Opening night
Make the room porous, alive, and intentional.
DEFRAG energy, artist-led AI performance, social ritual, and a clear question: what are we here to protect, practice, and build?
Fall 2026 · Vancouver, BC
Opening night. Two program days. One room brave enough to hold the whole argument.
Art and social ritual at the threshold. Concentrated programming in the middle. A closing reveal that sends the room somewhere real.
Weekend arc
Three days. One shared room. One conversation that doesn't let you leave early.
The shape keeps everyone in the same room at the same time — so the conversation builds instead of splits.
Program day one
Name what AI is doing to people.
Critical voices, literacy, lived experience, creative practice, and enough friction to keep the narrative honest.
Program day two
Turn attention into commitments.
Builder demos, practical frameworks, the Squatchies, and the 2027 reveal as the answer to what happens after the room disperses.
Find your signal
Six signals. One room. What brings you here?
One shared room designed to hold an intentional social-art layer and an immersive film lane — six signals, one conversation.
Culture
Art, film, performance, and the social weather of AI.
Ethics
Critical voices, moral weight, and practical frameworks.
Community
People finding their role in a movement, not just watching one.
Builders
Demos, craft, small models, open tooling, and work that ships.
Literacy
AI hygiene, public pop-ups, and practical confidence for non-specialists.
Resilience
Gathering humans while the tools pull attention apart.
Headliners
The room opens and closes with intent.
Opening keynote · Program day one
Dr. Joy Buolamwini
Founder
Algorithmic Justice League
Speaker announced soon.
Closing keynote · Program day two
Tristan Harris
Co-founder
Center for Humane Technology
Speaker announced soon.
Draft run of show
One lineup, many ways into the conversation.
Filter by signal to find the sessions most relevant to you. Ethics, culture, literacy, builders, community, and resilience — all in one shared room.
Opening night
The Threshold
Where the room becomes a community.
5:30pmPrivate speaker + sponsor reception
7pmDoors open · DJ · cash bar
7:30pm–8pmTalk
Welcome from Kris — why humans gather now
8pm–9:30pm★ Party
DEFRAG opening live set — creative AI as performance
Philippe Pasquier, Erica Lapadat-Janzen, Arshia Sobhan Sarbandi, and Kris Krüg anchor opening night with generative visuals, live-coded sound, and artist-led AI performance.
9:30pmOpen social · DJ · art in the room
Program day one
Where We Are
What AI is already doing to people, culture, and attention.
8:30amDoors · breakfast · registration
9:30am–9:45amTalk
Welcome — Kris frames the day
9:45am–11:15am★ Keynote
Opening Keynote: Dr. Joy Buolamwini + Q&A
Q&A facilitated by Anthonia Ogundele.
11:15amCoffee break · curated mingling
11:45am–12:45pmConversation
Conversation: "What we already feel"
Consciousness, AI, and the moral weight — in dialogue.
12:45pmLunch · sponsor demo tables in the lounge
2pm–2:45pmTalk
Talk: Anthonia Ogundele
Youth, education, and Black-led AI futures. Ethos Lab.
2:45pm–3:15pmTalk
Talk: Simon Haworth
What AI is actually doing in medicine right now.
3:15pmBreak
3:30pm–5pm★ Working Session
Working Session: Ethics in motion
90-minute participatory session. Real artifacts come out.
5pmCoffee · costume change
5:30pm–6:30pmConversation
Conversation: "Build what lasts"
Creative AI and culture.
6:30pmDinner break · AI-art gallery in the foyer
7:30pm–11pm★ Film Festival
2nd Annual BC + AI Film Festival
11pmAfter-hours social
Program day two
What We Build
The craft, the practice, and what comes next.
9:30amDoors · late breakfast
10am–10:10amTalk
Welcome back — Kris frames Day 2
10:10am–10:55amTalk
Talk: Filmmakers on the new craft
What AI does to making things.
10:55amBreak
11:10am–12:25pm★ Talk
Hackathon Demo Day
6 finalists, 5 minutes each + jury Q&A. Live community vote. Andrew Reid hosts.
12:25pmLunch
1:40pm–2:10pmTalk
Talk: A builder's voice
The practice — what's actually shipping.
2:10pm–3:10pmConversation
Conversation: "Where the craft is going"
3:10pmCoffee · community photo
3:30pm–5pm★ Keynote
Closing Keynote: Tristan Harris + Q&A
Q&A facilitated by Kris.
5pmReset
5:15pm–5:45pmCeremony
Squatchies 2026 — short and sweet
Names, cheers, hugs. ~30 minutes.
5:45pm–6pmTalk
Closing reflection
6pm–6:15pm★ Ceremony
Futureproof 2027 reveal
6:15pm–11:59pm★ Party
Closing social · DJ · late-night DEFRAG set
The weekend closes with DEFRAG as the cultural after-hours anchor.
2027 reveal
The close is not an ending. It is a door into the full week.
The weekend earns the right to launch the 2027 weeklong festival by giving the first room a shared language, a shared memory, and a visible next step.
