BC Business
LEARN Traction More than 30 speakers including Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes and PlentyOfFish CEO Markus Frind will share tips on everything from content marketing, analytics, testing and conversion optimization to retention, virality, monetization, sales and more. Expect the 500-plus attendees to include tech founders, C-suite execs, growth hackers, data nerds, product folks, UX geeks and media.
Harbour Event Centre, Vancouver, June 18. $539; tractionconf.io
MANAGE
Dealing with Difficult People If you missed it last February, this popular one-day interactive workshop teaches you how to be “hard on the problem, yet soft on the people.” Whether or not you can turn lions into lambs, you will discover how to turn conflicts into creative problem solving, manage your and other people’s anger and how to be assertive without being aggressive. You’ll also take home the textbook: The Joy of Conflict Resolution. UBC Robson Square, June 27, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $225; cstudies.ubc.ca CELEBRATE Technology Impact Awards The TIAs have been celebrating and promoting innovation in B.C.’s tech industry since 1994. The nine award categories range from Most Promising Startup to Community Engagement. The not-for-profit BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) supports B.C. technology companies, mentoring entrepreneurs through the Centre4Growth program.
Vancouver Convention Centre, June 4, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. $300; bctia.org CONNECT Metabridge Take the most promising Canadian technology startups and some of the brightest minds from California’s Silicon Valley and other technology centres across North America. Mix them together in B.C.’s wine country. The result? Metabridge: a two-day retreat where startup entrepreneurs across Canada hang out in casual surroundings with influential Silicon Valley venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and executives. Kelowna, June 11 to June 12. $225; metabridge.ca
LUNCH
BCBusiness Top 100 Luncheon Grab some lunch and hob nob with B.C.’s top CEOs and senior executives at the 26th Annual BCBusiness Top 100 Luncheon–and, bonus, listen to Canada Wide chairman and CEO Peter Legge interview special guest Richard Jaffray, co-founder and CEO of Cactus Club. Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, June 25, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. $149, speaker only $75; bcbusiness.ca/top100 GO BUILDING LASTING CHANGE Go green with the Canada Green Building Council’s annual conference and expo. You can attend education sessions on the latest green building trends and innovations, network at social events or sign up for the whole shebang. Vancouver Convention Centre, June 2 to 4. Depending on the number of sessions/events, $50-750 (members), $50-950 (non-members); cagbc.org READ Losing the Signal: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of BlackBerry Unlike Enron or Lehman Brothers, BlackBerry’s rise and fall is a story of the modern-day speed of success and failure. Losing the Signal by the Globe and Mail’s Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff recounts how two mismatched CEOs outsmarted more powerful competitors–and then lost their way. BlackBerry is now struggling to survive, showing just how aggressive, fast and unforgiving today’s global marketplace can be. HarperCollins. $32.99; harpercollins.ca ■