The Summit becomes a Weekend
Two new side events, what they cost, and the one price that changed.
Last year people flew in from Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Brazil to spend a single day with us, and drove or flew in from Florida, Texas, California and a dozen states in between. Many of them landed the night before and left the morning after. One day, one room, and then everyone scattered.
That always felt like the wrong shape for what this community actually is. If someone is crossing an ocean or a continent to be here, the least we can do is give them more than eight hours to make it worth the trip. So this year the Summit becomes a weekend.
Two new events, on either side of the Summit
On Friday, September 25, the night before the Summit, we are hosting the Habibi Tech Pickleball Social at Velto Pickleball Club in Red Hook, Brooklyn, from 7 to 10 PM. Paddles, mixed teams, and the people you would otherwise spend Saturday trying to catch between sessions. It is the least formal way we could think of to meet the speakers before they are standing on a stage.
Then on Saturday, September 26, once the Summit floor closes at 5 PM, we are closing the weekend with the VIP Dinner from 8 to 11 PM. It is a charity dinner, buffet style, where the community comes together over a good cause. The venue is being finalized and we will announce it here first.
Between the two, someone flying in for the Summit now has a reason to arrive Friday afternoon and leave Sunday, with three separate rooms to meet people in instead of one. That is the whole idea behind the change from Habibi Tech Summit to Habibi Tech Weekend.
What this costs, and what it does not
Both side events are ticketed on their own, because not everyone can make Friday night and not everyone wants to stay for Saturday dinner. Pickleball is $80. The VIP Dinner is $100. You can buy either one on its own, both, or neither, and none of that changes your Summit ticket.
The price of the Summit itself has not moved. General Admission and Student tickets are exactly what they were, on exactly the ladder we published in May. If the Summit is what you came for, nothing about today changes what you pay.
The one price that did change is VIP, which rose by $25, from $350 to $375. VIP has always included the dinner. What it gains now is pickleball, an $80 event that did not exist a month ago, for a $25 increase. Everything else VIP carries stays exactly as it was: the lounge, priority seating, and the VIP workshops.
Where to find it
Everything is on one page. You can pick a Summit ticket and add whichever evenings you want, or come for just the pickleball or just the dinner without buying a Summit ticket at all. Each event is issued its own ticket and its own QR code, so a plus-one for the dinner is a real ticket in their name rather than a note on yours. Buying VIP is still the cheapest way to do all three, and it is the only ticket that carries the lounge, priority seating and the workshops.
The Early Bird ladder still steps up on its published dates, and the side events have real rooms with real capacity behind them. Velto has a fixed number of courts and the dinner has a fixed number of seats. Neither is a marketing number.
We will keep posting here as the venue for the dinner is confirmed, as the speaker lineup fills in, and as the agenda for the day locks. See you in September.