Border City Javascript: Complex Visualizations in JS using D3
Friday January 18 @ 7PM Facebook| Meetup
D3 is powerful Javascript library that is often used to build complex data visualizations. In this talk, we’ll use D3 it to visualize Canadian labour market projections. We’ll be starting from scratch and walking through it step-by-step. Bring your laptop if you’d like to follow along!
Hackforge Moving Sale Saturday, January 19 10AM-2PM Facebook
In preparation for our move to the Accelerator, one of the things we must do is reduce most of the physical equipment and “stuff” we have accumulated over the years. On Saturday January 19 from 10am-2pm, we will be holding a Moving Sale at Hackforge (255 Ouellette Ave). We will be selling a variety of things including computer parts, electronics, books, video games, consoles, and furniture. Picture it as the Garage Sale of yourDreams! We will have many items as Name your Price and Pay What You Can. The proceeds from this sale will go directly back into the operating expenses of Hackforge and any remaining items will be donated to Computers for Kids, other organizations and charities in Windsor-Essex and the rest will be responsibly recycled.
If you have any personal belongings residing at Hackforge or if you would like to take back an item that was previously donated, please contact me directly at rebecca@hackf.org and we can make arrangements for you to pick it up or direct its donation. If you have any concerns at all about this process, please communicate them to me.
If you are interested in volunteering to help us out with this sale, please contact me. We especially need help determining the market value of some of the computer parts and electronics we own.
After a little holiday break, the Project Management Professionals meetup is back! This group is for all professionals from any industry, and business owners to come together and exchange ideas and good practices in Project Management, Agile Product Development and Process Improvement, in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
Windsor-Essex .NET Developers: Sweeten your Builds with Cake .NET
Tuesday, January 29 @ 7PM Facebook | Meetup
This delectable build tool will compliment any C# developer’s menu. From invoking MSBuild to provisioning Android Emulators or printing savory ASCII art, you can have your cake and build with it too! Feel free to join us afterward at Craftheads for refreshments while talking shop and socializing.
Forge Founders: Brand Building for Professionals
Wednesday, January 30 6PM-8PM Facebook | Meetup
Calling all founders, trailblazers and entrepreneurs! Join us for Forge Founders, WEtech Alliance‘s peer2peer networking group, on January 30th from 6:00PM. Forge Founders will be a bi-monthly networking experience for local founders to connect, learn, and share.
Our speaker this month is Sarah Folkes, Brand Specialist at Libro Credit Union. She will be leading us with her best practices on how to build your brand as a professional or entrepreneur. This is a great opportunity to network with other new business owners in Windsor-Essex. Light food and refreshments will be served.
Community Events
All the Wisers: An Evening of Spirits and Discussion
Tuesday, January 15 @ 5PM
J.P Wiser’s Brand Center, 2072 Riverside Dr. E
Tickets $10/person (includes whiskey tasting)
Come out for an evening of casual conversations with top executives from the Windsor-Essex area. Share a drink with top executives such as Michelle Watters, Director of Stakeholder Relations at TransFormSSO, Randy Diagneau, VP Manufacturing at Aphria, Jacqueline Olivia, Director of HR at FCA, and many more.
HTML & CSS for Beginners: Learn to Build a Multi- Page Website from Scratch
Brought to you by:
Date: Saturday, January 19 10AM – 4PM
Location: Institute for Border Logistics and Security
Cost: $55 or Pay-What-You-Can
The Ladies Learning Code Introduction to HTML & CSS workshop is designed to be a hands-on experience. During the session, you’ll build something like this and learn the following:
Basic techniques and concepts that are translatable to other programming languages
The building blocks of how HTML and CSS work together to create richer online experiences
How to create a website with images, video, and a CSS-defined layout
How to create a beautiful multi-page website
What resources are available if you’d like to continue learning at home (and we think you will)
The Windsor-Essex Dev Fest
Saturday, February 23 8:30AM– 5:00 PM Website | Meetup
DevFests are Google sponsored software developer conferences that allow the local software development community to come together to network and learn about the coolest new technology out there.
A day full of great talks on some of the latest Google technology out there with great opportunities to network within the local tech community. Breakfast and lunch will be provided as well as a end of day prize raffle of some cool technology. We will be charging a small fee of $10 to help offset the cost of the conference (thanks to our sponsors for helping to cover the rest of the costs :).
