Event Host FAQ & Guide

Hawaii Tech Week (formerly Honolulu Tech Week) is a distributed or "unconference" model where events are led and hosted by leaders in the Hawaii and global tech ecosystem, instead of at a single location. Events range from panels and mixers to product launches and experiential events.

Why Host an Event?

By hosting an event at HTW, companies and orgs grow their audience, brand, and business while contributing to the growth of Hawaii's tech community, ecosystem, and economy. They receive brand awareness and discovery via placement on the official HTW calendar (10,000+ views), co-marketing of your event across HTW's tech-forward community and socials, and event planning advice and guidance.

The most common reasons to host an event include:

• Bring together your team, customers, partners, and investors while meeting new ones.
• Educate, meet, recruit, and retain key tech talent, users, stakeholders, and more.
• Drive awareness for your brand, product, service, new initiatives, and announcements.

About Event Hosts

Event Hosts lead their own events and are responsible for the full planning, marketing, and execution (including costs + venue) of their events. HTW drives visibility to your event by placing it on the official HTW calendar and helps to co-promote via our social media channels and across our community.

Event hosts and the events tend to be:

• Leaders with an established or rapidly growing business, organization, or audience.
• Themes focused on connecting, educating, or inspiring a target audience / stakeholders.
• Great speakers, pressing topics, and unique experiences that raise the bar.
• Deep subject matter, impactful announcements, the launch of new initiatives, etc.

Key Info + How to Host an Event

🗓️ Hawaii Tech Week 2026 will take place from August 31 - September 6th, 2026. Please add it to your calendar if you have not yet already: Google | Apple | Outlook

The guide below covers how to plan, submit, and execute an event during HTW. Please read through it prior to submitting your event, and if you have additional questions drop us a line via email.

From February to August we'll be conducting monthly webinar trainings and Q&A for existing and potential event hosts. Topics will include event planning and promotion, content creation, and more. Please check the HTW Calendar for more info.

Set a Theme and Goal

Having a goal or theme for what you want to achieve during HTW is really important. It doesn't have to be fancy or overly corporate. Some companies set a goal to launch a new product to 100 users, while others simply want to bring together their existing community, or build thought leadership.

Decide what type of event you want to host

Many types of events are possible, but unique events that educate, inspire, and/or connect attendees perform best. Here are some popular options:

• Fireside Chat / Speaker Panel: Curate a panel of speakers around a specific topic and moderate the discussion. This format is popular because it is educational and brings together the panelists' audiences. E.g. "Recruiting & Retaining Tech Talent in Hawaii".
• Mixer / Coffee / Pau Hana: A more lightweight option is to host a happy hour, coffee, or similar mixer for a specific audience. These are great for creating new connections and strengthening existing ones. E.g. "Hawaii Startup Founders Coffee Mixer".
• Experiential Events: Popular options include hands-on workshops e.g. AI Engineering 101, office hours & tours, hackathons and demo days, live podcasts and content shoots, and activities e.g. Run Clubs, catamaran cruises, and volunteer days.
• Branded Experience, Product Launch, or Showcase: If you have a product to showcase, consider a branded experience. E.g. "Gaming Night @ HPU eSports Arena".
• Breakfast / Lunches / Dinners: Host an event over a meal for a more intimate gathering. These are often invite-only so hosts can curate the limited seating, but allow you to build brand awareness on the calendar. E.g. "Marketers in Tech Dinner".

Have a strong hook, theme, or type

Events We'd Like to See

Here are types of events and themes that are especially exciting for HTW 2026. While not a requirement, if your event idea fits one or multiple of these we'll prioritize it's review.

• Panels and fireside chats with KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders)
• Product launches and major announcements, e.g., fundraising, partnerships, key hires, etc.
• Masterclasses in Functional Areas e.g. GTM, Fundraising, Building AI Agents, Transitions into Tech Roles, etc. (Host should have a track record of incredible success, ideally at global level)
• Industry mixers, both large cross-industry and intimate targeted gatherings
• Events hosted by major Hawaii industry e.g. real estate, ag, education, travel & tourism, construction, etc
• Product and technical demos of new technologies that people can play with and/or feel e.g. drones, VR, AI tools, 3D printing
• Morning events like coffee mixers, coworking collabs, and pop-ups
• Health & happiness events and activities e.g. city walks, catamaran cruises, workouts, nature activities
• Creator led events e.g. live podcasts, content shoots, and trainings
• Events at company offices, unique venues, or places special to Honolulu / Hawaii
• Events hosted by companies or people visiting from other islands or globally
• Creative and art-focused activities especially as it applies to media, design, etc
• Volunteer events e.g. beach clean up, heiau work, etc.
• Private dinners and meals with target audiences, e.g. investor and LP dinners

Pick a venue / location

You are welcome to host anywhere in Honolulu, but we recommend you host your event in the suggested neighborhoods in Honolulu. These neighborhoods act as hotspots to create density, and thus events in these areas will likely have higher sign ups and attendance with lower attrition.

