AI Sandbox

Save the date: calling businesses and not for profits - bring your team to Vibe-athon, 13–15 November 2026

Give your team a weekend to explore what AI could make possible.

Vibe-athon brings people together to tackle real challenges from the Nelson Tasman region using AI, technology and creative thinking. It’s a chance for your staff to build practical skills, meet people with different perspectives and explore ideas together.

Your business can bring its own challenge, or something you want to create, and register a team, or have individual staff members attend and join other teams.

Everyone is welcome, including people new to AI.

Registrations open on Friday 9 October.

Save the date and start a conversation with your team about who might like to take part. Registration details will follow when bookings open.

Save the date: Vibe-athon, 13–15 November 2026

Curious about what you could build with AI?

Join Nelson AI Sandbox for a weekend of ideas, collaboration and practical problem solving. Work with others on real challenges from the Nelson Tasman region, explore AI tools and put your skills and creativity to use. And create real solutions to make our region an even better place to live!

Everyone is welcome. You don’t need to be a coder or an AI expert. Bring your curiosity and a willingness to give things a go.

Registrations open on Friday 9 October.

Put the weekend in your calendar and share this with someone you’d like to take part with. Registration details will follow when bookings open.

Questions? Contact Jack at [email protected].

Free AI Community Talk - get your tickets!

Join us for a free community talk on AI with Serge van Dam on Thursday 29 October, hosted by the Nelson AI Sandbox. AI has gone from novelty to everywhere in about three years, and it is changing how work gets done faster than most of us have kept up with. This free evening talk is a straight look at what that means for Nelson, and why now is the time to start paying attention.

Serge has worked with AI from almost every angle: investing in New Zealand AI companies, helping organisations adopt it, training complete beginners, and advising government agencies including MBIE and NZTE. He is an Operating Partner at venture capital firm Movac and co-founder of AI Supercharge.

He will cover where AI is useful right now, the risks worth paying attention to, and how to get started without being technical. At one point he will build a working website live on stage in about two minutes and leave it running, so you can see for yourself how far the tools have come.

You do not need any experience with AI to come along. If you already use it every day, there will be plenty here for you too. You will leave with a clearer view of what is real and a sensible place to start.

Free to attend and everyone is welcome, but please register as numbers are capped.

When: Thursday 29 October 2026, 7:00pm (about 90 minutes including questions)
Where: Nelson Golf Club
Cost: Free, everyone welcome. Cash bar available.

Want to go further? Serge is also running a hands-on workshop the next morning, Friday 30 October, for business owners who want to design an AI-powered service of their own.

Get your tickets to the community talk here: https://events.humanitix.com/wake-up-to-ai-a-call-to-arms-for-nelson/tickets

Free Public Talk on AI

Save the date: Thursday 29 October, Nelson Golf Club, 7.00pm. Refreshments available through the golf club bar.

The Nelson AI Sandbox is delighted to welcome Serge van Dam to Nelson for a free public lecture on AI, Wake Up to AI: A Call to Arms for Nelson. Serge is a software investor (Tapi, Re-Leased), an investor in AI-native companies including Autohive and LawCyborg, an Operating Partner at Movac, and co-founder of AI Supercharge, New Zealand's original in-person AI training company.

Drawing on three years "in the trenches" working with AI, Serge will share what he's learned about the technology and what it means for a town like Nelson, viewed through his experience working as an AI investor, AI change manager, AI trainer, AI governance thinker, and AI advisor to corporates and government.

There will be plenty of time for your questions following his talk.

Tickets will be available soon. Save the date 📅.

Something exciting is coming this November.

The Vibe-athon is a hackathon-style weekend bringing people together to solve real problems from across the Nelson Tasman region.

Over three days, from Friday to Sunday on the second weekend of November (Nov 13-15), teams will take genuine challenges faced by local businesses and organisations, and build practical solutions using AI, technology and creative problem solving.

You do not need to be a coder or an AI expert to take part. We are looking for curious people who want to collaborate, build something useful and make a difference in the region.

More details coming soon.

Most of our workshops focus on using AI for work. This time, we’re taking it somewhere a bit different: into the garden.

Join us for Plan Your Spring Garden with AI, a relaxed, practical 90-minute workshop in Nelson.

Bring a few photos of your garden, rough measurements and an idea you would like to explore. You’ll use AI to create a visual garden makeover, develop a practical planting plan and build a buying guide for your own space.

This could be a vegetable patch, flower bed, courtyard, small garden or a mixture of everything. No gardening or AI experience is needed. You’ll get a short introduction, guided help and time to share ideas with other people working on their own garden projects.

28 September, 5:30pm, $25

You’ll need a free ChatGPT account and a phone, tablet or laptop. Please bring 1–3 garden photos, rough measurements and details such as sunlight, watering, budget, pets or children.

Book your place here: https://events.humanitix.com/plan-your-spring-garden-with-ai

Know someone who is planning a garden this spring? Tag them or share this post.

Plan Your Spring Garden with AI Use AI to turn photos, measurements and ideas into a visual spring garden makeover, practical planting plan and buying guide. No experience needed.

Thanks to all the wonderful women who attended our first Thinking Room event last, and a big thank you to Sandbox member Nina O'Donohue of Cogrounding for such an informative session on the art of negotiation and how to use AI to help think it through.

We were stoked with the feedback from the night, and we're already looking forward to the next event. If there are other topics you'd love to discuss or learn more about, we'd love to hear your ideas.

The Thinking Room is a women only evening series using AI as a thinking partner, it’s something a bit different to sit alongside our regular members' meetings. Nina is co-founder of Cogrounding, following eight years in global marketing and commercial leadership at LEGO Group.

The event is run by Nelson AI Sandbox. Watch this space for details on the next thinking room or email [email protected] to sign up to our newsletter.

We see a range of people at the Nelson AI Sandbox Cafe wanting help with AI. Our sessions with an AI specialist are free, book via our website or walk-in. We are located in the Halifax Cafe.

"Jack at Nelson AI Sandbox was very helpful in listening to what my situation was. He showed me how to use the AI platforms I have setup for my online business in a more optimal way.

"During the session with him, I developed more confidence in efficiently organising my systems. Instead of getting caught up in the tech, feeling behind, stuck, or like I'm wasting my time using AI, might as well have it work FOR me.

"Nelson AI Sandbox is a great way to befriend this new tool that will continue to evolve. I also loved being able to book a time online, it's a great way to plan my day accordingly."

Claudia-Sam Cataford Sauvé, 10/10

Job hunting? If you want help on how to use AI to help in the application process, drop in or make an appointment with Jack at the Nelson AI Cafe. https://aisandbox.org.nz/book-a-session/