Each day is designed to solve the different problems typically encountered when attempting to cross the chasm.
You can purchase individual in-person day tickets, discounted in-person passes week passes, OR you can purchase online week-long passes.
You attend part(s) of the day or stay for the entire day.
Monday
8:00 Doors at Platform Calgary open and the Zoom session starts
The main doors at Platform Calgary (407 -9th Avenue SE) will open, and the online Zoom session will start.
Those attending in person can pick up their name badge by the main door and head to the food and beverage station located at the west end of the second floor behind the glass wall.
8:30 – 8:45 Welcome and Opening
A welcome and overview of the 2022 Innovation Rodeo.
8:45 – 11:30: KEYNOTE: Building an Equitable Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
In a city half the size of Calgary, April Boyle had 1,000 small businesses go through her Build Institute program in under six years.
Join us to imagine what Alberta could do if it could replicate April’s success in a province that has 10X the population of Detroit.
100 copies of The Startup Community Way by Brad Feld and Ian Hathaway will be given away to in-person participants of this session.
11:30 – 1:00: Extended Lunch / Networking
Lunch is served in the open area between Bow Valley College’s office at Platform Calgary and classroom #1, where the by-invitation-only workshops are held Tuesday to Friday morning.
During lunchtime, multiple online breakout rooms will allow online participants to connect on different topics.
1:00 – 3:30: KEYNOTE: Creating Stories That Inspire
During this session author and storytelling expert, Colleen Stewart, from Toronto, Ontario will help you craft the critical stories you need to clearly explain your why what, and how and get you practicing your stories.
Join Colleen and learn how to inspire customers, employees and investors to take the journey with you.
50 copies of Colleen’s book The Story Compass will be given away to in-person participants during this session.
3:30 – 5:00: Non-Alcoholic Networking
In-person networking will take place on the second floor of Platform Calgary where lunch was served.
Online breakout rooms will allow participants to connect on different topics.
Tuesday
8:00 Doors open, and the online session starts
The main doors at Platform Calgary (407 -9th Avenue SE) will open, and the online Zoom session will start.
Those attending in person can pick up their name badge by the main door and head to the food and beverage station located at the west end of the second floor behind the glass wall.
Those attending online can join break rooms to connect on different topics.
8:30 – 11:30: WORKSHOP
During this by-invitation-only workshop, participants will apply content from Colleen’s workshop and book to a local early-stage company selected based on company suggestions and voting results on the Startup Alberta Facebook page.
50 copies of Colleen’s book The Story Compass will be given away to in-person participants during this session.
12:00 – 1:15: KEYNOTE: Design Sprints
During this session, Josh David Miller (aka JDM) from Sacramento, California will share how design sprints can be the secret weapon to answer important questions that seem impossible to answer
Join JDM to learn how to use the time-compressed tools of ideation, design, prototyping, & testing with real customers to launch sooner and scale faster.
50 copies of Jake Knapp’s book SPRINT will be given away to participants of this session.
1:15 – 1:30: Innovation Challenge Team Formation
In-Person and online participants form teams and compete for $2,000 which is awarded to the team that is selected as having done the best job of applying Josh David Miller’s content to a local early-stage company that was selected based on company suggestions and voting results on the Startup Alberta Facebook page.
Online breakout rooms will allow online participants to create virtual teams and compete against their in-person counterparts.
1:30 – 3:30: Innovation Challenge: Design Sprints
Teams of up to four participants compete for $2,000 by applying the content from Josh’s session to a local early-stage company selected based on company suggestions and voting results on the Startup Alberta Facebook page.
3:30 – 3:45: Break / Networking
A 15-minute break as we set up for the student entrepreneurs to pitch for $2,500 and the chance to move on to the pitch competition finals held Friday afternoon
3:45 – 4:30: Student Pitch Competition – Regional Round #1
Each day some of the most promising first-time Entrepreneurs from Alberta’s publicly-funded colleges, universities, and polytechnics compete for daily cash prizes of $2,500 in regional rounds of the Most Promising Student Entrepreneur pitch competitions.
