Important note: Extra tickets are now available for this event.

Wednesday October 10, 2012
11:30 am – 1:15 pm
Simmons Building
618 Confluence Way SE

Earlier this year, Calgary lured renowned urbanist Rollin Stanley from the United States to lead the city’s planning department and put our city on a path towards smarter growth and development.

Stanley worked as a planner for 21 years in Toronto before rocketing to smart-growth notoriety as planning director in St. Louis and other U.S. cities. He is a staunch advocate of needing to build up and just not out, as well as clustering housing, jobs and stores around transit to cut down on the need to drive.

Join us as new city planner, Rollin Stanley gives a snapshot of his vision for city planning, and learn how these changes will affect both Calgary and the business community.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012
11:30 am – 1:15 pm
The Calgary Petroleum Club
Devonian Room
319 5th Avenue SW

It’s been 24 months since this City Council was elected to serve Calgarians and steward a growing Calgary. As he enters the last year of this Council’s term, Mayor Naheed Nenshi is asking: how have we made Calgary better?

With its Fiscal Plan for Calgary, Council set out a path to make Calgary a great place in which to make a living and a life. Nenshi will share where we are along that path and where that path leads next—addressing some of the most important issues affecting the better Calgary of tomorrow. 

Join the Mayor as he discusses the future of Calgary.

Last week, the Calgary Chamber announced the 14 local businesses that have been shortlisted as finalist for the Small Business Week Awards. For the first time ever the winners of the Small Business Week awards will be determined by an online public vote at SmallBusinessWeekCalgary.com, which closes on Sunday, October 14.

Vote for the business you think should win one of the five awards up for grabs during this year’s Small Business Week awards.

Show your support for these awesome businesses by attending the awards presentation on Thursday, October 18.

Wednesday October 10, 2012 
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Devry Institue of Technology – Room 201
2700 3rd Avenue SE

For networking to be effective, you need to meet the right type of people who will grow and connect your business.

That’s where Connect for Lunch comes in. The format for this event differs dramatically from other networking events. Before each event, attendees are encouraged to contact us to tell us about their business, their challenges, and the type of people they’d like to connect with to overcome these problems and grow their business. With this information, we get to work placing people at each attendees table who will meet their networking needs. This – quite simply – is focused business networking at its best! 

As an added bonus, event attendees will be treated to a talk from community engagement strategist Anila Lee Yuen on how to use Facebook to build their business network to find new clients and customers.

Only 36 spots are available. Hurry and book today.

The Chamber’s CEO Adam Legge, as well as two members from our policy and government affairs team headed to Ontario a few weeks ago to represent the interest of the city’s business community during the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s AGM.

During the AGM, the Chamber team worked tireless to pass policy resolutions that were adopted by the Canadian Chamber. These resolutions are regularly looked to by politicians and policy makers who want to understand the perspective of business. So, the passing of these resolutions is a vital step in making sure government is both aware and able to act on the concerns of Calgary’s business community.

Learn more about how the Chamber represented the interests of business at the AGM and read the policy resolutions.

Monday October 22, 2012
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Self Connection Books
125, 4611 Bowness Road NW

Creating the conditions your business needs to grow in a quick and yet sustainable way is a delicate balance of product development, proper positioning in the marketplace and getting the word out to your target market.

Clifford L. Spyker knows this process all too well. For nearly 25 years, Spyker, an associate professor in accounting and entrepreneurship at Mount Royal University, has assisted more than over 2,500 men and women throughout Alberta start and grow their business ventures.

Learn how you can double your business in one year by identifying your unique expertise and positioning it properly in the market.

Thursday November 1, 2012
8:00 am – 3:30 pm
TransAlta
110 12th Avenue SW

Understanding the Aboriginal community is critical to your organization’s success. It can help you avoid project delays by learning how to consult and accommodate Aboriginal communities, as well as develop a reputation for corporate social responsibility, foster workplace diversity and tap into new economic opportunities.

To provide businesses with this knowledge the Calgary Chamber and Cross Cultural Consulting are joining forces to present a one-day Aboriginal cultural sensitivity course with Neil McDonald, Canada’s most experienced diversity trainer. During this 30-year career, McDonald has trained tens of thousands public, private and volunteer sector personnel on cultural awareness.

Only 25 spots are available. Hurry up and get your ticket today.

Depression is an illness that affects one in six workers in every business.

To help address this problem, the Calgary Chamber and the Calgary Counselling Centre joined forces on Thursday, October 5 during National Depression Screening day to encourage Calgarians to take the first step in combating this misunderstood illness.  

“This is something that’s hard to talk about. But if we can begin the conversation, we can begin to eliminate some of the stigma,” Chamber CEO Adam Legge told the audience of 40 people. “We need to start the conversation and provide the support to begin to address this silent problem.”

Learn the 6 steps the Calgary Counselling Centre suggests businesses take to help deal with depression in the workplace.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012
7:30 am - 2:30 pm
Marriott Calgary Hotel
110 9th Avenue SE

Canada’s economic success is tied to the ability of its cities to properly manage the challenges that comes with rapid growth. To pave the way for a brighter future, the Calgary Chamber and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce are joining forces to present Smart Cities of the Future, a one-day conference that will examine how Canada’s competitiveness can be improved by addressing the challenges facing its urban centres,  such as transportation, infrastructure, urban planning, governance, sustainability and energy.

A keynote address by Premier Alison Redford will accompany a number of leading experts who will be participating in panel discussions throughout the day.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to discover how cities can become prosperous centres that fuel sustainable economic development.

Monday October 29, 2012
2:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Gerry Thomas Gallery
Suite 100, 602 11th Avenue SW

Where else can you find…

• The maker of Spy vs. Spy, one of the bestselling mobile games of all time and a man that CNN Money has labelled a “CEO to watch?”
• The man that Alberta Venture magazine has called “one of the Top 100 Entrepreneurs of the Century?”
• The female head of a Calgary tech start-up which earlier this year won the title “the most innovative start-up on the planet” at the renowned Global Technology Symposium in Silicon Valley?

The answer to these questions is the iF series. This ground breaking speaker series brings together business savvy Calgarians whose own career success began by wondering “what if….” What if the old way of doing things isn’t the best way? What if there is a better way? And with that simple what if… question they went on to pursue an unconventional idea that lead to incredible things.

Hear their stories, learn their secrets and be inspired to pursue your own “what if…” idea.

Thursday October 18, 2012
5:30 pm – 10:00 pm
The Metropolitan Conference Centre
333 4 Avenue SW

Small Business Week, which runs from October 15 – 19, is dedicated to celebrating the contributions that small to mid-sized companies make to the economy. The two biggest events of this week are the Tradeshow Expo and the Small Business Week Awards presentation.

Tradeshow Expo
Presented by First Calgary Financial

This event gives businesses the opportunity to display their products or services, discover new businesses and network with other people in Calgary’s business community. The event typically attracts upwards of 300 attendees.

Booths sell out quickly for this event. Book yours today. 

Small Business Awards presentation
The pinnacle of Small Business Week is an awards presentation that reveals the emerging stars of the city’s small business scene. This year, awards will be given out to a number of high achievers in the business world.

A special keynote address will also be given by Zahra Al-Harazi; founder of Foundry Communications and one of Chatelaine Magazine’s “Women of the Year.”

Meet and learn from some small companies who are doing big things in the local economy.