Call for speakers

Open now. Deadline for talk submissions - 30 Sept 2025.

Talk length

• 45 minutes for keynote talks.

• 25 minutes for track talks.

  There is no on-stage Q&A. This will be encouraged at breaks - morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.

Date & venue

Friday 15th May 2026
TĀKINA, 50 Cable Street, Wellington, New Zealand

How many speakers are you looking for?

This year, we’re looking for a total of 23 speakers — made up of:

• 3 keynote speakers

• 4 speakers in each of our 5 dedicated tracks:

  • Engineering & Platforms

  • Product, Design & UX

  • Testing & Quality

  • AI, Data & Ethics

  • Community, Culture & Wellbeing

We’ve designed the programme to cover a wide range of topics while giving each speaker space to go deep into their area of expertise.

Compensation

Preparing a good talk takes time, effort, and care — and we value that.

We offer a $500 speaking fee (excluding GST) for each in-person talk delivered on our stage. We know this isn’t a large amount, but as a very small company organising a big event with a large number of speakers, we do our best to offer fair recognition for your work.

We also share high-resolution photos of each speaker presenting, along with the full talk recording published on our YouTube channel.

How do i submit my talk?

You can send us one or more talk submissions using our 2026 talk submission form. Form link expires 30 Sep 2025.

Talk submission guide

We’ve created a thorough guide that walks you through each submission question with examples. We highly recommend reading it before you begin your submission.

Speaker selection timeline

Why in-person talks only?

At this stage, we don’t have the resources to support live remote presentations — either for speaking or attending. For that reason, we’re asking all speakers to join us in person.

We know this might limit some folks, and it’s something we hope to improve in the future as our event grows. Thanks for understanding.

Do you record the talks?

Yes, we do our very best to record all talks. You can find recordings from every conference since 2022 on our YouTube channel.

Professional recordings depend a lot on sponsorship funding. From 2022 to 2024, we were able to raise enough money to afford a professional videographer. In 2025, we didn’t have the same support, so our small crew has been working hard to edit and produce the recordings ourselves.

So, the short answer is yes — we’ll do everything we can to record your talk, though the quality may vary depending on our resources.

Who selects speakers?

Our 2026 talk selection committee includes all three co-founders — Camy Bhandari, Aaron Hodder, and Prae Songprasit — with Camy, our director, generally leading the selection process.

We’re looking to add two more members with product or data background. If you're interested, email us at info@nztechrally.nz.

How do you select speakers?

100% of our selected talks come through our open Call for Speakers submissions. If a selected speaker withdraws or a last-minute emergency arises, we prioritise previously reviewed submissions that meet our quality and diversity standards to ensure fairness.

We never reserve speaking slots for sponsors or vendors. This policy is clearly stated in our sponsorship information and contracts. If someone from a sponsoring company appears on the programme, it’s because they submitted a strong proposal and earned their place through the same process as everyone else.

All talks are selected by our talk selection committee — a small group of passionate people committed to creating a thoughtful, relevant, and inspiring programme.

We begin with a blind review process, where reviewers focus solely on the strength of the idea and its alignment with the conference theme and target audience. To ensure fairness, all identifying information is removed from submissions during this stage.

Once proposals are assessed on their own merit, we consider the bigger picture — including factors such as gender, ethnicity, lived experience, and career stage — to help us build a diverse speaker lineup that genuinely reflects the richness of New Zealand’s tech community. These diversity considerations help us create balance and representation but never override the quality of ideas.

We actively avoid tokenism and never select anyone solely based on their identity. Every speaker earns their place through a strong idea and the unique perspectives their lived experience brings.

Before finalising the programme, we usually hold a short online kōrero/catchup with speakers. This is a chance to connect, answer any questions, and ensure we’re all aligned.

New to public speaking?

We love welcoming first-time speakers, and Camy — our organisation director — is especially passionate about using this platform to amplify diverse and quieter voices. If you’ve never spoken in public or to a large audience before, this is a great place to start. What matters most to us are your ideas, your story, and what inspired them.

You’ll get plenty of support — and probably more pep talks than you’ll need (often from Camy herself). By the time you step on stage, you’ll feel confident and ready to share your perspective. We’re also happy to connect you with past first-time speakers for mentoring and guidance, to help you meet our quality standards while bringing your unique voice to the stage.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We lead by example when it comes to creating an inclusive event. That means showcasing role models across genders, ethnicities, races, abilities, and backgrounds. Our speakers are seen as leaders in the community, and we recognise the impact they have through their stories and work.

When it comes to speaker selection, we aim for:

• At least 60% of our speakers to be women, gender-diverse, or non-binary.

• At least 50% from ethnic and racial minorities, with a focus on intersectionality.

• Representation from a wide range of age groups, inspiring techies across generations.

• Talks aimed at both individual contributors and those in leadership or management.

• A lineup that reflects the diversity of Aotearoa’s tech sector — from startups and scale-ups to enterprise tech, consultancies, and the public sector.

These are aspirational goals to help us build an inclusive and balanced programme. They are not rigid quotas, and every speaker earns their place based on the quality of their idea and the value of their lived experience.

Get help with your talk submission

Reach out to our friendly crew at speak@nztechrally.nz to chat with someone about your ideas. We will try our best to reply to your email within 5 working days and setup an online call if needed.

Talk preparation and practice

Preparation support we offer includes:

• Up-to-date information about the event, tech setup, access, and etc.

• Brainstorming and firming up ideas

• Pitch, slides and script review

• One-on-one practice sessions (or group if preferred)

• Accessibility check

• Connecting you to our past speakers for guidance and mentoring