Call for Papers

Please read the entire page carefully, including the Key Dates, Session Criteria, Session Guidance and FAQ and then open the form.

Open CFP Form

(If you can’t open this link from your enterprise network, please visit awscommunityday.nl from your personal phone or laptop)

Key Dates

Deadline: 31 July 2026 18:00 CET
Evaluation: 31 July - August 14 18:00 CET Event: 23 September 2026

If your proposal is accepted, we will notify you by e-mail during the evaluation period. Please respond within 48 hours; if we do not hear from you by then, we may have to withdraw our offer and invite another speaker.

Session Criteria

  • One proposal per person is allowed.
  • 18 min: Each talk runs 18 minutes. “Short enough to hold people’s attention, and precise enough to be taken seriously, but long enough to say something meaningful.”.
  • Main Stage or Tech Stage: If you have an inspiring talk pitched at level 100–300, please select the Main Stage. If you have a deep-dive technical session at level 400–500, please choose the Tech Stage. Note that you select the stage rather than the level: Main Stage sessions begin at intro level and finish at 300 level, while Tech Stage sessions begin at 400 level and finish at 500 level.
  • Topics: You can choose any topic you want, for example AI, Serverless or Containers. It’s a good idea to choose a topic that matches the interest of a wide group of attendees. And keep in mind: they can apply the learnings to any programming language, although you presented Python. They can apply the learnings to any container service, although you presented EKS.

Session Guidance

  1. Craft over shortcuts Show the expertise behind decisions — judgment and instinct. Every session should answer: “What do I know from shipping this that you can’t learn from docs, Kiro, Quick, Claude Code or Codex?
  2. Show the system, not the service Real-world solutions are compound. Show how services, models and teams connect, break, and get fixed at scale.
  3. AI as accelerant, not answer Show how you use AI in production — what you automate, what you don’t, why the practitioner matters.
  4. Name the tradeoffs Cost vs. performance. Speed vs. reliability. Give frameworks, not just success stories.
  5. Leave them with a capability Your audience should do something new. A pattern. An approach. A Monday-morning action.
  6. Unfiltered > polished Craft is learned through failure. Honest stories beat clean demos. Use your credibility.

FAQ

Q. I have an inspiring talk at 400+ level, what should I do?
A. Simplify the talk to apply for Main Stage, or tailor it for the Tech Stage.

Q. I have a deep dive technical session but is not a 300+ level, what should I do?
A. Please aim for a more advanced level. If the talk falls below 400-level, the audience won’t be satisfied.

Q. Do you cover expenses for travel/hotel?
A. No

Q. Do you provide VISA letters?
A. No

Q. Do you accept international applications?
A. We do. Please be aware that talks are only 18 minutes long, and speaker confirmations come just approximately 4 weeks before the event, which is relatively short notice.

Q. Why are you doing the CFP this late?
A. The event can only proceed once we have sufficient sponsors, and securing them has taken considerably longer than expected.

Q. Are you considering 1-hour breakout sessions?
A. Unfortunately we didn’t secure sufficient sponsors to add more rooms for breakout sessions of 1 hour. Hopefully next year!

Q. Can sponsors buy a speaking slot?
A. No

Q. How many speaking slots are there?
A. At least 12. If there’s an evening program 16.