Autodesk University 2017 isn’t until late November, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to begin thinking about this year’s conference. Autodesk University is known for the hundreds of incredibly awesome classes about every conceivable (and sometimes inconceivable) design technology topic you can imagine. The basic way those many classes come together is you, and now is your time to make your contributions known. Call for proposals are now open for Autodesk University 2017.
What that means is the time is now to become a speaker at this year’s conference. If you’re on the fence about submitting your idea to speak, my advice to you is to submit the idea. Before presenting for the first time I had numerous ideas, I never thought were worthy of the Autodesk University stage. Mastering AutoCAD plotting was something I never realized was something so many struggled with until I submitted it as a proposal, and later presented it at the conference. After all, common logic tells us there are dozens of well-known speakers who will undoubtedly receive precedence over a first-time speaker, so why bother submitting in the first place?
I can tell you from experience, while there are some regular Autodesk University speakers, the conference team does a great job making sure there is an appreciable contingency of first-time speakers each year. That’s all just a long way of saying, even if you’re never presented at AU, even if you don’t think your ideas are worthy of AU, it’s still worth submitting. Not only has speaking at Autodesk University been an incredibly rewarding experience, it has also opened more doors for my career than I can count. Call for proposal is open until May 17, 2017, and Autodesk has prepared lots of great resources to help you build a super duper proposal. These include:
- Autodesk University 2017 Call For Proposal Guide
- Autodesk University 2017 Class Proposal Worksheet
- AU Las Vegas CFP: How to Impress the Panel blog post
Once you collect your ideas, you can submit your proposals at the Autodesk University Speaker Resource Center.
Have questions about what it’s like to speak at Autodesk University? Let me know in the comments below, and I’ll be happy to share insights from my ten years as a speaker myself.
