GO DEEP_
HATCon exists to bring together people who are willing to go deeper.
THE RIGHT PEOPLE DON'T
ALWAYS FIND EACH OTHER_
The future is built by people who understand problems deeply, share what they know, challenge what they don't, and build something better together.
Researchers
Working on important problems — rarely in the room with the people who could act on what they find.
Hackers
Questioning how systems work — usually far from the teams shipping the systems they take apart.
Students
Exploring ideas for the first time — with the sharpest questions and the fewest chances to ask them.
Founders
Trying to build what does not yet exist — usually short of the people who could tell them the truth early.
Industry leaders
Looking for answers — and hearing about new technology last, mostly from the people selling it.
Investors
Looking for people who understand the future — met once the pitch is already polished.
Governments
Understanding technology moving faster than policy — usually without the builders in the room.
SIX THINGS WE
ACTUALLY BELIEVE_
Six beliefs that decide who we bring into a room, how that room runs, and what we ask of each other once everyone is in it.
We believe curiosity matters
The best conversations often begin with: “Why?” We want people who question systems, assumptions and accepted answers. The question matters more than the answer that follows it.
- Why
- Questions
- Systems
- Assumptions
- Answers
- Conversations
- People
- Curiosity
We believe knowledge grows when it is shared
Knowing something is valuable. Helping someone else understand it makes it more valuable. HATCon should be a place where people are willing to teach and willing to learn.
- Knowing
- Sharing
- Teaching
- Learning
- Value
- Understanding
- People
- Knowledge
We believe builders should have a voice
The people researching, experimenting, breaking, fixing and building technology should be part of the conversation about its future. Not only the people talking about it.
- Researching
- Experimenting
- Breaking
- Fixing
- Building
- Technology
- Future
- Builders
We believe different worlds should collide
A researcher should meet a founder. A student should be able to question a CXO. A cybersecurity expert should sit with an AI engineer. A startup should meet government. Industry should meet academia. Ideas become more useful when they leave their usual rooms.
- Researchers
- Founders
- Students
- Startups
- Government
- Industry
- Academia
- Ideas
We believe community comes before transactions
Business will happen. Partnerships will happen. Investments will happen. Jobs will happen. But they should happen because meaningful relationships were built first — not because everyone entered the room trying to sell something.
- Business
- Partnerships
- Investments
- Jobs
- Relationships
- Community
- Transactions
- Selling
We believe contribution matters more than status
Titles tell us where someone works. They do not always tell us what someone knows. What someone actually contributes tells us far more than the title that introduces them.
- Titles
- Status
- Contribution
- Knowledge
- Work
- Knowing
- Merit
- Substance
You don't need to be the smartest person in the room.
You need to be willing to make the room smarter.
GO DEEP_
Going deep means five commitments: technology, knowledge, conversations, connections and impact.
DEEP TECHNOLOGY_
Look beyond the surface. Understand how things actually work. Explore technologies before they become obvious.
DEEP KNOWLEDGE_
Do not stop at headlines. Research. Question. Experiment. Understand.
DEEP CONVERSATIONS_
Move beyond introductions and business cards. Ask better questions. Listen carefully. Disagree intelligently.
DEEP CONNECTIONS_
Meeting more people is not always the goal. Meeting the right people is. Build relationships that continue after the room empties.
DEEP IMPACT_
A great conversation should have somewhere to go. Into research. A project. A company. A collaboration. A solution. Or simply a better understanding of the problem.
DEEP TECHNOLOGY_
Look beyond the surface. Understand how things actually work. Explore technologies before they become obvious.
DEEP KNOWLEDGE_
Do not stop at headlines. Research. Question. Experiment. Understand.
DEEP CONVERSATIONS_
Move beyond introductions and business cards. Ask better questions. Listen carefully. Disagree intelligently.
DEEP CONNECTIONS_
Meeting more people is not always the goal. Meeting the right people is. Build relationships that continue after the room empties.
DEEP IMPACT_
A great conversation should have somewhere to go. Into research. A project. A company. A collaboration. A solution. Or simply a better understanding of the problem.
WE DON'T NEED THE BIGGEST ROOMWE WANT THE MOST MEANINGFUL ONE_
The question we refuse to optimise for, the ones we ask instead, and what we count as a result.
