According to the announcement, SCALE 9x encourages proposals focused on open source success stories, open source expansion into different markets and fields, and novel applications.

The 2011 SCALE event will have five speaker tracks: two specialized tracks (beginners and developers), a new system administration track, and two general tracks to accommodate talks across a wide spectrum of interests and skill levels.

Suggested topics include:

-- Kernel Internals and Enhancements
-- Unix variants:Tools and Appliances
-- Open Source for Embedded Platforms
-- Open Source development tools for Mobile Devices
-- Open Source for Cloud Computing
-- Open Source for Unified Communications
-- In-depth Programming/Scripting with Open Source Languages (such as Perl, Ruby, PHP, and Python)
-- Desktop Operating Systems Linux/Unix/Windows Inter-operability
-- Shell Programming
-- Open Source Productivity Applications Tools for Multimedia and Gaming
-- Tools for Profiling and Performance Tuning
-- Open Source Animation Tools
-- Open Source Database Platforms
-- Open Source Licensing
-- Government Policies with Open Source
-- Open Source Promotion and Adoption: Current State
-- Open Source Success Stories
-- Open Source Audio/Video Manipulation tools

For more information on the SCALE 9x Call for Papers and how to submit them, visit:
http://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale9x/blog/scale-9x-call-papers