March 2026

How to Speak at an AI Event in Christchurch

Canterbury has a growing AI community — and it needs more people willing to share what they know. If you are doing something interesting with artificial intelligence, we want to hear about it.

This is a guide to how speaking at Christchurch AI works, what we look for in speakers, and how to apply.

Why Speak at Christchurch AI?

The Christchurch AI meetup runs as a monthly event at EPIC Innovation Centre. Our audience is a mix of business leaders, developers, researchers, and curious beginners — people who are actively using AI or trying to figure out how to.

Speaking here gives you:

A room of engaged, knowledgeable people who actually care about AI
Exposure across the Canterbury Tech and AI Forum NZ networks
A chance to get real feedback on your work from practitioners
A recording or writeup you can share (when available)
Drinks — we sponsor every event, so it is genuinely social

What We Look For

We are not looking for polished keynote performers. We are looking for people with something real to say. Here are the three types of talks that go down best:

🛠️ Builder talks

You built something with AI. Show us how it works, what went wrong, what surprised you. Demos are great. Live demos are even better (just have a backup).

🔬 Research talks

You have studied something. Share your findings, your framework, your methodology. Academic and industry research both welcome.

💼 Practitioner talks

You deployed AI in a real organisation and lived to tell the tale. What worked, what did not, what you would do differently.

We explicitly do not want:

Vendor pitches or sales presentations
Vague thought leadership with no substance
Talks that require the audience to already be experts

Talk Format

Talks run 20 to 30 minutes including Q&A. Slides are optional — some of our best talks have been whiteboard sessions, live tool demos, or straight conversation.

We run two talks per event. If we accept your proposal, we will work with you on timing, AV setup, and framing. We want you to succeed.

TechWeek 2026

We are also running a Christchurch AI event during TechWeek 2026. This is a larger-format conference with a public programme — a higher-profile opportunity for speakers who want broader visibility across the NZ tech ecosystem.

Speaker applications for TechWeek go through Sessionize, the same platform we use for all our events.

How to Apply

We use Sessionize to collect and review speaker submissions. It takes about 10 minutes to submit a proposal.

Tell us:

What your talk is about (one clear sentence)
Why this audience should care
What type of talk it is (builder / research / practitioner)
Whether you have spoken publicly before (not required — everyone starts somewhere)

Ready to apply?

Submit your speaker proposal through Sessionize. We review all applications and get back to you within two weeks.

Submit a Talk on Sessionize →

Questions?

If you are not sure whether your topic is a good fit, reach out before submitting. You can find us on Meetup or email via caelanhuntress.com. We are a friendly group and we actively encourage first-time speakers.

The AI community in Canterbury is still small enough that one good talk can meaningfully shift how people think. We would love to have yours.