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Everything You Need to Know about the Civic Design 2022 Call for Presentations
Summary
Key Insights
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The Civic Design Conference offers paid speaking opportunities with extensive coaching and cohort collaboration to support speaker development.
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Three conference themes frame the event: past and future decade reflections, shifts in design power structures, and balancing systemic vs near-term change.
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The curation process uses blind-review and prioritizes equity, thematic alignment, and crafting a coherent narrative arc across presentations.
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Speakers feel empowered to discuss candid and challenging topics, such as white supremacy culture, supported by a respectful and inclusive community environment.
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Virtual workshops replicate one-day in-person formats spread across 10 hours with segments and breaks, supported by coaching for facilitators.
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The conference uses a single-track format to foster a shared experience and deep engagement, supplemented by active Slack discussions and attendee cohorts.
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Attendee cohorts of about 10 people with volunteer facilitators meet daily during the conference to encourage deeper connections and shared learning.
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A wide participant mix includes public servants, consultancies, nonprofits, and international attendees, though academia is currently underrepresented.
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Content diversity is encouraged, including topics from specific sectors (e.g., public transit), with an openness to extrapolating learnings across domains.
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Presentations generate lasting artifacts such as recordings, resource lists, sketchnotes, and written notes which extend community discussions beyond the event.
Notable Quotes
"We pay all of our speakers and provide both subject matter and professional speaker coaching to polish your presentation."
"You are allowed to say white supremacy culture here, even if you can’t say that in your day-to-day work."
"Design by means letting the people we serve lead the process and ourselves to drop our egos and let go."
"This conference felt like a professional bootcamp that helped me grow profoundly as a speaker and thinker."
"Our curation process is identity hidden to prioritize equity and thematic mapping over affiliation or geography."
"The conference is a single track, so everyone listens to the same content together, fostering community focus."
"Workshop content is equivalent to a one-day in-person event spread over 10 virtual hours with coaching and support."
"Attendee cohorts meet daily in small groups with facilitators to share learning goals and deepen engagement."
"The community is a big tent - welcoming diverse perspectives and geographies to define and shape civic design."
"Having a Slack channel for chat and resources creates ongoing conversations and historical artifacts beyond the live talks."
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