True North Celebrates Tech for Good in Waterloo Region May 29-31
May 24 2018 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
True North is set to take over Waterloo Region May 29 – 31st.
The conference will be held at Lot 42, while the public festival
will feature events throughout the region, bringing together
conference attendees and the broader community.
The inaugural True North conference will bring together tech
companies, startups, policy makers, academia and community groups
to have important, and sometimes difficult, conversations about AI,
diversity, fake news and other issues at the intersection of
society and technology.
Featured conference speakers
The conference features over 30 speakers, along with thematic
panels, break-out sessions and community consultations. Some of the
featured speakers include:
- Ed Catmull, cofounder and
President of Pixar Animation Studios, and Uber’s Chief Brand
Officer, Bozoma Saint John will
explore concepts of creativity and branding in building today’s
fast-paced, technology-driven businesses.
- Oscar award-winning producer and
director, Spike Jonze (Her), and Emmy Award-winning writer,
Charlie Brooker (Black Mirror) join MIT Media Lab’s Kate
Darling for the “Stranger than Fiction” panel, discussing the
future of entertainment and technology.
- Rana el Kaliouby, CEO and
founder of Affectiva, will provide a live demo of emotion AI and
how people and technology interact. Siyabulela Xuza,
award-winning rocket scientist and founder of Galactic Energy
Ventures will address the planet’s energy needs.
- Catherine Bracy, co-founder and
Executive Director of TechEquity will speak on how to engage the
community in building an equitable tech sector, and Sarah
Lacy, CEO and Editor in Chief of PandoMedia will talk about
detoxing the “bro economy.”
Featured #TNDTK festival events
Another important feature of True North is the public festival,
with free public events taking place across the community,
including:
- The Why Waterloo Tour runs
Tuesday, May 29 from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., showcasing the
community with stops at the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum,
Vidyard, Catalyst 137, the Kitchener Public Library, Shopify and
the Perimeter Institute.
- The Beaches will perform a free
outdoor concert at Carl Zehr Square in downtown Kitchener
Wednesday, May 30 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m., hosted by Communitech and
the City of Kitchener.
- “Dream, Girl,” a documentary
about female entrepreneurs, is screening at the Apollo Theatre
Wednesday, May 30 at 4:30 p.m., followed by a panel of discussion
with Communitech Fierce Founders participants.
- The True North Lounge at Lokal
in the Walper Hotel features live music starting at 5pm, Tuesday to
Thursday. And over 20 local restaurants and bars will feature
specials as part of the True North Dine Around.
For more speakers and conference and festival schedules please
visit www.truenorthwaterloo.com.
About Communitech
Communitech was founded in 1997 by a group of entrepreneurs
committed to making Waterloo Region a global innovation leader. At
the time it was crazy talk, but somehow this community managed to
pull it off. Today, Communitech is a public-private innovation hub
that supports a community of more than 1400 companies — from
startups to scale-ups to large global players.
Communitech is a member of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs
and helps tech companies start, grow and succeed in three distinct
ways.
- Communitech is a place – the center of
gravity for entrepreneurs and innovators. A clubhouse for building
cool tech and great companies.
- Communitech delivers programs – helping
companies at all stages with access to capital, customers and
talent. We are here to help them grow and innovate.
- Communitech partners in building a
world-leading ecosystem – making sure we have all the ingredients
(and the brand) to go from a small startup to a global giant.
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For media inquiries, please contact:CommunitechSamantha Clark,
519-221-3466Public Relations
Managersamantha.clark@communitech.ca