Hackforge Annual General Meeting
Tuesday, March 12 @ 7PM Facebook
At 7:00 pm on March 12, 2019, Windsor Hackforge will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at The Accelerator at 1501 Howard Ave, Unit 101, Windsor, Ontario.
At this meeting, all members deemed to be in good standing (up to date with member dues) as of March 1st, 2019 are welcome to attend.
This meeting will cover the current state of Hackforge, our plans for the coming year, as well as presenting our Interest Groups. If you want to work with Hackforge to bring something new to the community, come ready to proposal your ideas!
Border City Data: Building the Megahospital Challenge Thursday, March 14 @ 7PM Facebook | Meetup
Join us for the first Border City Data event at our new home: a talk about the Megahospital Challenge. The discussion will cover solution design, tech tools and what we learned from the launch and debate around megahospitalchallenge.com.
Project Management Professionals: PMBOK & Prince II
Monday, March 18 @ 7PM Facebook | Meetup
Join us for a high level talk on PMBOK & PRINCE II, two popular project management methodologies and how they can work for you. We’re pleased to be joined by Elana Freeman, a Senior Project Manager at Thyssenkrupp Materials NA.
This group is for all professionals from any industry, and business owners to come together and exchange ideas and good practices in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
Border City Javascript & .NET Developers: Lightning Talks!
Wednesday, March 27 @ 7PM Facebook | Meetup
It’s time to get back into the swing of things at the new Hackforge location! Let’s get to know each other a little bit and talk about some cool tech-related stuff. This event is open to the general public, and we enthusiastically invite the rest of our new community at The Accelerator to join us either in the audience or as a speaker.
A lightning talk is a 5 to 10-minute talk on a topic of your choice (most likely tech related, but not necessarily!). You can share knowledge, showcase a project, get feedback on new ideas or gush about something that excites you. Slides are optional.
You do not need to present a lightning talk to attend! All are welcome as an audience to listen and take in all the content.
If you haven’t done a talk before, lightning talks are a great way to get started and practice public speaking. If you’re old hat, a lightning talk is a great opportunity to try out that talk idea you haven’t fully fleshed out yet.
If you’d like to deliver a talk at Hackforge’s Lightning Talks at 7PM on Wednesday March 27, 2019 at The Accelerator (1501 Howard Ave, at Shepherd), sign up below.
You may sign up to deliver more than one short talk, but any additional talks after the first are subject to time constraints at the event.
Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
Saturday, March 30 11AM-5PM Facebook | Eventbrite
Hackforge, Arts Council Windsor & Region and the School of Creative Arts at the University of Windsor invite people of all gender identities to take part in Windsor, Ontario’s Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon.
Only 10% of Wikipedia editors identify as women. The Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon is seeking to change that statistic by offering a a do-it-yourself and do-it-with-others research and teaching session for editing and contributing to Wikipedia. Tutorials will be provided for those who are new to the editing process.
At 7:00 pm on March 12, 2019, Windsor Hackforge will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at 1501 Howard Ave Unit 101, Windsor, ON.
At this meeting, all members deemed to be in good standing (up to date with member dues) as of March 1st, 2019 are welcome to attend.
This meeting will cover the current state of Hackforge, our plans for the coming year, as well as presenting our Interest Groups. If you want to work with Hackforge to bring something new to the community, come ready to proposal your ideas!
The meeting agenda, and any other required materials, will be distributed to members at least 48 hours prior to the AGM.
Hackforge’s main mission is to provide a place where creative minds can come together to share ideas, learn together, find support and make friends.
Hackforge is thrilled to announce we are opening our doors at The Accelerator, Windsor’s entrepreneurial ecosystem with co-working space specifically designed to help accelerate the growth of start-ups and emerging businesses, featuring on-site training and mentoring programs in a truly collaborative environment.
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.
Please join us on Thursday, February 7 for a launch event to see our new space, network with other Accelerator members and the technology community. Refreshments will be served.
When: Thursday, February 7 6PM – 8PM Where: The Accelerator, 1501 Howard Avenue, Windsor, ON N8X 3T5 Parking: The parking lot is first-come-first-serve. There is also free street parking available.
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.
