NZNOG 2019 – Napier – 31 January – 1 February 2019

What

NZNOG is the New Zealand Network Operators Group

“The Nog” is our annual conference which provides both an opportunity to exchange technical information, and a high-value opportunity for NZ’s networking staff to ‘network’ amongst themselves. This is New Zealand’s primary technical networking conference. The event is unique in New Zealand and attracts technical, skilled individuals with a genuine interest in Internet operations and Internetworking technologies.

The conference is low priced and has a strong technical focus with the aim and history of getting a strong turnout of technical personnel from New Zealand Internet orientated companies.

When and Where

Napier Conference Centre,
Napier War Memorial and Conference Centre,
48 Marine Parade,
Bluff Hill, Napier

APNIC SDN Workshop:   Mon 28 Jan –  Wed 30 Jan
TICSA Workshop for Network Operators:    Wed 30 January
Network Automation Workshop:    Wed 30 January
Main Conference:     Thur 31 Jan – Fri 1 Feb

How Much

Main Conference: $250 ( $200 earlybird )
APNIC SDN Workshop: $150
TICSA Workshop: $50
Network Automation Workshop: $50

More

NZNOG 2019 conference website
NZNOG 2019 Workshops and tutorials
NZNOG 2019 Speakers

New Zealand Chess Congress – Auckland – 14 – 24 January 2019

What

Five events over 11 days

The New Zealand Chess Championship is 1 game/day while the New Zealand Rapid Championship is 9 games over 2 days.

Events

NZ Open Championship – 14-22 January
NZ Major Open – 14-22 January
NZ Junior Open (morning games) – 15-20 January
NZ Rapid Championship – 23-24 January
NZ Lightning Championship – 24 January

When and Where

14-22 January 2019

Waipuna Conference Centre
58 Waipuna Rd, Mount Wellington,
Auckland

How Much

NZ Championship: $225
Major Open: $175
Junior: $85
Rapid: $50
Lightning: $35

More

Entry for for the New Zealand Chess Congress 2019
New Zealand Chess Calendar

Social Enterprise Unconference – Levin – 15 – 17 February 2019

What

PledgeMe has teamed up with Thankyou Payroll to deliver Aotearoa New Zealand’s first unconference focussed on social enterprise. The event was created to support growing and scaling social enterprises to help each other and build a network for them to grow their impact together.

We know how tiring it is to balance social impact and financial value creation, so we think by learning from each other, we can make this journey a little less lonely and little bit easier.

What is an Unconference? It’s a weekend long residential event that’s more about having awesome people in the room rather than watching speakers on a stage. The agenda is set on the first night by the attendees, where you decide what you want to share and discuss over the weekend, and the event is all about you meeting, connecting, sharing, and learning.

The Social Enterprise Unconference 2019 will be for the people behind social enterprises that have been trading for a few years that want support to take their business to the next level. Off the back of a busy year for everyone, we are excited to get a group together to discuss what’s next for the sector, learn from each other, and hopefully realise we’re not in this alone.

We’re aiming to have a diverse group of attendees that represent the broad spectrum of social enterprise in Aotearoa. To ensure that everyone has the time and space to have meaningful interactions, the number of attendees will be capped at 100. Because we’re limited on space, but know that we all benefit from the strength of a diverse group, we will be selecting attendees based on a range of criteria, however if we have more applicants than spots, we will give preference to those who get their registration form sent in quickly.

When and Where

Matau Marae
19 Clay Rd
Levin

Friday 15 to Sunday 17 February 2019

How Much

Provisional pricing

$300 for the weekend (incl accommodation & food)
$100 for scholarship tickets

Aim to provide scholarships for 20% of attendees to ensure cost is not a barrier to attending.

More

Announcement
Cost of Conduct
Accessibility information
Registration of Interest in attending

NZ Skeptics Conference – Auckland 16 – 18 November 2018

What

This year’s NZ Skeptics Conference is on the weekend of the 16th – 18th of November in Auckland.

The conference is conveniently located at Butterfly Creek near Auckland International Airport, where the entire conference takes place. Events kick off on the Friday evening with a conference welcome and skeptically themed pub quiz.

