FutureCite

RainForest LWL#2
2018-12-12 11:30 - 13:30 (America/Edmonton) | Enterprise Centre 2-520A, 10230 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 4P6, Canada
Rainforest Alberta – Lunch without Lunch YEG is an informal get-together for Edmonton entrepreneurs, small business owners, academia, investors, and service providers. Anyone looking to encourage collisions between people and create connections that will help drive the success of entrepreneurs in Alberta’s innovation system is welcome to attend.
Lunch without Lunch will typically run the 1st and 2nd Tuesday of every month at Enterprise Square.
Agenda:

11:45 Check In (bring your lunch!)
12:00 Welcome
12:10 Entrepreneur Profile – Debra Greig, CEO of TransforMana
12:25 Who’s in the Room
12:35 Networking

Cost: Free
All are welcome to join – come prepared to share with the group on how you can provide support others in the nature of the Rainforest Social Contract. Do you want to learn more about the Social Contract or signup and commit to building a culture that supports entrepreneurs? Click here!
Can’t Make it to LWOL? Join us on the 3rd Thursday of every month at the Advanced Technology Centre in the Edmonton Research Park for Connector. Please ensure to register for each month and double check dates and locations as they are subject to change.

Edmonton School of AI
2018-12-11 17:00 - 20:00 | Canadian Western Bank Conference Center, 10303 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
If you are interested in Learning (ML), this meetup is for you. We meet to bend data to our will, to socialize, and to build a community of Machine Learning and Data Science Practitioners. We will also build a community of lifelong learners, to help each other in the quest of using AI technology for the common good.Note: Location moved from Startup Edmonton to Canadian Western Bank Conference Center.Agenda– Go through the short guideline as soon as possible: https://bit.ly/2rafCoR– How to build the Business Intelligence (BI) dashboards on the link below, will be discussed. BI dashboards: https://bit.ly/2SC7b13– Eco Stations code walkthrough: https://bit.ly/2Sy2Bkq– The intent of the meetup and it’s long term and short term goals will be discussedHighly recommended you come with your laptop, fully charged.Just in case, come with your laptop charger as well.Attendee’s if you have extra extension cords come with them – to compensate for laptop chargers.Have these installed in your laptop.– Install Visual Studio Code (must): https://code.visualstudio.com/– Install Live Server for Visual Studio Code (must): https://bit.ly/2qRKGK2– Install Git (optional but recommended): https://git-scm.com/Sign up for GitHub (optional but recommended): https://github.com/If you have any questions or concerns post a comment.Also come with water and a light snack, to recharge yourself hahaha! We will be using a lot of brain power ^_^. Potential sponsors who want to feed us haha, send me an email.Email: https://mikelotis.github.io/#webHighly recommended to join slack and follow twitter, for updates and resources.Edmonton School of AI ChapterFollow @yegSchoolofAI on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2DH7ynNSlack group (# school_of_ai channel): https://bit.ly/2Ft5KQLSchool of AIFollow @SchoolOfAIOffic on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2QlQuKxSlack group for School of AI: http://wizards.herokuapp.com/School of AI – website link: https://bit.ly/2QPoM54

Pitchfest Edmonton
2018-12-07 13:30 - 18:00 | Shaw Conference Centre, 9797 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 1N9, Canada
Like a community-based Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den, Pitchfest Edmonton is where startup company founders can pitch their businesses and specific needs to an audience of public and private investors, service providers, business leaders, and community members who ask questions and then offer ideas and proposals to the startup founders.
Each startup founder will have 5 minutes to pitch their business and specific resource needs, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A from an audience panel. Then the audience members will have 5 minutes to fill out a form to email the startup founder with ideas and offers for various ways they might be able to fulfill those specific needs, whether they be financing, marketing, legal, strategy, business development, personnel, product development, or sales. After all of the pitches are finished, the audience will be able to vote online to choose their favorite.

