I'm Building a Tech Festival. Here's How AI Is Making It Happen.

If you've ever counted the men on a tech panel before you've counted the empty seats — this one's for you.

I'm building a tech festival in Australia. For women. By women. Centering women. Talks, workshops, art installations, DJs, a sponsors village, a beauty bar, possibly a cyberdeck station. Zero panels of dudes. It's called Techella and the wait list is open.

In this episode I walk you through how this went from a DM about a grey keyboard to 200+ women on a wait list, sponsors already in talks, and 45+ speaker applications — all built with Claude Code.

🔗 Wait list: techellafest.com 

🔗 Speakers/workshops: techellafest.com/speakers (speakers page) 

🔗 Sponsors/partnerships: techellafest.com/sponsorships (partnerships page)

🔥 WORK WITH ME

→ Wright Mode Membership: wrightmode.com/membership → Claude Masterclass: wrightmode.com/aidreamteam → 1:1 AI Consulting: wrightmode.com/consulting

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Techella — techellafest.com
• Brand Nat (AI influencer, Australia)
• Claude Code (built the website, wait list, and ops)
• ChatGPT image generator (logo creation)
• Canva (logo cleanup)
• Cyberdecks (the Polly Pocket personal computers from TikTok)

CONNECT

Instagram: @wright_mode · Website: wrightmode.com

📌 If you're not a tiny bit terrified, you're probably building something too small.

• Want to work together? Check out my offerings at Wright Mode
• Connect with me on Instagram → @wright_mode

