Welcome to the Call for Presentations and Pre-Conference Workshops for the 2026 FOSS4G NA Conference being held November 2 - 4 at the Sheraton Grand in Sacramento, California.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

FOSS4G NA brings together users, developers, decision-makers, and advocates of free and open source geospatial software.
The overarching themes of the 2026 conference are Resilience and Innovation. We invite submissions that show how open geospatial data, tools, and collaboration can help solve real-world problems, strengthen communities, and improve public decision-making.
The conference has two primary goals:

• To share practical knowledge, tools, and experiences using open geospatial data and software
• To provide an entry point for new users to learn, connect, and discover what is possible with FOSS4G

As the conference will be held in Sacramento, we especially welcome submissions work related to open data, water policy and implementation, wildfire and hazard applications, and environmental resilience.
We encourage submissions from across technical, applied, community, and business perspectives.

WHAT TO CONTRIBUTE

FOSS4G NA is seeking the following:

• 3-hour pre-conference workshops
• 30-minute podium style presentations
  (20-minute talk, 5-minute Q&A, 5-minute transition)
• 5-minute lightning talks
• Posters

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

Workshops are intended to be 3-hour blocks of time that guide participants through the features of various software projects. Workshops may be:

• Beginner, intermediate, or advanced
• Tool-focused, workflow-focused, or application-focused
• We strongly encourage interactive, hands-on formats where participants can follow along on their own devices.
• All workshops will be scheduled for Monday, November 2nd at either 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM or 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM. Workshops will be scheduled by the FOSS4G NA Program Committee.

Workshop Presenter Expectations

• There is a limit of two workshop presenters and they do not need to pay. Coupons for free registration will be provided to the presenters.
• If your proposal has been accepted and you are no longer able to present, please notify the organizers as soon as possible.

30-MINUTE PODIUM PRESENTATIONS

If you have developed a free and open source project related to geospatial technologies, if you have implemented a FOSS4G solution or product, or participated in a project that uses FOSS, we invite you to participate by submitting a proposal.

Presentations are expected to have experiences both in the use of free geographic data and metadata, and in the use or development of free and open source geographic software. Your contribution could present how you use open source geospatial software, how it helps to solve your company’s/organization’s problems, a new development you are involved in and what it has improved, as well as presentations in the various application fields.

Submissions promoting restricted licensed software will not be accepted. This is a Free Open Source Software conference, and FOSS is the main interest.

30-Minute Podium Presenter Expectations:

• All presenters will be expected to register and pay the conference registration fee.
• If your proposal has been accepted and you are no longer able to present, please notify the organizers as soon as possible.

LIGHTNING TALKS

Lightning talks are short, focused 5-minute presentations.
These are ideal for:

• New ideas or early-stage work
• Project highlights
• Quick demos or insights
• Community announcements

POSTERS

These will be showcased in a poster session.
Max size allowed is 34"x44".

HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

All proposals must be submitted via an online portal powered by the PreTalx platform therefore emailed proposals will not be accepted. The following items are required, and please plan to have ready for completing the online submission form:

• Proposal Title (maximum 10 words)
• Proposal Abstract (maximum 40 words); this will be used in marketing materials to promote your talk.
• Proposal Description (maximum 800 words); this should be a comprehensive description of your presentation
  which is what will be used to determine acceptance or rejection.

Track: You will be asked to select a track that best fits your proposal. The options are:

• Business of Open Source - Focus on sustainability, funding, governance, or commercialization
• Technical - Focus on tools, methods, or how something was built
• Application - Focus on solving a real-world problem or use case
• Community of Practice - Focus on collaboration, learning, or emerging practices

Topics: Select 1–3 topics that best describe your proposal. These represent specific areas of focus (e.g., Cloud-Native Geo, Disaster Response & Resilience, Open Data) and help reviewers and attendees understand the focus of your session.

Experience Level: Select the experience level that best fits your proposal’s intended audience.

• All Levels – Accessible to a broad audience; no prior experience required
• Beginning – Introductory content for those new to the topic
• Advanced – Assumes prior knowledge; focuses on deeper or more technical content

Presenter Contact Information

• How many presentations have you given at either a global or regional FOSS4G event?
• Workshop Submissions Only - Maximum Number of Attendees (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or No Maximum)

FOSS4G NA is committed to increasing equity, inclusion, and diversity in our organization. To help us track our progress, there are also optional questions pertaining to age, race, and gender identity. These answers will remain strictly confidential and will only be available to the FOSS4G NA Executive Committee.

IMPORTANT DATES

• Call for Presentations - May 1 – June 30
• Review Period - July 1 – July 15
• Full Schedule Announcement by Week of August 1st
• POSTER SUBMISSION DEADLINE SEPTEMBER 15

QUESTIONS

Please contact cfp@foss4gna.org if you have any questions or need assistance with the online submission process.

You can enter proposals until 2026-06-30 23:59 (PST8PDT), 1 month, 3 weeks from now.