Alberta has installed its first 17 MW solar farm! The Largest in Western Canada!
2018-12-06 19:00 - 21:00 | MacEwan University, 10460 105 Street Northwest, '
Thu, 6 December 2018
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LOCATION
MacEwan University – CN Conference Theatre
10460 105 Street Northwest
Edmonton, AB T5J 4S2
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Alberta has installed its first 17 MW solar farm! The Largest in Western Canada!
Join us before the event for networking at Solar Drinks 5-7pm.
The Alberta Electric System Operator’s Connection Queue presently has proposals for over 4 Gigawatts of solar generating capacity!
Round 1 of the Renewable Energy Program (REP) auction in 2017 successfully delivered nearly 600 MW of wind generation at a weighted average bid price of $37/MWh – setting a new record in Canada. Large solar projects in the US, India, and Chile are coming in with very competitive pricing. What is the potential for large solar project pricing here? What are the short and long term ratepayer benefits of Alberta’s embracing of big solar? Want to watch from home?
Presenters
Annette and Stephan Dautel – Directors, Dautel Solutions

Overview of the world-wide utility-scale solar PV development
Evolution of Germany’s renewable energy and solar market.
Update on utility-scale solar PV in Germany today.

Mikhail Ivanchikov – President, Dandelion Renewables

A comparison of the levelized cost of utility-scale solar PV in BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan considering the current policies and programs available.
An overview of the first and largest utility-scale solar project in Western Canada in Brooks, Alberta.

Nathaniel Papay – EPCOR Utilities

Creating Clean Water with Clean Power – EPCOR’s proposed 12MW E.L. Smith Solar Farm Project

Click here to watch live on Facebook

Edmonton Data Science Meetup
2018-12-05 17:30 - 19:30 | Startup Edmonton HQ, 301, 10359 - 104 Street, Edmonton, AB, Canada
dmonton Data Science meetup is a place to learn about data science and network with fellow Data Scientists. The presentations for the upcoming meetup include:• “Exploring Text Analytics to Gain Additional Insight into Your Data” – Nick Shelton (JMP Systems Engineer at SAS)• “Autonomous atomic-scale manufacturing through machine learning” – Moe Rashidi (Postdoctoral RA at University of Alberta)Pizza will be provided before presentations and after presentations we will head to a pub for networking!The meetup is sponsored by NAIT (http://www.nait.ca/program_home_103349.htm) and AltaML (http://altaml.com/).———-Edmonton Data Science (EDS) meetups are a platform for data science enthusiasts and professionals to:• learn about big data techniques and tools• discuss best practices in big data and data science• promote big data and data science among university students and the local tech community• learn about practical applications of data science methods• learn about companies that use data science as the foundation of their business processesWe are passionate about data science and big data. We hope to create a vibrant data science community that is engaged in sharing and learning different topics in the field.In these meetups, we intend to a) share best practices and knowledge of data science-based startups and corporations with university students, b) introduce research works on big data and data science to the local tech community. We aim to connect the students to companies and make them more aware of our vibrant local tech community. We also invite professors and researchers to present their work on data mining and machine learning methods to the professional community. Each meetup will include a presentation introducing a company who is using data science techniques, and two presentations about big data, data science and machine learning techniques.

Chamber YEG Innovates
2018-12-05 11:30 - 13:30 | Sutton Place Hotel, 10235 - 101 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 3E9, Canada
How are new and innovative technologies changing the way we work, live and do business?
Hear from a panel of local innovators as they discuss the research and technological advancements that are happening in our own backyard, how their organizations are spearheading innovation in Edmonton and how Edmonton businesses can benefit from these technologies and become innovators in their own industries.
Panellists Include:

Moderator: Cheryll Watson, Vice-President, Innovate Edmonton
John Antonio, Chief Strategy Officer, IDX Labs
Jason Pincock, President and CEO, DynaLIFE Medical Labs