Windsor-Essex Mini Maker Faire: Call for Makers Sunday, March 24 10AM-3PM More Info
University of Windsor, School of Creative Arts (SoCA)
Application Deadline: February 25
The Windsor-Essex Mini Maker Faire is a full-blown community festival that brings together science, art, craft, homesteading and engineering plus music, food, workshops, and performance.
This family-friendly event showcases the amazing work of all kinds of makers across Windsor-Essex and beyond—anyone who is embracing the DIY or DIT (do-it-together!) spirit and wants to share their accomplishments with an appreciative audience. Exhibits that are interactive or highlight the process of making things are especially desired.
I’d like to start off by thanking everyone who made 2018 such a great year for Hackforge including our members, organizers, volunteers and Board of Directors. We successfully ran over 100 events this year and were involved with numerous other initiatives in the city.
In November of 2017, Hackforge received a Libro Credit Union Prosperity Grant to run the TechBoost program, a pilot project designed to bring digital literacy to the small business community of Windsor-Essex and fulfill our mission to grow the tech capabilities of our region by creating connections and learning together. We focused heavily on this project in 2018 and by partnering with the Windsor-Essex Small Business Centre, the local BIAs and Chambers of Commerce, we delivered the program to over 300 participants in Windsor, Lakeshore, LaSalle, and Amherstburg, who surveyed at a 97% satisfaction rate.
Moving to a New Space
For those who have been around since Hackforge’s early days, you’ll be well aware that the organization has grown and adapted to many changes over the years but no matter what location we call home, our goal stays the same: to provide a place where creative minds can come together to share ideas, learn together, find support and make friends.
With that said, we are thrilled to announce that Hackforge will be moving to The Accelerator at 1501 Howard Ave in February. The Accelerator is an entrepreneurial ecosystem with 55,000 sq. ft of co-working space designed to help accelerate the growth of start-ups and emerging businesses in Windsor-Essex. Our partnership with the Accelerator will allow us access to a hot desk and access to their 3000 sq. ft event space. In return, we will extend our outstanding programming to their community of entrepreneurs and business owners.
We will continue to provide you with updates and as always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns or feedback, you can always email info@hackf.org.
Moving Sale
In preparation for the move, one of the things we must do is reduce the physical equipment and “stuff” we have accumulated over the years. On Saturday January 19 from 10am-2pm, we will be holding a Moving Sale at Hackforge (255 Ouellette Ave). We will be selling a variety of things including computer parts, electronics, books, video games, consoles, and furniture. Picture it as the Garage Sale of your Dreams! We will have many items selling as Name your Price and Pay What You Can. The proceeds from this sale will go directly back into the operating expenses of Hackforge and any remaining items will be donated to Computers for Kids, other organizations and charities in Windsor-Essex and the rest will be responsibly recycled.
If you have any personal belongings residing at Hackforge or if you would like to take back an item that was previously donated, please contact me directly at rebecca@hackf.org and we can make arrangements for you to pick it up or direct its donation. If you have any concerns at all about this process, please communicate them to me.
Payment Types Available: Cash, Credit (Day of Sale), Paypal
Check out our Facebook page over the next week for an album of photos of some of the items going up for sale!
If you are interested in volunteering to help us out with this sale, please contact me. We especially need help determining the value of some of the computer parts and electronics we own.
Goodbye from Rebecca
Finally, as the TechBoost Program has concluded, so has my time on staff with Hackforge. It was such a privilege to work with this organization and I will continue to be involved in the organization through this next chapter.
Google Developers Group: Flutter Study Jam Part Deux (CANCELED) Wednesday, December 5 @ 6:30PMFacebook | Meetup
Flutter is Google’s mobile app SDK for crafting high-quality native interfaces on iOS and Android in record time. Flutter works with existing code, is used by developers and organizations around the world, and is free and open source.
Join us for a talk/workshop about the ins and outs of electrical components and sensors!
Holiday Lean Coffee & Social Friday, December 14 @ 7PM Facebook | Meetup
Join the .NET Developers and Border City JavaScript for an epic Lean Coffee – you’ll brainstorm programming or industry related topics YOU want to talk about, and we’ll shred through them in a rapid, structured discussion.
Networking: Feel free to join us afterward at Craftheads for some refreshments while talking more shop and socializing.
This month we are going to explore support/info platforms on project management available on the web, especially LiquidPlanner.
