Call for State Presenters

Submission Criteria for State Workforce Agencies

Planners for the 2020 NASWA Veterans Conference are seeking workshop presenters who can provide learning opportunities for conference attendees on "Promising Practices" relevant to serving our nation's Veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses, and the employers who hire them.

This year’s conference will again include several Veteran-focused themes: military spouses, disabled Veterans, significant barriers to employment, employers, state promising practices, and transitioning from the military to a civilian career. Presenters are encouraged to focus on these topics, but we have also provided a list of suggested subject areas below, as well as more information about the conference itself. Please do not feel you are limited to these topical areas.

About the Conference

Great speakers like Medal of Honor recipient Flo Groberg, Second Lady Karen Pence, artist Tyler Way, and wheelchair athlete Shaun Castle, as well as a number of amazing workshops highlighted the 2019 NASWA Veterans Conference. Almost 600 people – representing 49 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia - attended the event, along with staff from USDOL, DOD, SBA, VA, and numerous employers and Federal contractors. Click here to view the 2019 conference video. We expect even greater attendance in 2020, and will soon be announcing keynote and plenary speakers. The conference will be August 12-14, 2020, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington DC.

The conference agenda will include an employer panel featuring HVMP recipients, plenary speakers, and multiple breakout sessions. Current plans have workshops at three different times during the conference, with six to eight workshops scheduled for each time slot. We will consider requests for specific time slots. There is a possibility some workshops will be offered more than once based on topic and identified demand. More information about the conference will be available at www.naswa.org

Workshop presentations

Breakout sessions will be 60 minutes in length. Presenters should either allow time for audience questions throughout the session or leave time for questions and answers at the end to encourage interaction. Presentations should include information on the "how" and the "why," explaining the process, pitfalls, hardships, etc. that went into the practice, and lessons learned. Presenters are expected to exhibit a high level of professionalism and to begin and end their presentations on time. A member of NASWA, NASWA staff, the Vets Committee, or one of our agency partners will moderate all sessions.

We prefer to have one speaker per state, but if additional speakers are needed, please reference that requirement in the presentation proposal.

Presentation proposals should include any specific A/V requirements, such as a projector, screen, laptop, and Wi-Fi. All presentations should have the primary objective of providing information, education or opportunity for the attendees. Presentations should not include any overt solicitation on behalf of any individual, vendor, product, organization or commercial activity; the conference offers paid exhibit space to promote products and/or services.

Presenters who have appeared at previous NASWA events should reference that information in their proposal. Presenters are expected to submit a copy of their presentation to the program committee by the designated deadline. These presentations will be made available to conference attendees on the NASWA website after the event. All presenters must be willing to mentor others who want to use their "Promising Practice."

Instructions for Submitting a Proposal

Please email your proposal with all requested materials to Lori Adams, NASWA Veterans Policy Director, at ladams@naswa.org, by COB Friday, January 10th. A subcommittee of the Veterans Affairs Committee will review all proposals and select final presenters. All presenters and panelists will be notified no later than April 3, 2020, if their proposal was selected. Thank you for your interest in the 2020 NASWA Veterans Conference.

For additional information, questions or concerns with regard to the speaker protocol, please contact: Lori Adams at ladams@naswa.org,

Response Format

Interested presenters need to provide the following information. Multiple proposals are welcome. All proposals must be in this format:

Presenter Name(s)
Presenter Job Title(s)
Company/Organization Name
Address(es)
Telephone Number(s)
Email address(es)
Proposed Presentation Title
Describe your "Promising Practice" (four-paragraph maximum). Please include the following specifics in your description: How long has this practice been in place? Did it save money, improve performance, develop or enhance existing partnerships, etc.? Did it cost anything to implement? If so, what was the funding source? What if any pitfalls did you encounter along the way? What were some lessons learned? Would you recommend other states try this? Would you do it again knowing what you know now? Please provide a success story if you have one.
Brief biography of each presenter
Photograph of each presenter, preferably in jpeg format (minimum 300 dpi) for inclusion in the Conference Program
Audio Visual Support Needed
Has this presentation been offered a previous NASWA conference? If yes, when and where?
Are you willing to present this topic more than once during the conference?
Contact name and number the day of the presentation

If you have developed a great strategy, tool, or resource, we hope you will consider sharing it with your peers at the 2020 NASWA Veterans Conference!