What’s Up at the Hub: Vancouver CG Meetup
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Nick Romick, President and CEO of Media Shark Inc. and the Creative Director of ToonShark Studios. We do Web Design, Advertising and Cartoons.
What is the Vancouver CG Meetup?
The Vancouver CG Meetup provides social/networking opportunity for CG & VFX artists in the Vancouver area
What do you hope to accomplish with it?
We actually hope to not only organize a meetup group, but also create a community of artists for socializing, support, and collaboration.
Who is it for?
Any CG & VFX Artists in the Vancouver area
What kinds of exciting activities do you have in store for your Meetups?
To start with, we will be having guest speakers from the Industry and do workshops and talks about their experience in the industry. We will have a bunch of recruiters joining us, to help some of the guests get jobs and meet people who do hiring.
We also have a plan to eventually start a few collaborative projects – where anyone can pitch in. These will be short animations that are created completely by members of the meetup community. This will allow people who are building up their demo reels and portfolios to have some content. They will also have the chance to work side-by-side with industry professionals on fun projects. These projects will be completely online by signing up on our forums.
And – not to mention we will have 50/50 draws, snacks and refreshments (including beer)
Which studios are you planning on having come in and speak at future events?
Well, we will be having one of the Lead Animators from Sony Pictures ImageWorks come in and talk about his role in the Smurfs movie. We have also reached out, and been in contact with Lost Boys Studios and Leviathan Studios. We also have plans to bring in speakers from other big studios in the area.
Why are you hosting it at The Network Hub?
Not only do we LOVE the Network Hub, but the New Westminster location happens to be Media Shark and ToonSharks headquarters. The view is amazing, and the location is prime.
When is your event?
July 26th 2012
How do you register for it?
You can RSVP on our meetup.com page here: www.meetup.com/VanCGMeetup/
The Vancouver Blogger Meetup Group
We here at The Network Hub are proud to support our local community of entrepreneurs and small business owners. We have set out from the beginning to provide a space where folks can get together, get the job done, and thrive in their endeavors. And that’s why we support and sponsor non-profits like this.
The Vancouver Blogger Meetup Group is organized by Jonathon Narvey, Shane Birley, and Raul Pacheco-Vega, the last of whom also serves on the board here at The Network Hub. The group consists of bloggers from the Greater Vancouver area and they get together on a regular basis to network, brainstorm, socialize, and exchange ideas. Oftentimes, we sponsor the meetup space for the group at the Hub, giving them a comfortable and effective environment… complete with free Wi-Fi!
Some of the events organized by the Vancouver Blogger Meetup Group are in a “camp” style with featured speakers, but most are more about the casual conversation and finally meeting and conversing with local bloggers in real life. The meetups really become a hub of activity.
Check their calendar for upcoming events and meetups. If you’re a blogger in the Vancouver area and you want to connect with other like-minded individuals, this is a great group to join! Best of all, it doesn’t cost you a thing and the time you spend with your fellow bloggers–face to face–is absolutely priceless.
Royal Columbian Hospital Fundraiser at River Market This Weekend Sponsored by The Network Hub
Since expanding into New Westminster, we here at The Network Hub have been hard at work getting to know the local community. And so, we were more than happy to sign on as the media sponsor for this weekend’s 4-day fundraiser for Royal Columbian Hospital.
The historic hospital (British Columbia’s first!) is celebrating 150 years of excellence. What started as a 30-bed facility has grown to serve one in three British Columbians! To help further fund these incredibly important services, Royal Columbian Hospital is hosting a fundraiser at River Market, the same location as the New Westminster Network Hub.
The activities start tomorrow (Thursday, June 28) with an evening of wine, food and entertainment. Guests will enjoy the hospitality of River Market, while learning more about how their contribution is helping RCH continue for its next 150 years of excellence. The activities continue right through the Canada Day long weekend with movies, music, carnival games, and more.
As the official media sponsor, The Network Hub will be raising awareness for the fundraiser through Twitter, Facebook and more. For more information about the RCH fundraising weekend at River Market, click here for the main schedule poster and here for the invitation. The special evening is tomorrow night, so reserve your ticket on the event page.
Entrepreneurs International Organization at the Hub
Isn’t it great when a group decides to give itself a name that really does describe exactly what it is? That’s precisely the case with the Entrepreneurs International Organization. As you can like surmise from the name, this is an international organization that was developed by entrepreneurs for the benefit of other entrepreneurs!
As the group sponsor for EIO, The Network Hub proudly provides the group with cooling meeting space for their events and gatherings. For example, it was at the Hub in New Westminister that EIO hosted a keynote by Peter Holgate back in February. EIO also collaborated with Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup for a SmartPitch event in March. That event was keynoted by former President of Blenz George Moen.
The goal of the Entrepreneurs International Organization is to arm entrepeneurs with the knowledge and tools that they need in order to succeed, working to “flip the 96% failure rate of startup businesses upside-down on its head.” The events provide entrepreneurs with training and development, as well as the networking opportunities with their like-minded peers.
In addition to the events hosted at The Network Hub, EIO also meets regularly at the ING Direct offices in Downtown Vancouver every Thursday. These are free to attend, providing a platform for elevator pitches and Dragons’ Den style investor pitches.
