Speaking at Advancing Research 2023

A note from the curators

We’re thrilled you’re considering submitting a proposed talk or workshop. Advancing Research isn’t just the name of our conference and community—it’s a statement of purpose. Our goal is to advance research, as a practice, as a profession, as a function—and we need you to help us do that. So, thinking about submitting a proposal? Then do it!

Below we’ve provided a lot of guidance that’s intended to help you submit the best proposal possible. Above all else, we’re looking for transformational case studies, provocative critiques, and galvanizing calls to action. And we want to hear from new voices, underrepresented voices, and voices from the future of our field.

—Jem Ahmed and Chris Geison, Advancing Research 2023 conference curators

Instructions and Deadlines

Questions? Please contact [email protected]

Proposal Guidelines

Who is this conference for

Our attendees tend to be mid- to senior-level research practitioners and leaders employed just about anywhere: in large enterprises, start-ups, and in government agencies and nonprofits. Some of our attendees are just starting out, but they’re hungry for substantive content and conversation. If you’re planning to propose a presentation, please go beyond introductory material; challenge us, practically, intellectually, and culturally.

Who should apply

It doesn’t matter if you’re an industry veteran or if this is your first time speaking—we’re keen to hear from speakers who have an interesting story to tell which they feel will help to push our profession forward.

Also, we highly encourage speakers from underrepresented groups to submit a proposal. We won’t advance research by sticking with the status quo. We seek speakers from marginalized groups to bring their unique perspectives to Advancing Research.

This year’s conference themes

As we’ve researched the themes for this year’s conference, we’ve encountered a profession frustrated by the same conversations, the same silos, and the same blind spots. Still, we continue to be impacted by long-term trends that are as important today as they were five years ago.

If you have an idea for a talk, please don’t feel constrained by adhering to any particular theme. But if you’d like some ideas of what we’re looking for, here are some of the trends we’ve been considering:

  • Inclusivity: What does it mean and what will it take for us to actually become inclusive, in our teams and our practices?
  • Collaboration: How will we break down the silos that separate research, insights, marketing research, etc?
  • Ethics: What would professional, ethical standards look like for how we educate ourselves and people just entering the field, how we conduct research, recruit participants, and how we level and progress within the industry?
  • Standards: What should qualitative standards look like? And how should these interplay with quantitative research methods?
  • Democratization: The democratization of research seems to be very much here to stay. Is that a good thing? And what does it mean for creating a meaningful role for ourselves, and enabling high standards and impactful insights?
  • Change: Why aren’t things changing in our field when so many of us are aligned on the problems?


Speaker Expectations

If your presentation is selected by our curation committee, you’ll be expected to:

  • Fully participate in our speaker preparation process: Over the course of the two to three months prior to the conference, our speakers meet in cohorts with conference curators and a professional speaker coach to iteratively develop and rehearse their presentations. Expect to spend 10-15 hours in group meetings, rehearsals, and tech checks.
  • Support other speakers: Peer support is a huge part of presentation development, and leads to a strongly integrated and cohesive program. Expect to review other speakers’ presentations and to be reviewed as well.
  • Follow our Code of Conduct during conference-related activities.

In return, we will:

  • Provide industry-leading speaker support from subject matter experts (our curators and your peers) and from a professional speaker coach.
  • Provide you with a complimentary conference registration for the full conference, including the option to participate in an attendee cohort and social activities.
  • Promote you and your work via social media; we’ll also create a custom US$75 conference discount code for you to share with your colleagues and followers.
  • Create artifacts from your presentation, including sketchnotes, session notes, and a reading/resource list.
  • Pay you an honorarium of up to US$500 (depending on type of presentation and number of presenters).

Yes: this is a substantial amount of work! But that’s what it takes to literally advance the field—and we know from organizing dozens of conferences that our process’s collaboration and iteration truly will lead to you giving the absolute best presentation possible.

Tips for a Successful Proposal

Your proposal should not be a neutral summary of your idea, but something that convinces us we’d be fools not to include your session. Consider the following tips for writing your proposal:

  • Be bold! The Advancing Research community was created to help us push the research and insight field forward. It is designed to give a space to allow professionals to come together to discuss the ways in which we need to innovate, grow, and evolve. We’re looking for presentations which identify challenges within the industry, and are unafraid to explore what these problems may be.
  • Be focused! Often the strongest submissions are those which pick a specific topic, particular technique, or walk through a simple program. This could be a case study from a piece of work you have done, an insight into how research works with your organization, or an articulation of your thoughts or frameworks on a particular research topic. Either way, try and keep your proposal focussed on a specific premise, rather than trying to tackle too much at once.
  • Be complete! While the Rosenfeld speaker preparation process will help you to hone your idea, your proposal should clearly demonstrate both the problem which you feel the community is facing and how your presentation will help move us forward.
  • Be thorough! The more we know about what you plan to present and why it matters, the better. You should aim to communicate a clear sense of the challenge you are raising or trying to address, the substance of your thoughts on the topic, and how you believe your content will help move thinking on the topic forward.
  • Be creative! You do not need to feel limited to a presentation—you may want to propose a panel, a fireside chat, a head to head discussion or some other format. If you are going to share new research or a case study, highlight that information in your proposal. Help us to envision your session as a finished product.
  • Be relevant! Consider the audience: our community is forward-thinking, professional, and looking for inspiring and provocative content to give them a leading edge in taking on professional challenges and evolving their practices. Ask yourself: why will they want to attend your talk? How will you keep them engaged? What can you share with them that they won’t get from any other source?
  • Be authentic! Be true to you! You don’t need to be the world’s leading authority on your presentation’s topic. Humbly sharing your failures and what you learned from them is as important as sharing your winning ideas. Our attendees want speakers with whom they can relate and share stories with. We welcome unorthodox ideas and invite you to question commonly accepted practices, but be ready to back up your assertions with relevant examples and actionable insights.
Submit your talk!