Automate CFP Selection with Airtable, Bannerbear & Trello

What this workflow does

This workflow takes speaker proposals for events and picks only the top-scoring ones automatically.
It then makes special announcement images for each chosen speaker.
Finally, it creates organized cards in Trello with all speaker details and images.
This saves hours of manual work and stops mistakes like missing or wrong info.

Who should use this workflow

This is for event organizers who get many speaking proposals.
Those who want to sort and share accepted talks faster.
Anyone who uses Airtable, Bannerbear, and Trello for event management.
And users familiar with the n8n automation platform.

Tools and services used

• Airtable: Stores all the Call for Proposal submissions.
  


• Bannerbear: Creates customized speaker announcement images.
  


• Trello: Holds cards organizing accepted talks.
  


• n8n: Runs the automated workflow to connect all tools.
  

How the workflow works

Inputs

The input starts with fetching data from Airtable.
Only proposals with a total score above 15 are selected.

Processing steps

Then the workflow sends collected data to Bannerbear.
Bannerbear uses a pre-made template to generate images with talk title, abstract, profile picture, Twitter handle, and full name.
The workflow waits for these images to be ready before moving on.
After image creation, the workflow creates a Trello card for each speaker.
Each card includes the talk title as the name and a description with abstract, speaker bio, email, and Twitter handle.
The generated image is also attached to the Trello card.

Output

The result is a filled Trello board.
Each card shows accepted speaker details plus a clear announcement image.
This keeps the event organized and speeds up publishing accepted talks.

Beginner step-by-step: How to use this workflow in n8n

Import the workflow

1. Download the workflow file using the Download button on this page.
   


2. Open your n8n editor.
   


3. Use the “Import from File” option to load the downloaded workflow.
   

Configure credentials and settings

4. Add your API keys for Airtable, Bannerbear, and Trello inside n8n’s credential manager.
   


5. Check and update the Airtable table name if needed.
   


6. Update the Bannerbear template ID with your own template.
   


7. Enter the correct Trello board and list IDs where cards will be created.
   

Test and activate

8. Run the workflow once manually using the Manual Trigger node to check results.
   


9. Verify that Trello cards get created with correct info and images.
   


10. If all works, activate the workflow using the switch in n8n to run it live.
    

If you want this to run on a schedule, replace the Manual Trigger with a Cron node and configure your desired frequency.

Customization ideas

• Change the Airtable score filter number to accept talks with higher or lower scores.
  


• Use different Bannerbear templates to add event date, location, or branding.
  


• Add more details to Trello cards like session length or speaker track.
  


• Tag Trello cards with labels to categorize talks by topics or formats.
  


• Set up regular automatic runs using the Cron node instead of manual start.
  

Common problems and fixes

• Zero results from Airtable: Check if the table and field names exactly match Airtable.
  


• Missing or broken images from Bannerbear: Confirm the template ID is correct and the “waitForImage” option is ON.
  


• Trello cards not creating or missing info: Verify the board and list IDs and check that all field mappings are correct.
  

Things to check before going live

• Ensure all API keys are valid and added properly in n8n.
  


• Test the Airtable query filters return the right submissions.
  


• Verify Bannerbear images generate well using example data.
  


• Confirm Trello list ID and test creating cards manually.
  


• Run full workflow on sample data before making it live.
  

Summary of benefits

✓ Automatically selects accepted talk proposals above a score.
✓ Creates branded speaker announcement images.
✓ Organizes accepted talks into Trello cards with all info.
✓ Saves many hours by removing copying and manual errors.
✓ Easy to run on-demand or schedule inside n8n.

Useful links

For users running or hosting n8n on their own servers, more info at self-host n8n.