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

If you've ever sat in the audience of a tech event and counted the men on the panel before you've counted the empty seats, this one's for you. So I am building a tech festival in Australia for the girls with talks, workshops, art installations, DJs, a sponsors village. Exactly zero panels of dudes. It's called texter. And the wait list is open, and I am so excited about this. So pull up a chair. Ideally not one bolted to the floor of a beige convention centre. And let me tell you why this had to exist. Let's get into tech cell, shall we? So I, this whole idea came to me. As a vision, as I was walking, I had seen brand Nat, who is an incredible AI influencer in Australia, share a story on Instagram and it was her on this grey keyboard, I think it was like a Microsoft event, and I was, I slid into her dms and was like, please tell me you jumped all over that keyboard and it lit up. And she was like, no, I was so sad. Only the Microsoft. Key worked and I was like, damn, how good would it be to have like this light up keyboard? And you danced all over it. And that kind of just set me on this path of tech cell. So I was like, it would be so cool to have this like super girly tech event that is. For women by women centering women who are doing cool stuff in this space, who are cutting edge and just have fun and be like girlhood, right? So very different to anything that I have experienced and a lot of us have experienced going to conferences about AI or tech. So that's how this whole thing started and I. Basically run with the idea after that. So I'm gonna walk you through everything that I did from that point to get us to where we are today. And also, if you haven't already, sign up to the wait list. It's tech cell fest.com. And there's also a speakers page if you're interested in running a workshop or speaking or an installation even as well as sponsors. After that, I literally just opened up chat, GPT, they have the new image generator and gave it one Pinterest mood board. And just like voice noted all of my vision into it and it created this really cool logo for me. I then had to like muck around in Canva to get like a transparent background and then jumped into Claude Code and was just like, Hey, here's the vision, let's. Get this wait list page up and running and it is so cool. I'm actually so proud of this. It's got like very Y 2K vibes, but kind of futuristic too and super girly. And the cool thing about creating this whole page was I just described what I wanted in Claude code and described the vision and then when. It showed me stuff as a preview. I was like, yes. Oh no, I don't like this. And it could just quickly, make these changes. One of the coolest things was I was like, I really want like a kind of text exchange for people who are interested in sponsoring this event. So it coded this whole little tech exchange which you can check out at the bottom of the page. And this is what blows my mind like. It is so cool to just think that you can come with some super creative idea now, and the barrier to entry is literally zero. Like if I had done this. Even five years ago, I would've had to have a developer on board who understood my vision, and it would've felt like a real risk to pay someone before I had even validated the idea. And PS the idea is validated. I al already have sponsors on board and there's over 200 women who have signed on for the wait list already. Plus I think we're up to like 45. Speaker applications. And I guess then just coming back to why, the why behind this. So I really wanted to create an event for women that centres women in this space. And I want it to be immersive and interactive. I don't want it to just be speakers. There will be a few key speakers who you actually wanna hear from who are really kind of pushing the limits, not. Just like, maybe people that you've seen before, like, we are thinking outside the box here and also workshops and so people can like come in and have a go at something. I would actually love to get a cyber deck station where. You come in, you can watch someone build a cyber deck if you don't know what they are. They're like little personal computers. And on like TikTok and Instagram, there's women creating these and they're like in like Polly Pockets and this, it's like art meets like computers and it's very, very cool. I would love to have a station where, people are building these in real time. And you can come in, you can watch, you can ask questions. Same with like vibe, coding workshops. As well as like art installations and the sponsors village. I have this beautiful idea to have, like a beauty bar as well as tech and other brands in there just so it's like this real merge of fun girlhood, but also. Substance to it too. And then community. So it's like the group chat, but in person. And some of the non-negotiables too are zero panels of men. And this isn't about hating on men. It's that we have all heard them or we have been the one token woman on a panel and they're gonna hit you with the questions about ethics. I'm tired of that and I know that's. So many women are as well. And there's also the aesthetic piece. Like I just want this to be so much fun for everyone. I want the girls to be so excited you are planning your outfits of what you're coming and what you're wearing to tech gel. And so what's not announced yet is the city and the date and the lineup that is coming. That is exactly what the wait list is for. We are in talks at the moment with a couple of venues, so soon as that is announced, those on the wait list will know first. So as I said before, if you are not on the list, get on there tech sheer first.com. And if you know anyone who is interested in being a part of this in some way, make sure you send them that link and just get talking about it too. So I guess. Another thing I just wanna circle back to is like, this isn't like a man hating event. I'm already getting some people, I had like a guy on LinkedIn just being like, oh, this is gonna date. Or like, you are. And I'm like, no, you are absolutely allowed. But we are centering women. So yeah, this is going to be a women led event. We are sick of, I guess just being the token or the small percentage. I want to show people that there are so many women in this space doing cool shit. We just need to have the opportunity to centre them. And so if you're wondering if Ella is for you too so this is for anyone who has an interest in this space. So you could be a founder who's using AI to, you know, just build stuff. Include or chat GPT, you know, maybe you haven't been to a tech conference because you are overwhelmed, or you think, oh, maybe I don't belong there. This is for you because this is just gonna be fun. Okay? And you will learn stuff too. It's also for people in marketing who's been asked to be like the AI person at work. Creatives. Two, this is gonna be like a blend of ai, tech, creativity, and culture. And so this is going to be the event that so many of you wish existed. Also, you're all getting taken on the journey of this. So I'm not an event producer. I do have like a hospitality and events background from a lifetime ago. But we are gonna make this happen and you're all gonna come on the journey with me. It's really interesting. I am just acting like this is happening and so therefore I know it will. But honestly, underneath that, I'm like, you'll make this happen. And the momentum that we have already created from this, from just like. Putting this out there, I've had people like be like, let's chat about founding sponsors already. And I think that just speaks so much to if you truly believe in something and you wanna make it happen, like just start acting like it is happening. Because you will make decisions that are aligned with that, you taking action. And then also people are gonna be like, oh, okay, this is happening. Yep, I'm in for this. And so along this process too, I'm gonna be showing on social media how I'm using AI and automations to kind of do all of this. Because that is gonna be a whole part of it. Like that is literally how I run my business. And this will be supporting that as well. Like I I have include code, obviously it has built the website, the wait list and all of that, but we have like all of the operations to consider to. And I am sharing all of this with you because there are so many founders who have been in this position before where you just like, I'm gonna make this work. I don't know how. But I'm gonna do that. And so I think it's important to kind of verbalise this stuff because often what we see is the finished product. But I will be taking you on the journey of this whole thing. And you know, I'm sure there will be some moments where I'm like, I'm in over my head. I think that is part of running a business and really trying to grow something worthwhile. And all honestly, if you're not a tiny bit terrified, you're probably building something too small. And I guess the other thing that you'll all witness through this is the A DHD of it all. I cannot build this in a linear order. I'm building this from a vibe. I have the feeling of the room before I have the floor pan. But that's all part of the, and that's how my brain works. And AI will support me in all of this. And I know that there's heaps of neurodivergent listeners out here and you know exactly what I mean by this. You know, the way that we can have these ideas and we are just gonna execute on them, or. Before ai, I guess we got bogged down in the overwhelm. So I am bringing to this what nobody else can, and I'm allowed to say this because we've just talked about the A DH. So I get to balance it with the win, and that is I know how to build community. I've done it multiple times. I have a podcast that you listeners are so loyal to, and I have a school community where I've created this incredible, incredible community that I am. So proud of, and I have a, a really decent audience now. I, I'm up to 50 K across channels and I know that there are so many women who will just already just running with the idea of this. So, yeah. And there also will be stuff that AI can't do. It's not just gonna magically book the venue for me. It can't pay the deposit. It won't replace the human elements of this, but it will play a supporting role in this and it will be in person too. I'm getting lots of questions about that. And the reason for that is you can't recreate what I am imagining in my mind online. This, as I said, is gonna be immersive, interactive, and look, if it goes as well as I think it will, we will take it to other cities. So if you can't make it, that's okay, but once the city and dates are announced, absolutely try to be there because the first one is gonna be amazing. Experienced tech jella for the first time. All right, that's it. It's time. Let's do the AI confession booth. So if you've never heard this before, it's the bit where I tell you the weirdest ways that I've been using AI this week. And you can decide whether you're gonna be horrified or take notes. I've kind of touched on it in this episode, but Claude Code is like my co-founder of Tech Celler at this point. I have this full pillar now that is Tech Celler. It has all of the code base for the wait list the website, and then I have all of the operations sitting in there now too. That I, I just feel like that is, the way that we are all headed anyways. These are going to be coworkers for us, so this is like a good experiment to kind of show you all how I do it. Yeah, and if anyone else is using AI like this, drop into my dms. Let me know how you're using it as your co-founder. As I wrap this episode up, I want you, if you have not already, jump on that waste list, drop your email. This is the only place where the city date and lineup will drop first. So if you're on the list, you'll get that before it's on Instagram. The wait list gets everything before anyone else. So if you're a brand too or you know of one who really fits the vibe and vision of this, there is also a partnership sponsorships page on the website. Yeah. So slide into my dms there. And if you are a woman who should have been on one of those stages or you have a workshop that would love to bring to Tech Cell. Jump on the speaker's page and submit your application for that. Get on that wait list and make sure you tag and share this with people who are interested too. And so if this one has got you feeling excited for it too, please send this to the group chat for me. This is genuinely how this thing will grow. Not ads, not algorithms, just you and the group chat. I think there's already over 200 women on that wait list just from a couple of posts. So let's see how amazing we can get this. And I will chat to you on the next episode.