A call for papers that I read yesterday seemed to sum this up well:
"Your submission will be judged by your ability to communicate succinctly in writing, how good we think the talk sounds, what other people say about you behind your back and whether, frankly, we feel like people are going to be happy they paid money to see you yap for an hour."
It sounds a little harsh, but I think it's true. Getting to know people involved in the community or conference organization will pay off.
It's a big leap to go from a short user group presentation to hundreds of people listening to you for an hour. So you should expect to spend time getting to know people and money on attending other events in order to get there.
Of course, if you have a truly awesome new idea that nobody else has thought of, you can skip that step, but very few people do.
"Your submission will be judged by your ability to communicate succinctly in writing, how good we think the talk sounds, what other people say about you behind your back and whether, frankly, we feel like people are going to be happy they paid money to see you yap for an hour."
It sounds a little harsh, but I think it's true. Getting to know people involved in the community or conference organization will pay off.
It's a big leap to go from a short user group presentation to hundreds of people listening to you for an hour. So you should expect to spend time getting to know people and money on attending other events in order to get there.
Of course, if you have a truly awesome new idea that nobody else has thought of, you can skip that step, but very few people do.