Summary

  • APRICOT 2027's final submission date is 25 January, but speaking slots are filled first-come, regardless of that date.
  • Tutorial and conference proposals need draft slides; the committee says the programme fills before the deadline every year.

APRICOT has put the most important line of its 2027 call below the calendar. The final proposal deadline is 25 January. Speaking slots, however, are filled on a first-come basis, regardless of the published date. The call says the programme fills early every year and submissions are turned away. A date three months away looks generous; it is not a reservation.

The call opened on 27 October for APRICOT 2027 in Hong Kong. MasterClasses run from 24 to 26 February; the Summit spans 24 February to 4 March, with its main programme scheduled for 1 to 3 March. The final programme is due on 8 February, and final slides on 26 February. Those milestones describe a schedule. They do not tell a speaker how many places remain today.

The submission asks for more than an idea. Tutorial and conference proposals must include draft slides in PDF format. APRICOT wants original work and rules out product pitches, marketing and vendor-proprietary material. The call also bars machine-generated content, except when it is needed to demonstrate a point and clearly identified. Remote presentations are not permitted.

That is a serious filter for working engineers. A useful incident report or deployment lesson must be turned into a reviewable deck before a team can know whether there is still room on the programme. APRICOT says it may keep a limited number of slots for submissions it considers exceptionally timely, important or critical to operations. That exception is narrow by design; the committee does not publish its remaining capacity or a public queue position.

The call covers tutorials, technical talks, panels, Birds of a Feather sessions and the Peering Forum. Its subject list ranges from routing security and RPKI to IXPs, automation, submarine cables and network operations. For people with field experience, the opportunity is real. So is the race to turn that experience into slides before the chairs are taken.

APRICOT 2027 is jointly hosted by HKNOG and HKIX. The official call page supplies the rule; the APRICOT FAQ says the volunteer Programme Committee reviews proposals continuously and holds weekly meetings. The missing number is simple: how many speaking slots remain, and when was that count last checked? A live capacity indicator would make the January date useful as a deadline instead of a polite suggestion to arrive early.

Sources: APNIC's call announcement; APRICOT 2027 official call; APRICOT Call for Presentations FAQ. APRICOT 2027 official home.