May 15, 2024
Since our March release of the long-anticipated Call for Speakers system, we’ve witnessed remarkable adoption and received enthusiastic feedback. Over 400 event organizers from associations, universities, and other organizations worldwide have joined our product launch webinars, with nearly 100 conferences activating the feature in just a few weeks!
Now, we’re excited to announce our Call for Speakers system’s new Advanced & Premium Tiers. These enhancements address the needs for more advanced features or more submissions and reviewers. They include, but are not limited to:
- Increased capacity for submissions, reviewers, and invitations
- Multiple submissions from a single applicant
- Multi-criteria rubrics
- PDF upload in submission
- Blind review (hide applicant identify from reviewers)
- Manual reviewer adjustment and assignment
- Revision after submission
- Waitlist support in case of acceptance decline
The Standard Package has also been improved with frequently requested features, such as support for more co-speakers and the ability to select multiple tracks to a single proposal.
With Whova, you’re empowered to further streamline the call for speakers process, saving your team time to focus on the most critical aspects of your event!
A peek at the much-awaited features
Our latest upgrade expands your options beyond the original Standard tier, now including Advanced and Premium tiers. Every feature you love from the Standard tier is also included in the Advanced tier, and all the benefits of the Advanced tier carry over into the Premium tier, ensuring a seamless and enhanced experience as you move up the tiers.
The Advanced and Premium tiers offer a variety of exciting new enhancements, including:
— Increase the number of submissions and external reviewers
Want to cast a wider net for submissions? Receive up to 1,000 submissions at the Premium tier and invite up to 2,000 to submit, ensuring inclusivity and a broader range of proposals.
You can also split up the review work among a greater range of people by adding up to 50 external reviewers at the Premium tier.
— Allow multiple submissions from a single applicant
We’ve also included another highly-requested feature — allowing multiple proposals from a single applicant (up to a limit set by the organizer). Since applicants often have expertise in multiple topics covered by your event, this option will help you attract a higher number and quality of proposals for you to choose from, also provide you more flexibility in scheduling and session planning.
Control the number of proposals each applicant can submit
— Multi-criteria rubrics
Choosing the best proposals can be complicated, and multiple factors could weigh into the decision to accept or reject a proposal. For example, besides the speaker’s expertise, you might also evaluate the content relevance, format alignment, among other metrics. The multi-criteria rubric allows you to ensure a more thorough evaluation of the proposals and select the best content for your event.
Rubrics assist your reviewers in making comprehensive evaluations
— PDF upload in submission
You can also allow applicants to upload a PDF file in the submission, letting speakers include charts, graphics, links, and images in the proposal. They can also include extended abstracts, technical descriptions, research findings, letters of recommendation, or other types of files as you need.
As the organizer, you can also easily export these files from the platform.
— Blind review option
Boost fairness and objectivity with a blind review option, where reviewers do not know the identities of applicants. This approach ensures that evaluations are based solely on the merit and quality of the proposals, without any bias related to personal information or affiliations. This level of impartiality not only leads to more equitable assessments but can also encourage a greater volume of submissions, as potential applicants feel more confident in the fairness of the evaluation process.
Do not worry. Organizers will still be able to see the identity of the submitters and the reviewers for your final decisions.
— Manual reviewer adjustment and assignment
While Whova can automatically assign reviewers for each proposal, sometimes you might need to replace reviewers for a submission – for instance, if the reviewer becomes unavailable, has a conflict of interest with the applicant, lacks the expertise for the proposal’s topic, or could be overloaded. Easily handle these situations by adjusting the reviewers for individual proposals at any time.
In addition, if you prefer not to rely on Whova’s automatic reviewer assignment, you have the option to manually assign reviewers for all proposals at the beginning.
Re-assign reviewers by removing an existing reviewer and adding a new one
— Allow applicants to revise after submission
Sometimes an applicant may want to revise their proposal after submission. For example, they may need to include additional materials, fix typos or format issues, revise the structure of the proposal, or improve the quality in general. While you can still choose to keep proposals locked after submission, you can also allow applicants to edit proposals after submission so they get a chance to polish the materials before the final review.
Allowing editing enables speakers to refine their proposals, leading to higher quality presentations and materials. Speakers would also appreciate the ability to revise their work; this flexibility can make the difference between withdrawing a proposal and improving it for submission.
Allow applicants to revise proposals after the submission before a deadline
— Waitlist support
As an event organizer, you know the value of a Plan B. With our highly requested waitlist support, you can now admit proposals to a waitlist. This is helpful if already accepted speakers withdraw or can’t make it, or if you decide to open more slots for a popular track. In either case, you can turn to the waitlist to fill in the gap.
Add submissions to the waitlist with the click of a button
Choose the right package for your event
These are just a few of the many helpful, highly-requested features introduced in our new tiers. Review a summary of the full update in the chart below:
Streamline your search for speakers with Whova
Whova’s latest features at the Standard, Advanced and Premium tiers offer a range of powerful enhancements to simplify your call for speakers process. No matter which tier you choose, Whova empowers you and your team to attract, review, and select the best proposals for your event.
Interested in learning more about Call for Speakers’ new enhancements? Reach out to a Whova representative for more information.