The top two from each day of the regional pitch competitions move to the finals on Friday afternoon. They compete for an additional $17,500 and the chance to win one of three $12,000 US scholarships to the top Entrepreneurship Program in Silicon Valley.
Students are judged by a panel of some of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs.
4:30 – 5:00: Meet the Students or Virtual Networking
Each student who pitches will have their own breakout room where you can connect with them to provide feedback, share suggestions or make introductions to people you think they should meet or have another 30 minutes in open networking rooms.
Wednesday
8:00 Doors open, and the online session starts
The doors at Platform Calgary (407 -9th Avenue SE) will open, and the online Zoom session will start.
Those attending in person can pick up their name badge and head to the food and beverage station located at the west end of the second floor behind the glass wall.
Those attending online can join break rooms to connect on different topics.
8:30 – 11:30: WORKSHOP: Design Sprints
During this by-invitation-only workshop, participants will apply JDM’s workshop to a local early-stage company selected based on company suggestions and voting results on the Startup Alberta Facebook page.
50 copies of Jake Knapp’s book SPRINT will be given away to participants of this session.
12:00 – 1:15: KEYNOTE: Prototype Thinking
During this session, global innovation leader, Tapiwa Dzingai from Chicago, Illinois, will share how to use Prototype Thinking, a revolutionary method for rapid and inexpensive experimentation, to help you build and scale with confidence 10x faster.
Join Tapiwa and walk away with a proven methodology that can help you test 10x more ideas in one-tenth the time and cost.
50 copies of Geoffrey Moore’s book Crossing the Chasm will be given away to participants of this session.
1:15 – 1:30: Innovation Challenge Team Formation
In-Person and online participants form teams and compete for $2,000 which is awarded to the team that is selected as having done the best job of applying Tapiwa Dzingais content to a local early-stage company that was selected based on company suggestions and voting results on the Startup Alberta Facebook page.
Online breakout rooms will allow online participants to create virtual teams and compete against their in-person counterparts.
1:30 – 3:30: Innovation Challenge: Design Sprints
Teams of up to four participants compete for $2,000 by applying the content from Tapiwa’s session to a local early-stage company selected based on company suggestions and voting results on the Startup Alberta Facebook page.
3:30 – 3:45: Break / Networking
A 15-minute break as we set up for the student entrepreneurs to pitch for $2,500 and the chance to move on to the pitch competition finals held Friday afternoon
3:45 – 4:30: Student Pitch Competition – Regional Round #2
Each day some of the most promising first-time Entrepreneurs from Alberta’s publicly-funded colleges, universities, and polytechnics compete for daily cash prizes of $2,500 in regional rounds of the Most Promising Student Entrepreneur pitch competitions.
The top two from each day of the regional pitch competitions move to the finals on Friday afternoon. They compete for an additional $17,500 and the chance to win one of three $12,000 US scholarships to the top Entrepreneurship Program in Silicon Valley.
Students are judged by a panel of some of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs.
4:30 – 5:00: Meet the Students or Virtual Networking
Each student who pitches will have their own breakout room where you can connect with them to provide feedback, share suggestions or make introductions to people you think they should meet or have another 30 minutes in open networking rooms.
Thursday
8:00 Doors open, and the online session starts
The doors at Platform Calgary (407 -9th Avenue SE) will open, and the online Zoom session will start.
Those attending in person can pick up their name badge and head to the food and beverage station located at the west end of the second floor behind the glass wall.
Those attending online can join break rooms to connect on different topics.
8:30 – 11:30: WORKSHOP: Prototype Thinking
During this by-invitation-only workshop, participants will apply Tapiwa’s workshop to a local early-stage company selected based on company suggestions and voting results on the Startup Alberta Facebook page
50 copies of Geoffrey Moore’s book Crossing the Chasm will be given away to in-person participants of this workshop.
12:00 – 1:15: KEYNOTE: Sales Playbooks
During this session, Cory Bray will share how to create a sales playbook and highlight key mistakes that companies when making sales playbooks.
Join Cory and learn how to create a repeatable, scalable and transferable sales playbook that accelerates sales and attracts investment.
