2023 Call for Papers

CFP is now closed 
​
BSides Melbourne has three speaking opportunities:

• Track 1 - General Track (more experienced speakers): ​30 min talk
• Track 2 - New Speaker Track (Paired with a speaker mentor): ​ 30 min talk​
• Career Track (Journeys and experiences in Information Security): ​​20 min talk

Applications close 15 May 2023 @ 9pm AEST.
Notifications will be sent to Applicants: 30 June - 5 July, 2023

Note: If you would like your submission peer reviewed before your submit, please email the team, we are here to help.​ Also if feel you qualify for the financial aid and D&I program, please fill out this information in the your speaker CFP submission.

New Speakers
If you are a student or first-time speaker, or had limited exposure speaking and would like to present, the new speaker track is for you. You will be matched with a mentor who will help you every step of the way, from slide presentation to speaking practice.

---

Talks and Tracks

Below are some suggested topic areas, however, it's important to talk about what you know, love and are passionate about. Never assume that just because you know, everyone else does! This is why we share so that others can learn.

Security has so many areas, defensive, offensive, compliance, people-centric, lessons learned, war stories. Make it your own and it will be great!

Suggested Topic Ideas

• Network Defense tackling issues related to network, cloud, endpoint defense
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Security Operations
• Application Security
• Data Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR)
• Malware and exploitation techniques 
• ​Policy, Risk and Compliance
• ​DevSecOps
• Hardware and Embedded
• Human Factors and Social Engineering
• Mobile
• SCADA and Industrial Automation
• AI and ML
• Lessons learned
• Something you have built
• Something you want to share
• Other InfoSec community topics

​Important

• Talks will not include vendor-related pitches or products or PR marketing campaigns
• Employer logo can only appear on two slides: Introduction and Biography

Tracks
Track 1

• For speakers who have presented before
• Talk time - 30 minutes

Track 2

• For new speakers or speakers with limited experience
• Talk time - 30 minutes
• You will be paired with a mentor to help you prepare
• Help build your confidence and readiness

Career Track

• The career village will be hosting talks
• Share career journeys
• Sharing other community stories
• Talk will be no more than 20 minutes

Speaker Mentor Program

---

​BSides Melbourne will assign a coach to all first-time speakers. If you are an experienced speaker, you can also request a mentor too. Our goal is to remove all barriers that would prevent someone from submitting their work and to equip those individuals with the skills they need to be successful.

Please express your interest for a coach when you submit your CFP.

Resources for Writing CFP Submissions​

• Blog post by Kat Sweet on the building blocks of an InfoSec conference CFP.
• The CFPs 101 Panel from BSidesLV 2016
• The DEFCON Speaker’s Corner post by Nikita titled How do I Make my CFP Stand Out?
• Blog post by Cheryl Biswas about giving a talk in Infosec
• Blog post by Hexagon Security Create Good Security CFP Submissions