Ambassador Guide

Hawaii Tech Week is Hawaii's largest and most exciting week of tech. HTW Ambassadors are a select group each year who drive awareness and amplify Hawaii Tech Week while shaping and growing the future of Hawaii tech. That happens through their networks and outreach, social and digital, and their content and presence throughout the year and the week.

About the Ambassador Program

Ambassadors are mission-driven and want to help grow tech and its positive benefits in Hawaii. They help amplify HTW across Hawaii’s tech ecosystem and beyond: sharing the story, bringing the right people into the fold, and creating or surfacing content that helps others understand what HTW is and why it matters. They come from backgrounds in marketing, content, community, operations, engineering and more.

Goals

Ambassadors drive awareness of HTW and get the right people to attend, host, and engage through their channels and relationships:

• Community & outreach: Introduce HTW and how to get involved in rooms you already inhabit or ones you think we should be in, e.g. companies, meetups, online communities, partner orgs, etc.
• Social & digital: Posts, stories, reshares, tags, and thoughtful commentary that put HTW in front of the right audiences.
• Content: Photos, videos, threads, recaps, quotes, or collaboration with the HTW team on storytelling that resonates.

2026 Focus Areas

Top priorities for the current ambassador cycle are:

• Amplify media and marketing, especially video content on social platforms.
• Engagement via existing networks or new outreach in Hawaii's tech community.
• Reach people in Hawaii tech who are not active at IRL events due to schedule or constraints. HTW is the "one week per year" they should join.
• Spread awareness about HTW to segments with less presence historically:
  • Hawaii corporates and mid-market companies with less tech exposure.
  • Tech founders, investors, and builders on islands beyond Oahu.
  • Broader tech ecosystem (national/global) with ties or interest in Hawaii, e.g. kamaʻāina living in the Bay Area, companies with business interest in the islands, frequent visitors like investors who live part-time in Hawaii.
• Be there for parts of the week by hosting your own event, sharing content, or just being there as a positive, visible presence.
• Contribute ideas and actions year-round for growing our audience, improving quality, and overall changes.

Benefits

• Access: Key HTW events during the week, including the Official Mixer and other moments we reserve for the cohort.
• Visibility: Listed on the HTW website and in the annual report.
• Network: A direct line to the HTW team and the ambassador cohort through the monthly sync and async channel.
• Perks: Ambassador Pau Hana and other benefits during the year.
• Impact: Help drive attendance, hosts, and visibility for Hawaii's largest week of tech.

Expectations

Time commitment is targeted, not excessive or open-ended. Plan for a few hours per month, with spikes leading into and during Hawaii Tech Week (see Monthly Cadence below). In general, Ambassadors should be ready to:

Ongoing

• Post and engage on HTW content when we share asks, milestones, or campaigns, and proactively surface and post content you see fit.
• Bring one substantive idea or connection per month when possible, e.g. a post angle or content piece, an intro, a new company or community to reach, etc.

Leading into HTW

• Run increased awareness: social, DMs, introductions, and light outreach to help fill the funnel for attendees, hosts, and partners.
• Drive quality over noise: help us reach people who will genuinely show up and bring value.

During Hawaii Tech Week

• Show up where you can; capture and share real-time content.
• Be a visible, positive presence at events and online during the week.

After HTW

• Share recaps, highlights, and gratitude; amplify HTW’s wrap-up content.
• Contribute feedback on what worked and what needs to change.

Hosting or co-hosting an event during HTW is welcomed but not required; the core of the role is amplification and engagement, not event production.

Selection

We look for people who are:

• Active and respected in Hawaii tech (or tightly connected from elsewhere).
• Excited to help HTW reach new attendees, event hosts, and sponsors.
• Willing to execute, not only lend a name or be an "ideas" guy.

How selection works

• Primary cohort selection happens in Q4 for the upcoming cycle. We review applications and outreach, then onboard the group for the year ahead.
• Open door, year-round. If you think you're a strong fit, reach out anytime. Based on timing, we’ll let you know if it makes sense or a later date is better.

Apply or nominate: Contact us. Send a short bio, why HTW matters to you, and what you would do in your first 90 days (channels, intros, content you would actually post).

Onboarding

After you’re selected:

• Send us your headshot and title / bio for the site and materials.
• Get added to the calendar invite for the monthly sync.
• Join the Ambassadors Discord channel for comms and async work.
• Joint announcement when you’re ready to go public.
• Add "HTW 2026 Ambassador" to your LinkedIn or social profile.

How We Work

We have one monthly virtual sync with the ambassadors to share updates and discuss ideas. Between that, work is async: announcements, asks, links to assets, and short threads in the Ambassador channel.

Monthly Cadence

Year-at-a-glance; specific commits are set in the monthly sync.

Questions or ready to lean in? Contact us