DjangoCon: DjangoCon US Talks I’d Like to See: 2017 Edition

Filed under: djangocon

A common question I get asked every year is “What topic should I submit to DjangoCon US?” So many people are unsure of what to talk about.

Since our DjangoCon US CFP deadline is a little over two weeks away, I thought I’d build an overwhelmingly long list of topic ideas to help anyone who’s struggling to come up with a talk idea.

Essential Skills

I hate the term “soft skills” so I’m calling these “essential skills.” Every year some of our best presentations come from this category.

12 Factor App
Accessibility
Community Development
Documentation
Hiring and Interviewing
Kickstarter Howto
Leadership
Marketing
Problem-Solving
Project Management
Public Speaking
Raise Negotiation
Self Care
Time Management

If your topic falls into “not Django,” but is not listed here, submit it anyway!

Frontend

My frontend topics are far from comprehensive because I don’t dabble as much here. If I’m missing something obvious or if there is something new and cool, let me know!

CSS
Design
- Material Design - I don’t think anyone has covered material design previously.
Native Apps (iOS / Android) - I have no idea if this can be covered in a 45-minute talk, but I’d love to see someone attempt it.
Javascript
- Flux, Reflux, etc
- React.js - Are there best practices for covering a large app?
- Vue.js
Typography
VR / AR - Last year we had a great talk on how to get started with VR and Django. I’d love to see someone dig a little deeper to build an app.

Backend

If one of these topics looks appealing to you but you aren’t sure what to talk about, then please consider a getting started, best practices, scaling, or an advanced usage type of talk.

AI and Machine Learning
Automation
Chatbots
Debugging
Django Channels
- Mix with a JS technology like React.js, Vue.js, Reflux…
Containers
- “Django in the container age” via Jannis Leidel
- Kubernetes
- Serverless
Docker
- You have Django running in a Docker, now what?
Image management
Notifications
ORM
- Advanced Model Design
- QuerySets
  - Advanced Lookups
  - Transform
- Lookups
- Query Expressions
- Conditional Expressions
Popular Django app? If you manage a popular Django app, then consider talking about it.
REST / APIs
- Django Rest Framework (DRF)
  - Using DRF with React.js via Reflux
  - Using DRF with Vue.js
  - Dynamic Clients from DRF via Emma
- GraphQL
Search
Security
Testing
Voice Technology
What’s new in Django 1.11
- Django 1.11 release notes
- New ORM Features via m_holtermann
  - Class-based model indexes
  - Subquery expressions
  - QS.union
  - faster migrations
  - nulls_first/nulls_last
- Template-based widget rendering
- django.contrib.postgres for a minor update has several new features which could fit into a talk. QS.iterator on PG
What’s new in Django 2.0?

Your Feedback:

API design via Renato Oliveira
Django in the age of serverless via Daniel Roy Greenfeld
How to contribute to an open source project. How to create an distributable app via Maikel P
“marketing for open source” via Pablo Rivera

What did I miss?

If you aren’t into public speaking or if there’s a topic that you’d like to see covered, then please let me know on twitter and I’ll add it to the list. Thank you!

Thanks to Heather Luna aka. , Rebecca Kindschi, Emma Delescolle, Markus Holtermann, and Jannis Leidel for advice on and corrections to a draft of this article.