Re-living OKGNtech LIVE
The first ever OKGNtech LIVE event took place on October 4th and 5th at the Innovation Centre in Kelowna. The purpose of this event was to support and grow our entrepreneurial community and innovation ecosystem and we think it’s safe to say—we nailed it!
During the two days of action-packed events we hosted 45 speakers, 200 students, and over 400 excited community members. If you didn’t get a chance to experience this inaugural event, here’s a look at what you missed.
CAUTION: Proceeding may induce instant FOMO
We kicked off OKGNtech LIVE with a High-Voltage Happy Hour. This was a chance to clink glasses and collect connections before the Money Talk and People Talk speakers took the stage. The Innovation Centre was alive with people flowing between floors. The excitement was palpable.
The People Talk Stage was emceed by Jamie Wood, Founder of Sanga Living and Andrew Greer, Founder of Purppl. Ten powerful speakers took the stage over the course of the evening to talk diversity, inclusion, social justice, mental health, leadership, and wellness.
The Money Talk Stage was emceed by Krista Mallory, Business Development Officer at the COEDC and Richard Takai, Founder of Ronin HR. Ten more amazing speakers took this stage to talk all things capital, investment, and money. We were so grateful to have speakers from all different walks of life share their perspectives on all things people and money.
The party continued after the talk stages wrapped up and there was a symphony of sound that filled the Innovation Centre as people continued to connect with each other (and even bust a move).
We kicked off day two of OKGNtech LIVE with Breakfast of Champions. We hosted two intimate and interactive discussions around some of the most pressing issues facing our innovation ecosystem— women in tech and supporting the entrepreneur. This was the communities opportunity to connect with and continue to get inspired by our OKGNtech LIVE speakers; Kelly Hoey and Paul Singh. [Editor’s note: big deal alert!]
Bananatag hosted Kelly Hoey, Author of Build Your Dream Network. Kelly shared her insights around being a woman in tech. This was a candid discussion about the challenges and the opportunities out there. She also shared details about her own journey and how she found her path to success.
BDC hosted Entrepreneur and Investor, Paul Singh. Paul shared all kinds of wisdom around the entrepreneurial journey based on his own experience on both sides of the table as both an investor and an entrepreneur.
We also hosted over 200 High School and Post-Secondary Students for Job crush. This event was designed to inspire students by giving them some first hand accounts of what it’s like to work in tech. We had 20 different local tech employees get up on stage and share what they love about their jobs and what they did to land them.
Before the presentations started the students gathered in the Innovation Centre atrium and had a chance to interact with OKGNtech. Dancing robots, an interactive DJ station, a electronic sorting hat, and Virtual Reality… obviously.
The Marketplace was the perfect place to get a good look at OKGNtech. Tech companies often go unseen because they don’t have a store front office so the marketplace was a real opportunity to look behind the curtain.
We wrapped up the action packed two day event with Electric Circus. One last opportunity to connect with OKGNtech’s finest, while sipping on our featured cocktail ‘Technically speaking’ and listening to beats by Aaron Desilva.
A BIG Thank You to everyone who made this event possible! Couldn’t have done it without you and we can’t wait to do it all again next year. Special thanks to our sponsors for taking the risk and believing it was possible. We’re looking at you Osler, Strawhouse, Data NErds, Yeti Farm Creative, BDC, Alternawork, Lawson Lundell, Deloitte, Mission Group, and Hyper Hippo.
Hungry for more?
Check out our Facebook page for more photos!
