NexusCon 2025: Call for Abstracts and Moderators is LIVE

One of our favorite quotes about NexusCon 2024 came from our good friend Drew DePriest who said “NexusCon is an *event* born out of *community*, not the other way around.”

We agree — what made NexusCon 2024 unique is what the community (all of you) brought to the table, especially the stories you shared on stage.

📣It’s with great anticipation that we announce our call for abstracts and moderators for NexusCon 2025. 📣

For anyone ready to dive in, here are the application links. We’ll go into the details below.

NexusCon 2025 Abstract Submission Form

NexusCon 2025 Emcee/Moderator Submission From

First, let’s discuss abstracts.

To create NexusCon 2025, we ask our community for all their best smart building stories. We select the cream of the crop, and pair them together into themed sessions that give audience members an unparalleled opportunity to learn from the brightest and best. 

For those of you with a story to share, we are accepting the following three types of abstracts:

1. Case Study Format: At least two-thirds of the accepted abstracts will be real-world case studies. Your best chance of acceptance is to ensure your story follows these Perfect Case Study Guidelines. 
2. Foundations Presentations: Stories that focus on teaching the fundamentals of smart buildings to people who may be new to the industry or looking for a holistic learning experience. At NexusCon 2024, our Foundations track was our most popular set of presentations. This is your chance to teach the future of the smart buildings industry what they need to know. Foundations presentations may or may not be Case Studies.
3. If your story doesn’t fit the Case Study format, you still have a chance. We want to let your creative juices flow. Approximately one-third of sessions will not follow case study formats, and Nexus can help you with the format; just share with us what you want to talk about.

The Nexus Labs team will review abstracts and select the NexusCon 2025 presenters based on the following criteria:

• Avoid fluff at all costs. Fluff includes things like hyperbolic stories that lack humility and lessons learned, projects that are just barely scratching the surface and have no results to share, and infomercial-style presentations that are slimy and salesy (reference ShamWowing)
• Share something fresh. Stories that have never been told and stories that cover innovative concepts will be prioritized. 
• Have you got your tickets yet? Abstracts will not receive final acceptance until all speakers have registered for NexusCon 2025. This helps us avoid late dropouts.
• Can you bring a diversity of speakers (age, race, gender, role, background)? Diverse perspectives are the catalyst for new ideas.

We welcome submissions that cover, but are not limited to, the following themes:

Theme #1 Bring the Spice: Help us all cut through corporate jargon BS and see what’s real (respectfully). Expose processes and situations that stifle our industry. Bring to the table a controversial opinion on what does or doesn’t work.

‍Theme #2 Shared Struggles, Shared Growth: Success builds confidence, but mistakes build wisdom. Don’t be afraid to share what didn’t go perfectly throughout your process. This is often the most helpful information to propel our community. As smart buildings early adopters, crossing the chasm depends on our lessons learned.

Theme #3 Speaking to the Right Crowd: Your story should have a clear intended audience. Who are you trying to help? 

As a reminder, there are Nexie Awards on the line for the best presentations. A little extra motivation to bring the heat in 2025 🌶️.

Abstract submissions are due by Friday, April 4th, 2025. Don’t procrastinate; get them in today! 

NexusCon 2025 Abstract Submission Form

Next, let’s discuss moderators and emcees.

An emcee is the leader and host of a NexusCon session - they’ll guide a team of multiple presenters with a common theme. Aside from being the master of ceremonies, the emcee supports the session in the months leading up to NexusCon in organization and preparation to ensure the highest quality session possible.

A moderator may be the same person as the emcee or an additional person. They are a subject matter expert on the topics that the session covers. They help facilitate discussions among panels, support with Q&A, engage the audience, and add their own opinions and expertise as it relates to the presentations.

Emcee and moderator positions are both a great way to show your skills, meet like-minded professionals, and grow the strength and intellect of our smart buildings community. Oh, and accepted emcees and moderators get a discount on their NexusCon tickets 💸. But these jobs are not for procrastinators or slackers; read the full list of emcee/moderator obligations here.

NexusCon 2025 Emcee/Moderator Submission Form

We look forward to your submissions and are grateful for everyone's participation in making this community special. If you know someone who would submit a great story or be a great emcee/moderator, reply here and let us know.

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