• Honolulu: We have a special emphasis on the downtown Honolulu area including the Business District, Kaka'ako, Ala Moana, extending out to Waikiki, Manoa, Chinatown, and surrounding areas.
• Outside Honolulu: There will be some events on Oahu outside of Honolulu. We also received inquiries regarding events on other islands as well. While we recommend hosting events in Honolulu when possible, there are exceptions.

Depending on the event type, hosting at your offices, workspace, or venue you have a relationship with can be really compelling for attendees. We recommend this when possible as it gives you an opportunity to show off your company and reduces the need for procuring a venue. If needed, our team can make venue referrals and intros across venue types. See Service Providers for more info.

Venue Recommendations

If you don't have a venue in mind, we can make intros to these recommended venues on request. Contact us if you'd like your venue included.

Contact us directly for introductions if you don't have a relationship with the venue.

Propose a day and time

Propose your ideal day and time. Once the HTW team reviews proposals, we will suggest any changes if we think there will be too many overlapping events targeting the same audience at that same time.

The average attendee went to 3 events last year. HTW's format allows for events to happen across days and times, making it easier for people to attend specific events without needing to take an entire week or day off from work or family commitments.

Events typically last 1-3 hours. The longer the event, the more events you will overlap with. Ultimately, event type and content should drive the scheduled duration and will determine peoples' engagement during it. While afternoon and evening events may avoid people having to take 1-2 hours off normal working hours, more overlapping events occur at night. Some of the best events take place in the morning and day. What separates the best events is great speakers, content, and marketing.

Create a budget

Determine a budget that can cover your event. As the event host, you are responsible for any costs of your event, such as venue, food and beverage, and other expenses. Events don't need to be costly, but if you have them and are interested in splitting them, we encourage finding a co-host for your event. Companies that host events use marketing, events, or PR budget given focus on brand, business, GTM, and talent.

• Should I provide food & beverage (F&B)? This is largely dependent on event type, time, and at the discretion of the host. F&B should not be the primary focus of the event, but having F&B can be a nice benefit for attendees and keep them at events longer.
• Should I do a free event or charge attendees? Most companies do free events as they drive more sign-ups, but it is your choice and value dependent. Events with a cost even if minimal e.g. $10, can at times be helpful in anchoring attendees but will lower sign-up.

Once you have your initial event idea and plan drafted, it's time to submit your event proposal. The HTW 2026 Event Host submission window is March 1st - May 30th, 2026.

Please fill out the event submission form. We expect some details to change, but do your best to get us the most information on your event, company, and details.

Once we receive and review the event submission form, we'll reach out via email and schedule a time to answer any additional questions you may have and provide advice.

Event Submission Rubric

We review events based on the following criteria. These aren't strict requirements—just general guidelines we consider when reviewing submissions.

• Does the event have a compelling theme, title, goal, and targeted audience?
• Will the event be unique and exciting, and help to connect, educate, and inspire people?
• Is the event in alignment to the HTW mission of accelerating tech talent, capital, or adoption?
• Does the Event Host(s) have a track record of success, established brand, and / or audience reach?
• Does the Event Host(s) have budget allocated or fiscal backing for the event?
• Did they host a successful event or attend HTW in prior years?

Once your event is approved, set it up on Luma. We use Luma for our calendar because it allows flexibility for event hosts and helps us unify all events on a single calendar for our community.

Create your event

For inspiration, you can refer to past events from the Hawaii Tech Week calendar including Lead from the Front: Hawaii's Fastest Growing Tech Companies.

Fill in event details

Connect your event to the HTW Calendar

On the Hawaii Tech Week calendar, click "+Add Event" and choose "Submit Existing Luma Event". We'll review the details and then approve it for the HTW calendar.

Promoting your event is critical to its success. While we help co-market, marketing is the responsibility of the event host. Use the HTW 2026 - Event Host Planning & Marketing Playbook to help maximize your marketing success.

