Manifest is a ~500-person annual festival on prediction markets, forecasting, and a mishmash of related topics. We host speakers like Nate Silver, Scott Alexander, Patrick McKenzie, and Aella; organize games, a night market, and betting galore; and encourage attendees to run their own schemes. See last year’s website for a taste: https://manifest.is/

We're looking for 1-2 Lead Organizers for Manifest 2026 — tentatively scheduled for the weekend of June 12-14, at Lighthaven in Berkeley.

Responsibilities

Historically, the Manifest organizing team is responsible for:

• Owning the full event timeline, from venue logistics to day-of execution
• Negotiating with our venue, sponsors, caterers, AV, and other contractors
• Inviting and coordinating with speakers
• Launching and marketing Manifest to attendees
• Planning out specific topics, content and programming
• Managing the event budget, aiming for profitability
• Designing and printing swag, banners, badges
• Wrangling tech to make it all work (Notion, Airtable, Stripe, Discord, web programming)
• Setting up the venue in the days before Manifest
• Running the show on festival weekend!

You don’t need to be an expert at all of these areas; ideally you know several, and can learn or delegate the rest. You’ll be leading a small team to achieve this (1-2 other organizers + contractor/volunteer leads), with major input into recruiting & hiring.

2026 will be the fourth time we’ve run Manifest. That means we do have something of a playbook in place, which you can work from (but we are always looking for new ideas!)

Role details

• Timeline: Full-time, starting ASAP through end of June 2026
• Structure: Contractor role through Manifund (a 501c3)
• Location: SF preferred, hybrid/remote OK — except the final weeks leading up to the event, which is ideally on-site
• Comp: $120k (annualized) base salary + profit share bonus (expected $20k-100k)
  • If we spin out a standalone Manifest Inc., you’d also receive equity, in line with previous organizers
• Reports to: Austin Chen
  • I hope to be fairly hands-off, checking in weekly (more frequently at the start & end)

Who we're looking for

• You've organized events before — ideally large-ish ones (100+ people); or have worked on projects of similar complexity
• You work fast, communicate well, and learn quickly
• You’re good at keeping projects on track: prioritizing, task tracking, delegating
• You've ideally been to Manifest (or similar events like LessOnline, EA Global, etc.), and are familiar with the culture of prediction markets & extended community
• Bonus: experience with sponsorship sales, speaker outreach, or community-facing comms

This is scoped to Manifest 2026 by default, though there may be a path to continuing with future events like Manifest NYC, or leading a spinout Manifest org.

Why should you organize Manifest?