Frequently Asked Questions

Saturday, August 22, 2026, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, at California State University, Long Beach. Doors and registration open at 8:00 AM. The opening keynotes start at 9:00 AM.

Volunteers. Data Con LA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and nobody takes a salary.

Possibly, depending on when you last came. We were at USC through 2023 and have been at CSULB since 2024. The date has moved as well: August in most years, October 2020 and September 2021 while we were virtual, and November in 2024 and 2025. 2026 is back in August. Check the date rather than going by the season.

Past events are all on this site, with their speakers, sessions, and photos: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and the earlier Big Data Day LA (2017, 2016, 2015) and Big Data Camp LA (2014, 2013) years.

General Admission is $100, and it is the only tier still open. Early Bird and Advance are closed. If the ticket page shows a closed tier as available, that is a display issue on the ticketing provider's side rather than something you can buy.

Enter it at checkout, in the promo or discount code field, before you pay. The total updates as soon as it is applied. If the price does not change, the code has expired or run out of uses. Email [email protected] rather than paying full price.

Discount codes come from our community partners, sponsors, and university partners. There is no public code.

No. The QR code on your phone is enough, and a printed copy scans fine if you prefer one. If your phone or your ticket is unavailable at the door, we can look you up by name or email at registration.

No. There are no session sign-ups and no reserved seats. Rooms fill on a first come, first served basis, so arrive a few minutes early for a session you particularly want.

The closest lots are E8, E9, and E10, in that order. All three are marked on the venue map.

A permit is required, including on Saturday. CSULB enforces parking "24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays." Attendees at past events have been ticketed for assuming weekend parking is free.

Buy the Evening/Weekend permit, $10. It covers all day Saturday. The $15 Daily permit is the weekday product and would cost you $5 more for the same day. Permits are sold at the pay stations in the lots and through the ParkMobile app. Buy yours before you leave your car.

E8, E9, and E10 are employee lots Monday through Friday. That restriction lifts on weekends, so a weekend permit is valid in them. Individual spaces marked by posted signage remain restricted, including accessible, State vehicle, and low-emission-vehicle-only spaces.

The $10 is on top of your ticket.

Parking on campus is operated by CSULB. Data Con LA has no affiliation with or influence over campus parking enforcement, and we cannot cancel, contest, or reimburse a citation.

• 8:00 AM Doors open. Registration and morning refreshments.
• 9:00 AM Opening keynotes.
• 10:30 AM Morning track sessions.
• 12:15 PM Networking lunch, provided.
• 1:15 PM Afternoon track sessions.
• 4:15 PM Community mixer and closing networking.

Registration stays open through the day, and you can join a session already in progress. Open the door quietly and take the nearest seat.

Yes. Come for the morning and leave at lunch, arrive in time for the afternoon sessions, or come at 4:15 for the mixer. There is no check-out and no penalty for using part of the day.

We record sessions and publish them afterward on our YouTube channel, alongside talks from past years. If two sessions you want run at the same time, pick one and look for the other there later.

Photos are welcome. If someone asks not to be photographed, respect that.

Look inside for an open seat. Rooms often look fuller from the doorway than they are.

If there is no seat, please do not stand or sit in the aisles. Every room has a posted capacity we are required to hold to under fire code. Up to six sessions run at once, so there is always another option.

No. Up to six sessions run at once across six rooms, so moving between them is expected.

Do it quietly. Pack up before you stand, use the nearest door, and do not talk on your way out. If you think you may move, sit near the back or on an aisle.

Please do not leave the moment Q&A begins. If you need to move, do it between sessions.

Yes. Wait for the mic if there is one, keep it to a question, and take longer conversations into the hallway afterward. Q&A is not the place to pitch a company or a service.

New this year: two blocks of back-to-back five-minute talks, roughly six per block. One idea per speaker, a hard five-minute cutoff, and no Q&A between talks. Speakers take questions in the hallway afterward.

Session feedback. It is optional and anonymous, and it is not attendance tracking. Speakers read it, and it informs what we program next year.

Do not count on an outlet at your seat. Power at the desks in these lecture halls is limited. Bring a battery pack if you will need one.

Yes, lunch is included with your ticket and served at 12:15. Your badge is all you need.

Yes. Those counts are how we decide what to order, so please answer accurately. We do our best to cover everyone, but some options run out before others.

Yes. The campus rule against outside vendors and food trucks applies to sellers, not to what you bring for yourself.

Note that the venue does not permit eating in the session rooms, and water is the only drink allowed in them.

Email [email protected] before you buy a ticket and tell us what you need. We will tell you what we can and cannot do while you still have time to decide.

CSULB is a public university, and the buildings and restrooms we use are wheelchair accessible, with accessible parking on campus. We are not able to provide ASL interpretation or live captioning. If you are bringing your own interpreter, let us know and we will reserve seats for both of you.

The earlier you contact us, the more we can arrange.

Data Con LA is a harassment-free event. Harassment of any kind is not welcome and will be acted on. This applies to the conference and to every related event.

In a crowded venue, a few specifics:

• Do not touch, lean on, move, or push someone's wheelchair, scooter, cane, or service animal. Ask first, and accept the answer.
• Address the person, not their companion or interpreter.
• Keep ramps, doorways, and elevator landings clear.
• Speakers: use the mic every time, face the room rather than the screen, and repeat audience questions before answering.

If something happens, find an organizer or come to the registration desk.

Only where you have agreed to it. There are two ways that can happen:

• You opt in when you buy your ticket. There is a checkbox at checkout. If you tick it, we share your details with our sponsors after the event. If you do not, we share nothing.
• You let a table scan your badge. Table holders have lead scanners. A scan passes that organization the details on your ticket: your name, email, LinkedIn, job title and function, and your organization, its industry, and its size.

No. We do not publish one, and the only contact details that leave us are the ones you opt in to share.

• The mixer at 4:15 PM is the least structured part of the day and the easiest place to start a conversation.
• Match & Mingle pairs you with another attendee, or a small group, based on shared interests and background. Opt in at registration.
• Lunch is a full hour with everyone already seated.
• After a session, speakers are generally happy to keep talking in the hallway.

New for 2026: hiring managers and recruiters giving quick, honest feedback on resumes. Bring a copy.

It is a review, not an application. Reviewers are not screening you for roles at their own companies. The value is finding out how your resume reads to someone who reads them professionally, which applies as much to a senior resume that has not been revised in years as to a first one.

Yes, at any level, and the same goes for internships. Ask a table, someone at lunch, or a speaker after their session.

Most of our tables are not companies with open roles. They are user groups, nonprofits, university programs, and community organizations. Opportunities here tend to come from people who remember you rather than from a booth with a job list, so the useful approach is to ask what someone works on and follow up afterward.

The QR code at the end of each session, and the post-event survey we send by email. We read both.

We run meetups through the year and announce them on our mailing list and in our Discord. Sign up for the mailing list to hear about those and the 2027 date.

Email [email protected].