There’s a full day of speakers on Saturday at the followed by dinner where you can chat with our speakers. Sunday has more speakers and a panel, and the weekend wraps up with the NZ Skeptics’ AGM.

When and Where

6pm – late, Friday 16th November – Registration and Skeptics in the Pub Quiz
8:30am – late, Saturday 17th November – Main Programme
9:30am – 3pm – Sunday 18th November – Main Programme

Butterfly Creek
10 Tom Pearce drive
Auckland Airport

How Much

Earlybird pricing ends 21 October

Full weekend            $160 earlybird, $180 standard
Unwaged weekend   $120 earlybird, $140 standard
Single Day                  $90 earlybird, $110 standard

More

NZ Skeptics Conference Website

Google Developer Groups – Auckland DevFest 2018 – Auckland – 9 November 2018

What

DevFest Auckland is a community run event where developers come together to exchange ideas and amazing things can happen!

DevFest events cover multiple Google product areas such as Android, Firebase, Google Cloud Platform, Google Assistant, Flutter, machine learning with TensorFlow, and Mobile Web.

DevFest Auckland is organised by GDG Auckland. This is Auckland’s Google Developer Group. We meet each month and discuss a variety of content including: Android, IO and other Google related technology.

When and Where

Friday 9 November 2018
9am – 5:30pm

Auckland Conference Centre
12 Nicholls Lane,
Parnell, Auckland

How Much

Standard Ticket $50

More

GDG Devfest 2018 website

Geek Girls Film Screening With Director Gina Hara – Auckland – 25 October 2018

What

Premiere screening of Geek Girls a documentary film by Gina Hara.

The hidden half of nerd culture.

Geek Girls is the first feature-length documentary exploring the hidden half of fan culture: nerdy women. Although geeky communities have recently risen to prominence as major cultural contributors, very little attention has been directed towards the women who live and work with nerd culture on a daily basis.


Filmmaker Gina Hara addresses this oversight by delving into a world of professional gamers, cute dresses, fake names, and death threats; she follows her subjects through the exhilaration of newfound community and the ennui of ostracization while also exploring her own struggles with her geek identity.

Gina Hara was born in Budapest, Hungary. She is an acclaimed filmmaker and artist with a background in art & technology, interested in the experimental aspects and transmedial forms of visual culture.

For the first time in Auckland, Gina Hara will attend a screening of her documentary Geek Girls for a Q&A after the session.

When and Where

Thursday 25 October 2018
6pm – 8:30pm

Hoyts Cinema: Sylvia Park,
286 Mt Wellington Highway
Mt Wellington
Auckland

How Much

$25 + $1.75 booking fee

More

Geek Girls Film Website
Eventfinda page for screening
Buy Tickets

Behind the scenes: Conservation Tour at Auckland Art Gallery – Auckland – 10 October 2018

What

Join us for a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes at the Gallery and visit the painting and paper conservation studios. More than just a tour you will meet the conservators and see some of their current projects.

This event is part of Artweek Auckland, an annual, week-long festival celebrating the visual arts of Auckland.

There are 24 tickets available per session.

When and Where

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki,
Cnr Kitchener and Wellesley Streets,
CBD, Auckland

Wed 10 Oct 2018, 10:30am – 12pm
Wed 10 Oct 2018, 1pm – 2:30pm

How Much

Art Gallery members $33
Non-members $40

More

Conservation Tour Eventfinda page

CHCon (Christchurch Hacker Conference) – Christchurch – 25-27 October 2018

What

CHCon is a conference for security professionals and hackers in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is for anyone interested in software, hardware, and physical security in tech.

  • Training will be run on Thursday 25th October
  • Presentations on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th.
  • Badge and locksport challenges will be run throughout the main event

When and Where

UCSA Events Centre,
90 Ilam Rd,
Riccarton,
Christchurch

Training Day
Thursday 25 October 2018
8am – 5pm

Main Event
Friday 26 and Saturday 27 October 2018
9am – 6pm

How Much

For the Main event

General Admission  $70
Students/Unwaged  $35

Tickets for Training sold separately, prices to be confirmed.

