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New Participant Program - A look back at IETF 122 and ahead to IETF 123
- Michelle Cotton IETF New Participant Ambassador
12 Jun 2025
At IETF 122 in Bangkok, we introduced the first edition of the expanded New Participants Program. The feedback was loud and clear that the new content successfully filled a gap in preparing new participants for success in the IETF. We are happy to announce that registration is now open for the expanded New Participants Program during the IETF 123 Madrid meeting!
The goal of the expanded New Participants Program is to help those just starting out in the IETF to be productive and effective participants. The new full-day of training, available to in-person and remote participants, covers a lot of material. Participants appreciated the deeper dive into the various parts of the IETF, how new work comes to the IETF and the specifics on how work progresses from an idea to an RFC. Tips and suggestions on how to navigate the IETF and how to best and understand the culture were very well received.
After reviewing the survey feedback and talking with new participants who attended the Sunday sessions, we have made adjustments to the timing and content for IETF 123 to make it even better.
The New Participant Program for IETF 123 begins on Sunday, 20 July with a day of training sessions:
- Introduction to the IETF, covering the mission, participants, structure, funding, governance and policies.
- Participating in the IETF, covering mailing lists, Datatracker and IETF Meetings
- Standards development, covering areas, working groups, the standards process and bringing new work to the IETF
- IETF Hackathon and Running Code including a live feed from the Hackathon
- Advanced Topics, covering protocol registries, patents, disputes and appeals, IAB, IRTF and the NomCom
- Internet-Draft (I-D) and RFCs, covering formats, statuses, streams, document structure, content guidelines, authoring tools, submitting an I-D and AUTH48.
Later on the Sunday, we have the popular Quick Connections session which provides opportunities to connect with other participants and IETF leadership. From that, new participants move straight to the Welcome Reception attended by most onsite participants. Later in the week, the New Participants Program continues with a dinner and a social hour with IETF leadership.
We understand that a whole day program may not suit everyone and so you are welcome to come to as many or as few sessions as you wish. We know that some people will take two or three meetings to cover the whole program. Any registered meeting participant may attend individual sessions in-person or remotely.
To sign up for the New Participant Program, first register for the IETF 123 meeting and then visit your participant dashboard and select one of the options under “Additional Events”, choosing whether or not to include lunch. There is no additional fee for the program.
