present on website.
Price: Starting at €510 EUR
Workshops: Yes, free online workshops

About:
React Summit is an annual conference on all things React, gathering thousands of Front-end and Full-stack engineers from around the world. Originally exclusively in-person, React Summit now offers a hybrid format with both remote and in-person participation. This year, the format of the event will be hybrid, with the first day streamed from the Amsterdam venue including hybrid networking features and interactive entertainment; and second day, as well as the numerous free workshops, streamed to the global audience online.

Highlights/Marketing Video:

React Finland

Date: May 30 - June 3, 2022
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Indoors or Outdoors? Unknown
Notable Speakers: TBD
Venue: TBD
Hotel Room Block: Unknown
Accepting talk proposals: Unknown
Website: https://react-finland.fi/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReactFinland
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Unknown
Covid Safety:

Require Vaccination? Unknown
Require Negative Test for Admission? Unknown
Require Masks? Unknown
Require Social Distancing? Unknown
Event Outdoors? Unknown
No Covid safety info available yet

Sponsors: None
Sponsorship Guide: Unknown
Diversity/Scholarship: Unknown
Price: Unknown
Workshops: Unknown

About:
No info for 2022 yet. From 2020 event: React Finland combines the Finnish React community with international flavor. In this single track event you will learn more about React and surrounding topics while meeting some of the leading talents of the community. In addition to enjoying the event, this is your chance to explore Finland.

Highlights/Marketing Video:

Render(ATL)

Date: June 1 - 4, 2022
Location: Atlanta, GA
Indoors or Outdoors? Indoors
Notable Speakers: Ryan Florence, Cassidy Williams, Jason Lengstorf, Aisha Blake, David Khourshid and more.
Venue: The Gathering Spot
Hotel Room Block:Yes, $180/night
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Closes Dec 31, 2019.
Website: https://www.renderatl.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/renderATL
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, Workshops, Day 4 music festival
Covid Safety:

Require Vaccination? Either Vaccine OR Negative test. Vaccination requirement includes booster
*Require Negative Test for Admission? * Only if unvaccinated
Require Masks? Unknown
Require Social Distancing? No
Event Outdoors? No
More Covid safety info here and here

Sponsors: Formidable
Sponsorship Guide: By request here
Diversity/Scholarship: Yes; closed.
Price: Starting at $550 USD
Workshops: Yes, on day 1. Workshops unknown
About:
Waffles and wings. Collards and code. A music festival. RenderATL is the four-day software engineering conference & music festival featuring your next career opportunity with expert speakers in tech covering upcoming and current best engineering practices, engineering leadership, accessibility practices, and more.

Highlights/Marketing Video:

React Next

Date: June 28, 2022
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Indoor or Outdoor? Indoor
Notable Speakers: Unannounced
Venue: David Intercontinental Hotel
Hotel Room Block: Unclear, but the event is held at a hotel
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Deadline Feb 15.
Website: https://react-next.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reactnext
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: 2 tracks of talks, networking and games, jobs and partner opportunities
Covid Safety:

Require Vaccination? Unknown
Require Negative Test for Admission? Unknown
Require Masks? Unknown
Require Social Distancing? Unknown
Event Outdoors? No
No covid safety info on conference website; footer URL directs to a government website for a "green pass"

Sponsors: None
Sponsorship Guide: Available on request
Diversity/Scholarship: No
Price: Starting at 680 ILS
Workshops: No
About:
Since 2016, ReactNext has been Israel’s largest and most prestigious conference for the React framework. The all technical conference brings top local and international speakers to share their experiences with over 1,000 developers in Israel and from all over the world. The conference features advanced topics aimed for experienced developers, team leaders, and consultants. And a great oppurtinuty R&D and product managers to evaluate the business advantages of React.

Highlights/Marketing Video:

That's the entire list as of January 2022! If you're the organizer of one of these conferences and you see missing/incorrect information, contact the author at ben@realworldreact.com to update it.

Is your event missing from this list? Contact the author at ben@realworldreact.com to get it listed!

Consider tweeting, emailing, or otherwise sharing this article with your network and friends to help strengthen the React community!

