I can vouch that was the case for me. I emailed Whil about speaking at GLGDW (in 2000, I think), but all the slots were filled. But, when one speaker had to cancel, he asked me to do a precon on COM+. That was my first conference gig.

>I think if you ask around, you'll find a fair number of people in this community who'll say that either Whil or I gave them their first chance to write or speak.
>
>Tamar