IETF | IETF Meeting New Participants Page

The IETF works on a broad range of networking technologies that provide the foundation for the Internet's growth and evolution.
While most IETF work takes place online, meetings and other events such as Hackathons provide in-person opportunities to advance work within the IETF.
The IETF is the premier Internet standards organization. It follows open and well-documented processes for setting these standards. Once published, those standards are made freely available.
The global IETF community works together in many different ways to produce high quality, relevant technical documents that influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet.
By supporting the IETF today, you are ensuring a free and open Internet exists tomorrow.
Welcome New Participants! The programs and resources on this page are designed to make your first IETF meetings as productive as possible.
The IETF defines "New Participants" as anyone who has participated in fewer than 5 meetings (onsite or remote) and provides events and other services to help them get the most from the meeting. Please start by reading the Introduction to IETF Meetings, which covers all of the basics you need to know about IETF Meetings, and familiarize yourself with the Meeting Technology as this is probably very different from anything you may have used before.
The IETF Guides program, pairs new participants with an experienced IETF person to help you become acclimated and effective quickly. The intent is for you to have a call with your guide before the meeting, a meeting during the beginning of the meeting, and check in some time during the meeting so they can help you with any questions you might have. For more information on the program see the IETF Guides page or sign-up.
We will be hosting two Meetecho test sessions prior to IETF 127 for New Participants. These sessions will help you become familiar with the most useful features of Meetecho, the conferencing technology used in every IETF meeting session. There will also be time for general Q&A about the upcoming IETF 127 meeting.
Prior to the session starting, please read the Meetecho guide for participants.When you click on the meeting links below, you will be prompted to log into your datatracker account.
Session 1: Thursday, November 5, 2026
Time: 02:00 UTCMeetecho call-in details: https://meetecho-meetings.ietf.org/ietf127/?group=testing
Session 2: Thursday, November 5, 2026Time: 14:00 UTCMeetecho call-in details: https://meetecho-meetings.ietf.org/ietf127/?group=testing
This full-day program will take place at the meeting venue. After registering for the IETF 127 meeting, additional sign up is required via your participant dashboard. All times below are in local time for San Francisco (UTC+8). Participation in all sessions will be available for remote participants via Meetecho.
Location: Continental 6
NOTE: All times and locations are subject to change.
Sunday, 15 November 2026, 16:00-17:00Location: Continental 3
The Quick Connections session is a simple and effective way for you to be introduced to a variety of experienced IETF attendees — often working group (WG) chairs — who can help you get more involved in your areas of interest. Separate pre-registration is required and available on your participant dashboard after you have registered for the meeting.
Monday, 16 November 2026, Time 19:00-21:00Location: Continental 3
Organized by Secretariat, this event requires separate registration and there is a USD $15 entrance fee as this is not an IETF funded event.
Thursday, 19 November 2026, Time 18:45-19:45Location: Continental 3
This is a great opportunity for new participants to share their experiences and discuss topics of interest with IETF leadership. Refreshments will be provided.
This overview is divided into three sections:
The entire tutorial can be viewed in a 20 minute block of time. Or, if you prefer, you can view each section separately. This introduction was developed to help new participants understand how to start participating in the IETF. It’s intended to be a practical introduction. As such, it does not cover topics like the history of the IETF or how to author an Internet draft. Those topics are covered in other tutorials, available on our website. We strongly recommend that you download the accompanying slide deck.
It is best to plan to be present the whole week, to benefit from cross-fertilization between working groups (WGs) and from hallway discussions. The meeting agenda can change, and there have been instances of participants missing important sessions due to last-minute scheduling changes after their travel plans were fixed. Being present the whole week is the only way to avoid this annoyance. If you cannot find meetings all week to interest you, you can still make the most of the IETF meeting by working between sessions.
As a new participant, don't be afraid to strike up conversations with leadership. If the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) members, and Working Group and Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) chairs are very approachable. Note, however, that if someone is very busy and you want to discuss a complex topic then they may ask you to send email after the meeting ends.
For a good primer on how to effectively engage in the IETF, read RFC 4144: How to Gain Prominence and Influence in Standards Organizations.
If you have any questions, please contact support@ietf.org!