Zouheir Mansourati, VP, Broadband Networks, TELUS

RainForest LWOL #1
2018-12-04 11:30 - 13:30 | Enterprise Centre 2-520A, 10230 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 4P6, Canada
In 2011 Antoine co-founded Sustainival, the world’s first green carnival – a full-scale carnival midway that operates entirely on renewable energy. Antoine is also the co-founder of Sustainitech, a technology commercialization company that builds high-density commercial lettuce farms in shipping containers.
Given the inherent risks of these social enterprise startups, Antoine launched a third company in 2012 called ‘Boring Investments’. This company was built to purchase commercial properties and establish a cashflow foundation as a hedge against the potential startup risks.
After stabilizing these ventures with executive teams in place, Antoine returned his focus to commercial real estate in early 2016. Boring Investments was rebranded as Sparrow Capital with the purpose of demonstrating how commercial real estate assets can be curated strategically to enhance the cultural fabric of neighbourhoods and the economic resilience of municipal regions.
Antoine holds a diploma in mediation and conflict resolution from the Vienna ARGE academy and a diploma in Indian philosophy from the University of Wales. Antoine is a Platinum member of the Real Estate Investment Network, a board member of IDEA – Infill Development in Edmonton Association, the Planning Director for the Riverdale Community League, and Chairman of the PowPow Brotherhood. He lives in Edmonton with his wife and 4 children and is an avid mountain biking and backcountry snowboard enthusiast.

BetaCity YEG MeetUp
2018-11-28 18:30 - 20:30 | Startup Edmonton HQ, 301, 10359 - 104 Street, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Join us for our evening BetaCityYEG meetup, working on projects and solutions that emerged out of our recent discussions. We are the city and region’s citizen-led digital engagement group. Developers, civic employees, data enthusiasts, students, professionals and general engaged Edmontonians are all welcome! Anyone is free to stay past the one-hour meeting time and collaborate if they so wish.
Presentations to be updated as we get closer to the date.
Check out our site (http://www.betacity.ca) for previous community projects and future ideas.

Attendees (9)eaBe0

2018 Innovation Awards
2018-11-28 15:00 - 18:00 | University of Alberta Lister Hall Maple Leaf Room, 11613 87 Ave NW, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H6, Canada
Since 2013, the Innovation Awards has honoured University of Alberta Researchers, their ground breaking technologies and the commercialization community that helps bring their innovations from out of the lab and into the world.
Join us to celebrate the researchers who received a US patent and have an active private partner. Those who have created a University of Alberta spin-off company will also be recognized. This event showcases some of the University’s best and brightest innovators whose achievements are poised to improve our quality of life and build a strong economic future for Alberta.
Speakers:
TBD
Agenda:
3 – 3:30 p.m. Networking
3:30 – 5 p.m. Awards presentation
5 – 6 p.m. Reception and networking
Following the awards presentation, beverages and light refreshments will be served.
Parking:
There is a dedicated parking lot (Lot M) in front of the conference centre. You can find parking information here.

The Innovation Awards are made possible through support from Bennett Jones and NSERC.

Social Media Analytics & Data-Driven Business Decisions
2018-11-28 11:30 - 13:30 | Matrix Hotel, 10640 - 100 avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Social media has not only become a part of modern communication, but is now a key component of successful businesses. With active user bases that grow daily, companies are discovering new ways to engage with customers, receive feedback on products and services, and track public opinion.
In addition to reaching a wider audience, social media is one of the most cost-efficient digital marketing strategies. Customer data is now a prized commodity, enabling organizations to make informed business decisions based on digital analytics. In this panel discussion, our industry experts will discuss the most important metrics, trends, and strategies in social media marketing, and share valuable perspectives on how your business can make the most of a data-driven social media strategy.
Panel Speakers:

Elli Hanson, Global Director of Design Strategy, Ogilvy Worldwide, NY
Daniel Haight, ’97 BCom, President and Co-founder, Darkhorse Analytics
Avery Johnson, Co-Founder, Kaden Ave Communications

The panel discussion will be moderated by Kyle Murray, Vice Dean & Professor of Marketing, University of Alberta School of Business.

November 28, 2018
11:30 AM – 1:15 PM
11:30 AM — Registration
11:45 AM — Lunch
12:15 PM — Panel discussion with Q&A
1:15 PM — Event Conclusion