Mom CEO Academy Workshop Series at the Hub
The community of entrepreneurs in the Vancouver area is getting increasingly diverse and this includes moms who want to start their own businesses, either on a full-time or a part-time basis. Mom CEO Academy was founded by Felicia Lee and it aims to provide entrepreneurial training for moms on the go.
The goal with this training program is to deliver current, relevant and easy to implement business training for moms, arming them with practical knowledge to grow their businesses. Workshops are hosted at The Network Hub campus in downtown Vancouver and they are typically held on the third Tuesday of the month from 7pm to 9pm. The next workshop is on June 19 and the topic is “Investing In You.” Workshops later on this year include Big Ideas in Marketing, Innovation and Technology, and Business Strategy.
Attending the workshops is free for Mom CEO Academy members, but you can also buy tickets for individual workshops for $30; the first workshop is free, just to give you an idea of what you can expect from these events.
We here at the Network Hub are proud to support programs like Mom CEO Academy that help to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and bolster the growing community of small to medium business owners in our city.
The Hub Hosts The Vancouver Webdesign Meetup
Vancouver is a bustling community of forward-thinking individuals, many of which are enthusiastic members of the technology industry. You may already know about our sponsorship of the Vancouver WordPress Meetup, but that doesn’t mean that we only support WordPress!
Indeed, the Network Hub consistently hosts the Vancouver Webdesign Meetup too. This meetup, as its name implies, provides a platform where web designers can get together to compare tools, languages, and templates, discussing the latest trends in developing properties for the web. Trade advice not only about web design, but also about freelancing, careers, and the industry as a whole.
For instance, one meetup focused on designing for today’s web, while another event was about landing a job at a web agency. The Network Hub proudly sponsors the space for these meetups, giving members a comfortable place to gather and converse.
Check out the official Vancouver Web Design Meetup page for more information about the group and any upcoming events.
Vancouver WordPress Meetup at the Hub
WordPress is easily one of the most popular content management systems on the Internet today. It also happens to be one of the most adaptable and most versatile, giving bloggers and site owners a wealth of options for customization. And Vancouver has a huge community of bloggers and web developers.
That’s why the Vancouver WordPress Meetup Group was formed. They hold events just about every month and they are usually hosted right here at the Vancouver Network Hub campus. We are proud to sponsor this group, providing them with the meeting space for free.
Here’s the blurb from the official Vancouver WordPress Meetup Group page:
Meet other Vancouver users of WordPress, the Web’s best dynamic content management system. Whether you’re an absolute beginner learning the ropes or a power user blogging daily, you are welcome to come out to exchange ideas, network with each other, and have a good time.
Many of Vancouver’s brightest minds and highly sought after web developers are members of the group, including Morten Rand-Hendriksen, Gwyn Pritchett, Vanessa Chu, and Ariane Colenbrander. And yes, membership and attendance are always free!
Check out the schedule for past and upcoming WordPress workshops on the Meetup page.
The SFU Intercollegiate Marketing Competition 2012
The Network Hub is a strong supporter of the local business community and this also means supporting the business owners of the future. And that’s why we were proud to sponsor the Intercollegiate Marketing Competition (IMC) organized by Simon Fraser University.
Taking place on March 3rd of this year, IMC 2012 was “designed to challenge and facilitate the growth of undergraduate business students.” Participants worked on marketing cases, giving the students the “opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life situations.”
There were two venues for IMC 2012. The main competition was hosted at Harbour Centre, whereas The Network Hub acted as a home base when the participants weren’t actively competing. We provided students with a laid-back environment where they could take a break and network with like-minded individuals. Students needed relief from the fast-paced nature of the competition and the Hub’s Downtown Vancouver office provided just that, complementing the competition atmosphere quite nicely.
This was our second year acting as a venue sponsor for the Intercollegiate Marketing Competition and our relationship is stronger than ever. For more on IMC, check out their official website at SFU-IMC.com.
We Sponsor Social Media Club Vancouver
We mentioned in last week’s post that we sponsor a number of meetups and non-profits, but you might be wondering exactly what it is that we do for them and who some of these organizations are.
One example is Social Media Club Vancouver, which works to “advance digital media literacy, promote ethical behavior and build a community of like-minded professionals to meet and learn from one another.” And The Network Hub is proud to be one of their sponsors.
More specifically, we sponsored the recent State of Social Media event organized by Social Media Club Vancouver. It was hosted at the Network Hub and it was a packed house! The featured panelists included notable locals Dennis Pang, Gus Fosarolli, and Kemp Edmonds. They discussed social media for small, medium, and multinational businesses.
As part of our sponsorship of Social Media Club, we provided them with the space to host this event (an up to $300 value) and we actively helped SMC to promote the event through our various channels, appropriately enough including social media! The event was a resounding success and we’re happy to have Social Media Club back at the Hub soon.
The Artwork Hub: Opening Reception
The exhibit featuring Scott Sueme will run from now until May 31! You can swing by any time to take a tour.
You can visit www.thenetworkhub.ca/artgallery for more information about the exhibit and featured artist – Scott Sueme