Plan to do your own marketing

• Baseline Marketing: As the event host, you are responsible for marketing and filling your event. We will help to drive lots of awareness to your event, but plan your own marketing via the following channels:
  • Email to your existing audience and newsletter
  • Social media posts across your various channels
  • Word of mouth and direct 1:1 text, email, and other invitations
  • Your website and other media channels where relevant
• Host Support: Review the Event Host Planning & Marketing Playbook. We have included a full outline of best practices and repository of marketing communications, examples, and templates that will help you maximize marketing and impact of your event.
• Creative Marketing: We encourage hosts to think creatively about marketing ideas. Some examples include shooting reels from their phone on why they are excited about HTW and their event, building off current meme trends, special placements, and more.

How the HTW team helps you market

• Placement on HTW Calendar: All approved event submissions will be featured on the main Hawaii Tech Week calendar which we are targeting for "go-live" in July. The HTW calendar alone receives 10,000+ views annually.
• Sharing HTW Event Calendar: The event calendar will be shared publicly with everyone who has signed up for Hawaii Tech Week. Please direct people to our website so they receive the event calendar when released. By coordinating the marketing push across all event hosts, we are able to drive greater visibility for everyone.
• Marketing: Our social media team will repost and share the promotion of HTW Event Hosts promotions. Our team can help by providing guidance on designing event & speaker promotional graphics, etc. We recommend using Canva, Figma, or other tools as they have a range of templates.

Build momentum and communicate with attendees

• Build Momentum: Send and share HTW updates / save the dates, key announcements for your events, and announcements on speakers and event partners.
• Drive Registration: Let people know when the event calendar will go live and once it does. Keep registrants updated on the status of their registration / RSVP if you are curating registrations. Please be kind and courteous if you don't accept someone.
• Updates / Reminders: Luma automatically incorporates 1 day and 1 hour event reminders, and keeping your registrants fresh with other updates e.g. new speakers, special announcements, will help decrease attrition and increase excitement.

The day of your event is when all your planning comes together. Here are key areas to focus on to ensure smooth execution and a great experience for your attendees. One thing we've observed across 100+ events, the ones that are most successful are high energy, engaging, and focused.

Pre-Event Setup & Logistics

• Arrive Early: Get to your venue at least 1 hour before the event starts to set up and handle any last-minute issues. Test all AV equipment, displays, and other items well before attendees arrive.
• Signage: Set up clear signage to help attendees find your event location, especially if it's in a building with multiple spaces.
• Registration/Check-in: Have a designated check-in area with a way to track attendance (Luma QR codes, sign-in sheets, etc.).
• Name Tags: Consider providing name tags to facilitate networking and connections between attendees.

During the Event

• Welcome & Opening: Start on time with a brief welcome that includes thanking attendees, introducing speakers, and mentioning HTW.
• Engage Attendees: Encourage participation, questions, and networking. Create space for connections to happen.
• Monitor Needs: Have someone designated to handle logistics, questions, and any issues that arise during the event.
• Capture Moments: Document key moments, speaker quotes, and candid networking shots throughout the event.

Wrapping Up

• Closing Remarks: Thank attendees, speakers, sponsors, and mention any follow-up actions or resources.
• Collect Feedback: Make sure you collect feedback from attendees via the calendar automated feedback tool (e.g. Luma feedback).
• Facilitate Connections: Give attendees time to exchange contact information and continue conversations.
• Clean Up: Leave the venue in good condition and return any borrowed equipment.

Service Providers

Please contact us if you need intros to professional videographers and other service providers. We will make referrals wherever we can.

Capturing and sharing content is critical to maximizing the impact of your event and brand. Here are key areas to emphasize:

Capture content at your event

During your HTW event, make sure you are capturing photos and clips and posting to social media. Please tag our social accounts so that we have a better chance to repost.

Many hosts find a photographer or videographer helpful — professional photos and videos go a long way. We can make referrals to vetted service providers on request.

Post content and encourage attendees to do the same

• We recommend that you post to socials during the event. There are a ton of people across your social media and the HTW community that couldn't make the event but would love to see what it's about.
• Asking attendees to post content will help you skyrocket engagement. We recommend including your handles prior and at kick-off, and explicitly asking them to tag your accounts and the Hawaii Tech Week accounts as well to amplify their posts.

Share an Event Recap and Follow-Up

We recommend that you create event recap posts and a recap email to attendees and your broader audience. These help cover key learnings from the events, photos and media, and also provide an opportunity to drop in a CTA and your links again!