Writing a conference proposal can be intimidating, and if you're rejected, you are rarely ever given feedback on how to make your proposal better. Join Sarah Cecchetti, an experienced conference speaker who has worked her way up from presenting at small meetups to being awarded an exemplary submission at RSA Conference and keynoting Identiverse. She will share tips and tricks she has learned over the years from conference organizers and track leads about how to craft your proposal so that it demonstrates your value and expertise.

1. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
How to Write a
Conference Proposal
Sarah Cecchetti, Principal Product Manager, AWS Identity

2. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Be Difficult to Discourage
“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.”
- Melinda Gates

3. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Understanding
the market

4. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Market Players
1
Attendees are customers
2
3
4

5. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Market Players
1
Attendees are customers
2
Vendors are customers
3
4

6. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Market Players
1
Attendees are customers
2
Vendors are customers
3
Keynote speakers are customers
4

7. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Market Players
1
Attendees are customers
2
Vendors are customers
3
Keynote speakers are customers
4
You are the product

8. What makes a good product?

9. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Attendees want to
see...
● First-hand experience

10. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Attendees want to
see...
● First-hand experience
● New ideas and concepts

11. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Attendees want to
see...
● First-hand experience
● New ideas and concepts
● Explanation of new standards

12. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Attendees want to
see...
● First-hand experience
● New ideas and concepts
● Explanation of new standards
● Stories from the field

13. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Attendees want to
see...
● First-hand experience
● New ideas and concepts
● Explanation of new standards
● Stories from the field
● Basics of emerging technologies

14. Writing a Good Bio

15. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Bio Tips
● One paragraph (about 100 words)

16. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Bio Tips
● One paragraph (about 100 words)
● Consistency - conferences will google you

17. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Bio Tips
● One paragraph (about 100 words)
● Consistency - conferences will google you
● Write in third-person and use the voice of your
biggest supporter

18. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Bio Tips
● One paragraph (about 100 words)
● Consistency - conferences will google you
● Write in third-person and use the voice of your
biggest supporter
● Stick to the facts

19. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Bio Tips
● One paragraph (about 100 words)
● Consistency - conferences will google you
● Write in third-person and use the voice of your
biggest supporter
● Stick to the facts
● Keep personal information, if any, limited and put it
at the end

20. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Experienced Bio
Sarah Cecchetti is a Principal Product Manager at AWS Identity. She is a co-author of NIST Special Publication 800-63C Digital Identity
Guidelines, which outlines federated authentication standards for all US federal agencies. She serves as Vice Chair on the Board of
Directors for IDPro. She has been named one of the top 100 influencers in identity. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a
Master of Science in Information Management from the University of Washington where she was a NASA Space Grant Scholar. She is also
a Certified Information Security System Professional (CISSP).

21. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Experienced Bio
Sarah Cecchetti is a Principal Product Manager at AWS Identity. She is a co-author of NIST Special Publication 800-63C Digital Identity
Guidelines, which outlines federated authentication standards for all US federal agencies. She serves as Vice Chair on the Board of
Directors for IDPro. She has been named one of the top 100 influencers in identity. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a
Master of Science in Information Management from the University of Washington where she was a NASA Space Grant Scholar. She is also
a Certified Information Security System Professional (CISSP).
Newbie Bio
Sarah Cecchetti is the founder and principal consultant at Engage Identity. She has contributed to several open standards working groups including OpenID Foundation’s
HEAlthRelationship Trust (HEART) and the Kantara Initiative’s User Managed Access (UMA) and Consent Receipts projects. She has worked on identity and security
technology with a focus on the higher education and nonprofit sectors. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a Master of Science in Information Management from
the University of Washington where she was a NASA Space Grant Scholar.

22. Proposals that will be immediately
rejected and how to avoid them

23. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
The Discard Pile
0
1
0
2
0
3

24. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
The Discard Pile
0
1
The Sales Pitch
0
2
0
3

25. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
The Discard Pile
0
1
The Sales Pitch
Solution: “I solemnly swear that I will not mention
Ping, Ping products, or Ping marketing jargon in
the talk at all. I would like to be seen as an industry
expert, and I'd like to be invited back, and I
understand that the smallest whiff of sales will get
me booed off stage and not invited back. :)”
0
2
0
3

26. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
The Discard Pile
0
1
The Sales Pitch
Solution: “I solemnly swear that I will not mention
Ping, Ping products, or Ping marketing jargon in
the talk at all. I would like to be seen as an industry
expert, and I'd like to be invited back, and I
understand that the smallest whiff of sales will get
me booed off stage and not invited back. :)”
0
2
The Soapbox
0
3

27. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
The Discard Pile
0
1
The Sales Pitch
Solution: “I solemnly swear that I will not mention
Ping, Ping products, or Ping marketing jargon in
the talk at all. I would like to be seen as an industry
expert, and I'd like to be invited back, and I
understand that the smallest whiff of sales will get
me booed off stage and not invited back. :)”
0
2
The Soapbox
Solution: The proposal should relate to your
work, your field, or at the very least, the
conference.
0
3

28. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
The Discard Pile
0
1
The Sales Pitch
Solution: “I solemnly swear that I will not mention
Ping, Ping products, or Ping marketing jargon in
the talk at all. I would like to be seen as an industry
expert, and I'd like to be invited back, and I
understand that the smallest whiff of sales will get
me booed off stage and not invited back. :)”
0
2
The Soapbox
Solution: The proposal should relate to your
work, your field, or at the very least, the
conference.
0
3
The Rulebreaker

29. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
The Discard Pile
0
1
The Sales Pitch
Solution: “I solemnly swear that I will not mention
Ping, Ping products, or Ping marketing jargon in
the talk at all. I would like to be seen as an industry
expert, and I'd like to be invited back, and I
understand that the smallest whiff of sales will get
me booed off stage and not invited back. :)”
0
2
The Soapbox
Solution: The proposal should relate to your
work, your field, or at the very least, the
conference.
0
3
The Rulebreaker
Solution: Read the rules. Twice.

