Wednesday February 4, 2015
11:30 am – 1:30 pm
The Hyatt Regency
700 Centre Street SE

With oil dropping below $50/barrel today, the question everyone is asking is: will it exit the year at these prices or come back?

Hear from a global expert, Robert Johnston, CEO of Eurasia Group, about the factors that will determine it.

The Calgary Chamber will also be swearing in Robert J. Hawley, Partner at PwC as the 2015 Calgary Chamber Board Chair.

Join us for this special celebration, and this very timely conversation on the risk our city faces from the state of the current global energy market.

The Calgary Chamber's new office space across from City Hall boasts modern style, clean lines and fresh colors that flow into our meeting space.

We offer three distinct rooms that can fit all of your needs. Our spaces are well-appointed with modern electronics, large format whiteboards and brand new office furniture from RGO Office Products.

Take a look at our space and host your clients and staff with us.

Tuesday January 20, 2015
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
National (on 8th)
360 225 8th Ave (+30, Scotia Bank Centre)

Great food and drinks, amazing people, incredible advice and a relaxed environment. Fast-Growth Champions is back; this time with three visionaries from three of Calgary’s most beloved brands. 

The owners of Crave Cupcakes, Espy experience and Cococo Chocolatiers (owners of Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut) share their stories of how to build and steward a brand that the city rallies around.

Don't miss their inspiring anecdotes of success, and failure.

For a limited time, enjoy a special price break on ATB's Business Banking Package when you sign up for ATB Merchant Solutions.

Benefits include:

• Merchant credit rates starting at 1.55%
• No setup fees for your merchant account
• Free Full Service 40 bank account ($24/month service waived)
• No annual fee on an ATB business MasterCard® for one year

For more information on this offer, email ATB's Business Banking Centre at atbbusiness@atb.com or call 1-855-941-4912.

Tuesday January 13, 2015
11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Delta Bow Valley
209 4th Avenue SE

In the midst of such an uncertain economic environment, we have brought together two of Canada’s leading economists, Todd Hirsch, Chief Economist for ATB Financial and Pierre Cléroux, Chief Economist for BDC, to deliver their entrepreneur-centric economic forecast for 2015.

While many economic outlook discussions focus on the big picture, this event is designed to help small- and medium-sized business owners make good decisions in planning for 2015.

Find out what to expect in 2015.

• An employee manual you'll actually want to read
• "Busy" is the new "fine" - 5 Ways to banish busy
• Your guide to finally living a more organized life in 2015
• Overcome the eight barriers to confidence
• The most logical yet underrated employee engagement strategy

Thursday January 15, 2015
11:30 am – 1:30 pm
The Palliser Hotel – Ballroom
133 9th Avenue SW

Canada’s Finance Minister Joe Oliver will be in Calgary for a pre-budget consultation – hearing from Albertans about their ideas to create jobs, growth, and long-term prosperity.

Minister Oliver will be speaking to Calgary's business community to outline his priorities for the next phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the government’s plan to return to balanced budgets and continue growing the economy.

Join Finance Minister Joe Oliver for an update on the financial state of our nation.

For more than 90 years, Borger Group of Companies has been a general contractor in the Canadian marketplace and has established itself as an integral part of Alberta's construction sector.

In addition to being a leading contractor in underground, earthmoving and transportation, the company takes pride in being a good corporate citizen. Giving back to the community is a fundamental concept of the organization. Safety is another key priority recently recognized by winning gold in the 2014 Canada's Safest Employers Awards as a result of its comprehensive safety awareness plan.

See what Borger can do for you at Borger.ca

Wednesday January 21, 2015
7:30 am – 10:00 am
Calgary Chamber
600, 237 8th Avenue SE

As a result of current market conditions, the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) environment in North America is in flux. However, when the dust settles there could be a flurry of M&A activity and it will be important to know about the process, which can be unfamiliar to many business owners.

Shane Dunn, a Calgary-based Mergers and Acquisitions Partner at EY, will provide a comprehensive overview of how the M&A process works from beginning to end, for both buyers and sellers.

Learn about the current state of the M&A landscape in Alberta and what it means to your business.

Used correctly, Instagram can be a highly-targeted, visual advertising channel for your brand. In fact, in a recent study it was discovered that Instagram provides brands with 25% more engagement over other social platforms. This mean that Instagram is a prime channel to build your brand for your ecommerce business.

Like any social network out there, there are right ways to use it, wrong ways to use it, and clever ways to use it.

In this post by Shopify, they show you how to most effectively use Instagram to increase engagement and build a massive following.

These Prestige members have shown a substantial and unwavering commitment to supporting the work of the Calgary Chamber. We thank our Prestige members, Suncor, TELUS and Nexen, for helping to make Calgary a better place to live and work for all.