Scale has value. Large gatherings can create energy, access and opportunity. But scale alone is not our measure of success.
HOW MANY PEOPLE CAME?
WHO MET?
Not how many arrived. Who actually found each other.
WHAT DID THEY LEARN?
Something they could not have got from a recording.
WHAT DID THEY SHARE?
Knowledge that left the room with someone else.
WHAT DID THEY START?
Work that outlives the day it began on.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
The part no attendance figure can show you.
If two people meet at HATCon and go on to build something meaningful together.That matters.
If a student discovers the person who changes the direction of their career.That matters.
If a researcher finds an industry collaborator.That matters.
If a difficult question starts a conversation that continues for years.That matters.
THAT IS DEPTH_
YOUR TITLE GETS YOU INTRODUCEDYOUR CONTRIBUTION IS WHAT'S REMEMBERED_
HATCon brings together students, hackers, researchers, founders, CXOs, investors, policymakers and industry leaders.
But once we are in the room, hierarchy should not stop curiosity.
A student should be able to ask a difficult question. A leader should be willing to listen. A researcher should be able to challenge assumptions. A founder should be willing to admit they do not know.
Come with experience
What you already know can save someone else the long way round.
Come with questions
The best conversations here begin with why, not with what you know.
Come with ideas
Half-formed is fine. This is where they get tested.
Come with something to share
A link, a lesson, an introduction: contribution is what's remembered.
COMMUNITY IS NOTA SPECTATOR SPORT_
HATCon works only when people contribute. Contribution can mean:
“You don't need to be the smartest person in the room.
You need to be willing to make the room smarter.”
GO DEEP. STAY HUMAN._
Eight principles, written to be read rather than agreed to. They hold whether you are on a stage, in a hallway or in the group chat afterwards.
RESPECT PEOPLE_
Different backgrounds. Different experience levels. Different opinions. Treat everyone with dignity.
CHALLENGE IDEAS, NOT PEOPLE_
Healthy disagreement is welcome. Personal attacks are not. Question assumptions. Debate technology. Challenge conclusions. Do it respectfully.
SHARE WITHOUT SHOWING OFF_
Expertise should make the community stronger, not smaller. Explain when someone does not understand. Help people learn.
NO HARASSMENT_
HATCon should be a safe environment for everyone. Harassment, intimidation, discrimination or unwanted behaviour has no place in the community.
RESPECT PRIVACY_
Not every conversation is public. Not every idea is ready to be shared. Respect confidentiality, personal boundaries and consent. Do not photograph, record or publish private conversations without permission.
DON'T SPAM. DON'T PITCH EVERYONE._
HATCon is a place to build relationships, not harvest leads. Do not use the community for unsolicited mass outreach.
GIVE CREDIT_
Research, ideas and work have creators. Acknowledge them. Do not present someone else's contribution as your own.
BUILD RESPONSIBLY_
Technology has consequences. Security matters. Privacy matters. Safety matters. Ethics matter. We encourage exploration and responsible research. We do not encourage activity intended to cause harm.
LEAVE THE ROOMBETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT_
Nobody keeps score, and there is no minimum.Do one of these and you have already done the thing.
Share something useful.
A link, a warning, a shortcut you worked out the hard way. Cheap to give, and worth more than it costs you.
Learn something new.
Leave with a question you did not arrive with — the honest kind, not the polite one.
Help someone.
Most of it takes five minutes and costs you nothing, but it rarely goes unnoticed.
Make an introduction.
You often know the person someone else has been looking for. Say so before the moment passes.
Ask a better question.
The room gets sharper the moment the question does, and everyone in it notices.
Start something meaningful.
A project, a paper, a company. All of it begins as a conversation someone was willing to start.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IS THE POINT_
A connection that continues
A question that changes something
A project that gets started
A research collaboration
A career that finds direction
A startup that finds the right person
A connection that continues
A question that changes something
A project that gets started
A research collaboration
A career that finds direction
A startup that finds the right person
We believe the future should not be observed from the sidelines_
We bring together the people willing to do exactly that.
Different disciplines. Different perspectives. One community willing to go deep. Not the biggest room — the most meaningful one.
