We invite both industry leaders and people on the front lines to propose topics that demonstrate the present and future of IT service delivery. IMPACT submissions should educate and inform attendees about new technologies and tested solutions. Presentations that address problem solving and the business impact are strongly encouraged. We encourage submissions from people who represent a wide range of backgrounds and industries.

Note that IMPACT only accepts vendor-neutral proposals. If you wish to promote a product at IMPACT, please contact our Sponsorship Department at sponsorship@cmg.org

TOPICS

For IMPACT 2019, we are looking for sessions about:

Architecture

• Cloud Computing
• Containerization
• Machine Learning/AI/Deep Learning
• Big Data
• Infrastructure/Platform/Function as a Service
• Scalability and Resilience
• Infrastructure Design
• Performance and Capacity Planning
• Strategic Vision
• Networks
• What’s Next

Culture

• DevOps
• Open Source Communities
• Communication
• Standards and Regulatory Compliance
• On-Call Strategies
• Managing IT Teams
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Mentorship, Education, and Training
• Recruiting and Retention

Engineering

• Automation
• Continuous Delivery
• System Engineering
• Monitoring and Instrumentation
• Performance (testing, tuning, engineering, analytics)
• Debugging
• Backup and Recovery
• Security
• Databases
• Programming
• Release Engineering

But please don’t let that list constrain you. Ultimately, we want IMPACT 2019 to be a showcase for the industry’s best technical presentations and business stories. If you’ve got a submission that can inspire and equip a room full of engineers, we want to hear about it. Though please, no vendor pitches (i.e., “How to Use Product X”).

FORMAT OF PRESENTATIONS

IMPACT 2019 will feature sessions in multiple formats. See the Call for Participation at www.cmgimpact.com for information about speaker benefits and sample talk submissions. While you may suggest a format under “Type of Talk”, it is not a guarantee of the session type you will be assigned.

In general, we the agenda will include:
- Keynote Presentations 45-60 minutes with Q&A
- Talks 20- and 45-minute with Q&A
- Lightening Talk - 10 Minute Quick Presentation of a discovery or practice
- Training 45- and 90- minute training courses teaching practical, immediately applicable skills.
- Panels 45 minute moderator-led groups of 3–5 experts answering moderator and audience questions on a particular topic
- Demos Vendor-neutral interactive demonstrations of hardware and software use in practical situations for operations professionals.

You may indicate your proposed session type in your abstract but please note that the review and selection committee will assess all submissions and then determine the type session granted to the submitter upon acceptance.

SELECTION PROCESS

The CFP closes August 31st but we’ll accept talks on a rolling basis, so do not wait until the deadline. You may edit your submissions, but only until the deadline or they are accepted (whichever is first.)

An individual may submit up three topics (each a separate application) and we ask that no more than five TOTAL speaker applications per company, please. We recommend coordinating applications within your organization prior to submitting.

If your proposal is accepted, you’ll need to sign a standard speaker release to give CMG permission to record your talk and to use your name and likeness for promotions.

REQUEST FOR PEER REVIEW (by an EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD/ERB) / 2019 BEST PAPER CANDIDATE

For our 2019 Conference, we are accepting presentation proposals without the requirement of an accompanying research paper. However, Authors who with to receive formal peer review and seek publication of their papers AND be considered for an IMPACT Best Paper Award may submit papers to impact@cmg.org. Papers submitted by October 1 will receive a traditional CMG peer-review and will be considered for pubilication. These Peer Reviewed papers will be also consided in competing for IMPACT’s “2019 BEST PAPER” Award at the conference. The Deadline for Peer Review is 11:59PM September 30th. *Please not that to be considered for a presentation at IMPACT, you will still need to submit a proposal through Papercall.

To request for formal peer review and/or be a candidate for the Best Paper Award must follow these instructions below: 1) Submit your proposal on Papercall. 2) Email your paper with a note indicating your interest in peer review, best paper candidate or both to impact@cmg.org. 3) You will receive a reply/feedback from one of the Conference Committee members after your request.