Forming vital connections, both online and offline, is essential for professionals relocating to Metro Vancouver, and social networking websites like Meetup are helping people to do just that.
Perusing Meetup groups in and around Vancouver on meetup.com is a great way for newcomers to get started in establishing a solid local network of like-minded people, according to group organizers and members. The website offers endless possibilities for people with a variety of interests, from business and professional groups to more socially oriented and special interest groups. Limited only by imagination, topics range widely from career coaching and investing to fitness training, beer making, learning languages and delivering compelling presentations.
Signing up is free at meetup.com, where members select events and meet up during offline group meetings. Nominal attendance fees are charged to help cover basic event costs, and new groups and Meetups are added daily.
Roger Killen organizes the Vancouver Business Network Meetup, geared toward helping sole proprietors of microbusinesses. With more than 11,490 members and growing daily, the group is the second-largest in Canada in its category, after Toronto Entrepreneurs, which has upwards of 14,750 members.
While the Vancouver-based group meets every Tuesday, members choose when to attend events, where they pay admission at the door to hear keynote speakers, learn and network.
“This is a perfect place for newcomers to Vancouver to meet each other,” says Killen, a retired entrepreneur who also organizes TEDxStanleyPark. “There’s no shortage of networking opportunities.”
While numerous groups exist, members can sometimes spread themselves too thin by joining too many, according to Killen, who says consistent attendance in one or two groups is key to effective networking. For newcomers, building a network happens over several Meetups.
“It’s a little like Cheers, where everyone knows your name, but you have to show up,” he says.
Since its December 2016 inception, the Women Who Code (WWCode) Vancouver Meetup group, focused on supporting women in technology careers, has grown from four organizers to more than 1,330 members, and it continues to expand. Activities include workshops, study groups, panels, speakers and hackathons.
“We like to deliver high-impact events,” says Holly Peck, co-founder and director of the group. “Our workshops sell out quickly.”
Peck, an artificial-intelligence engineer at Kindred AI, says WWCode was formed due to a lack of Meetups for women in technology.
“It is phenomenal what doors this Meetup opens,” says the Gastown resident. “It propelled me into a leadership role.”
WWCode group member Zeinab Sadeghipour, a research and development scientist at Vancouver-based digital health company MetaOptima, relocated to Vancouver from Iran in 2014. She joined the Meetup in early 2017, immediately getting involved as a volunteer event organizer. She soon became one of the directors.
Making connections is the main benefit for Sadeghipour, followed by learning about local career opportunities and supporting other women in technology.
“I’ve met so many women with a career in tech who are doing an amazing job in their roles,” says Sadeghipour, who holds a bachelor’s degree in information technology engineering from the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran and a master’s degree in computer science from Simon Fraser University.
Elijah van der Giessen is one of the organizers of Net-Squared Vancouver, a non-profit technology Meetup. The Vancouver resident is also the community manager for the global network of NetSquared #Tech4Good Meetups, through which he organizes 105 Meetups in 34 countries.
“Going to Meetups is a great way for newcomers to find their community in Vancouver,” says van der Giessen, who encourages people to organize Meetups. “Hosting a Meetup is the best way you can meet all the key players in your sector and build a reputation as the key networker and connector in your line of business.”
Group volunteers plan free monthly technology workshops for local non-governmental organization staff members to help them use technology faster and smarter.
“We’re trying to change the world, and technology allows us to scale our impact and serve more people,” he says. “Plus, it’s super lonely to be the only tech-minded person at a non-profit.”
The group’s main activities include a free monthly event designed to bring Vancouver’s non-profits and technology community together.
“Each event focuses on a theme or case study showing how we can use technology for good,” explains van der Giessen. “Some recent hits included Design for Non-Designers that gave non-profits hands-on training with free online design tool Canva, and a field trip to Vancouver Hack Space to learn how to solder a circuit board.”
For those relocating to Metro Vancouver, “Meetups are where you find your community, your tribe of people who share your values and interests,” adds van der Giessen.
Based in New York City, Meetup currently has more than 32.3 million members and over 288,726 groups in 182 countries. Similar meeting and event exchange networks include Meetin.org, Explara.com and Eventbrite.ca.
