Startup and Small Business Events You Don’t Want to Miss in May 2012

startup and small business events

For our newsletter, our team compiles a list of events that we are interested in attending for the upcoming month, which we also believe to be useful to the startup and small business industry. A number of organizations listed are involved in a variety of events, but we have chosen to feature one event that we feel will be particularity useful for startups. We will be posting this blog with featured events the first week of every month.

The events we focus on are primarily in Toronto, the GTA, Guelph, Kitchener, Niagara, St. Catharines and Hamilton, so take a look through the events we are suggesting For April. Please note that the following events may get sold out fast, so if you are interested in attending contact the organization quickly. If you’re hosting an event or have come across one you think we should mention, please feel free to contact us with your suggestions.

Ontario Centres of Excellence: Discovery 12

Discovery features more than 330 exhibitors and 2600 attendees from various industries including health, manufacturing, digital media and cleantech. Attendees include key players from academia, government, investment communities and students. The two-day event includes keynote speakers, mentors, exhibitors and a number of networking opportunities.

When: May 14, 15
Where: Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, 222 Bremner Boulevard, Toronto

Startup Drinks

Startup Drinks provides an open space for entrepreneurs and small business owners to connect and share ideas. There are no presentations or pitches, just conversation and networking. To meet some of the up-and-coming people in the startup community, this is a great event to attend.  These events are held in a number of locations such as Toronto, Hamilton, and Waterloo.

Event: Startup Drinks Waterloo
When: Tuesday, May 1, 2012 @ 6:00pm
Where:cChainsaw, 28 King Street North, Waterloo

Event: Startup Drinks Toronto
When: May 30, 8:00 p.m.
Where: Hotel Ocho, 195 Spadina Avenue, Toronto

Event: Startup Drinks Hamilton
When: May 10, 6:00 p.m.
Where: The Winking Judge, 25 Augusta Street, Hamilton

MaRS Discovery District

The events at MaRS are ideal for start-ups, science, technology and social entrepreneurs looking to make connections and learn more about a particular aspect of business.

Event: Entrepreneur 101: The Pitch
When: May 2, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Where: MaRS Discovery District Auditorium, 101 College St, Toronto

Mobile Monday

Mobile Monday offers events for people in the mobile industry who are looking to connect and share ideas with others, develop their products, and continue to expand their business. Mobile Mondays are held at a central location in Toronto. Attendees are able to interact with local and international professionals in the industry through networking and demo events.

Event: App Best Practices
When: May 7, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Where: MaRS Discovery District, 101 College Street, Toronto

Silicon Halton

Silicon Halton organizes a number of events throughout the year in the region Halton which including Burlington, Oakville, and Milton. Their monthly meetups and Peer2Peer include three main components; a key notes presentation, a get to know a member presentation, and time set out for networking. These events are catered to anyone at a startup, especially in the tech industry, that are looking to learn more about business practices.

Event: Meet Up 31: 10 UX Methods to Help You Build Great Apps
When: May 8, 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Where: Milton Town Hall, Milton Room, 150 Mary Street, Milton

Communitech

Communitech events are focused on being engaging and interactive, providing useful information for companies of many sizes. Communitech is based in the Waterloo region and these events are varied and include peer2peer, Hub for Grub, Techworking Breakfast and Communitech Connect and more. 

Event: Hub for Grub: The Essentials of Early Stage Financing
When: May 10, 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Where: Communitech Hub – 150 Charles Street West, Kitchener

Haltech

Events at Haltech target startup businesses in the technology industry that are looking to develop new ideas, establish their business or continue to grow it. The events by Haltech are held in the region of Halton, and provide training for entrepreneurs as well as a chance to network.

Event: HalTech Marketing Peer2Peer: Content Marketing for your Business
When: May 11, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Where: Sheridan Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, 1430 Trafalgar Road, Oakville

Innovation Guelph

Innovation Guelph is an organization that provides programs, events, and services to help entrepreneurs, community organizations, researchers and business leaders develop their ideas.  They also have expert advisors to help in your development.

Event: Startup Stories
When: May 11, 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Where: TBA

Innovation Factory

Innovation factory facilitates the discussion of new ideas and discovery between business, science and academia. Their events are beneficial to anyone at a startup to a multinational corporation. Innovation factory offers events for both networking and learning along with the support of their experienced advisors. These events run in the region of Hamilton.

Event: Café iF: Mark Elliott of VA Partners Presents: Fundamentals for B2B Sales Strategy
When: May 11, 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Where: The Atrium @MIP, 175 Longwood Rd. South, Hamilton

Connecting Vision to Reality 2012

This event will feature keynote speaker, entrepreneur and author, Eric Reis and a networking cocktail reception. The event will give you the opportunity to connect with founders, CEOs and key decision makers in the technology industry. Topics that will be discusses are around emerging Canadian technology companies.

When: May 15, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Where: Ryerson university, Ted Rogers School of Management, 55 Dundas St. West, Toronto

Rails Pub Night

This informal social event in Toronto is perfect for anyone interesting in web development. People in the industry are able to gather along with both recruits as people in the web development start up community.

When: May 21, 7:00 p.m.
Where: The Rhino, 1249 Queen St. West, Toronto

Sprout Up

Sprout Up is a monthly event for forward-thinking entrepreneurs to gather and mind-meld. It’s a great chance for startups to get friendly, discuss current trends, and network in a casual, open, and focused setting.

When: May 22 6:00 p.m.
Where: The Courthouse, 57 Adelaide St. East, Toronto

For further information about any of these events contact our team and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter for more events.

Startup and Small Business Events You Don’t Want to Miss in May 2012