Tech Talent Tuesdays - Calgary’s Networking hub for leaders and innovators

What is Tech Talent Tuesday?

Launched in 2022 as a collaboration between Tech West Collective and Platform Calgary, Tech Talent Tuesday was created to celebrate Calgary’s growing tech companies, showcase career opportunities, and strengthen our local tech community.

Since January 2025, the event, now powered by Careers in Technology & Innovation, has made its return, offering a dedicated space for networking and professional growth every other week. Each session features three speakers from leading tech companies, sharing success stories, recruitment tips, founder insights, and more—providing attendees with inspiration and valuable connections in Calgary’s thriving tech sector.

Tech Talent Tuesday Structure

From January 28, 2025, through the end of the year, Careers in Technology & Innovation (CITI), led by Zachary Novak, will host 24 sessions at the KPMG Pitch Stage and West Hall in the Platform Innovation Centre. As one of Calgary’s only consistent and free tech networking events, it attracts attendees from all backgrounds and experience levels, many of whom return time and again. It runs from  4:30 PM to 6:30 PM and follows a structured format: registration, open networking, speaker presentations, a Q&A, and a closing segment

Each week also follows a particular theme from one of four categories

1. Company showcases highlight 2-3 companies and their workplace culture, giving attendees a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to work there
2. 2. Career Journeys: Speakers share individual stories of navigating tech careers, including challenges and key milestones
3. Recruitment Insights: Internal and external recruiters provide actionable advice, including resume/LinkedIn reviews and mock interviews
4. Educational Opportunities: Feature successful alumni stories and program overviews to highlight educational opportunities
5. Co-Founder Sessions: Explore stories of co-founder connections and invite founders seeking collaborators to present their ideas and needs

Who is our audience?

From January to June 30, 2025, Tech Talent Tuesdays have received 1140 attendees with over 300 of them revisiting several times. From this pool, over 40 have secured employment and 30 have registered in educational courses associated with partner institutions to enhance their career skills. 

After a recent survey evaluating our audience demographic, we found 646 registrants identified themselves as ‘Mid Career exploring tech roles’ where majority age groups ranged from 35-45. Other large areas were ‘Student exploring tech careers’ at 407 responses and ‘early tech career professional’ at 332 where 729 attendees span ages 18-35. Despite this, the audience pool remained diverse across ages, backgrounds, and their experience level in the tech industry. One of Tech Talent Tuesday’s initial goals was to foster the creation of 5 co-founding relationships and through only 6 months, more than 25 co-founding relationships have been established. 

Speaker Highlights

Over the months, we’ve had many memorable speakers from various local Calgary companies and Platform affiliated organizations. Since each speaker has the agency to craft their presentation and share their unique story, audience members have walked away with a diverse collection of insights.

Here are some of key takeaways that have resonated the most:

Lou Pushelberg, founder of Circuit Stream, switched into education after pursuing his dream job in VR. He shared the power creating a ‘magic list’, essentially a comprehensive excel sheet of his professional network with every contact detail

Japnit A. from Mae - Making Auto Easy, from intern to CTO to co-founder, reminded us that startup life is a rollercoaster — but small, consistent wins (and simply showing up again and again) are what move the needle.

Robert Christianson – Chief Strategy Officer, Tua Financial Technologies Ltd emphasised the power of always being 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 - don’t be afraid to ask questions 

Moving Forward

Tech Talent Tuesday’s presence in Calgary has influenced the expansion of new unique sessions in other provinces such as Vancouver and Toronto. In particular, on May 27th, Tech Talent Tuesday - web summit edition was hosted in Vancouver with speakers from Jobber and Clio. 

We hope to continue this bi-weekly tradition as Calgary's tech industry is ever adapting and growing to the new demands of the industry. Stay tuned for more updates and if you’re in the area, we highly recommend attending a session and maybe even becoming a speaker!

You can always catch the next Tech Talent Tuesday session on Showpass here: https://www.showpass.com/tech-talent-tuesdays/

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