Executive Summary

A strategic 2-year events roadmap for UnaMentis, prioritizing events that:

• Offer travel grants, speaker funding, or free registration for accepted speakers
• Align with the mission (AI tutoring, open source, education access)
• Build community, visibility, and technical credibility
• Require minimal personal financial risk

Current Situation (As of January 3, 2026)

CFPs That Have CLOSED (Cannot Apply to Speak)

CFPs OPEN or OPENING SOON (Can Still Apply)

Immediate Actions (January 2026)

This Week

1. Apply: CAIS 2026 - ACM Conference on AI and Agentic Systems (May 26-29, San Jose)
   • Focus: Voice-first AI tutoring, agentic learning systems
   • Why: Perfect fit for voice AI + education intersection
2. Monitor: Open Source Summit NA CFP
   • URL: events.linuxfoundation.org
   • CFP opens early January, closes ~Feb 15
   • Apply for travel fund: scholarships@linuxfoundation.org
3. Register for free: FOSDEM 2026 (Jan 31-Feb 1, Brussels)
   • FREE admission, no registration required
   • Attend even without speaking slot for networking
   • Decision: Is travel affordable? ~$1000-1500 for 2 people (flights + 2 nights)

By End of January

4. Prepare ODSC AI East proposal (Round 2 opens Jan 30, closes Feb 27)
   • URL: odsc.ai/east/call-for-speakers
   • Focus: Building voice AI tutors with modern LLMs
5. Inquire: ASU+GSV 2026 speaking opportunity
   • URL: asugsvsummit.com/summit-inquiries
   • No public CFP, but can inquire about speaking/presenting

Funding Reality & Strategy

Approach: Zero/Low-Risk Participation

• Apply to speak at every relevant event (accepted speakers often get free/discounted registration)
• Apply for travel grants (Linux Foundation, FOSDEM, many EdTech events have programs)
• Seek sponsorship from aligned organizations (cloud providers, EdTech companies)
• Start virtual before investing in travel to build reputation
• Cluster travel when possible (multiple events in same region/timeframe)

Team Strategy (2 People)

• Double CFP submissions: Both submit separate talks to increase acceptance odds
• Divide and conquer: One presents while other networks/attends other sessions
• Shared costs: Split travel/lodging, reduces per-person burden
• Complementary angles: One focuses on EdTech/mission, other on technical implementation

In-Kind Support to Pursue (Apply NOW)

2026 Event Calendar

2027 Planning Targets

CFP Deadlines to Track

2027 Priority Events

1. FOSDEM 2027 (Feb, Brussels) - FREE, open source community
2. ASU+GSV 2027 (April, San Diego) - EdTech flagship
3. ISTE 2027 (June/July) - Educator community
4. Open Source Summit NA 2027 - Travel fund available
5. All Things Open 2027 (Oct, Raleigh) - Low cost, great fit

Talk/Presentation Ideas by Audience

For EdTech Audiences (ASU+GSV, ISTE, SXSW EDU)

1. "AI That Teaches, Not Answers" - The UnaMentis philosophy of AI as tutor
2. "Productive Struggle Metrics" - How we measure and celebrate cognitive effort
3. "Voice-First Learning" - Why 60-90 minute voice sessions work
4. "Open Source EdTech" - Building sustainable education technology

For Open Source Audiences (FOSDEM, OSS Summit, All Things Open)

1. "Building with 100% AI Assistance" - How UnaMentis was built entirely with AI tools
2. "Open Core for Education" - Sustainability model for education software
3. "UMCF: An Open Curriculum Format" - Specification for shareable learning content

For Technical Audiences (CAIS, Swift conferences, Voice AI)

1. "Sub-500ms Voice AI on iOS" - Technical deep dive on latency optimization
2. "Swift 6 Concurrency for Real-Time Audio" - Implementation patterns
3. "Agentic AI for Personalized Learning" - How AI agents adapt to individual learners

Grant/Funding Opportunities

Travel Grants

• Linux Foundation Travel Fund - scholarships@linuxfoundation.org
• FOSDEM - Some dev rooms have speaker support
• Diversity scholarships - Many events have these programs

Project Grants

• Mozilla Foundation - Open source innovation grants
• Shuttleworth Foundation - Fellowships for open projects
• NumFOCUS - If you use Python scientific stack
• Open Technology Fund - Internet freedom tools
• Ford Foundation - Technology in public interest

EdTech Specific

• Gates Foundation - K-12 AI implementation (through partners like CoSN)
• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative - Personalized learning
• Schmidt Futures - AI for good
• Siegel Family Endowment - Learning and technology

Recommended 2026 Budget Scenarios

Minimal Investment Path (2-3 events)

Moderate Investment Path (4-5 events)

Action Checklist

January 2026

• Submit CAIS 2026 CFP (voice AI for education)
• Monitor OSS Summit NA CFP opening
• Decide on FOSDEM attendance (Jan 31-Feb 1)
• Apply for cloud credits (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Inquire ASU+GSV speaking opportunity

February 2026

• Submit Open Source Summit NA CFP (before Feb 15)
• Submit ODSC AI East CFP (before Feb 27)
• Apply for Linux Foundation travel fund

March 2026

• Submit All Things Open 2026 CFP
• Watch for ISTE secondary CFP
• Submit EDUCAUSE 2026 CFP when it opens

June 2026

• Submit SXSW EDU 2027 PanelPicker (opens June)

September-December 2026

• Submit ISTE 2027 CFP (Sept)
• Submit FOSDEM 2027 CFP (Oct)
• Submit Deep Dish Swift 2027 CFP (Nov-Dec)

Sources

EdTech Conferences

• ASU+GSV Summit - April 12-15, 2026 San Diego
• ISTE Events - June 28-July 1 Orlando
• SXSW EDU - March 9-12, 2026 Austin
• Getting Smart 2026 Conferences

AI Conferences

• CAIS 2026 - May 26-29 San Jose (CFP OPEN)
• ODSC AI East - CFP Round 2 opens Jan 30

Open Source

• FOSDEM 2026 - Jan 31-Feb 1 Brussels (FREE)
• Linux Foundation Events
• Open Source Summit NA - May 18-20 Minneapolis
• All Things Open - Oct 18-20 Raleigh
• Linux Foundation Travel Fund

Swift/iOS

• Deep Dish Swift 2026 - April 12-14 Chicago
• iOS/Swift Conferences