All you need for a submission RIGHT NOW is an idea with a catchy Title and Abstract (600 characters or less). After your submission is accepted, you can worry about slide decks, talk tracks, etc.

What is CreatorCon?

CreatorCon is a place for developers and builders of all skill levels. The ServiceNow Developer Advocates have a great Break Point episode from April 5th about what to expect at CreatorCon, the developer-focused event within the Knowledge Conference. I’ve embedded the audio below, but you can also listen to Break Point anywhere you usually listen to podcasts.

CreatorCon content is developer/technical focused, no sales pitches. You can submit more than one session if you have multiple ideas. Customers and Partners have access to different types of sessions based on your relationship to ServiceNow:

• Session: “Quick presentation on topics like sharing lessons learned or longer presentation & demo of something cool you’ve built.” Options for 15/30/60 minutes, open to Customers, Partners
• Training: “100-minutes hands-on CreatorCon lab. These have a step-by-step guidebook and a lab instance for each attendee to work on. Labs must be based on features in the Vancouver or earlier releases.” – open to Partners Tip: Labs are a lot more work to produce than regular sessions, but I suspect that less people submit for them, so your chances of being selected are higher.

ServiceNow will review each submission and send out acceptance notifications in Q1.

This is NOT Knowledge 2024 Call for Content. The submission window for general Knowledge Content typically starts in Q1. Knowledge sessions are usually less technical and focus on Customer Success Stories (presented by real Customers!) and informative sessions from ServiceNow Employees about the business value of specific application suites and workflows.

What’s on the application?

In addition to your Title and Abstract, you will also select the following attributes:

• Level: beginner/intermediate/expert Tip: The higher the level, the more work it will be to put together, and the higher your audience expectations, but there are likely fewer folks submitting for expert level, so your chances of getting selected theoretically increase. Go for it if you’ve got it!
• Applications & Capabilities: see screenshot below Tip: Focus on features that ServiceNow has recently released or are in the current spotlight.

• ServiceNow release: Tip: focus on current release+. Remember, Washington will be released around the same time as the conference.
  • Prior release
  • Tokyo
  • Utah
  • Vancouver
  • Washington
  • Upcoming Release
• Audience: (select no more than 5)
  • Beginning ServiceNow Developer
  • Builder,
  • Enterprise Architect
  • Experienced ServiceNow Developer
  • IT Operations Management Developer
  • Pro Developer New to ServiceNow
  • ServiceNow Store Developer
  • Technical Architect
• Lead speaker and Co-speaker: You are not alone! You can list up to two speakers. Tip: not confirmed: it appears that you can submit on someone else’s behalf even if you are not one of the speakers

What gets selected?

I typically try to choose a topic that:

• I am interested in, AND other people will be interested in. What do your customer platform owners or colleagues ask you about? What do they need the most help with?
• Aligns with ServiceNow’s goals. What platform features do you see ServiceNow showcasing these days? How can you use a specific feature for an unusual use case? i.e., don’t just use the GenAI buzzword; include how your GenAI use case is unique!
• A topic that you can cover in the allotted time. 100 minutes for a lab is much shorter than you think; you may have to speak to advanced topics conceptually instead of trying to jam-pack your lab with complex steps for the attendees to execute. You can pre-build some components and demo data ahead of time to avoid having attendees do repetitive/tedious tasks.

For your initial submission, you can be a little bit broad and refine once you get accepted. This is especially helpful as new buzzwords and TikTok trends will pop up between now and K24.

You can do it!

Disclaimer: Tips are based on my own experience and assumptions.