4 Hot Tips for Crafting a Great Flink Forward Presentation Submission: Insights from the Program Committee

Flink Forward

28 May 2024 by Kaye Lincoln

The deadline for the Call for Presentations at Flink Forward Berlin 2024 is fast approaching, offering potential speakers a unique opportunity to contribute to the vibrant Flink community. Whether you're an experienced presenter, or new to the stage, your insights can help shape the future of streaming data technologies. To assist you in crafting a standout proposal, we've gathered valuable advice from the Flink Forward Program Committee. Read on to learn our hot tips for creating a compelling submission!

1. Focus on Practical Solutions to Real-World Challenges

Addressing practical, real-world problems in proposals makes the content more relatable and valuable, providing the audience with actionable insights they can apply in their own work.

Erik de Nooij, Engineering Lead for Streaming Data Analytics at ING Bank, emphasizes this by saying,

"Talks and workshops are most valuable when they tackle real-world issues."

Proposals that include detailed case studies and practical applications of data streaming technologies are particularly compelling, as they offer attendees actionable insights.

Damian Stevens, CTO & Co-Founder at Evoura, believes this is essential for participants at Flink Forward, stating,

"Attendees can gain insights into how Apache Flink has been deployed to address real-world challenges, which is invaluable for organizations seeking to implement similar solutions."

2. Simplify and Innovate: Bridging the Gap between Batch and Real-Time Processing

Na Yang, Engineering Manager at Uber, emphasize two pivotal areas of focus: simplifying streaming data platforms and achieving the unification of batch and real-time streaming. In addition to advocating for

"user-friendly interfaces that make stream processing accessible to beginners and non-programmers,"

she also underscores the importance of showcasing

"successful use cases of batch and real-time streaming unification in large-scale data lake ingestion and other business areas."

Xingtong, Staff Software Engineer at Alibaba Cloud, shares a similar perspective, expressing a desire to see the seamless integration of stream and batch processing.

3. Keep It Authentic

Authenticity and enjoyment are key to a successful presentation. Erik de Nooij reassures new presenters not to overthink their presentations, recommending they

"watch videos from previous conferences to understand that no single presentation is perfect, and they don’t have to be."

”It’s the effort that counts, and the effort is always appreciated by the audience."

4. Highlight Emerging Trends and Technologies

Covering emerging trends and providing deep dives into specific technologies are essential for compelling proposals. Giannis Polyzos, Staff Streaming Product Architect at Ververica, and Gunnar Morling, Senior Staff Software Engineer at Decodable, emphasize the importance of exploring new developments and offering deep technical insights that push the boundaries of what is currently possible with streaming data technologies.

Make Your Submission!

These insights from the Program Committee underscore the importance of practical, innovative, and authentic proposals that address real-world challenges and emerging trends in streaming data technologies. With these tips in mind, craft your submission to stand out and make a significant impact at Flink Forward. For a deep-dive discussion into crafting talk submissions, check out my chat with Gunnar Morling.

The Call for Presentations closes this Friday (31 May 2024) at 11:59 pm. This is your final opportunity to submit your proposal and potentially speak at Flink Forward Berlin 2024! Don't miss your chance to contribute to the vibrant Flink community and help shape the future of streaming data technologies. Submit your proposal now!