October 9, 2024
Our recent survey of event organizers shows that over 50% run a formal ‘call for speakers‘ process. Many organizers believe this step is vital because it boosts content quality, keeps attendees engaged, and builds the event’s reputation, setting the stage for a memorable event. After all, great speakers make great events!
Whova’s Call for Speakers platform is at the forefront of simplifying this process and saving organizers time. Since its launch in early January, more than 300 events have used the Call for Speakers feature. Two months ago, driven by popular demand for more enhanced features, we also created Advanced and Premium Tiers for Call for Speakers to provide more advanced capabilities such as multiple criteria rubrics, double-blind reviews, and multi-submission support. These tiers also support more submissions and reviewers.
To further meet the needs of larger and more complex events, Whova has introduced the Enterprise Tier for Call for Speakers. This offering includes even more unique features that will transform your speaker planning, including:
- Expanded Scale and Reach: Send up to 3000 invitations, manage 2000 submissions, and involve up to 150 external reviewers and 5 admins
- Conflict of interest detection: Ensure that there is no bias present in the review process
- Multiple calls: Collect different speaker information and submissions for different types of content with different submission format and review criteria. For example, a call for a poster (or demo), and a call for a long presentation.
- Prioritized rubric criteria: Weigh certain criteria more heavily than others when making decisions
- Score filtering: Easily determine which submissions are worth considering for acceptance
- And more!
Expanded Capacity for Grand-Scale Events
One of the standout benefits of the Enterprise package is its expanded capacity, specifically designed for large-scale events. While the Advanced and Premium Tiers provide ample support for moderate-sized events, the Enterprise package caters to events with thousands of participants and submissions.
Organizers will notice a big difference in the number of invitation emails and submissions they can manage. The Enterprise package significantly increases these limits, allowing you to engage with a larger audience and manage more submissions seamlessly.
Below is a comparison of the three Whova tiers:
| Feature | Advanced | Premium | Enterprise |
| Invitation Emails | 1000 | 2000 | 3000 |
| Submissions | 500 | 1000 | 2000 |
| External Reviewers | 20 | 50 | 150 |
| Admins | 3 | 3 | 5 |
The expanded capacity of the Enterprise package offers peace of mind for event organizers dealing with large-scale conferences, ensuring that they can easily handle increased participation and reviewer involvement without overextending resources.
Dual Call Management
One of the unique features of the Enterprise package is its dual call management system, which is ideal for events running concurrent tracks or hosting multiple calls for speakers. This flexibility allows organizers to manage different submission processes simultaneously, a feature especially useful for events with several program types or simultaneous conferences.
Organizers can easily request speakers for multiple different tracks or program types.
For example, many events utilize one call for main agenda sessions while hosting a second call for poster presentations. With Whova’s dual call management, you can set up separate submission portals for each, allowing different types of speakers or presenters to submit based on their program requirements. This ensures that organizers can run multiple tracks or focus on distinct event goals without confusion or overlap.
By offering more variety of call types, event organizers can create a comprehensive and diverse program that caters to different audience segments, fosters engagement, and maximizes the impact of the event. For example, you can use the CFS Enterprise to call for two of the following types:
- Call for Speakers: Invite experts, industry leaders, or subject matter specialists to submit proposals for speaking sessions, keynotes, or panel discussions. This allows you to curate a lineup of engaging and knowledgeable presenters.
- Call for Posters: Encourage researchers, academicians, and students to submit research posters. This provides an opportunity to showcase new findings, innovative ideas, and academic work to a broader audience.
- Call for Workshops: Solicit proposals for interactive workshops or hands-on sessions. These are designed to offer attendees in-depth learning experiences on specific topics, tools, or techniques.
- Call for Demos: Request submissions for product demonstrations or innovative solutions. This is ideal for companies or individuals looking to showcase their products, technologies, or methodologies to potential customers, partners, or investors.
- Call for Panels: Invite proposals for moderated discussions on pertinent topics. Panels can feature multiple speakers and foster dialogue, debate, and diverse perspectives on key issues within the industry.
- Call for Roundtables: Seek proposals for roundtable discussions that encourage open dialogue among smaller groups. Roundtables are typically designed to provide a more intimate and interactive setting where attendees can share experiences, challenges, and best practices.
Customizable forms in the Enterprise Tier further streamline the process, allowing event organizers to gather the information they need from each type of presenter. Whether you’re managing submissions for a keynote speaker or a scientific poster session, each portal and form can be tailored to suit the unique requirements of that particular track, ensuring a seamless review and selection process.
Brand-Centric Submission Portal
A cohesive event experience isn’t just about logistics—it’s about branding, too. The Enterprise package offers customizable submission portals that reflect the branding of the event. Organizers can align the design and functionality of their submission portal with their event’s look and feel, creating a seamless and professional experience for submitters.
This kind of brand-centric customization extends to all facets of the portal, from the logo and color schemes to the messaging and overall user experience. With the Enterprise package, submitters will interact with a portal that feels like a natural extension of your event’s website, reinforcing your event’s identity every step of the way.
Advanced Evaluation Tools for Your Selection Process
Reviewing and selecting speakers is one of the most crucial—and time-consuming—elements of event planning. The Enterprise package provides advanced evaluation tools designed to streamline this process and ensure you select the best possible speakers or presenters.
A key feature of the Enterprise package is the conflict-of-interest detection system. When reviewers begin their evaluations, they are prompted with a form asking if they have any potential conflicts of interest with specific submissions. This helps to maintain the integrity of the review process, ensuring that submissions are judged fairly.
Ensure that when reviewers begin evaluations, they can quickly check for conflicts.
Lastly, the Enterprise Call for Speakers makes it easier for event organizers to ensure they are choosing the best speakers for their event. With score filtering and the prioritization of rubric criteria, organizers can weigh different aspects of a submission according to their importance, ensuring that their top criteria align with the event’s goals.
With score filtering and rubric criteria, event organizers can feel confident that they are choosing the best speakers for their event.
Leverage Your Enterprise Package to Streamline Call for Speakers
The features of the Enterprise package—ranging from increased capacity to advanced evaluation tools—help simplify the process of managing calls for speakers or presenters and give event organizers more control. By offering more flexibility, better customization, and more advanced tools, Whova ensures that event organizers can handle every stage of the submission process, from invitations to final selection, with ease and confidence. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can streamline your event, request a demo today.