Maintainer Summit

November 9, 2025

Atlanta

Georgia World Congress Center, Building B
285 Andrew Young International Blvd NW, Atlanta, GA 30313

#CNMaintainerSummit

The CNCF Maintainer Summit is an exclusive event for the people behind our projects to gather face-to-face, collaborate, and celebrate the projects that make “Cloud Native.” Programming will be focused on sharing best practices, diving into contributing processes, and solving common problems across projects to enrich our great community of maintainers.

Who can attend Maintainer Summit?

• Sandbox Project Maintainers*
• Incubating Project Org Members
• Graduated Project Org Members
• CNCF TOC Members
• CNCF TAG Chairs, Technical Leads and Working Group Leads

The CFP for Maintainer Summit North America will open in mid-June.

This is not an event for general attendance. See the “Eligibility” section for guidelines. To attend, you must be registered for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon.

Registration for Maintainer Summit North America will open in mid-June.

Sponsorship opportunities for Maintainer Summit North America will open in mid-June.

When is the Maintainer Summit taking place?

Sunday, November 9, 2025 one day prior to KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America pre-event programming.

Where is the Maintainer Summit located?

Georgia World Congress Center, Building B | 285 Andrew Young International Blvd NW, Atlanta, GA 30313

RegiStration

Who can attend the Maintainer Summit?

• Sandbox Project Maintainers (as listed in project-maintainers.csv)
• Incubating & Graduated Project GitHub Org Members
• CNCF TAG Leads & the CNCF TOC

Why do I need to be a CNCF Project GitHub Org member to attend?

We welcome everyone to start contributing to a project, but with 7,500+ CNCF Project Org members and limited space, we’ve decided to limit attendance to those who are already actively engaged a project.

I’m not listed as someone who could attend, but I contribute, what should I do?

We encourage you to continue to contribute and pursue your project’s path for becoming a GitHub Org member or climbing the contributor ladder to become a listed maintainer. Till then, there are plenty of other opportunities to get involved at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon. Check out the schedule and get involved.

What is a sponsored attendee?

• If you are a Maintainer, TAG Chair, Tech Lead, K8s SIG Lead, or WG Lead, and there is someone who is not yet a GH org member, you can sponsor them to attend the summit. If you are sponsoring an attendee, proactively contact ProjectsAtKubeCon@linuxfoundation.org with the individual’s name, company, and community participation details.
• The sponsored attendee must indicate that they are a sponsored attendee during registration and share the name of the individual sponsoring them.
• Sponsored attendees will be reviewed weekly, note not all sponsored attendees will be granted registration.

How will I know if I’m registered for Maintainer Summit?

After registering, your registration will be placed into a pending queue for review. Once a week, CNCF staff will validate that you meet the criteria to attend and will either approve or deny your registration. If you believe a mistake was made, please contact ProjectsAtKubeCon@linuxfoundation.org.

If I’m accepted as a Maintainer Summit speaker – do I also have to purchase registration for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon?

No, all CFP-submitted accepted maintainer summit speakers will receive an “All-Access” pass for CNCF-hosted co-located events and KubeCon + CloudNativeCon programming. (Note: This does not include proposals for Project Meetings)

I’m leading an unconference session at the summit. Do I need to purchase registration for KubeCon and CloudNativeCon?

Yes, due to the short time frame for planning unconference sessions, complimentary registration will not be provided.

Can I attend virtually?

Unfortunately, no, there is not an opportunity to attend virtually.

Do I need to register for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon to attend the summit?

Yes, to attend The Maintainer Summit, you must be registered for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon.

Is there maintainer support for attending?

Please apply for the Dan Kohn Maintainer Scholarship. Scholarship information is coming soon!

Will there be a registration option only to attend the Maintainer Summit and not KubeCon + CloudNativeCon?

No, there is NOT a single-day Maintainer Summit-only pass available.

CFP Process

Who can submit a talk for the Maintainer Summit?

• Incubating & Graduated Project GitHub Org Members
• CNCF TAG Leads & the CNCF TOC

I have an idea for a session but missed the CFP deadline:

Most of the Summit will be unconference-style, so you will have an opportunity to propose a session closer to the Summit itself.

Sponsorships

Why are sponsors needed for a Maintainer Summit?

Community partners ensure that the Maintainer Summits are financially sustainable. Sponsor support helps cover event hard costs and provides opportunities for sponsor companies to engage as a thought-leader in the community.

Who can we reach out to about sponsorship opportunities?

Please email sponsor@cncf.io.

Misc

Will the sessions be recorded? If so, where will they be posted?

All but the unconference sessions will be recorded. From previous experience, the more open & discussion-oriented unconference talks are, it is difficult to capture when recording. For those sessions, we encourage attendees to keep a shared notes doc and make those available after the event. For the sessions that are recorded, they should be posted within two weeks of the event.

I have a question! How do I contact the event staff?

Email us at ProjectsAtKubeCon@linuxfoundation.org or ask a question on the #maintainer-summit Slack channel.