FAQs - AndroidMakers by droidcon

Frequently Asked Questions

For Attendees

You can find all information about our venue and how to get to us here.

Sadly we cannot help with travel costs but do offer diversity tickets through PAUG.

INSIDE THE VENUE

All reception desks fitted at the venue have DDA compliant registration points available to all wheelchair users.

Corridors and gangways are well lit and internal staircases are also supported by handrails. All levels are accessible by passenger lifts, both in the main reception and in the Gallery Hall. Our lifts are complete with low reach buttons with braille; they are also fitted with distress alarms and back mirrors to assist with access and egress of wheelchair users.

All conference rooms are either completely set with unfixed seating or have sections where we can accommodate spaces for wheelchair users.

MANUAL WHEELCHAIR HIRE

A limited number of wheelchairs are available on loan for use within the venue. These can be booked in advance by calling our concierge team (0207 288 6475) so when you arrive at the venue this will be ready for you upon proof of identification.

TOILET FACILITIES

We have an accessible toilet on each level of the building. They can be accessed by use of a RADAR key (a spare key is kept in reception). The RADAR Key Scheme or National Key Scheme (NKS) offers those who require it, independent access to locked public toilets. If you don’t have a key then please contact our concierge team upon your arrival or by phone: 0207 288 6475.

The Ground Floor toilet is located in stairwell B; this is not currently fitted with a Radar Key. On the Mezzanine Level the toilet is also in stairwell B, and on the top floor on the Gallery Level you will find a toilet situated on the opposite side in stairwell F. All toilets are fitted with low reach door handles, and an emergency pull cord alarm.

EMERGENCY EVACUATIONS

In the unlikely event of a fire or any other emergency, the fire alarms will be activated. Fire alarms are fitted with audible and visual signals to help visitors with hearing impairments. The venue fire marshals will assist visitors to evacuate the building. We have two onsite Evac chairs to assist wheelchair users to reach the ground floor in the event of a fire.

There are emergency red phones around the venue at the entrance to every stairwell on each floor for visitors to reach reception during emergencies.

If you require additional assistance in the event of an emergency please let us know and we will ensure that we support you in safely leaving the venue with a personal evacuation plan.

GUIDE DOGS

At the Business Design Centre we welcome guide dogs and we are happy to make provisions to ensure that they are as comfortable on site as their owners. Please contact the project manager for any event taking place or the concierge team in advance to allow us to prepare for your arrival. No other dogs or pets are permitted in the venue.

HEARING LOOP

Two of our main conference rooms are fitted with induction loops and they can be connected for conference sessions. If you are attending an event please ensure that you contact the organiser of the event to confirm that this has been arranged. If you are organising an event please note that all conference rooms can be fitted with a loop but this will need to be arranged in advance.

Yes, we can issue a visa invitation letter after you bought a ticket. Please fill this typeform with your personal information

All sessions will be recorded and later published on Youtube and droidcon.com.

You could clone yourself 😉 Or be happy, that all sessions will be recorded and later on published on our website www.droidcon.com. You can also book a Group ticket so that your whole team can attend.

We will provide breakfast and coffee and water all day. Many good restaurants are closed by the venue for lunch. Please help us make our conference more sustainable and avoid trash. Bring your own bottles to refill with fresh water. There are refill stations distributed throughout the venue.

After the first conference day on April 10, 2025 our AndroidMakers by droidcon General Party will take place. The General Party is for every participant of our conference. Info on the location will follow.

The conference app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.

Periodically we have been forwarded emails from phishing and fraudulent sites claiming to be selling droidcon attendee data. We are also aware of incidents where companies have sent emails to speakers or sponsors with invitations to various offsite events happening around droidcon that appear to be sanctioned by us.

Please be assured that we do NOT sell or provide any kind of information about our attendees or partners to third parties without your consent.

As a European entity, we also adhere to the strict GDPR policies and are audited by our parent company. We are also not the victims of any security or data protection incidents concerning our client or attendee data.

We understand that these types of email are disconcerting. When we become aware of these emails, they are passed on to our legal team and our data privacy team so that all legal avenues are pursued.

If you do receive questionable emails in the future, we appreciate you forwarding them to our team so that we can take legal action where needed. Please rest assured that your data is safe and secure with us.

Please contact us if you have further questions.

For Speakers

You can submit your talk here.

