Public Speaking: 10 Leading Open Source Conferences Annually with a Single-Topic Speaker
Speaker: Peter Farkas, Co-founder & CEO, FerretDB
Business area: Document Database, Open Source
Services: Speaker Management
Location: Worldwide, with a preference for Europe
Collaboration Start Date: April 2023
THE CHALLENGE
Peter Farkas, the CEO and Founder of the startup FerretDB, faced unique challenges. His limited time made it difficult to submit proposals to tech conferences, which are crucial for promoting his startup. Additionally, Peter wanted to focus on only two specific topics at tech conferences to clearly communicate his message, further limiting his potential speaking engagements.
OUR APPROACH
To handle Peter’s challenges and enhance his public speaking presence, we adopted the following strategic approach:
● Portfolio Enhancement: We updated Peter’s speaker portfolio, including a comprehensive BIO to better reflect his expertise and appeal to conference organizers.
● Topic and Abstract Refinement: We created an updated list of Peter’s chosen topics and their abstracts, ensuring they were sharply focused on company messaging.
● Selective Engagement with Organizers: We contacted conference organizers individually to ascertain the focus of upcoming conferences, ensuring alignment with Peter’s topics before submission.
● Expanded Event Targeting: We developed an extended list of industry events that matched Peter’s interests and strategic goals, broadening the scope of potential speaking opportunities.
● Increased Proposal Submissions: By managing and increasing the number of proposals submitted, we maximized Peter’s chances of being accepted to speak at relevant events.
The Result
Our focused efforts have resulted in a significant improvement in Peter’s speaking engagements:
- Enhanced Acceptance Rates: We increased the number of Peter’s accepted talks to 10 in 2023.
- High-Profile Speaking Engagements: Peter was accepted to speak at significant open-source events, including All Things Open in Raleigh, State of Open Con in London, PG Conf in India, and FOSS Asia in Vietnam, effectively spreading the word about his chosen topics.
- Continued Collaboration: Pleased with the results, Peter has decided to continue our collaboration into 2024.
By managing Peter Farkas’s speaker profile and proposals, and working strategically with conference organizers, we helped him overcome the challenges of being a CEO and co-founder. Peter successfully spread his message at key tech conferences, greatly increasing FerretDB’s visibility in the open-source community. This case study shows how we can adapt our services to meet the unique needs of clients, creating impactful speaking opportunities that align with their goals.
“Working with Underdog Consulting has been a game-changer for me and FerretDB. Before partnering with them, I constantly struggled with keeping track of conference deadlines. It was frustrating to discover CFP only after they had closed, especially for events planned well in advance. For example, finding out about a conference in June that was scheduled for the following January was always a challenge.
Underdog Consulting completely transformed this experience. Their service meant I no longer had to hunt for deadlines or register on multiple websites. They took care of everything – from tracking deadlines to ensuring my submissions were on time. This has not only saved me a significant amount of time but also increased my presence at key tech conferences. It’s been a relief and a significant boost for both my personal brand and FerretDB’s visibility in the industry.”
Peter Farkas, FerretDB
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