Analysis Collective Aotearoa - BA Big Day In 2026 [Christchurch]

Analysis Collective Aotearoa presents

BA Big Day In – Christchurch 2026

📍 Tūranga – TSB Room + Activity Room
📅 16th October, 2026
🕙 9:30am – 6:00pm

Step out of the office.
Step into a room full of BAs.

BA Big Day In is a full day for Canterbury's Business Analysis community to come together to learn, reflect, and connect.

No Teams calls.
No back-to-back meetings.
No trying to fit professional development into a lunch break.

Just time set aside to hear from experienced practitioners, explore new ideas, challenge your thinking, and spend time with people who understand the work you do!

It’s a practical day. A thoughtful day. And a chance to strengthen the BA community in Aotearoa.

💵 Tickets are $99 (GST incl) - including morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and closing drinks!

The Day:

9:30 – 10:00

🪧 Registration

10:00 – 11:00

Welcome & The Evolving BA Landscape

Vaughan Luckman (Luckman - BeyondBA)

The challenge: The BA role feels like it is shifting. Expectations are rising. AI is accelerating. The lines between analysis, product, change and data are becoming less clear.

This session sets the context for the day. What is genuinely changing? What is noise? Where are the pressures and where are the opportunities?

11:00 – 11:30

☕ Morning Tea & Networking

11:30 – 12:15

AI: What’s Actually Possible

Blake Harkness (Harkness AI)

The challenge: AI is everywhere in conversation, but many BAs are still evolving their understanding of what it can practically do - and what it means for day-to-day work.

Blake’s brief for this session is simple: blow our minds with what is possible!!

This will be a practical look at current AI capability, real examples of what can be done today, and a clearer sense of where BAs should be paying attention.

12:15 – 1:00

The BA Career Conversation – Panel

Michelle Bishop (Sourced), Leslie Incourt (Orion), Barry Vorster, Paul O’Donovan (TalentPOD)

The challenge: Organisations ask for “Senior BAs”. Entry pathways feel less visible. Capability expectations are rising.

Our panel will discuss what employers are really looking for, how AI may reshape roles, and how we grow new talent in a world with limited opportunities for 'juniors'.

1:00 – 2:00

🍽 Lunch & Networking

2:00 – 2:45

Putting People at the Heart of Analysis & Change

Aimee Palmer (Hellers)

The challenge: Everyone wants faster, smarter, more automated... but often at the expense of the "human part".

This session explores what genuinely human-centred analysis looks like in practice and why it matters when the pressure to move is faster than its ever been.

Aimee will share lessons from the floor, not from a textbook because that’s where you see what change really feels like. Technology moves fast, but people need time to make it work!

2:45 – 3:45

Interactive Hands-On Session

The Redvespa Team

The challenge: We often “learn” BA concepts by hearing about them. But some ideas only really land when you experience them.

This session is designed to make a 'core BA concept' stick through doing, not listening.

No slides. No theory recap. Just a practical exercise that lets you feel the difference clarity, context, and direction make to outcomes.

Expect to be involved.

3:45 – 4:15

☕ Afternoon Tea & Networking

4:15 – 5:00

The BA Value Proposition

Hannah Pearson-Coats (Jimmy)

The challenge: Have we clearly articulated the value of Business Analysis, or has the way we position the role limited how others see it?

This closing session explores what needs to shift so the value of BA work is better understood and better positioned.

5:00 – 6:00

🍻 Drinks & Close

Finish the day with informal networking and continued conversation.