NDF26 SPEAKER INFO

KEY DATES AT A GLANCE

  • Early May: Submissions open

  • Sunday 31 May Friday 5 June, 11:59pm NZT: Submissions close

  • Late June: Accepted presenters notified via email

  • July 31: Confirmed presentation title, abstract, and presenter photos due

  • August 31: Presenter registrations due

  • November 23-24, 2026: NDF26 Conference

  • November 25, 2026: NDF Workshops

Due dates for slides and further information about the tech setup will be shared soon.

PRESENTER REGISTRATION

The deadline for presenter registrations is 30 September 2026. Please check your emails for the presenter registration code. This gives you the member price of $795 for a two day ticket or $495 for a one day ticket.

A note on costs: We run a small conference, often with close to 40 speakers. This represents a large portion of the available tickets, meaning that unfortunately we cannot afford to offer free speaker tickets. We have kept prices the same as NDF25 and do our best to keep costs low.

FORMATS

Please check your emails for confirmation of your presentation format, including talk and Q&A length.

CONFERENCE THEME:
HONONGA \ CONNECTIONS

The National Digital Forum (NDF) 2026 Conference provides a space for learning, connection, inspiration, and to encourage collaboration across Aotearoa’s cultural landscape. NDF provides a unique opportunity to connect with colleagues across the GLAMMIR (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums, Marae, Iwi, Records) sector in Aotearoa and beyond. Starting in 2026, the conference is biennial - meaning the next occurrence will be in 2028.

NDF was born back in 2001, when the internet was considered an information superhighway. Billions of hyperlinks later, we are more connected than ever, yet at the same time social cohesion and trust in information is decreasing. Cultural organisations are needed now more than ever in the digital realm - to go beyond our walls, into our communities, and to connect with our users where they are.

We are sharing, creating content, designing digital experiences, and reading the comments. We are the subject of our visitors’ gaze, touch, cameras, reels, and Google reviews. In a world where attention spans are shrinking, technology is hallucinating, and the information superhighway is littered with slop, how do we stay relevant for our communities?

It turns out that digital is more than a screen or technology. It’s a mode, an increasingly inescapable way of doing things. Sometimes, it can feel like magic. To be digital is to be connected: on multiple levels and in many directions, with individuals, communities, states, and multinational platforms. These connections aren’t neutral, they’re ethically and technically complicated, and they’re not always accessible to everyone.

Whether we like it or not, this is our hyperconnected world, and cultural organisations are in it. We’re here. What do we do now?  

NDF26 Hononga \ Connections is our time to meet, share, and figure it out together.

CONFERENCE POU \ TOPICS

WHIRIA TE KAHA TUATINI \
WEAVING COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

How are digital tools and storytelling being used to build meaningful relationships, foster community collaboration, bridge cultural gaps, and support engagement and learning?

  • How have you used digital to create meaningful spaces and experiences that help audiences feel connected to their history and to each other?

  • What connections are you building or facilitating to help strengthen and ground your community, and what role do digital tools play? 

  • How is your organisation working in partnership with communities to preserve and share indigenous knowledge and heritage?

  • What role does digital play in creating an accessible and inclusive experience?

  • When working with communities, which digital connections are you choosing not to make? How are you embedding data sovereignty in your digital practice?

WHAKAIROHIA TE RĀKAU TAUMATUA \
CRAFTING COLLABORATION AND INNOVATION

How are we working together to build capability, shared practice, and innovative responses in a changing environment?

  • How is your organisation approaching the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI)? What use cases are being proven or disproven?

  • Have you pooled resources or created shared projects with other cultural organisations to enhance your capability and impact? 

  • How have you collaborated with partners and other industries to deliver innovative projects?

  • How have you evolved your design and use of digital technologies to enhance visitor experiences, both online and onsite?

  • Have you found innovative digital methods or created effective digital experiences on a low budget? 

  • What have you learned from a project that didn't go as planned? How has "successful failure" helped you or your team build a more experimental mindset?

OKEA URUROATIA \
CONFRONTING CHALLENGES

How are cultural organisations advocating for the collective good, navigating ethical complexities, and managing limited resources in an environment of uncertainty and change?  

  • How are you advocating for the value of the GLAMMIR sector in a challenging political and economic climate?

  • How are you developing strategy and sustaining a shared vision for the future when the technological ground is constantly shifting beneath us?

  • How are your digital choices influenced by the realities of climate change and the ethical questions around emerging technologies and platforms - especially with regard to AI?

  • Have you successfully or unsuccessfully challenged the status quo within your organisation to change your digital practice?

  • How are you finding ways to connect with your audience in an increasingly saturated and confusing information space? 

  • How are you managing limited resources while still meeting audience expectations? What role does digital technology play?

If you have an idea that doesn't quite fit under these topics, but you believe it would be valuable for the conference, please submit it!

GENERAL PRESENTATION TIPS

  • Tell us how you’ve done things, what you’ve learnt, and why you made your decisions.

  • Specific details are great! e.g. which technique or tool you used, the audience insight that informed a design decision

  • Avoid selling! If you are vendor, or worked with one, sales pitches are a fast way to make the audience stop paying attention.

  • People want to know what didn’t work as well. Let us know the problems and challenges you faced!

  • Think about what other organisations could take away from your experiences. Would you do anything differently next time? How might you advise someone starting out a similar project?

SLIDE DESIGN TIPS

Everyone processes information differently; however, we encourage you to convert text-heavy slides into a visual format, because:

  • 90% of the information processed by the brain is visual

  • The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text

  • Your audience is six times more likely to recall what you have presented

80% of people will remember what they see as opposed to 10% of what they hear and 20% of what they read

You can do this by creating diagrams, using a graph, including infographics, using photography and icons, or using a hero image with a statement, quote, or idea.

GET INSPIRED BY PAST NDF PRESENTATIONS

View all past presentations on our YouTube channel.