swinog.ch

SwiNOG meetings are single-track, operator-focused events held roughly once or twice a year, mostly in Berne and sometimes elsewhere in Switzerland. They are open to everyone, with no membership fee, and combine a day of talks with a hallway track and long social events. The next one, SwiNOG #42, is planned for October 20–21, 2026 at Enter Technikmuseum.

How often do SwiNOG meetings take place?

The site lists a cadence of about one to two meetings per year, and 41 meetings have been held since the first one in Berne on 18 October 2000. That works out to a steady, roughly twice-a-year rhythm over more than two decades.

The next scheduled meeting is SwiNOG #42, planned for October 20–21, 2026, at Enter Technikmuseum. A call for help and a call for talks (CFP) for #42 are already open, so the program is still being assembled.

What is a SwiNOG meeting actually like?

According to the site, a meeting is:

• A single-track day of operator talks — one stream, so you don't have to choose between parallel sessions.
• A hallway track — the informal conversations between and around talks.
• Long social events — the meeting deliberately makes room for people to talk outside the program.

The audience is people who design and operate the Swiss Internet: network operators, engineers, and others working on Swiss networks. SwiNOG describes itself as non-political, not a lobby, and without membership fees.

Where are meetings held?

Mostly in Berne, with some meetings in other places in Switzerland. The first meeting was in Berne, and the site describes the pattern as "twice a year. In Berne. And elsewhere." SwiNOG #42 is set for Enter Technikmuseum.

What kinds of talks are on the program?

Recent talks from SwiNOG #41 (28 April 2026) give a sense of the range:

The topics cluster around routing, peering, automation, testing, and operational practice — consistent with an operator audience.

Is it worth attending?

If you work on Swiss networks and want to meet peers, the format is built for that: one track so you don't miss talks, a hallway track, and social events that run long. It is open to everyone and has no membership fee, so there is no gatekeeping barrier to showing up.

If you cannot attend in person, the archive is a substitute for the talks: every meeting since SwiNOG #1 has slides, and most have recordings. The mailing list covers the time between meetings.

What happens between meetings?

The mailing list, [email protected], is where the community operates between meetings. The site describes it as low traffic, high signal, covering outages, peering, MTU, and fibre cuts. Subscribing to the list is what "membership" means in practice here. It runs on Mailman 3 and is archived publicly on Hyperkitty, with related lists for anti-spam and job postings.

How do you take part?

• Attend a meeting — watch for the next one, SwiNOG #42 on October 20–21, 2026 at Enter Technikmuseum.
• Submit a talk — the CFP for #42 is open if you have something to present.
• Join the mailing list — subscribe to [email protected] to follow and take part between meetings.
• Dig through the archive — 41 meetings of slides and recordings are public if you want to see what the talks are like before attending.

The Arts & Recreation Foundation of Overland Park is a nonprofit organization that raises money and builds community partnerships to support arts, culture, and recreation in Overland Park, Kansas. If you live in or near the city, its work shows up in places you may already visit: Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead, the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, and public art projects across the community. The foundation itself is not a city department; it works alongside the city and donors to fund enhancements, programs, and special projects that go beyond what tax dollars alone cover.

What the Foundation Actually Does

Think of the foundation as a charitable partner for Overland Park's cultural and recreational assets. Its role generally includes:

• Fundraising: Accepting donations and gifts that are directed toward specific attractions, programs, or public art.
• Community partnerships: Working with businesses, civic groups, and residents who want to support local amenities.
• Events: Hosting or supporting events that both raise funds and give the community a reason to gather.
• Project support: Helping pay for improvements, additions, and experiences at the destinations it serves.

Because it is a nonprofit, money raised goes back into the community rather than to private owners. That structure is what allows residents and local businesses to contribute directly to the places they care about.

The Destinations and Initiatives It Supports

Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead

Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead is a family-oriented attraction that gives children and adults a hands-on look at farm life, animals, and Kansas history. Foundation support for the Farmstead typically means helping fund enhancements, educational experiences, and community events that keep the site engaging for repeat visitors and first-timers alike.

Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens

The Arboretum & Botanical Gardens is a living collection of gardens, trails, and natural areas. Supporting it can involve funding plantings, garden features, educational programming, and long-term care that keeps the grounds beautiful and accessible through the seasons.

Public Art Projects

Public art is another core focus. The foundation helps bring sculptures, installations, and other artistic works into shared spaces, making art part of everyday life rather than something you only see in a museum. These projects often depend on donations and partnerships to move from idea to installation.

How Community Partnerships and Events Fit In

The foundation's model relies on the community, not just on institutional funding. Local businesses may sponsor an event or a project. Residents may attend a fundraiser, buy a ticket, or make a donation. Civic organizations may partner on a specific initiative.

