After Hours: 3 things to do in March

GET SMART
Are you a startup looking to add a digital edge to your business? Or a professional who wants to stay in the loop with emerging technology? Learn about advances in the field and how they can help businesses at the fourth annual BCTechSummit. This year’s Reality Revolution theme focuses on artificial intelligence, VR/AR and other “smart” concentrations, with the aim of solving the problems facing our world today. The event pairs high-profile speakers like Premier John Horgan and veteran distiller and Dragons’ Den judge Manjit Minhas with diverse workshops and social events. Vancouver Convention Centre, March 11-13.

TAKE THE TRAIN
Geographer Derek Hayes is a prolific author whose work includes the Historical Atlas Series–like British Columbia: A New Historical Atlas, now available in paperback. Its 900 maps tell the story of the planners, gold seekers and fur traders who built B.C. (Douglas & McIntyre, 368 pages, $36.95) 

Published last fall, the White Rock resident’s Iron Road West: An Illustrated History of British Columbia’s Railways is not just an exhaustive account of B.C.’s railroads since the first line in the 1860s. It also explains how they influenced the province’s development, from opening up the Okanagan for fruit growing to their use in logging and mining. (Harbour Publishing, 240 pages, hardcover, $44.95)

MAKE TRACKS
If reading about trains isn’t enough, there are two rail-related events this month. The 35th annual Nanaimo Model Railroad Show on March 10 features operating layouts, swap-n-shop tables and demonstrations. And on the 24th, the West Coast Railway Association‘s 37th Western Rails, billed as Canada’s largest railroadiana show, takes place in Burnaby.