Confelo - Conference Talk Ranking System

A privacy-first terminal application for ranking conference talk proposals using the proven Elo rating system.

Why Elo Rating for Conference Talks?

The Elo rating system was invented by Arpad Elo for chess rankings, but it's perfect for conference talk selection because:

• Relative Comparison: Instead of scoring talks in isolation, you compare them head-to-head, which mirrors how program committees naturally think
• Fewer Decisions: With 50 proposals, scoring each individually requires 50 decisions, but Elo ranking can produce reliable results with just 20-30 comparisons
• Handles Subjectivity: Different reviewers have different standards - Elo focuses on relative preferences rather than absolute scores
• Proven Mathematics: Used successfully in chess, sports rankings, and online gaming for decades
• Confidence Building: Naturally identifies when you've done enough comparisons to trust the ranking

Perfect for: Conference program committees, hackathon judging, grant proposal review, or any scenario where you need to rank subjective submissions.

Key Features

• Privacy-First: All data stays on your computer - no internet required
• Smart Comparisons: Focuses on close matchups where your input matters most
• Multiple Formats: Compare 2, 3, or 4 proposals at once
• Automatic Stopping: Tells you when you've done enough comparisons
• CSV Import/Export: Works with your existing spreadsheets

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Go 1.25 or later
• Terminal with color support (recommended)

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/pashagolub/confelo.git
cd confelo

# Build the application
go build ./cmd/confelo

Basic Usage

1. Prepare your data: Create/download a CSV file with conference proposals

   • Required columns: id, title, speaker
   • Optional: abstract, track, and other metadata columns

2. Start a new ranking session:

   # Linux/macOS
   ./confelo --session-name "MyConf2025" --input proposals.csv
   
   # Windows
   confelo.exe --session-name "MyConf2025" --input proposals.csv

3. Resume an existing session (no input file needed):

   ./confelo --session-name "MyConf2025"

4. Make comparisons: Use the interactive terminal interface to compare proposals

   • Number keys to enter proposals order
   • Enter to select your preference
   • 'r' key to view current rankings
   • 'e' key to export results
   • Ctrl+C to exit and save

How It Works

Confelo automatically detects whether you're starting a new session or resuming an existing one based on the session name you provide. No subcommands needed!

• New Session: If the session doesn't exist, you must provide a CSV file with --input
• Resume Session: If the session exists, it loads your previous progress

The application uses the Elo rating system to intelligently select which proposals to compare next, focusing on matchups where your decision will have the most impact on the final ranking.

Options

All configuration is done via command-line arguments:

confelo [OPTIONS]

Required:
  --session-name string    Session name (creates new if not found, resumes if exists)

For new sessions:
  --input string          CSV file path (required for new sessions)

Optional settings:
  --comparison-mode string    Comparison method: pairwise, trio, quartet (default: pairwise)
  --initial-rating float      Starting Elo rating for proposals (default: 1500.0)
  --output-scale string       Rating scale format like "0-100" or "1.0-5.0" (default: "0-100")
  --target-accepted int       Number of proposals to accept (default: 10)

Other options:
  --verbose                Enable detailed output
  --version               Show version information
  --help                  Show help message

CSV Format Requirements

Your CSV file must have these columns with a header row:

• id - Unique identifier for each proposal
• title - Proposal title
• speaker - Speaker name

Example CSV:

id,title,speaker,abstract
PROP001,"Building Resilient Microservices","Sarah Chen","In this talk, we'll explore..."
PROP002,"Modern Web Development","Alex Kumar","Discover how TypeScript..."

Example Workflow

1. Start your first session:

   ./confelo --session-name "DevConf2025" --input my-proposals.csv

2. Make some comparisons in the interactive interface, then exit (Ctrl+C)

3. Resume later to continue where you left off:

   ./confelo --session-name "DevConf2025"

4. Export results when done:

   • Press 'e' in the interface to export ranked proposals to my-proposals.csv

Algorithm Details

How Elo Rating Works

Confelo uses the standard Chess Elo rating system:

• Expected Score: $E_A = \frac{1}{1 + 10^{(R_B - R_A) / 400}}$
• Rating Update: $R'_A = R_A + K \cdot (S_A - E_A)$

Where $K=32$ (sensitivity factor), and scores are $S_A = 1$ for win, $S_A = 0$ for loss.

Multi-Proposal Comparisons

• Trio: You rank 3 proposals (1st, 2nd, 3rd), which creates 3 pairwise comparisons
• Quartet: You rank 4 proposals, which creates 6 pairwise comparisons
• All modes use the same proven Elo mathematics for consistency

When to Stop

Confelo automatically detects when you've done enough comparisons based on:

• Rating stability (changes become smaller)
• Ranking stability (top proposals stop changing positions)
• Sufficient coverage (each proposal compared enough times)

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Write tests for your changes
4. Ensure tests pass (go test ./...)
5. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
6. Push to your branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
7. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Elo rating system invented by Arpad Elo for chess rankings
• Inspired by conference program committee workflows
• Built with Go's tview library for terminal interfaces