Events serve two purposes at once: they raise money and they build awareness. A well-attended event introduces new people to the Farmstead, the Arboretum, or a public art effort, and some of those people become ongoing supporters. Over time, this cycle of participation and giving is what sustains projects that a city budget alone might not fully fund.

Practical Ways Residents Can Get Involved

If you want to support this work, you do not need to be a major donor. Here are realistic starting points:

1. Visit the attractions. Attendance and word-of-mouth support matter. Spend a day at the Farmstead or the Arboretum and bring friends or family.
2. Attend a foundation event. Events are the easiest entry point. You get an experience, and your ticket or participation helps fund projects.
3. Donate. Contributions can often be directed toward a specific area, such as the Farmstead, the Arboretum, or public art. Check the foundation's website for current giving options.
4. Volunteer. Nonprofits frequently need help with events, outreach, and administrative tasks. Volunteering is a low-cost way to contribute time and skills.
5. Partner as a business. If you own or manage a local business, sponsorship or in-kind support can align your brand with community assets people genuinely value.
6. Spread the word. Sharing events and projects with neighbors, school groups, or community boards helps the foundation reach people who might want to help.

For current details on events, donation methods, and volunteer needs, go directly to the foundation's website, since programs and opportunities change over time.

Why This Matters for Local Quality of Life

Arts, culture, and recreation are not extras. They shape how a city feels to live in. A children's farmstead gives families a shared destination. Botanical gardens provide green space and seasonal beauty. Public art makes ordinary streets and parks more interesting. When residents and businesses invest in these things through a foundation, they are effectively choosing the kind of community they want.

The Arts & Recreation Foundation of Overland Park exists to make that choice easier and more organized. It connects people who care about these places with the projects that need support, and it keeps the benefits local.

A Simple Way to Think About It

If you are trying to understand the foundation in one sentence: it is the community's fundraising and partnership arm for Overland Park's arts, culture, and recreation, with a focus on Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead, the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, and public art. You benefit from its work when you visit these places, and you can contribute by attending, donating, volunteering, or partnering. Start with a visit, then decide how you want to take part.

SwiNOG's talk archive is public and covers every meeting since SwiNOG #1 (Berne, 18 October 2000). Slides exist for all 41 meetings, and most sessions also have recordings. You don't need to be a mailing list subscriber or attend a meeting to use it — the whole archive is open to anyone. The entry point is the "Full archive" link on swinog.ch, which sits alongside the recent-talk listings.

What's in the archive

The site describes it as "41 meetings. Public." with slides for every meeting since #1 and recordings for most. That makes it the primary source for past operator talks rather than a members-only library.

Recent entries shown on the homepage give a sense of the range:

The topics cluster around network operations: automation, EVPN fabrics, RPKI/ASPA validation, and Swiss peering history. If you're looking for a specific subject, expect to browse by meeting rather than by a search index — the archive is organized chronologically.

How to get to it

1. Go to swinog.ch.
2. Find the archive section (labelled "03 / Archive" on the homepage) or the "Full archive →" link near the recent talks.
3. Pick a meeting number to see its slides; where a recording exists, it's listed with that meeting.

The homepage also links directly to individual recent talks, so for anything from #41 you can jump straight in without going through the full archive.

Practical notes

• Recordings aren't guaranteed for every talk. The site says "most have recordings," so check the individual meeting page rather than assuming video is available.
• Meetings happen roughly once or twice a year, so the archive grows slowly. SwiNOG #42 is listed as in planning for 20–21 October 2026 at Enter Technikmuseum.
• The mailing list is separate from the archive. Subscribing to [email protected] (hosted on Mailman 3, archived publicly on Hyperkitty) gets you between-meeting discussion — outages, peering, MTU issues, fibre cuts — not the talk slides.
• No membership fee is involved for any of this; SwiNOG describes itself as non-political, not a lobby, with no membership fees.

If your goal is to catch up on a specific operator topic, start with the recent #41 talks and then work backwards through the full archive. If you want to know when new material appears, the mailing list is the channel SwiNOG uses to announce meetings and calls for talks.

SwiNOG is an informal, non-political community forum for the people who design and operate Swiss networks. It has no membership fees and is open to everyone. If you work on or around Swiss Internet infrastructure — peering, routing, operations — SwiNOG is the place where that community meets and talks between meetings.

What SwiNOG actually is

SwiNOG describes itself as "a community for the people who run Swiss networks" and "an informal forum for the people who design and operate the Swiss Internet." It is explicitly:

• Non-political — not a lobby, not an advocacy group
• Free to join — no membership fees
• Open to everyone — no gatekeeping on who can participate

The practical definition of "membership" here is simple: subscribing to the mailing list is what membership means around SwiNOG.

How the community operates

SwiNOG runs on two main channels, plus a public archive.

