Before I'll agree to a speaking event, I try to do as much research I can around the event to ensure it aligns with my ethos. I want to share this in case it's helpful to any other speakers.

👐 Speaking comes with immense privilege. I am grateful to all the conference organisers who have brilliantly hosted me. I would love to continue to exercise this privilege to speak at conferences, and use this privilege to make the landscape more accessible and beneficial to tech's most marginalised and suppressed communities.

😫 I wish I didn't have to, but this is long because I provide a lot of explanations for those of you who never had to consider these things. And I will be honest, most thoughtful conferences I've attended check all these boxes intrinsically, particularly when conference runners are experienced speakers. They get it.

🤷‍♀️ At times I will opt to speak at a conference any way, even if they can't meet all criteria. It usually involves a conversation at the least. I hope that you don't judge me for this, because I know I'm already judging myself for these compromises.

You are welcome to use and adopt this speaker ride. I would appreciate if you gave me a heads up and credited me, because emotional labour is often unpaid and unrecognised.

• You must provide the option to purchase both travel and accommodation on behalf of the speaker. While I opt to book my own plane tickets, the forcing the reimbursement model is exclusionary to folks who cannot front the cost for what is sometimes months.
• You must leave your credit card on file for the hotel. Again, many folks cannot afford a large hold on their credit card, or don't have access to credit cards.

For for-profit conferences, I ask for [$/€/£]1000-2000 on a sliding scale.

• Exact number is based on location, speaker roster, curation model, ticket pricing, fellowship and scholarship programs, and revenue/philanthropy of your company.
• I will agree upon/determine what that number is in that range based on a complex algorithm. 😉
• Speakers must all be paid equally. I do not support celebrity speakers getting paid more.
• I will choose to waive for not-for-profit/community confs where tickets are free/very low priced based on similar criteria above.

• You must have a dedication to protecting the most marginalised and minoritised individuals in this industry.
• Your CoC needs to explicitly call out what abuse is with clear examples (not limited to).
• You must have clearly defined methods for dealing with conflicts when they arise trained staff to address conflicts and be prepared to appropriately handle complaints. CoCs are only as good as their enforcement. – If you need help, both Write Speak Code and JSConfEU are strong starting points.

Including the stage, so that the speakers using mobility aids can access the stage with the same dignity as speakers who are not using mobility aids.

• I swear this helps EVERYONE. It's not just for hard of hearing folks, it helps people like me who have focus issues and process written info better, it helps non-native speakers, it helps people who got distracted for two seconds.

So that I'm not the token only one! ("Lift as we climb," Angela Davis reminds us.)

• Security as needed
• No selling of data/information, especially not to conference sponsors

• Especially, ensure that you have an option that is both gender neutral and accessible.

• Accessible stage (see above)
• Wireless microphone (handheld or microphone) for all staged aspects of conference (Q&A from audience, workshop speakers, etc); the idea of "my voice is loud enough without a mic" is supremely ableist, and even if you ask the audience, you're relying on people to self-identify their needs which is shitty.
• Confidence monitor viewable from stage I need to be able to see my slides so I can present fluidly
• Timer viewable from stage
• If you are going to be strict about the timeline, then you need to provide this.
• You need to enforce this equitably. I so often see majority/centred folks allowed to go over (read: white cis het dudes who don't care), but then everyone else has to shorten their timeslot to accommodate. Big. Fat. Nope. If you're going to be strict, be strict with everyone.

• I will allow video recordings/live streams so long as they are accessible (captioned) and free (no paywalls!)
• No censorship of my content, written, verbal, visual
• No branding of my content (I will not use branded templates, etc.)

• I will not convert into any other format. Period. My slides take a ton of time to design and create and I practice using what I'm comfortable with.

• For my more code-dependent friends, it is super difficult to get your set up right to do dope code demos. Many of my friends develop their own slide infrastructure, have special fonts, or have complex environments set up so they can do what they are. Taking this away from them at the last minute is so, so stressful.
• Providing a laptop, say, for someone who doesn't have one, is critical for accessibility as well.
• Asking someone to present from an operating system (OS) that is not their own, with settings they're not used to, etc, is also stressful.