As 18-19 year old Americans enrolled in US colleges, we represent the exact demographic we hope to attract to Calgary: ambitious, well educated potential tech talent. We had the amazing opportunity to spend eight weeks immersed in Calgary’s tech ecosystem. We also endeavored to experience all this city had to offer, from natural beauty to festivals and food. This gave our research an in-depth ethno-methodological perspective on what Calgary has to offer prospective immigrating employees.
As an experience-based project, we drew inspiration from our varying experiences in the U.S. and in the city of Calgary. Our personal experiences and opinions helped form our assertions on what we believe should be better marketed to the U.S. and opportunities the city should work towards changing. Our experience included visiting popular tourist attractions, attending various tech events, interacting with locals, and immersing ourselves in the city throughout our 8 weeks of living downtown. We supplemented insights from our experience with research such as papers like Calgary in the New Economy and events such as the Inventures Conference. Additionally, we conducted interviews with various stakeholders in the city such as start-up founders, young tech workers, and active members of the innovation ecosystem. We then compiled our findings into 3 groups: marketing suggestions, proposed initiatives, and personal takeaways.
We are thankful for the opportunity we had to work and live in Calgary this summer, and wanted to extend our gratitude for all the hospitality and generosity we received from the people who helped us with our project and enhanced our experience living here. We would also love to hear any feedback or criticism you may have on this project.
Program lead Resilience Strategy in Resilience & Infrastructure Calgary at the City of Calgary
Director/CEP Canada Liaison at Calgary Economic Development
Chief Product and Technology Officer at Symend
CEO & Chief Catalyst at Shift Selling and Organizer at 150 Startups
Vice President of Business Development at FX Innovation
Vice-Chairman & President, Calgary Surge Professional Basketball Club
Chief Executive Officer of MNP Community & Sport Centre
Associate Director for the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Mount Royal University
Manager at Rainforest Alberta
Executive Director at TalentED YYC
Associate Vice President of Community and Partnerships at the University of Calgary
Director, Collaboration Analytics & Innovation at City of Calgary
Director of the Human Capital Policy Centre at Canada West Foundation
Various aspects about the city that we were unaware of before visiting or had misconceptions about due to current marketing.
A list of proposed initiatives inspired by U.S. tech hubs of a similar caliber to Calgary, U.S. college programs, and our personal experiences.
Catalyze Calgary
Copyright © 2023 Catalyze Calgary - All Rights Reserved.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.