Make the case
to attend.
Five briefs & a letter.
Take what helps. Adapt what doesn't.
Role-specific
arguments for engineering, security, sales, marketing, exec —
plus an editable letter template and an honest cost ledger.
Pick the brief
that fits the desk
across from you.
Each brief is one quote, five reasons, one suggested
approver.
Lift what's useful, drop the rest.
Engineering
"Tutorials Day is new for Edition Nº 02." A working Monday with the maintainers — four rooms, half-day and full-day sessions, more to be added.
- Confirmed for 2026 — Tutorials Day (Mon 12 Oct): code-along with David Hook & Megan Woods (Bouncy Castle), The long view with Bill Buchanan, the Tokens workshop with Daniel Heinrich, build-your-own-provider with Neil Horman & Nikola Pajkovský.
- Three days of talks across four tracks with the OpenSSL committers.
- Keynote: the SSLeay reunion — Eric Young, Tim Hudson and Matt Caswell in one room for the first time since 1995. The three signatures on the original AUTHORS file.
- The corridor track. At Edition Nº 01, attendees came back with patch paths, version-migration advice, and contributor relationships they didn't have on the way in.
- Bring a bug. The right person to ask is probably already on stage.
Security
& Compliance
"At Edition Nº 01, the FIPS, post-quantum and CRA tracks were the most-attended across the four days."
- Confirmed for 2026: FIPS 140-3 deep-dive on Tutorials Day — common failure modes, validation roadmap, current lab feedback.
- Post-quantum migration coverage in the tutorials and main programme — what's deployed, what's stuck, what's still moving.
- Standards and law strand on Day 03: the European regulation conversation that started at Edition Nº 01 continues with the same room.
- Peer time with security leads from the patrons in the room — at Edition Nº 01, that was 550+ senior practitioners from 30+ countries.
- Bring your audit findings. You'll leave knowing what to do about them.
Sales
& BD
"At Edition Nº 01: 550+ senior practitioners. 30+ countries. 9 patrons already signed for Edition Nº 02."
- The patrons already in the room for Edition Nº 02: Cisco, NetApp, AWS, Securosys, Bouncy Castle, Lightship, Safe Logic, KeyPair, Red Hat.
- Three evenings of curated networking — the Diplomat welcome on Monday, plus a river-boat evening and a Pilsner Urquell evening that ran at Edition Nº 01.
- The OpenSSL Corporation's audit, transparency report and patron correspondence are public — including the post-edition financial statement from Edition Nº 01.
- Speaker meet & greet on Day 02 — the engineers whose names appear on your customers' RFPs.
- Bring a deal in flight. The people who can be a reference for it are already in the room.
Marketing
"The SSLeay reunion is the biggest story the project has had since 1995."
- Confirmed for 2026: the SSLeay reunion keynote — Eric Young, Tim Hudson, Matt Caswell in one room for the first time since 1995. Material your team will be drafting from for a year.
- Press attendance from the major security and infrastructure trades — at Edition Nº 01, the day-after coverage ran across the European technical press.
- Speaking opportunities on Tracks 03 & 04 — the 2026 CFP has closed.
- Co-branded content opportunities with the OpenSSL Corporation, year-round.
- Bring an empty content calendar; leave with Q4 filled.
Executive
· CTO & up
"The room where the next ten years of your dependency stack gets decided in person."
- Confirmed for 2026: the SSLeay reunion opening keynote — Eric Young, Tim Hudson, Matt Caswell. Three signatures on the original AUTHORS file, in one room for the first time since 1995.
- Three host dinners on Mon 12 Oct — five seats per table — hosted by Tim Hudson, David Hook and Matt Caswell. Off the record.
- At Edition Nº 01: privacy as a human right was the closing thread — the OpenSSL Corporation's mission statement, read live by the team that ships it.
- Direct contact with the OpenSSL Corporation, the Foundation board, and committers — the people who decide the contribution and governance roadmap.
- Bring a strategic question; leave with the answer your competitors won't have.
A letter your manager
will actually sign,
and an honest ledger.
Adapt to fit. The numbers are real, the language is yours.
Both
download as editable documents.
"I'd like to attend
the OpenSSL Conference in
Prague."
Dear manager,
I'd like to attend the OpenSSL Conference Prague 2026 — Edition № 02 — running from 13 to 15 October. Our codebase depends on OpenSSL across teams & products, and the conference is the only event in the year where the project leadership, the FIPS 140-3 reviewers, and the post-quantum standards leads are all in one room.
Specifically, I plan to bring back a migration plan, current FIPS guidance, and a working vendor relationship. The total cost of attendance — ticket, tutorials, travel, and four nights — is approximately € figure, set against the cost of misjudging the post-quantum migration window or losing a FIPS submission cycle.
I will share a written report and a 30-minute internal session within two weeks of my return.
your name
Crossing the border
shouldn't be the part
that stops you.
If your embassy needs a letter of invitation for the Schengen
visa application,
we issue one — personalised, on
letterhead, signed by the chair.
"To whom it may concern"
— a letter your embassy
will accept.
| Issued by | OpenSSL Foundation, conference organising committee |
|---|---|
| Signed by | The conference chair · ink signature, embossed seal |
| Format | PDF · A4 · official letterhead · scanned original on request |
| Includes | Your full name as in passport, passport number, employer, dates of attendance, hotel reservation reference |
| Languages | English. Czech translation on request. |
| Eligibility | Any registered, paid attendee. Speakers issued automatically on acceptance. |
| Turnaround | Under 72 hours · 5 working days for Czech-translated copies |
| Cost | Free of charge |
For your appointment.
- Your passport (six months' validity past 18 Oct 2026).
- Our invitation letter, printed.
- Your conference registration confirmation (PDF).
- Hotel reservation — Diplomat or your booking — printed.
- Return flight itinerary.
- Travel medical insurance, €30,000+ Schengen coverage.
- Recent bank statements or employer letter.
The letter is supporting documentation — it does not guarantee the visa. The decision rests with your consulate.