Matrix Hotel
10640 100 Ave NW, Edmonton

$60 per person/$480 per table of 8 guests

RainForest Summit
2018-11-27 08:00 - 16:30 | Shaw Conference Centre, 9797 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 1N9, Canada
There’s more to building a city of innovation than just the basics. You can have talent, capital, and business-Efriendly policies and still fall flat as a place for innovation, while other cities take their place as the next Silicon Valley. Why? Because you need an innovation ecosystem connecting and building on those basic ingredients.
The Rainforest Alberta initiative works together to improve Alberta’s innovation ecosystem, based on the principles of The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley. We use a scorecard from that resource to measure the quality of Edmonton’s ecosystem twice a year, with the goal of increasing our score to 800 out of 1000 by 2020.
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Who Should Attend?
The Rainforest Alberta – yeg Summit brings together a group of Edmonton innovators, doers, strategists, and thought leaders together to evaluate Edmonton’s ecosystem and discuss how we can do better to create a true hub of innovation in Edmonton.
If you are passionate about building a stronger, more resilient, more innovative economy for Edmonton, you need to attend this session. Not sure if this is a good fit for you? Read more about Rainforest Alberta – yeg!
Assessing Innovation in Edmonton
During the summit, attendees will analyze the state of innovation in Edmonton using the results of the Rainforest Scorecard. If you want to make sure that your voice is heard, Click here to complete the Scorecard Assessment (you don’t have to be attending to help us gauge the state of innovation in Edmonton!).

Thank you to our Sponsors!
The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research is our Ecosystem level sponsor. Thank you so much for supporting the growth of innovation in Alberta by helping make the Summit a reality!

Work Nicer is Alberta’s largest coworking community created on the foundation that no one succeeds alone. Community is more than a common space but a group of people who rally together to work through the struggles and celebrate the wins. What comes out of community is deeper connections, cooler collaborations and higher innovation.

Agenda

8:30 Check-In
8:50 Welcome
9:00 Session #1 – Background and Context
10:45 Session #2 – Rainforest Pillars
12:30 Lunch
13:00 Session #3 – The New Narrative
15:00 Session #4 – Continuity
16:30 Conclude

The Nuts and Bolts of Data Science for Social Innovators and Entrepreneurs
2018-11-21 16:00 - 17:30 | RoundHouse MacEwan University, 11110 104Ave, Edmontnon, Alberta, Canada
Data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are BIG buzzwords but what do they really mean to you and your business?
Experts from Cybera (Alberta’s not-for-profit technology accelerator) will host an introductory session on data science for entrepreneurs and social innovators. We will help shed light on how Alberta businesses (both big and small) can navigate this complex landscape of buzzwords, and translate it into practical knowledge to be better prepared to do more with their data.
In this session, Cybera will untangle the buzzwords and jargon, and show you how data science is impacting business through real-world examples. You will learn whether you’re ready to start using data science to improve your business and how to optimize your project’s chances for success.
Audience:
This introductory session is geared toward the non-technical business audience (start-ups, entrepreneurs, social innovators or small-to-medium sized business) looking to understand the world of data science and are considering implementing it in their organizations.

Lunchalytics - Data Viz
2018-11-21 11:30 - 13:00 | Startup Edmonton HQ, 301, 10359 - 104 Street, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Analytics is the use of data and analysis to improve the performance of an organization. In other words, it’s the search for a free lunch. Ergo, we combine compelling speakers with a free lunch.This month we explore data viz, and our speakers are:Joey Cherdarchuk, Darkhorse Analytics“Visualizing Economic Opportunity in the US”Karen Parker and Logan Moran, City of Edmonton“Visualizing Municipal Data: How the City of Edmonton uses visualizations to provide insight to staff and citizens”Food starts at 11:45, speakers start at high noon. We hope to see you there.Please note: RSVPing “Yes” indicates that you are attending in person, and we will save you a seat and order you lunch. If you are attending remotely, there is no need to RSVP.For those unable to attend in person, we will be live streaming to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCzPqHzOHnHsQGPEPaUCC5Jw/videosOur hashtag for social media is #lunchalytics.Interested in presenting, volunteering, or being a sponsor at Lunchalytics? Please get in touch with us via www.lunchalytics.com.

