CUE is a grassroots organization that strives to offer conferences that
celebrate the classroom and learning with technology. Classroom
teachers and school administrators are cherished as speakers at the conferences. Conference
speakers share promising classroom practices, new technologies, funding
information, and state and national information regarding educational
technology.



If you are so inclined to grow professionally, meet interesting people
and share your stories, then speaking at a conference is a process that
you should undertake. The most important thing is to choose a topic for
which you have passion. It must be something that you love, know and
are willing to explain, question and share. All of us in the classroom
are looking for ideas at CUE conferences and those who can share real
stories in an organized, articulate manner are valued.



This article describes the committees involved with the conference, the
speaker application form, and the selection process for the different
types of conference speakers.



Conference Committee

The Conference Committee is a small group of individuals selected by
and approved by the CUE Board of Directors. This committee meets three
times a year to advise the volunteer Conference Chair, volunteer
Speaker Coordinator and Director of Operations (CUE staff member) on
conference planning topics. Members serve a three-year term.



Submitting Speaker Proposals

Speaker submissions are available online. While completing a speaker application for a
concurrent session you should know:

• Topic should fit the description.
• Be specific about what the session will cover.
• Mention handouts, resources to be given to participants.
• It should not be a resume of the presenter.
• Spelling and grammar should be correct.
  

Abstract Score Sheet

Rating Scale for items 1-4:

1=poor 2=fair 3=good 4=very good 5=excellent

1. Content. Is the abstract convincing that this is a solid presentation?
   Does the presentation stand out? Is the topic thoroughly covered in the
   given time?
2. Appropriateness. Is the topic current, appropriate to CUE and of interest to our members?
3. Educational Soundness. Is the presentation educationally sound? Is it more than just a project advertisement?
4. Expertise. Does the abstract convince you that the speaker knows the topic?

After the reading process, results are give to the Speaker Coordinator.
The Coordinator combines all results of the selection committee and
assigns sessions based on highest scores and topics. At this point the
review is no longer blind. The goal is to cover all strands, grade
levels and experience. All abstracts are reviewed, including those with
lower scores, to try to meet the needs of conference attendees.



The Speaker Coordinator and Conference Chair meet to prepare a speaker
matrix for the conference. This matrix matches sessions to rooms with
requested equipment and tries to avoid conflicting sessions on the same
topic. (Even with these efforts, conflicts may happen if there are
cancellations.)



All who submit applications receive acceptance or rejection letters via email.
Call the CUE office if an email is not received. If a session is
accepted, the letter will include a description of the presentation
room, the day and time of the session, and the equipment that will be
in the room. Call immediately if there are any equipment or
presentation time changes.



Head speakers at concurrent sessions are compensated registration (not membership).  Co-presenters do need to register and pay for the conference.

Concurrent Sessions
This is the predominant session of the conference. Sessions are one
hour in length. Once the CUE office receives applications, the
originals are kept and the strand, title, and abstract are copied to a
file and sent to the Speaker Selection Committee. Proposals are
evaluated on the abstract content. (They are read blind, the reader
does not know the submitter's name.) Three reviewers read each
abstract. The volunteer Speaker Coordinator reviews any proposals with
discrepant scores. Reviewers use the following rubric to rate proposals.



Invited Concurrent Session Speakers

The Director of Operations maintains a list of invited speakers and mails
an application and invitation to each speaker prior to each conference.
The Board Conference Liaison, the Speaker Coordinator, and the
Conference Chair review the invited speaker list.



Invited speakers must submit session applications, which are reviewed
and placed in appropriate topic strands. Invited speakers are
compensated registration (not membership).



Hands-on Workshops

Any speaker can submit a proposal for a hands-on workshop. Hands-on
workshops are held in a Mac or Windows Lab, are three hours in length, and
have 25-30 participants. Each participant has their own machine. Hands-on
workshop presenter receives a compensated registration (not membership)
and a $200 stipend.