Intro to Machine Learning with Shawn Daichendt Thursday, November 22 @ 7PM Facebook | Meetup
In this presentation, we’ll talk about Machine Learning: what it’s used for today, common concepts and terminology used in the ML world, and how you can get started programming your own ML programs in Python.
Board Game Night @ Hackforge Friday, November 23 @ 7PM Facebook | Meetup
Join us at Hackforge for some of our favourite board games, or bring your own! Come on in and we’ll get you set up with a game and a group to play with as soon as there’s an opening.
This event is open to anyone and the earlier you arrive the quicker you’ll get into a group playing a game.
Windsor-Essex .NET Developers: Establishing a SOLID Foundation – An Intro to Software Design Tuesday, November 27 @ 6:30PM Facebook | Meetup
Are you tired of opening classes that have hundreds or thousands of lines of code? Do you feel that you spend too much time trying to understand how something (that should be simple) in your application works? Are you frustrated with following spaghetti-like logic through your code’s core?
In this presentation, we’re going to examine a set of design principles that yield easy-to-read, decoupled code referred to as SOLID. To start, we’ll explore the history of SOLID and establish the problems it solves. From there, we’ll dive into the different principles, defining what each principle means, how to spot violations, and how to resolve them.
Border City Javascript: Another talk is held in the same space by the Border City Javascript group. Stick around after this talk for more content!
Networking: Feel free to join us afterward at Craftheads for refreshments while talking shop and socializing.
Border City Javascript: Building an Emotionally Intelligent Bot? Tuesday, November 27 @ 7:30PM Facebook | Meetup
Shivang Rana tells us how he used a mix of JavaScript and Python to build a bot that can analyze the emotional sentiment of a sample of text. Stick around after the talk for open discussion and get to know some fellow developers.
Join us for a talk/workshop about the ins and outs of electrical components and sensors!
TechBoost Workshops (Offsite)
TechBoost: Facebook Marketing Masterclass Tuesday, November 20 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Libro Credit Union – Amherstburg Branch
463 Sandwich Street South, Amherstburg, Ontario N9V 3L4
Not sure what to be posting on Facebook? Or further… How to create that content? Looking for an easy way to find clients online? We’ll cover how to create a Facebook account, page, event and more and discuss different types of content, specific tips for creating high-quality content, and how to focus your content around engagement.
TechBoost: Working Smarter in the Cloud Tuesday, November 27 5:30pm–7:30pm
Libro Credit Union – Amherstburg Branch
463 Sandwich Street South, Amherstburg, Ontario N9V 3L4
Straight Outta the Cloud! Update your numbers, log your inventory, track your staff hours, pay your bills and so much more. Cloud systems are rapidly expanding and giving small business owners back their time to work ON their business and NOT IN their business. By the end of this workshop, participants will understand what the tech world has to offer not only their accounting but apps and integrations that are game changers for small business owners.
TechBoost: So, Your Business Has a Website, Now What? Thursday, November 29 5:30pm–7:30pm
Libro Credit Union – Amherstburg Branch
463 Sandwich Street South, Amherstburg, Ontario N9V 3L4
Congratulations! You’ve conquered the first step in your digital marketing journey and have setup your small business with a well-designed website, so what’s the next step? Driving traffic to your website and tracking where that traffic comes from of course! In “So, Your Small Business Has a Website – What’s Next?”, we’ll walk through how to drive traffic to your website using search engine optimization, Google My Business and Google Ads as well as how to setup success tracking software such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Project Management Professionals Meetup: City of Windsor Municipal Energy Management Monday, October 15 @ 7PM Facebook | Meetup
Cole Nadalin is a Certified Energy Manager, Engineering Technologist, and Project Management Professional employed by the City of Windsor to identify opportunities that reduce the municipality’s energy costs. Targeting electricity, natural gas, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction, Cole develops projects and processes that lessen utility expenses and free capital for critical programs like infrastructure renewal, economic development, and community outreach. Cole will speak to the many current and planned energy initiatives being conducted by the City of Windsor, how projects are developed and executed, and their positive impact for Windsorites.
