How to Submit a Talk or Contribute to SwiNOG #42

SwiNOG #42 is in planning for October 20–21, 2026, and the site currently shows two open calls: a Call for Papers (CFP) for talks, and a call for a new SwiNOG logo. Both are open to everyone — SwiNOG describes itself as non-political, not a lobby, with no membership fees, and "always open to everyone." You submit a talk through the CFP link on the site, and you submit a logo proposal through the logo call. The one explicit constraint on the logo call: no AI-generated submissions.

Submitting a talk to SwiNOG #42

The site lists a "CFP for #42" with a "Submit your talk" action. The page doesn't spell out word counts, formats, or a hard deadline, so treat the CFP link itself as the source of the current requirements.

What the site does tell you about the setting your talk would land in:

• Format: a single-track day of operator talks, plus a hallway track and long social events.
• Audience: people who design and operate the Swiss Internet — the community is described as "the people who run Swiss networks."
• Cadence: roughly one to two meetings per year, held in Berne and elsewhere in Switzerland.
• Language and tone: the archive shows talks in English (for example, "EVPN Unleashed: Scaling Multi-Domain Fabrics with EVPN Gateways" and "An Introduction to ASPA – Validating AS-Paths with the help of RPKI"), so English-language submissions fit the existing pattern.

What past talks look like

The SwiNOG #41 program (28 April 2026) is a useful calibration for what gets accepted:

The pattern: operational topics (automation, testing, EVPN, RPKI/ASPA, peering history) delivered by practitioners, often with a vendor or operator affiliation. If your talk is about running, designing, or troubleshooting networks, it fits the room.

Practical steps

1. Go to swinog.ch and find the CFP for #42 block on the homepage.
2. Follow the "Submit your talk" link.
3. Provide your talk title, an abstract, and your affiliation in the form the CFP asks for.
4. Expect to hear back through the same channel — the site doesn't publish a review timeline, so don't assume a fixed response window.

Common snag: the homepage shows a countdown to #42 and a CFP block, but the detailed submission requirements live behind the CFP link, not on the homepage. Read the linked page before drafting, rather than guessing at length or topic constraints.

Submitting a logo proposal

SwiNOG is explicitly looking for a new logo and states: "Got design chops, or know someone who has? We'd love a fresh take on the SwiNOG identity. Send us your proposal — but please no AI slop."

• Entry point: the "Submit a logo" link on the site.
• Constraint: no AI-generated submissions. This is stated directly, so an AI-generated mark is likely to be rejected regardless of quality.
• Who can submit: the call is phrased openly ("or know someone who has"), so you don't need to be a SwiNOG regular.

What "contributing" means beyond talks and logos

If speaking or designing isn't your fit, the main ongoing channel is the mailing list:

• [email protected] — the main list. Described as low traffic, high signal: outages, peering, MTU, fibre cuts. Hosted on Mailman 3 and archived publicly on Hyperkitty.
• swinog-antispam — a working group list.
• swinog-jobs — postings.
• The list has 1k+ subscribers.

Subscribing to the list is what "membership" means in this community — there are no fees and no formal membership tier. The site also notes the list is "quiet on quiet weeks; loud when something catches fire," so low volume is normal, not a sign you joined the wrong place.

Checking the archive before you submit

Every meeting since SwiNOG #1 (Berne, 18 October 2000) has slides, and most have recordings — 41 meetings in total, all public. Before submitting a talk, skimming the archive is the fastest way to see what the community has already covered and where your topic adds something new. The #41 talks listed above are a good starting sample; the full archive is linked from the site.

Quick answers

• Is there a fee to speak or attend? The site states no membership fees and that SwiNOG is open to everyone. It doesn't publish ticket pricing on the pages shown, so don't assume anything about registration costs beyond that.
• When is #42? October 20–21, 2026, at Enter Technikmuseum.
• How often do meetings happen? Roughly one to two per year, in Berne and elsewhere in Switzerland.
• Can I submit a talk if I'm not Swiss? The site frames the community around Swiss networks but describes itself as open to everyone; the CFP link is the place to confirm any eligibility details.