Why good talks don’t get selected

There’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, especially after applying to talks, getting selected, getting rejected, speaking at conferences, and also helping organize community spaces. A talk not being selected does not automatically mean it’s a bad talk. I know that sounds obvious, but when you’re the one submitting a proposal, it rarely feels that way. When a talk doesn’t get accepted, it’s very easy to read that as a judgment of your skills, your ideas, your experience, or even your worth as a speaker. I’ve seen people assume that rejection means they’re not good enough, that their topic isn’t valuable, or that they should stop trying. But in reality, talk selection is usually much more complex than that. I wanted to write this because I’ve seen this process from different sides. Not only as a speaker, but also from the side of organizing meetups and conferences. As a speaker, I’ve had talks selected at events like GitHub Universe 2025, GitMerge 2025, React Bay Area