30. Generating Submission Ideas

31. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Five Questions
01 | What have I been working on?

32. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Five Questions
01 | What have I been working on?
02 | What stories do I tell people about my work?

33. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Five Questions
01 | What have I been working on?
02 | What stories do I tell people about my work?
03 | What do I find fascinating and want to try or learn about?

34. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Five Questions
01 | What have I been working on?
02 | What stories do I tell people about my work?
03 | What do I find fascinating and want to try or learn about?
04 | What do most people not know or misunderstand about my field?

35. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Five Questions
01 | What have I been working on?
02 | What stories do I tell people about my work?
03 | What do I find fascinating and want to try or learn about?
04 | What do most people not know or misunderstand about my field?
05 | What could transform my field in the next ten years?

36. Building a narrative

37. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Are any of these
ideas interrelated?
What have I been working on?
NIST Digital Identity Guidelines
What do most people not know or
misunderstand about my field?
Vectors of Trust

38. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Are any of these
ideas interrelated?
What have I been working on?
NIST Digital Identity Guidelines
What do most people not know or
misunderstand about my field?
Vectors of Trust
Can I build a causal
or temporal
relationship?
NIST Digital Identity Guidelines
came after and was inspired by
Vectors of Trust

39. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Are any of these
ideas interrelated?
What have I been working on?
NIST Digital Identity Guidelines
What do most people not know or
misunderstand about my field?
Vectors of Trust
Can I build a causal
or temporal
relationship?
NIST Digital Identity Guidelines
came after and was inspired by
Vectors of Trust
Can I tell a story?
NIST 800-63-3 went into public review last
year. It outlines three new scales for
measuring the assurance of an
authentication event. Those scales were
heavily informed by Vectors of Trust, which
is on track to become an IETF informational
draft this year. Find out how Vectors of
Trust influenced NIST 800-63, and how
authentication will be measured in the
future domestically and internationally.

40. Making a new framework

41. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Do these ideas
reflect a new way of
thinking?
What do most people not know or
misunderstand about my field?
jargon
What do I find fascinating and want
to try or learn about?
Thing Explainer

42. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Do these ideas
reflect a new way of
thinking?
What do most people not know or
misunderstand about my field?
jargon
What do I find fascinating and want
to try or learn about?
Thing Explainer
What makes me
uniquely passionate
about these things?
I frequently evangelize the value of
identity to people who aren’t
identity nerds (with no prompting)

43. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Do these ideas
reflect a new way of
thinking?
What do most people not know or
misunderstand about my field?
jargon
What do I find fascinating and want
to try or learn about?
Thing Explainer
What makes me
uniquely passionate
about these things?
I frequently evangelize the value of
identity to people who aren’t
identity nerds (with no prompting)
How can my
perspective change
the way people think
about this?
Can you describe the value of identity
management using only the thousand most
common words in the English language? In
the style of Randall Munroe’s "Thing
Explainer" you can learn how to explain
important identity concepts using simple
words. Identity is incredibly important in
today's market, and the ability to express
that importance to non-technical people is
critical.

44. Finding commonality

45. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Do these ideas have
something in
common?
What could transform my field in
the next ten years?
zero-trust networks
zero login
one-identity initiatives

46. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Do these ideas have
something in
common?
What could transform my field in
the next ten years?
zero-trust networks
zero login
one-identity initiatives
Can the details
inform a common
theme?
These are all large security
initiatives that can transform the
way businesses implement
identity.eifjccikcgufiivjcdlcfducvdle
fijdevhddedbrdue

47. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Do these ideas have
something in
common?
What could transform my field in
the next ten years?
zero-trust networks
zero login
one-identity initiatives
Can the details
inform a common
theme?
These are all large security
initiatives that can transform the
way businesses implement
identity.eifjccikcgufiivjcdlcfducvdle
fijdevhddedbrdue
Can I explain why
people should care?
Identity innovations like zero-trust
networks, zero login, and one identity
initiatives are transforming today's most
successful organizations from within. Trust
boundaries are changing. Find out the
technical details behind these innovations
and take home a game plan to start
transforming your organization today, this
week, and in the long run.

48. Titling your talk

49. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Keep. It. Stupid. Simple.

50. Submission Etiquettte

51. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Etiquette
Can I submit more than one
proposal?

52. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Etiquette
Can I submit more than one
proposal?
Can I submit a proposal to two
places?

53. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Etiquette
Can I submit more than one
proposal?
Can I submit a proposal to two
places?
Can I submit a proposal for
multiple years?

54. Accepting not being accepted

55. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Accepting Rejection
● It’s okay to grieve (and even cry!)

56. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Accepting Rejection
● It’s okay to grieve (and even cry!)
● Be proud of yourself for not throwing away your
shot

57. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Accepting Rejection
● It’s okay to grieve (and even cry!)
● Be proud of yourself for not throwing away your
shot
● Remember that the acceptance committee
doesn’t actually know you as a person

58. @Sarah_Cecc Women in Identity
Accepting Rejection
● It’s okay to grieve (and even cry!)
● Be proud of yourself for not throwing away your
shot
● Remember that the acceptance committee
doesn’t actually know you as a person
● Try again when you’re ready

59. Thank you.