Demo Camp 43
2018-11-20 18:30 - 20:00 | University of Alberta Campus Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS), Room L2-190, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive (East of 116 Street), Edmonton, AB, Canada
DemoCamp brings together developers, creatives, entrepreneurs and investors to share what they’ve been working on and to find others in the community interested in similar topics. For presenters, it’s a great way to get feedback on what you’re building from peers and the community, all in an informal setting. Started back in 2008, DemoCamp Edmonton has steadily grown into one of the largest in the country, with over 200 people attending each event.The rules for DemoCamp are simple: 7 minutes to demo real, working products, followed by a few minutes for questions, and no slides allowed.Time: 6:30 pm doors open, 6:45 pm program startsLocation: CCIS L2-190, University of AlbertaDrinks and networking to follow at RATT (Room At The Top) – 7th floor, Students Union BuildingInterested in demoing? Applications are open here! http://www.startupedmonton.com/democamp/

Virtual Reality Day '18 - Edmonton, Alberta
2018-11-17 12:00 - 18:00 | TBD
Celebrate global Virtual Reality Day by attending this local event near you. Learn and experience from different VR/AR demonstrations. Become educated about virtual and augmented reality. Have your first virtual reality experience. Ask questions. Meet the local VR/AR community.
Final location, time and exhibitors/demonstrations will be posted here as we get closer to the event.
Register here today on Eventbrite, and receive notices automatically for the event.
Learn More at VirtualRealityDay.org
The 2nd Annual Global Virtual Reality Day will take place Saturday, November 17th, 2018.

Virtual Reality Day is a series of VR/AR events organized worldwide to help virtual and augmented reality become more mainstream. Any individual, company or organization can host a free public VR/AR event and become part of the Virtual Reality Day phenomenon. This is a completely voluntary and grassroots effort. It’s about bringing the energy and interests of the greater community together, and focusing that energy for the benefit of everyone on one special day.
How does it work?
You organize your local VR/AR event at any location of your choice. This could be a small scale event at a local coffee shop, or a bigger event at a public school or corporate partner in your area. As long as the goal of your event is to help people get exposed to VR/AR and it’s free to attend, the size, location and venue is up to you.
Need help finding a venue?
Reach out to your local VR/AR Meetup group, or other startups in the area, and work together to find a venue.
Partner with your local coffee shop, and setup your VR rig there for the day.
You could consider reaching out to your local Microsoft or Apple Store, Best Buy, etc., and organizing a special educational event with them for that day. Why wouldn’t they want some local help and support to drive extra foot traffic and interest that day?
Still struggling? Email us, and we’ll try to connect you with other like-minded people in your area.
How are we going to get the word out?
1) We’ll be putting out multiple press releases promoting Virtual Reality Day leading up to the event starting in early September, informing the public to make plans to attend an event near them.
2) For every event that has been scheduled by Monday, November 12th, we’ll be reaching out to the local media in your city that week to cover the event.
3) During the week before, we will also reach out to the public school systems where events are taking place, informing them to ask teachers to make announcements in their classrooms. We will also inform the local surrounding parent/teacher associations (PTAs).
4) We’ll be running a large social media campaign for the entire week leading up to November 17th.
5) We’ll be scheduling live video check-in remotes with all the events on that day to have them share what they’re doing locally with the larger global internet community.
Why are we doing this?
It’s hard to say at the moment whether 2018 is a critical year or not for the VR/AR industry. We do know that for any company, startup or established, driving interest, and generating revenue is always of paramount importance.
Further, AR/VR is not mainstream yet. It’s getting closer. But, you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone that has had a high-end VR experience with the Microsoft HoloLens, the Oculus Rift, or the HTC Vive.
We want to help to change that. And so, we decided to put a stake in the ground and designate Saturday, November 17th, 2018 as the second annual global Virtual Reality Day.
We chose this day because it’s the last Saturday before Black Friday, and the start of the holiday shopping season. It’s also a day when most students, grade, high school and college are still in school before their Thanksgiving break. Also, by having it on the weekend, it allows parents to bring their children.
We’d like to encourage individuals and groups to organize a free public VR event on this day on any topic you like. It could be introducing VR for the first time to people, or focused on a vertical topic of your choice, with the goal to educate and inform.
Last year, we had individuals and organizations participating in 8 cities globally, and we’ve already exceeded that committment for this coming year.
The Washington, DC event even made the 11pm evening news last year:

Is it Smoke and Mirrors? The Cannabusiness with Aurora Cannabis
2018-11-13 12:00 - 13:00 | NAIT Shaw Theatre X107 (accross from Bookstore)
A panel of leaders from Aurora Cannabis join us for a frank discussion on the Cannabis business in Canada and Edmonton. From growing, to distributing and retailing.
This event is being hosted in the X107 very near to the bookstore.NMh
