Arrive + connect
Afternoon check-in, an opening conversation, and a low-key welcome night.
Los Angeles / Oct 16-19 / 2026
Hard
Refresh.
A smaller tech conference for people who want useful ideas, honest conversations, and enough time to actually meet each other.
4Days in Los Angeles
1Extended weekend
0Week-long sprawl
2026The inaugural edition
The reset / 001
Less expo.
More exchange.
Small is a feature.
Hard Refresh is built around a room where people can ask real questions, get practical answers, and see each other more than once.
No week of convention-center miles. No endless vendor pitch track. No pretending a badge scan is a relationship.
The long weekend / 002
Friday in.
Monday out.
October 16-19 gives the program room to breathe while cutting the cost and disruption of a full conference week.
Build day
Practical talks, small workshops, office hours, and time to meet the people in the room.
Go deeper
Technical sessions, honest postmortems, creative technology, and an evening in Los Angeles.
Take it home
A focused morning program, useful next steps, and a close early enough to travel.
Working schedule
Session times, speakers, venue, evening plans, and travel guidance will be added as partners are confirmed.
The program / 003
Past the
demo.
The best sessions explain what worked, what broke, what changed, and what someone else can use on Tuesday.
BUILD
Systems that work
Engineering, AI, data, hardware, and the unglamorous decisions behind reliable products.
DESIGN
Technology for people
Product, research, accessibility, interfaces, and the work of making complicated things usable.
TRUST
Earn the right to ship
Security, privacy, responsible AI, resilience, and what happens after the happy-path demo.
WORK
Make a life in tech
Leadership, career changes, independent work, small teams, and building without burning out.
Talks, workshops, office hours, and conversations worth closing the laptop for.
Who belongs in the room / 004
BuildersDesignersOperatorsStudentsFoundersCareer changersCurious people
You do not need a famous title, a giant following, or a company expense account.
2026 access / 005
This year's
seat draw.
Sponsors are intended to cover attendee admission. If more people apply than the room can hold, the inaugural event will use a transparent random draw.
Apply during the window
This is not first-come, first-served. Applying early does not improve your odds.
The 2026 draw runs
If requests exceed the sponsored public seats, a documented random draw selects attendees.
Claim the seat
Selected attendees get a short confirmation window. Unclaimed seats return to the draw.
The public allocation, eligibility, application window, draw method, and claim deadline will be published before applications open. This policy applies to 2026; it is not the permanent identity of the conference.
For sponsors / 006
Fund the room.
Not the noise.
Sponsorship helps keep admission accessible and the event human-sized. Partners receive clear recognition without buying the program, the attendee list, or a captive sales audience.
Start a sponsor conversationWhat partners help cover
- Attendee admissionSupported
- Venue + productionSupported
- Food + coffeeSupported
- AccessibilitySupported
- Speaker supportSupported
Goal for attendees$0
Straight answers / 007
Before you
ask.
01Is this a week-long conference?+
No. Hard Refresh runs Friday through Monday, October 16-19, 2026. The extended-weekend format keeps the event focused and reduces extra hotel nights and time away from work.
02Where in Los Angeles?+
The exact venue is still being finalized. We will publish the neighborhood, accessibility details, transit options, and partner hotel information before registration opens.
03Is admission free?+
The plan for 2026 is sponsor-funded conference admission. Travel, lodging, and personal expenses are not included unless a future scholarship program says otherwise.
04Will every future event use a drawing?+
No. The random seat draw is the access plan for the inaugural 2026 event if applications exceed the available sponsored seats. Future registration models may change.
05Who is it for?+
Builders, designers, founders, operators, students, career changers, and curious people who care more about useful work than status.
Hard Refresh starts here
Los Angeles.
Four good days.
Applications are not open yet. Get the venue, speaker call, sponsor news, and official 2026 seat-draw rules when they are ready.
October 16-19, 2026 / Los Angeles / exact venue to be announced