50 copies of Cory’s book Sales Playbooks: The Builders Toolkit with his co-author Hilmon Sorey will be given away to in-person participants of this session.
1:15 – 1:30: Innovation Challenge Team Formation
In-Person and online participants form teams and compete for $2,000 which is awarded to the team that is selected as having done the best job of applying Cory Bray’s content to a local early-stage company that was selected based on company suggestions and voting results on the Startup Alberta Facebook page.
Online breakout rooms will allow online participants to create virtual teams and compete against their in-person counterparts.
1:30 – 3:30: Innovation Challenge: Sales Playbooks
Teams of up to four participants compete for $2,000 by applying the content from Cory’s session to a local early-stage company selected based on company suggestions and voting results on the Startup Alberta Facebook page.
3:30 – 3:45: Break / Networking
A 15-minute break as we set up for the student entrepreneurs to pitch for $2,500 and the chance to move on to the pitch competition finals held Friday afternoon
3:45 – 4:30: Student Pitch Competition – Regional Round #3
Each day some of the most promising first-time Entrepreneurs from Alberta’s publicly-funded colleges, universities, and polytechnics compete for daily cash prizes of $2,500 in regional rounds of the Most Promising Student Entrepreneur pitch competitions.
The top two from each day of the regional pitch competitions move to the finals on Friday afternoon. They compete for an additional $17,500 and the chance to win one of three $12,000 US scholarships to the top Entrepreneurship Program in Silicon Valley.
Students are judged by a panel of some of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs.
4:30 – 5:00: Meet the Students or Virtual Networking
Each student who pitches will have their own breakout room where you can connect with them to provide feedback, share suggestions or make introductions to people you think they should meet or have another 30 minutes in open networking rooms.
Friday
8:00 Doors open, and the online session starts
The doors at Platform Calgary (407 -9th Avenue SE) will open, and the online Zoom session will start.
Those attending in person can pick up their name badge and head to the food and beverage station located at the west end of the second floor behind the glass wall.
Those attending online can join break rooms to connect on different topics.
8:30 – 11:30: WORKSHOP: Sales Playbooks
During this by-invitation-only workshop, participants will apply Cory Bray’s workshop to a local early-stage company selected based on company suggestions and voting results on the Startup Alberta Facebook page.
50 copies of Cory’s book Sales Playbooks: The Builders Toolkit with his co-author Hilmon Sorey will be given away to in-person participants of this session.
12:00 – 1:15: KEYNOTE: Startup Program Design
During this session, Adam Berk from New York, NY, will share the insights and learnings from his book Startup Program Design.
Join Adam and learn how to design a startup program that delivers results.
100 copies of Adam’s book Startup Program Design with his co-author Pablo Lombardi will be given away to in-person participants of this session.
1:15 – 2:15: Crowd Favourite Pitch Competition
Six of Calgary’s newest tech startup founders from Calgary’s technical upskilling programs (EdgeUp, EvolveU and Lighthouse Labs) compete in a pitch competition that gives away all ticket proceeds from the week-long event, and Friday’s participants pick the winners.
2:15 – 2:30: Coffee/bio Break OR Virtual Networking
Take a 15-minute break or take advantage of open networking rooms.
2:30 – 3:30: Student Pitch Competition – FINALS
The six finalists from the regional rounds of the student pitch competition pitch to early-stage investors as they compete for an additional $17,500 in cash and the chance to win one of three $12,000 US scholarships to the top Entrepreneurship Program in Silicon Valley.
3:30 – 3:45: Winners of the innovation challenges and pitch competitions announced
Winners of the innovation challenges, crowd favourite pitch competition, and the most promising first-time entrepreneur pitch competition are announced.
3:45 – 4:30: Meet the Students or Virtual Networking
Each student who pitches will have their own breakout room where you can connect with them to provide feedback, share suggestions, or make introductions to people you think they should meet. You can also have another 45 minutes to take advantage of open networking rooms.
Prize Sponsors
Ticket Sponsors
150 startup Founding Partners
