FridayOct 16
Arrive and connect
Afternoon arrivals, an opening conversation, and a relaxed welcome night in Los Angeles.
Inaugural conference Los Angeles Oct 16 to 18, 2026
HardRefresh.
A small technology conference for useful ideas, honest conversations, and the people doing the work.
Until the room comes together
00Days
00Hours
00Minutes
00Seconds
25Sponsored attendee places
3Conference days
1Monday farewell breakfast
$0Conference pass for those selected
01
Why Hard Refresh
Small is
the feature.
A conference can be ambitious without becoming enormous.
Hard Refresh is designed around a room where people can ask real questions, get practical answers, and see each other more than once.
No convention center marathon. No endless sponsor pitch track. No pretending a badge scan is a relationship.
02
The long weekend
Friday in.
Sunday close.
Three focused conference days, followed by a quick optional farewell breakfast on Monday morning.
SaturdayOct 17
Build together
Practical talks, small workshops, office hours, and a dinner where everyone still fits at the table.
SundayOct 18
Go deeper and close
Technical sessions, honest postmortems, creative technology, and the official conference close.
MondayOct 19
Farewell breakfast
A quick optional breakfast before everyone heads home.
Working program Exact times, venue details, and speakers will be published as they are confirmed.
03
The program
Past the
polished demo.
The strongest sessions explain what worked, what broke, what changed, and what someone else can use next week.
Systems
Engineering, AI, data, hardware, and the decisions behind technology that works in the real world.
Product
Research, design, accessibility, and making complicated tools genuinely useful to people.
Trust
Security, privacy, resilience, responsible AI, and what happens after the polished demo.
Work
Leadership, careers, independent practice, small teams, and building without burning out.
Talks
Workshops
Office hours
Shared meals
Open conversation
04 2026 access
Twenty five places.
One fair draw.
Conference admission is covered for 25 selected attendees. One person, one entry, and no early entry advantage.
Read the rules and enter05 For partners
Fund the room.
Not the noise.
Sponsorship keeps admission accessible and the event human sized. Partners receive clear recognition without buying the program, the attendee list, or a captive sales audience.
Explore partnership options- 25 attendee passesSupported
- Venue and productionSupported
- Food and coffeeSupported
- AccessibilitySupported
- Speaker supportSupported
06 Straight answers
Before
you ask.
01Is the conference really free?+
Yes. Sponsors cover the conference pass for the 25 selected attendees. Travel, lodging, ground transportation, and personal expenses are not included.
02Why only 25 selected attendees?+
Hard Refresh is intentionally small. Twenty five sponsored attendee places keep conversations useful, make workshops genuinely interactive, and let people meet more than once.
03How does the random seat draw work?+
After entries close, duplicate and ineligible submissions are removed. A preannounced public NIST Randomness Beacon value creates the ranking. The first 25 eligible entries receive places and the next 10 become ordered alternates.
04Does entering early improve my chances?+
No. Every eligible person receives one equal entry as long as the form arrives before the deadline. This is not first come, first served.
05Where is the venue?+
The Los Angeles venue is being finalized. The neighborhood, accessibility information, transit options, and nearby hotel guidance will be sent before attendees must finalize travel.
06Who should enter?+
Builders, designers, founders, operators, students, career changers, and curious people who care about useful technology and thoughtful conversation.
07 Contact
Start a useful
conversation.
Questions about the event, sponsorship, speaking, press, or accessibility are welcome.