Meetings

• Held roughly twice a year, in Berne and elsewhere in Switzerland
• Format: a single-track day of operator talks, a hallway track, and long social events
• 41 meetings since 2000, with the first held in Berne on 18 October 2000
• Next meeting: SwiNOG #42, October 20–21, 2026, at Enter Technikmuseum
• A call for papers (CFP) is open for #42 if you want to submit a talk

Mailing list

The list at [email protected] is where things happen between meetings. It is described as low traffic, high signal, covering topics like outages, peering, MTU issues, and fibre cuts. It runs on Mailman 3 and is archived publicly on Hyperkitty. Related lists include swinog-antispam (a working group) and swinog-jobs (postings). The main list has 1k+ subscribers.

Archive

Every meeting since SwiNOG #1 has slides, and most have recordings. The full archive is public and free to dig through.

Who it's for

SwiNOG is aimed at network engineers, operators, and architects working on Swiss Internet infrastructure. Recent talks give a sense of the technical range:

If those topics match your work, the community is relevant to you regardless of employer or affiliation.

How to get involved

1. Subscribe to the mailing list at [email protected] — this is the lowest-effort entry point and the de facto membership.
2. Attend a meeting — the next is SwiNOG #42 on October 20–21, 2026.
3. Submit a talk — the CFP for #42 is open.
4. Browse the archive — 41 meetings of slides and recordings are publicly available.

SwiNOG is also currently looking for a new logo and has put out a call for proposals (with the explicit request: no AI-generated submissions).

The short version

SwiNOG is a free, open, non-commercial forum for Swiss network operators. It meets about twice a year, keeps a low-traffic mailing list running in between, and publishes everything publicly. If you operate Swiss networks, subscribing to the list is the simplest way in.

You join SwiNOG by subscribing to its mailing list, [email protected]. There are no membership fees, no application process, and no political or lobbying requirements — the site states plainly that subscribing is what membership means in this community. Meetings are also open to everyone, so you can attend without subscribing first, though the list is where most of the ongoing activity happens between events.

Subscribing to the mailing list

The mailing list is the core of SwiNOG. It runs on Mailman 3 and is archived publicly on Hyperkitty, so you can read past threads before deciding to join.

To subscribe:

1. Go to the SwiNOG site and find the mailing list section.
2. Enter your email address in the subscribe field.
3. Confirm the subscription through the email Mailman sends you.

Expected result: you start receiving list traffic. The site describes the volume as low — "quiet on quiet weeks; loud when something catches fire" — with high signal density. Typical topics include outages, peering, MTU issues, and fibre cuts.

There are also related lists mentioned on the site:

The main list has 1k+ subscribers.

Attending a meeting

Meetings are held roughly once or twice a year, usually in Berne and sometimes elsewhere in Switzerland. They are single-track days of operator talks plus a hallway track and long social events, and they are open to everyone.

The next meeting listed is SwiNOG #42, October 20–21, 2026, at Enter Technikmuseum. The site notes it is "in planning" and has an open call for help, including a call for talk submissions (CFP) and a search for a new logo.

To attend or speak:

1. Watch the SwiNOG site for the #42 meeting page and registration details.
2. If you want to give a talk, submit through the CFP for #42.
3. If you have design skills, you can also submit a logo proposal — the site asks for no AI-generated submissions.

What you get from the archive

Every meeting since SwiNOG #1 (Berne, 18 October 2000) has slides, and most have recordings. That is 41 meetings of public material you can dig through without joining anything.

Recent talks from SwiNOG #41 (28 April 2026) include:

• "The Network Automation Map: Navigate Your Journey with the NAF Automation Framework" — Damien Garros, OpsMill
• "Building a Vendor-Agnostic E2E Testing Ecosystem with Netlab" — Leandro Lerena & Andy Griesbeck, Zebbra AG
• "EVPN Unleashed: Scaling Multi-Domain Fabrics with EVPN Gateways" — Remi Locherer, modus one ag with Arista Networks
• "An Introduction to ASPA – Validating AS-Paths with the help of RPKI" — Max Stucchi, SwiNOG
• "25 Years of SwissIX – A Quarter Century of Peering in Switzerland" — Arist Volger, SwissIX

Common sticking points

• No fee does not mean no commitment. The community expects list participation to stay on-topic and useful; it is described as non-political and not a lobby.
• Meetings are not a conference product. They are informal operator forums, so the value is in the hallway track and social events as much as the talks.
• The list is the membership. If you only attend meetings and never subscribe, you are still welcome, but you will miss the between-meeting discussion that the site calls "where it happens between."

SwiNOG was founded on 24 February 2000 and has held 41 meetings since. If you run, design, or operate Swiss networks, subscribing to the list is the lowest-effort way in.