Intro
The Appsterdam Speaker Bureau is the home of Appsterdam’s ongoing speaker training program, the coordinators of the Weekly Wednesday Lunchtime Lecture series, and the world’s one-stop shop for technologists skilled at talking about technology.
Description
The Appsterdam speaker training program was launched with the Weekly Wednesday Lunchtime Lecture series during the Summer of Appsterdam. As our industry grows, so does the need for skilled speakers to fill conference and teaching gigs around the world. Growing to meet that challenge, the speaker training program evolved into the Appsterdam Speaker Bureau.
Speakers start by preparing and giving a presentation to experienced speakers, who give them feedback. They then present to their peers at the Weekly Wednesday Lunchtime Lecture, who vote yes or no to the question, “would you like to see this speaker again?”
Lecturers who garner at least 80% approval earn the title of Appsterdam Approved Speaker and membership to the larger speaker program. There are plans to add additional speaker-only events, along the lines of Toastmasters and the Friars Club, to help speakers practice and develop their skills.
Successful speakers can also expand their repertoire from hour-long lectures to day-long workshops with the Appsterdam Guru Session program.
Conference and classroom organizers are always looking for speakers, providing many mind-expanding opportunities to travel to exotic locations and attend interesting events, meeting other App Makers from around the world.
Another group always looking for people to talk to about technology are journalists. Not only do they need sources for stories, they often need background information, and we encourage them to contact people on our community for both those things, establishing important relationships with the media and its gatekeepers.
Benefits
Training speakers is obviously good for those speakers. Being able to communicate is vital to understanding. Being able to teach is vital to mastery. In short, teaching App Makers to teach others how to make apps makes better App Makers.
Looking at things from the other side, lots of people need speakers, and providing those speakers gives us influence. Having our speakers dominate the world’s technical discussions, conferences, and classrooms is good for the community, the movement, and the city.
Costs
There are no costs associated with the speaker program per se, though there are some ancillary costs associated with the Weekly Wednesday Lunchtime Lectures.
More than anything, the Appsterdam Speaker Bureau is an opportunity for our organization and its members, which can be leveraged for goodwill or money as needed.
Staffing
The Coordinator for the Appsterdam Speaker Bureau is Matteo Manfredini.