Speaking Opportunities

INTERESTED IN SPEAKING?

UNC Charlotte’s School of Data Science is hosting the ninth annual Women in Data Science (WiDS) Charlotte Conference on March 21st, 2024.

The event is hosted and sponsored by UNC Charlotte’s School of Data Science and Lowe’s Inc., three weeks after our Analytics Frontiers Conference. The conference aims to inspire, educate, and engage current and future data scientists in the Carolinas, regardless of gender, and to support women in the field by providing training, networking and mentoring opportunities.

This year, the conference will be a one-day event, complete with two keynote speakers, panel discussions, and a series of breakout sessions, featuring industry and academic experts from across the region, highlighting groundbreaking research, innovative industry solutions and more.

We expect to see between 400 – 500 attendees at each year’s WiDS conference.

The 2024 WiDS Charlotte Conference is currently searching for female thought leaders in data science to share their expert knowledge as presenters. Broad topic areas include, but are not limited to:

Presentation Topics

The conference is currently searching for female thought leaders in data science to share their expert knowledge as presenters. Broad topic areas include, but are not limited to:

  • Generative AI: Prompt Engineering, Intellectual Property, Ethical Implications, Public Policy, etc. 
  • Applied Research:  Data Visualization, NLP, LLMs, Social Media, etc.
  • Machine Learning and AI in the Cloud
  • Hands-on Training (AWS, Azure, Tableau, TensorFlow, SAS, etc.)
  • Career & Professional Development (Salary Negotiation, Interview Success, Diversifying the STEM field, etc.)

This year, we are placing emphasis on more hands on workshops. If you have specific technology or skill sets you want to demonstrate, please share! We want to have a mix of workshops and traditional presentations to enhance the conference experience. 

Submission of Proposals

Those interested in participating in the WiDS Charlotte conference as a presenter must submit a formal proposal. The deadline for proposals is December 1st, 2023; proposals must be submitted via our Google Form.

If your company’s firewall does not allow you to access the Google Form, OR if you plan to present as a panel discussion with more than two presenters, please send proposals by email to sds-conferences@charlotte.edu. Please include “WiDS Charlotte 2024 Presentation Proposal” in the subject line. Refer to the Proposal Format listed below. 

The submissions will then be evaluated by a committee of UNC Charlotte faculty and industry partners. Selected abstracts will be notified by email.

Proposal Format

All proposals MUST include:

  • Topic Abstract (less than 500 words in length)
    • Topic and context of your presentation
    • Key learnings and takeaways
  • Abstracts must be written in paragraph form without bullet or indentations
  • Please include presentation context, case study, tool and solution, concept, industry or function specifications.
  • Are you using any of the following in your presentation: PowerPoint slides, video, etc.?
  • Presenter Information
    • Proposed number of presenters
      • For each presenter, please include the following:
        • Name
        • Current Job Title
        • Current Organization
        • Contact Information (phone and email)
        • Short Biography – 250 words or less
        • Professional, high resolution headshot (300 DPI)

Session Format

  • Two Breakout Sessions: 45 minutes in length, consisting of a 30-35 minute presentation and 10-15 minutes of Q&A. 
  • All members of the community are invited and encouraged to submit their presentation proposal. In line with the WiDS Mission, all topics must be rooted in the domain of data science research or applications.
  • If you work for an organization that sells a data science product or service, the description of your company must be limited to the first slide. Direct or indirect sales, product, or service pitches are expressly prohibited.
  • If selected, you are required to submit your final slide presentation for approval no later than January 31, 2024.

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Other Items to Note

  • WiDS Charlotte features outstanding women doing some outstanding work.
  • Content – Speakers must talk about their data science research or applications in their respective domains unless noted otherwise. 
  • Presentation slides can include your organization’s branding.​
  • Direct or indirect sales, product or service pitches are expressly prohibited.

Last year’s list of speakers can be viewed here. 

Should you have any questions about this presentation opportunity, please contact sds-conferences@charlotte.edu.