Full list of React Conferences in 2020 👩‍🏫 ⚛️ 🤝 ⚛️ 👨‍🏫

Benjamin Dunphy — Thu, 26 Dec 2019 19:43:40 +0000

Conferences are beneficial to engineers and their companies for so many reasons. Here are just a few:

Stay up to date. Learn from experienced engineers, maintainers, and core contributors who present what they've been working on the last year (or 2, or 5). JavaScript and React are ever-evolving, and to fall behind these changes is to invite problems into your code and company.
Gain perspective & insight. Conferences aren't just about the talks -- you will also engage in conversations about the technology you love with engineers from other companies. They may help you to solve a problem you've been having, or see something in a way that you and your company have never thought about.
Get inspired. There is something magical about putting hundreds of like-minded folks -- each with their own unique experiences -- in the same room for a day or two. It's thrilling to experience this connection you'll make with other engineers, which brings direct benefit back to the company in terms of education, perspective, and inspiration.

Know any other reasons why you should attend a conference? Leave a comment below.

Here is the full list of React conferences (so far) happening around the world in 2020:

React Barcamp

Date: February 1 - 2, 2020
Location: Cologne, Germany
Notable Speakers: None. A barcamp is similar to an unconference.
Venue: RTL Media Group
Hotel Room Block: No
Accepting talk proposals: No
Website: https://react-barcamp.de/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReactBarcamp
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Unstructured discussion in the Barcamp/Unconference format
Sponsorship Guide: Unknown
Diversity/Scholarship: Yes. Contact barcamp@kitconcept.com. No formal application available.
Price: Free
Workshops: No
About:
A Barcamp is an event shaped by your contribution. Rather than having scheduled speakers, you will have the opportunity to talk about what is important to you. Anyone with something to contribute in the context of user experience is welcome to join. The goal is to share what you know, to learn from others, to ignite discussion, and to connect in an open environment.

ReactConf AU

Date: February 27 - 28, 2020
Location: Sydney, Australia
Notable Speakers: Tejas Kumar, Diana Mounter, David Khourshid, and more.
Venue: Doltone House
Hotel Room Block: Sort of. They offer various accommodation packages.
Accepting talk proposals: No
Website: https://reactconfau.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reactconfau
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks
Sponsorship Guide: Yes
Diversity/Scholarship: Yes. Deadline January 5
Price: $990 AUD
Workshops: No
About:
ReactConf AU is the biggest gathering of local and international React developers ever to take place in the Southern Hemisphere. ReactConf AU is brought to you by your friends at Thinkmill.
Learn stuff, hang out with the global React community, and make React history on Australia’s famous Sydney Harbour during summer.

Reactathon

Date: March 30 - 31, 2020
Location: San Francisco, CA
Notable Speakers: Guillermo Rauch, Cassidy Williams, Ryan Florence, Kent C. Dodds and more.
Venue: Hilton San Francisco Union Square
Hotel Room Block: Yes. Hilton San Francisco Union Square
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. January 15 priority deadline, February 1 final deadline
Website: https://www.reactathon.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reactathon
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, workshops, hiring mixer, topic tables, meetups and afterparties, social activities, city tours
Sponsorship Guide: Yes
Diversity/Scholarship: Yes. Deadline March 1.
Price: Starting at $599 USD
Workshops: Yes, sold separately (March 30):

React Suspense Workshop - Kent C. Dodds
Build a Modern JAMstack app with Gatsby, GraphQL, & Serverless - Swizec Teller
GraphQL for Frontend Developers - Eve Porcello
Intro to Modern React using Hooks - Ben Ilegbodu

About:
Reactathon is the San Francisco React Conference featuring 2 days of technical talks, networking, workshops, & activities on all things React. Come hang out with and learn from some of the brightest minds and best speakers in the JS/React community. Note: The author of this blog post is the organizer of Reactathon.

Highlights/Marketing Video:

React Summit

Date: April 15 - 17, 2020
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Notable Speakers: Michel Weststrate, Parris Athena, Kent C. Dodds, Sara Vieira and more.
Venue: Kromhouthal
Hotel Room Block: No
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Deadline January 31.
Website: https://reactsummit.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reactamsterdam
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, workshops, city tours, community pre-parties & meetups
Sponsorship Guide: Yes
Diversity/Scholarship: Yes, although no application present on website.
Price: Starting at €530 EUR
Workshops: Yes, sold separately (April 15 - 16):

Building WhatsApp in a Day with React Native and GraphQL - Vladimir Novick
Building your First Design System: from Scratch to Production - Siddharth Kshetrapal
React Native - Unknown
Test React Applications - Kent C. Dodds
React Performance - Kent C. Dodds
React Native Animations - Vladimir Novick
CSS in JS - Oleg Isonen
GraphQL - Kitze
Advanced React - Alex Lobera
Typescript for React Devs - Michel Weststrate

About:
A full-day, two-track conference on all things React, gathering Front-end and Full-stack engineers across the globe in the tech heart of Europe. Mark your calendars for the biggest React community event. Next to the main conference day, be prepared for a number of hands-on workshops, pre-party meetups, and mini conferences throughout the week of the event.