More

Chcon Website
Chcon Main Event Schedule
Tickets

Daffodil Express Steam Train – Wellington to Carterton – 9 September 2018

What

Celebrate spring and travel with Steam Incorporated from Wellington to Carterton by heritage excursion train to attend the annual Daffodil Festival.
Sunday 9 September 2018

The train will be hauled by our steam locomotive Ja1271, and we will be using our set of vintage carriages, some with open balcony ends. The train will include a buffet counter selling drinks and snacks, and a souvenir counter for all sorts of railway and steam memorabilia.

A diesel locomotive will be attached in front of our steam locomotive for the sectors through the 9km long Rimutaka Tunnel.

Located in the heart of the Wairarapa, Carterton’s popular Daffodil Festival offers an abundance of activities ranging from the famous Daffodil picking at Middlerun, markets along High and Holloway Streets, the Big Wai Art sale in the events Centre, Daffodil Express Steam Train experiences as well as loads more family fun.

The market stalls will be set up in the town centre a short walk from the railway station. Shuttle buses will run from the town centre to the daffodil fields where you can pick your own daffodils for a small fee. The cost of the bus transfer is included in your train ticket.

For the serious railfan there is also the option of riding the train all the way to Masterton (but missing some of the daffodil festival) where we turn and service the locomotive.

All seating is preassigned. Prior booking essential. Departure times are provisional and will be confirmed closer to the date.

When and Where

Wellington Departure
8:20am Sunday 9 September 2018

Arrive Caterton 10:40am
Depart Carterton 2:45pm
Arrive Wellingonton 5pm

How Much

Adult return fare $95
Child $55.

Fare includes bus transfers to daffodil fields. You can also board the train at Petone, Waterloo, and Upper Hutt.

More

Daffodil Express Webpage
Steam Incorporated listing other events.

Kiwicon 2038 – Wellington – 14 – 17 November 2018

What

Kiwicon is the one of the myriad technical computer security conferences in the Australia-Pacific region, but remains triumphant as the one that most resembles a variety show. Organised by a masochistic cabal of the security community, Kiwicon attempts to bring together the commercial infosec industry, academics, students, and hobbyist hackers to discover the new, the interesting, and technologically crackin’.

First run in 2007, by now Kiwicon has gained reputation, size, and an extra cleaning run for the toilets. Attendance in 2016 was around 2100 people (although we do not claim all of them are paying attention) plus 30 or so speakers, staff and crue.

Kiwicon is a hacker conference, which, if you were wondering, means we talk about the intricacies of breaking into, breaking out of, or breaking around technological systems.  It might have had a “warranty void if removed” sticker, but that’s now a scrunched up ball, and we are reverse engineering the firmware.

If you’ve been to a hacker con elsewhere, then you’ll know what Kiwicon is about – any of the other grass roots community cons are what Kiwicon pays homage to, but we try to add a little special (strange) kiwi flavour to it.

If you’re new to hacker conferences, well, we think you’re in for a treat. Kiwicon is probably not like any other tech conference you’ve been to – there’s no dry, boring talks (we hope), no vendor booths, no bags of crappy pens and tripe you don’t want. Instead you’ll get people who are engaged with tech because they are pathologically curious; people who like poking things till they break just because its there and then figuring out how to fix them. You’ll probably also get one of the more hostile network environments you’re likely to connect to (perhaps, second to the Ministry of Health, circa 2009), so, unless you’re particularly confident at securing your laptop, phone, RFID proxcard, passport, pager, or iPad, you’d be best to just leave them at home. Or take the battery out (and watch out for HERF guns.)

Yes, some hackers break the law. Lots of hackers don’t – we’re not Legion; the Kiwicon community includes people from corporate and government backgrounds, through purestrain infosec industry, and the wider tech sector, students, academics and onwards into space cadets, conspiracy theorists, freaks, and goths. So pretty much like life, then, but with much more people wearing black. Keep an open mind, and, in the words of Frankie, relax.

When and Where

Training Days (plus pre-events)

Wednesday 14 November
Thursday 15 November

Main Event

The Michael Fowler Centre
111 Wakefield St
Wellington

9am – 6:30 pm
Friday 16 Novemeber and Satuday 17 Novemeber 2018

 

How Much

$99.95 standard (or pay more if you want)
$29.95 for student and benficiaries

Costs of training to be advised but some free places.

More

Kiwicon 2038 Website
Kiwicon 2038 Schedule