If you're passionate about AI, Data, .NET, or anything tech-related, this is your chance to close out 2026 on stage in front of the Durban community. We're calling on developers, architects, data engineers, AI practitioners, .NET developers, founders, students, and innovators to step up for one last set this year.

New to us? Encore is the final Data & AI Community Day Durban of 2026, running side by side with .NET Conf 2026 Community Edition South Africa: two events, one Saturday, one roof. It's only the second .NET Conf ever held in KwaZulu-Natal, and we want the line-up to match the moment.

🔥 Why Should You Speak?

• Two audiences, one building. Share your expertise with 200+ attendees from across the AI, data, and .NET communities.
• Be part of KZN history. Only the second .NET Conf ever in the province, and you could be on the bill.
• End your year on a high. Last event of 2026. Put that talk you've been sharpening all year to good use before the holidays.
• Expand your network by connecting with fellow practitioners and community leaders from both communities.
• Help grow the local tech community.
• Elevate your personal brand and thought leadership.

🎯 What We're Looking For

The theme is Encore: the talks the crowd has been waiting for, played like you mean it. We want sessions that show what actually works in the real world, share lessons learned (failures included!), and give our audience skills they can use on Monday morning. Think "here's what actually works" over "here's a 47-slide deck about a product roadmap."

💿 Got a greatest hit? Encores are where the band plays the songs people love. If you've given a talk elsewhere this year (at a meetup, another conference, inside your company, or in another city) and it landed, bring it to Durban. Refreshed, updated, and with what you've learned since. New material is just as welcome.

This CfS covers two tracks. Submit to either one, or to both. Just select the track when you submit.

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⚡ TRACK 1: THE MAINS — DATA & AI COMMUNITY DAY DURBAN

Our core track, running the full day: 50-minute deep dives, 20-minute lightning talks, and the panel discussion. Since it's us, the Azure, AI/ML & Data Community Durban, organising, almost anything goes:

• Building AI agents and agentic workflows (the practical way): multi-agent systems, orchestration, and what's actually running in production 
• Model Context Protocol (MCP): servers, clients, integrations, and connecting AI to the real world 
• Getting real with generative AI and RAG: what works, what doesn't, and what's overhyped 
• Small language models and running AI locally: when you don't need GPT-scale 
• Doing AI properly: testing and evaluation, preventing the slop, guardrails, and AI in CI/CD 
• Responsible AI and security: bias, fairness, governance, and cybersecurity 
• AI for Africa: unique use cases, challenges, and opportunities on our continent 
• Microsoft Fabric: data engineering, OneLake, lakehouses, analytics, and BI 
• Database Development: performance, architecture, and modern database tech (because SQL is not dead, and we'll fight anyone who says otherwise) 
• Streaming Data & Real-Time Analytics: Kafka, Event Hubs, Spark, Flink, and data in motion 
• Power Platform & Power Apps: making AI and data accessible to business users 
• Ways in: using AI to land a tech job, what newcomers should learn first, careers, and starting something of your own 
• Your 2026 retrospective: what changed in your data or AI practice this year, what you'd do differently, and what you're betting on for 2027 
• Real-world AI & Data use cases: because theory is great, but practice is better

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🎸 TRACK 2: THE BACKLINE — .NET CONF 2026 COMMUNITY EDITION SOUTH AFRICA

The gear the whole band plays through. A dedicated .NET Conf track, running alongside The Mains all day. Whether you're a seasoned .NET developer or just starting out, we want talks for both:

• .NET 11 and the latest C#: what's new, what's changed, and what it means for the code you ship 
• ASP.NET Core, Blazor, and web development: APIs, front ends, and everything in between
• Cloud-native .NET: Aspire, containers, microservices, and running .NET in the cloud 
• AI in .NET: building AI-powered apps and agents, Microsoft.Extensions.AI, the Microsoft Agent Framework, and building MCP servers in C# 
• Data in .NET: EF Core, data access, performance, and talking to the databases our Mains track loves 
• Performance and architecture: the patterns, trade-offs, and lessons that only come from production 
• Testing and quality: testing strategies, observability, and keeping .NET systems healthy 
• Modernisation: moving legacy .NET Framework apps forward, and living to tell the tale 
• Developer productivity: tooling, IDEs, AI-assisted development, and the workflows that make your day better 
• Cross-platform and mobile: .NET MAUI and beyond

And no, it doesn't have to include C#. AI, and especially MCP, is for everyone, whatever your stack.

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🔀 Both Tracks? Even Better.

Some of the best talks we could hope for live right on the line between the two tracks:

• An AI agent or MCP server built in .NET
• A data pipeline, ETL, or streaming solution built in C#
• Bringing AI into an existing .NET enterprise system without breaking it
• How your .NET team and your data team actually work together

If your talk fits both, tick both tracks. We'll find it the right stage.

💡 Got a topic that doesn't fit neatly into either track? Submit it anyway! Some of our best sessions have come from unexpected places.

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📍 Not in Durban?

.NET Conf 2026 Community Edition South Africa runs in three cities this year:

• Durban: Saturday, 21 November (this CfS)
• Cape Town: Saturday, 28 November, with Season of AI
• Bloemfontein: Saturday, 5 December, with Season of AI, and its first .NET Conf ever

Cape Town and Bloemfontein have their own Call for Speakers:

• https://cptmsdug.dev/dotnet-conf-2026.html

Want to speak in more than one city? Go for it. Submit to each CfS separately.

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🌟 First-Time Speakers: Yes, That Means YOU

Some of the most memorable talks at our events have come from first-time speakers. If you've been thinking about getting on stage but haven't found the right opportunity, the last event of the year is the perfect time to cross it off your 2026 list. Every headliner started as someone's opening act.

We provide:

• A supportive, encouraging audience (seriously, our community is amazing)
• The option to do a 20-minute lightning talk if a 50-minute session feels daunting
• A platform that has launched dozens of speaking careers
• You don't need to be an expert. You just need something worth sharing.

⏱️ Tip: submit early. If two submissions are rated equally, the earlier one gets the spot.

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🚀 Ready for the Encore?

Hit that Submit Session button and join us on stage at Data & AI Community Day Durban: Encore and .NET Conf 2026 Community Edition South Africa.

One day. Two events. One last set for 2026. Let's make it the one people are still talking about in January.

See you in Durban on 21 November! 🎤💜