Submitting a successful proposal

The breakout sessions at WSSDA’s Annual Conference are one of the best ways to learn from your peers and share your own successes with others. School directors attending the conference prefer to hear from other board members, board-superintendent teams and students.

Focused on the work of boards by board members

  • The session must be relevant to school board members and their governance and leadership roles.
  • The session should provide practical information, deep discussion, and implementable takeaways for school directors, rather than general topic overviews.
  • The school board’s role in the project, program or issue presented must be clearly defined. Sessions led by board members, students, board-student teams or board-superintendent teams are more likely to have their proposals selected.
  • Presentations that include students or student voice are strongly encouraged.

Consider how to engage the audience

  • Ensure your description clearly, concisely depicts the presentation content so attendees can select sessions with confidence
  • Most sessions are 60 minutes long. Design your content to last 45-50 minutes to allow time for questions.
  • Get the audience involved with interactive segments to keep them engaged.
  • Load your materials on the conference app so attendees have access to them onsite.