Highlights/Marketing Video:

App.JS Conf

Date: April 23 - 24, 2020
Location: Krakow, Poland
Notable Speakers: Nader Dabit, Quinlan Jung, Evan Bacon and more.
Venue: Kijów Cinema
Hotel Room Block: No
Accepting talk proposals: No
Website: https://appjs.co/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/appjsconf
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, workshops
Sponsorship Guide: Yes
Diversity/Scholarship: Yes. Deadline January 15.
Price: Starting at €185 EUR + 23% VAT
Workshops: Yes, sold separately (April 23):

Getting Started with React Native - Brent Vatne
Creating universal web apps with Expo and React Native for Web - Evan Bacon
React Native declarative gestures and animations - William Candillon
React Native Performance - Stanislaw Chmiela
AWS Amplify - Nader Dabit

About:
The very first Expo & React Native conference in Europe. A hands-on two-day conference with workshops and talks on React Native from Expo and Software Mansion.

React Day Bangalore

Date: April 25, 2020
Location: Bangalore, India
Notable Speakers: Unannounced
Venue: Unannounced
Hotel Room Block: No
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Closes Dec 31, 2019.
Website: https://reactday.in/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReactDayIn
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talk
Sponsorship Guide: Unclear. Contact reactday@neostack.com
Diversity/Scholarship: No
Price: Starting at ₹3,500 INR
Workshops: No
About:
A one day conference fully packed with amazing talks and panel discussions on topics related to React and React Native. You get an opportunity to network with 500+ enthusiastic react developers at this conference.

Render(ATL)

Date: May 4 - 6, 2020
Location: Atlanta, GA
Notable Speakers: Ken Wheeler, April Speight, Christian Nwamba, Sophie Alpert, and more.
Venue: The Gathering Spot
Hotel Room Block:Yes, use group code "REN"
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Closes Dec 31, 2019.
Website: https://www.renderatl.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/renderATL
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks
Sponsorship Guide: Email sponsor@renderatl.com for the sponsorship guide
Diversity/Scholarship: No
Price: Starting at $499 USD
Workshops: No
About:
RenderATL is the first major React conference in the Southern United States. Conceived by a team of passionate React engineers who're looking to help drive more diversity, inclusion, and, accessibility into the React ecosystem. With these goals in mind, what better place to hold the conference than the South's very own melting pot – Atlanta! The South's got something to say. Will you be a part of it?

React Europe

Date: May 14 - 15, 2020
Location: Paris, France
Notable Speakers: Lee Byron, Madalyn Parker, Josh Comeau, Shruti Kapoor, and more.
Venue: Palace of Paris-Est Congress
Hotel Room Block: No
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Closes January 19.
Website: https://www.react-europe.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReactEurope
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, workshops, Hackathon
Sponsorship Guide: Email reacteurope@eventlama.com for the sponsorship guide
Diversity/Scholarship:Yes
Price: Starting at €449 EUR (plus €89.80 VAT)
Workshops: Yes. May 12, 13, 16:

React Native workshop - Eric Vicenti & Jon Samp
Modern forms in React - Erik Rasmussen
Build a professional Next.js app with the core team - Joe Haddad & JJ Kasper
FullStack React with GraphQL & AWS Amplify - Nader Dabit
Build great websites and apps using Gatsby.js - Josh Comeau & Madalyn Parker
TypeScript for React & GraphQL Devs - Michel Weststrate
Build great user experiences with Concurrent Mode, Suspense, and Relay - Sibelius Seraphini

About:
At this conference, you will learn how new projects such as ReasonML will bring web and mobile React Native apps to the next level and how projects such as React Native Web, React Primitive and Expo make it easy to write, deploy and share code on all platforms quickly. The conference aims to give talks that inspire and explore new futuristic ideas dealing with all the techs we enjoy from the React ecosystem such as React.js, React Native, GraphQL, Relay, Universal apps, ReasonML, Webpack, inline CSS and more. ReactEurope is also a great occasion to socialize, meet new people and old friends, hack together, taste delicious food and have fun in the beautiful city of Paris.