Windsor Essex Google Developers Group: Flutter Study Jam Wednesday, October 17 @ 6:30pm Facebook | Meetup
Flutter is Google’s mobile app SDK for crafting high-quality native interfaces on iOS and Android in record time. Flutter works with existing code, is used by developers and organizations around the world, and is free and open source. Want to get started on building Flutter apps? Join us for our Flutter Study Jam! Together we’ll work through Flutter Udacity Course prepared by Google instructors. You will be able to get hands-on experience with Flutter and build a Flutter app while learning the fundamentals.. Bring a laptop! The course will run on all of the latest versions of the popular browsers. For the best experience, the laptop should have Flutter installed on it prior to starting the study jam to save time. Windows/Linux/Mac would all be fine. Check out : https://flutter.io/get-started/install/
Board Game Night at Craft Heads Brewing Company Friday, October 19 @ 7PM onwards Facebook | Meetup
Join us at the awesome Craft Heads Brewing Company for Board Game Night. We bring the games, you bring your strategy and drive to win! Enjoy a delicious craft beer or cup of coffee and feel free to bring your own snacks!
AWS Users Group: Say NO to Datacenters Introduction to Amazon Virtual Private Cloud and Infrastructure as Code Tuesday, October 23 @ 7PM Facebook | Meetup
Because friends don’t let friends build data centers, we are building a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) on AWS: your own private software defined data center built through automated and repeatable process known as Infrastructure as Code.
Best part – no coding experience required just fundamental networking knowledge.
AWS UG members are full-stack engineers and developers who practice at intersection of DevSecOps and can go from networking to infosec and from blue green code deployments to application infrastructure in less than no time. Come join us to explore fun cloud topics together.
Intro to Software Defined Radio [POSTPONED] How to Track Airplanes with ADB-S Decoder Thursday, October 25 @ 7PMFacebook | Meetup
In this talk we will be covering the basics of Software Defined Radio (SDR), the hardware used and examples of some of the many projects one may want to explore. We will look at how to setup PiAware (ADS-B & MLAT receiver) to track airplanes and other examples of SDR projects.
Border City Javascript: RxJS & Ansible Friday, October 26 @ 7PM Facebook | Meetup
Ansible is a Python-based tool for automatically deploying your application on demand. RxJS is a JavaScript implementation of ReactiveX, a functional programming paradigm useful for managing asynchronous work. Randy and Jeff will talk about these tools briefly and show examples of their use, so you can decide whether to explore them further.
Intro to Arduino Workshop
Thursday, November 1 @ 6PM Facebook | Meetup
Please join us at Hackforge to learn about Arduino boards! We’ll cover how to code them and the different features available on the boards. Participants can come with pre-existing projects to look for help or we can help the community get interested in a new project. If you have an Arduino, please bring it! Also, please bring laptops if you would like to experiment with code.
TechBoost Workshops (Amherstburg)
So, Your Small Business Has a Website. What’s Next?
Tuesday, October 23 5:30pm–7:30pm
Libro Credit Union, 463 Sandwich Street South, Amherstburg
Congratulations! You’ve conquered the first step in your digital marketing journey and have setup your small business with a well-designed website, so what’s the next step? Driving traffic to your website and tracking where that traffic comes from of course! In “So, Your Small Business Has a Website – What’s Next?”, we’ll walk through how to drive traffic to your website using search engine optimization, Google My Business and Google Ads as well as how to setup success tracking software such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Libro Credit Union, 463 Sandwich Street South, Amherstburg
Websites such as emarketer.com are saying that eCommerce sales will hit $4 trillion dollars by 2020. Small businesses simply can’t rely on their local communities alone to support or grow their businesses. If you’re selling products, you need to be online. Good news is, tools like Shopify make it easy and fun too! By the end of this workshop, you’ll have your Shopify account set up and know how to choose a theme, customize your theme, add products and manage shipping.
Libro Credit Union, 463 Sandwich Street South, Amherstburg
According to Instagram Business, there are over 25 million business profiles on Instagram worldwide. Are you one of them? Many Instagram users use the platform as a way to keep tabs on their favourite brands and companies. By the end of this workshop, participants will understand how Instagram can help accomplish business goals, have created an Instagram profile and uploaded their first post and story.
Libro Credit Union, 463 Sandwich Street South, Amherstburg
Not sure what to be posting on Facebook? Or further… How to create that content? Looking for an easy way to find clients online? We’ll cover how to create a Facebook account, page, event and more and discuss different types of content, specific tips for creating high-quality content, and how to focus your content around engagement.
Libro Credit Union, 463 Sandwich Street South, Amherstburg
Straight Outta the Cloud! Update your numbers, log your inventory, track your staff hours, pay your bills and so much more. Cloud systems are rapidly expanding and giving small business owners back their time to work ON their business and NOT IN their business.
