Speaker information hub

Pleasure to have you onboard as a speaker for NZ Tech Rally 2027!

This page will be kept up-to-date with all the information related to speaking at NZ Tech Rally as we finalise them. So bookmark the page, and check-in once in a while :D

Timeline

NZ Tech Rally have multiple due dates, official check-ins, and speaker events. Your track leads may organise other events and calls, which will not be reflected here. These are what we have officially planned so far:

2026

September-October: Speaker onboarding

  • Complete onboarding pack within 14 days of receiving it:

    1. Sign contract

    2. Submit profile photo

    3. Review talk info in your Google Drive

  • Formally introduce you to your track lead (within 1 week after completed onboarding)

  • Your talk will start getting promoted after onboarding complete


November: Speaker gathering call 1 (optional & recorded)

  • Aim to connect speakers across tracks to each other

  • High level overview of what NZ Tech Rally conference would be like

  • Free flow Q&A


December: Take a break!!

Unless it’s an emergency, NZ Tech Rally team, including your track leads, will not be available :)

2027

January: Still on break

Support resumes 1st February


March: Speaker gathering call 2 (optional & recorded)

  • Another opportunity for speakers from different tracks to meet

  • Overview of the conference day and final schedule

  • Talk prep tips based on past and current registration stats

  • Free flow Q&A


1st April: Official slide URL published & editable

We use Google Slides to run all tracks.

We’ll be sending the slide URL for your track, so that you can start creating or adapting your slides in the official slide deck nice and early!


1st May: Official slides check-in

Your track leads may have already been working with you on your slides.

And yes, contract technically says 23rd April. But this is the latest date the NZ Tech Rally team will be able to check for potential accessibility, copyright, or code of conduct issues, and technical playback problems.

If you have special AV requirements like wanting video or demo as a part of your presentation, this is the time to raise it. This way, our team can make sure your presentation works flawlessly on the day!

If we do not see any drafts in the slide deck, we will check-in in case you need additional support.


7th May @ 6am: Slides edit cut-off

To reduce chances of unexpected technical issue on stage like previous years, we will be handing your slides over to Tākina’s AV crew at 6am. To facilitate this, we will remove your ability to edit your track’s slides when we hand your slides over.

If you need to edit your slides after this, please find Prae on the day.


7th May @ 8am: Speaker briefing

Check-in at registration then head to the main stage, to hear all about how the stages will run, venue mic quirks, and try the presentation gadgets. Depending on which room you’re in, you might be able to test your slides!


21st May: Last day to invoice NZ Tech Rally!

To get paid promptly, please send NZ Tech Rally team a valid tax invoice and bank transfer details by the end of this day. Invoice template provided in your speaker pack/Google Drive.


July onwards: Start releasing recorded talks

Recording would have usually been edited and published as private or unlisted on YouTube within a week after the conference. Our Videographer is good like that.

But NZ Tech Rally team try our best to create accessible content. Our team needs to review/regenerate all video captions, and publish transcripts before we release recording to the public.

So publishing may take a little longer. Thanks for your patience!

Support from NZ Tech Rally


Your track lead is your primary support contact.

They are also your mighty coach!
All are lovely humans who would be happy to help you give the best talk of your life.
Talk to them about planning and getting feedback on your talk.

They have all been on NZ Tech Rally stage before, and can tell you all about what it’s like up there!

Their contact details are in your Speaker pack (Google Drive folder).


Prae is your secondary and AV support contact.

You may know her as someone who chases you up on the boring stuff like contracts, photos, slides, invoices, etc.

But she’s also responsible for general speaker matters, track leads, and all things AV and stage on the conference day!

If your track lead or you need additional support, reach out to her via speak@nztechrally.nz !

Frequently asked questions

  • NZ Tech Rally publicly celebrates the diversity of our staff and speaker line-up. 

    For areas where we celebrate this visually (like the website homepage, which displays all speaker photos), we want to convey the same sentiment in writing for our blind or visually impaired attendees.

    To respect your self-image, we've asked all speakers to describe your own profile photos.

    When showcasing diversity isn't the central message of the promotional materials, we simply use your full name as the alt text.

  • Professional headshots are only available in Wellington, through our preferred vendor. They'll be taken either just before the conference or on the conference day itself. If they happen beforehand, we'll let all Wellington-based speakers know.

    For speakers based outside Wellington, sorry, your headshot can only be taken on the conference day, as all our photographers are Wellington-based. We'll arrange for you to book a session online to secure your spot on the day.

    In the meantime, we still need a profile photo from you to publish your talk on our website and for marketing promotions.

  • The conference ticket is a part of your compensation package. So please don’t get one for yourself!

    Closer to the event date, we will bulk issue tickets to all speakers. This will give you the ticket with QR code for you to present to Registration staff on the day.

  • We only have two talk formats available for NZ Tech Rally 2027:

    1. Keynote are 40 mins long.

    2. Track talks are 25 mins long.

    Please read more on our talk preparation guide.

  • Unfortunately, only the fixed podium microphones will be available.

    We’ve found too many unforeseen technical issues with switching between different microphone types. So to ensure maximum clarity for audience and sanity of our AV staff, please speak into the fixed microphone attached to the podium.

  • Yes, we will show your note either on the laptop on the podium, or on the comfort monitor in front of the stage. Depends on the room you’re in.

    We have had accidents where slides froze in the past. We’re trying our very best to mitigate this. So it’s always smart to print out your own notes. Just in case!

  • No, we don't allow anyone, including our crew, to connect laptops on stage. Instead, we log in to Tākina's laptops, which are already set up on stage and hooked into their AV system. This is common practice at professional events and helps avoid AV issues in front of hundreds of people.

  • Because we use Tākina's laptops to run our conference, we're not allowed to install any software on those machines. This means you can't run a demo or code on screen if it requires installing software.

    If a demo is essential, please use a video playback instead. Let Prae (our AV manager) know that your slides include a video, so she can run it during our internal crew rehearsals.

  • We won’t be running live Q&A on stage.

    This is common at professional events and helps avoid awkward situations for speakers.

    Our MCs will encourage attendees to connect with you during breaks and at the networking mixer.

  • Yes, Tākina provides one for each stage! We will let you play with one during speaker’s briefing in the morning of the conference.

    We don’t allow any speakers or crew members to attach their remote clickers to the computers. We use Tākina’s laptops to run our whole conference (using Google slides) and attaching external devices can cause stage interruptions.

  • To help you on the day, your track lead will show:

    • A yellow card at 10 minutes remaining

    • A red card at 5 minutes remaining

  • No, we won't be doing a speaker rehearsal. Our venue, Tākina, is usually booked back to back with events, which makes it very hard to get a proper rehearsal slot.

    A few of our crew will do a rehearsal at Tākina to iron out any big AV issues before the event day, but this depends on Tākina's availability and could be as early as a month before. For NZ Tech Rally 2026, the crew could only get a 30 minute slot one week before the event, with just one day of notice.

    To help you get comfortable on stage and with Tākina's AV, we'll be running speaker briefings throughout the conference day.

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