React Finland

Date: May 25 - 29, 2020
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Notable Speakers: Emma Wedekind, Jared Palmer, Rachel Nabors, Kent C. Dodds and more.
Venue: Paasitorni
Hotel Room Block: Unclear, but the official hotel is Scandic Paasi
Accepting talk proposals: No
Website: https://react-finland.fi/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReactFinland
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Pre-conference events, talks, workshops, post-conference social events
Sponsorship Guide: Yes
Diversity/Scholarship: No
Price: Starting at €299 EUR
Workshops: Yes.

Modeling React applications with Statecharts - David Khourshid
Advanced React - Suspense, Time-slicing, Hooks and more - Nik Graf
From Legacy to React - Kenigbolo Meya Stephen
FullStack Apps with React & AWS - Nader Dabit
Test React Applications - Kent C. Dodds
Modern Forms with React - Erik Rasmussen
Design Systems for Developers - Andrey Okonetchnikov & Artem Sapegin

About:
React Finland combines the Finnish React community with international flavor. The workshops take place 25-27.05 while the actual conference is between 28-29.05. In this single track event you will learn more about React and surrounding topics while meeting some of the leading talents of the community. In addition to enjoying the event, this is your chance to explore Finland.

Highlights/Marketing Video:

React Next

Date: June 15, 2020
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Notable Speakers: Unannounced
Venue: David Intercontinental Hotel
Hotel Room Block: Unclear, but the official hotel is Scandic Paasi
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Deadline Feb 15.
Website: https://react-next.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reactnext
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, tour of Israel
Sponsorship Guide: No. Form submission or contact by email at nur@eventhandler.co.il
Diversity/Scholarship: No
Price: Starting at €155 EUR
Workshops: No
About:
React Finland combines the Finnish React community with international flavor. The workshops take place 25-27.05 while the actual conference is between 28-29.05. In this single track event you will learn more about React and surrounding topics while meeting some of the leading talents of the community. In addition to enjoying the event, this is your chance to explore Finland.

Highlights/Marketing Video:

React Loop

Date: June 19, 2020
Location: Chicago, Il.
Notable Speakers: Unannounced
Venue: Venue SIX10
Hotel Room Block: No, but various hotel options listed on the home page
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Deadline Feb 3.
Website: https://reactloop.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReactLoop
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, tour of Israel
Sponsorship Guide: Yes
Diversity/Scholarship: No
Price: Starting at $199 USD
Workshops: No
About:
React Loop is a single day ReactJS conference bringing together a diverse and inclusive group of React enthusiasts from all backgrounds and levels of experience. Speakers will cover topics such as React, React Native, and the related tools in the ever-growing React ecosystem.

React Week New York

Date: July 14-18, 2020
Location: New York, NY
Notable Speakers: Alex Castillo
Venue: Pier Sixty
Hotel Room Block: No
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Deadline March 15.
Website: https://reactweek.nyc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reactweek
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Scavenger hunt, talks, workshops, parties, hackathon
Sponsorship Guide: Yes
Diversity/Scholarship: No
Price: Starting at $599 USD
Workshops: Yes, sold separately. Unannounced.
About:
We are excited to present React Week New York 2020 – a 5-day program dedicated to React. An amazing networking opportunity with hundreds of attendees from all around the world, that share a passion for React. React Week targets both beginner and experienced devs and will showcase content about React, React Native, Redux, MobX, and everything about the ecosystem.

React Day New York

Date: September 11, 2020
Location: New York, NY
Notable Speakers: Unannounced
Venue: Brooklyn Bowl
Hotel Room Block: No
Accepting talk proposals: Yes. Deadline unknown.
Website: https://reactnewyork.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReactNewYork
Code of Conduct: Yes
Activities: Talks, bowling
Sponsorship Guide: Yes
Diversity/Scholarship: No
Price: Starting at $295 USD
Workshops: No
About:
Join us for a whole day of React(Native), tech conference and networking at the incredible Brooklyn Bowl. React Day New York is for sharing the latest techniques, best practices and to grow your network. This is an intimate React Day with only 300 available tickets.

That's the entire list as of January 2020! If you're the organizer of one of these conferences and you see missing/incorrect information, contact the author at ben@realworldreact.com to update it.

Is your event missing from this list? Contact the author at ben@realworldreact.com to get it listed!

Consider tweeting, emailing, or otherwise sharing this article with your network and friends to help strengthen the React community!