We are looking forward to talks on (but not limited to) these topics:

What’s New in Android
Jetpack Compose
Jetpack / Architecture Components
Architecture
Advanced Kotlin
Testing
Infrastructure, CI/CD
Cross/Multi-platform Development
AI/ML
UI/UX/Design
Career & leveling up & soft skills focussed talks
Core Skills
Case Studies / Research
Open Source

We have 3 talk formats:

Session times are 45 minutes (including Q&A)
Lightning Talks are 20 minutes (including Q&A).
Workshops typically last 90 minutes (including Q&A).

We have prepared a list of public speaking tips and guidelines specific to our events that will help you in the preparation of your talk. Please find it here.

Please adhere to the following guidelines when submitting your talk to AndroidMakers by droidcon 2025. We cannot guarantee that if you follow these suggestions that your talk will be accepted, but you will have a much better chance:

1. Please ensure that your talk title and description match and that the title accurately reflects your topic

We all love a cute and catchy talk title with a nice play on words, but the program committee (and attendees for that matter) should be able to tell at a glance what topic your session will cover. We also ask that you be aware of our code of conduct when choosing your title.

2. Define key takeaways and learning points

You will help the committee select your topic if you can explain what you hope audience members will learn. Please try and include three to five key points that make your talk stand out from others. (This is important because we often receive 4-5 submissions on the same topic.) The more concrete (and relevant) these learning points are to the audience/conference, the better.

3. What is your experience level with the topic?

You don’t have to be a level 12 Black Belt in Kotlin to get your talk accepted. The committee does however need to know what your experience level with the topics is. Is the app or technology you are working being deployed at scale? Is it a hobby or side-project? What are your real-world experiences with the topic?

4. Have you given this talk before?

Please let us know if (and where) you have given this talk before. How was the talk received? How has it changed from the past? What new information can we expect.

5. Keywords

We have included a pre-defined list of keywords in the CFP tool. If none of them fit, please include a list of relevant keywords in your talk submission text. This will help us find your talk using a search tool when we are looking for a particular topic or technology.

The Call for Paper is open until February 15, 2025.

For questions please send an email to cfp@androidmakers.fr

Submissions will be evaluated by our program committee consisting of experienced Android professionals. Selected speakers will get an acceptance email from us in April /March 2025.

The program committee will need about 2 weeks after the Call for Papers has concluded to vote on and choose talks. Selected talks will get an acceptance email from AndroidMakers by droidcon 2025.

We will continuously publish accepted sessions on our website once they are confirmed. In addition, the talks will be published via our social media channels. We aim to publish a preliminary schedule in late February / beginning of March.

Travel and accommodation will be covered on a case-by-case basis. If you require financial assistance, please reach out to us once your talk has been selected and before March 31st so that we have time to get everything ready. In our experience, most companies will cover your expenses to travel to speak at conferences. If you are a Google Developer Expert, you can apply with Google to have your travel expenses covered. Most companies will reimburse your travel and they also receive a complimentary sponsorship, Speaker Sponsorship Program, from us if they support your professional development as a speaker through travel assistance. This includes:
– Logo placement on the website
– Social Media shoutout
Please fill out this form if your company is covering your expenses and you’d like to proceed with the Speaker Sponsorship Program. Any questions reach out to contact@androidmakers.fr.

All sessions will be recorded and later published on Youtube and droidcon.com.

Your presentation will be collected from our stage managers. They will sync your presentation on a USB memory stick. In every room (track) there are a stage manager and a media technician who can help you. Please provide us with the presentation no later than 1.5 hours before your presentation.

Our conference is supported by default with audio/video technology.
Please present with your own laptop and make sure that you carry all the adapters with you! If you have special requirements please contact our team on time. Please prepare your presentation in 16:9 format – otherwise, we cannot guarantee Full HD.

Accepted speakers will get a free ticket. If you already bought a ticket, let us know and it will be refunded. Expenses will be reimbursed on a case-by-case basis – please let us know shortly after being selected so that we have time to get everything ready.

To receive a letter of invitation, please fill out this typeform with the required information. We’ll get back to you ASAP!

On the evening before the show, we invite all speakers for an informal gathering with food and drinks. It’s a great chance to get together and get to know your peers from all over the world.

The Speaker Lounge is only accessible for speakers of AndroidMakers by droidcon. There you will have the opportunity to prepare in peace for your presentation and hold discussions with other speakers. Drinks and snacks are provided.