Ryan Welcher

Wow, 12 AI-related events relevant to Vancouver folks just from scanning my messages. And that’s not even including invite-only gatherings, vendor dinners / sports events. A few take-aways: • Vancouver and Canada’s data & AI communities are buzzing. • Event organizers — spread these out more across the year. I’ll be lucky to make 3, and it’s tough to stand out in a crowded calendar. • What we need most in them: fewer recycled narratives, more authentic perspectives from those doing the work. 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: • 𝗖𝗗𝗢 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 (Sept 18, Vancouver): Chief Data Officers. https://lnkd.in/ePYdmnwc • 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗼𝘄 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿 (Sept 18, Vancouver): Informal networking for data professionals. https://luma.com/h6extvet • 𝗔𝗹𝗹-𝗜𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (Sept 24–25, Montréal): Large Canadian AI event with industry leaders, startups, researchers. https://allinevent.ai/ • 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗜𝗧 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝘃𝗲𝗿 (Sept 25, Vancouver): CIO-focused event on AI, IT strategy, cybersecurity. https://lnkd.in/eTKgxNp4 • 𝗔𝗜 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀: 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮 & 𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 (Sept 26, Vancouver): Talks on AI-ready data and AI-enabled youth services. https://lnkd.in/e_7jYX2M 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿: • 𝗩𝗔𝗡 𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 (Oct 19–20, Vancouver): Showcasing local startups, tech leaders, applied AI. https://vanaisummit.com/ • 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 (Oct 21–23, Vancouver): Three-day event on frontier tech, climate, investment, and culture. https://luma.com/oyhc36dr • 𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 (Oct 22, Calgary): Alberta-focused AI applications. https://lnkd.in/egkWvT2W • 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗼𝗻-𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (Oct 22, Vancouver): AI strategy and governance for non-profits. https://lnkd.in/e9P_MFce • 𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝘃𝗲𝗿 (Oct 22, Vancouver): Executive-level event for AI/data leaders. https://lnkd.in/ea5D2tUE 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: • 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 & 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 (Nov 18–19, Vancouver): Enterprise and public sector conference on AI, data, use cases, leadership. https://lnkd.in/eAxuwxJP • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗔𝗜 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (Nov 20, Victoria): Full-day AI/data conference at Victoria Conference Centre, with keynotes, workshops, and networking. https://lnkd.in/e87pHVuq

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Had a great time talking about the women AI adoption gap on CP24 News this morning. Women are adopting AI at 25% lower rates than their male counterparts (for very valid reasons), and these technologies are 2-3x more likely to impact roles women hold. So we have an AI gender adoption gap, and an AI role theft gap (layered onto the gender wage gap). Cool. This is why the work Growclass is doing in partnership with The Forum, Camp Tech Inc, co-invested in by DIGITAL, to educate women and underrepresented groups in AI is urgent and so important. I'm so grateful to work with Luke Galea and Tiffany DaSilva on the instruction side of this project; it's an incredible team.

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