Five summer tech events you don't want to miss in Vancouver

If you’re suffering from lots of stress and little sleep, you could probably use a vacation this summer—a social-media vacation, that is.

Just make sure your weeklong Instagram hiatus doesn’t coincide with one of the five tech-scene events around Vancouver on our hot list for summer 2015. After all, we wouldn’t want your selfie stick to go to waste.

Don’t forget to hashtag your glorious face pic for all your fellow attendees to grudgingly “like”.

Traction

June 17 and 18 at Aura Nightclub and the Harbour Event Centre

Do you call yourself a “growth hacker” without any hint of irony? If so, you probably already have a ticket to the inaugural Traction conference. Launch Academy and Boast Capital are presenting the two-day event aimed at tech startups. “Every startup we come across, the biggest problem they face is traction,” Lloyed Lobo, cochair of Traction and partner with Boast, told the Georgia Straight by phone from San Francisco. “How do you get, keep, and grow customers? You can’t raise money if you don’t have traction.” Around 550 attendees will hear from “out of this world” speakers representing such companies as Dropbox, Lyft, Pinterest, and Twitter. Unlike conference passes, tickets to the after-party are still available.

Admission: $499 (sold-out)

Hashtag: #TractionConf

Info: www.tractionconf.io

Tech’s Got Talent

June 24 at FIVESIXTY

Vancouver’s tech companies are a competitive bunch, and they’re sure to bring it to Tech’s Got Talent. Hosted by Chimp and PlentyOfFish, this lip-synch competition will see 20 firms battle for supremacy while raising a projected $50,000 for local kids’ charities. “We created this event really as a lightning rod to not only show that the technology sector as a whole does care and wants to give back to Vancouver and some of the social problems we face, but also that we’re aware that we’re stewards and we need to be seen as leaders in the community,” Steven Davis, organizer of Tech’s Got Talent and business-development lead for Chimp, told the Straight by phone from his car. Participating companies include BroadbandTV, BuildDirect, Hootsuite, Lighthouse Labs, and QuickMobile. “There are definitely some natural rivalries that do spring up, especially among some of the bigger tech companies that may be in a bit of a talent war or competitors in the technology space,” Davis said. “It’s all for good and all for fun.”

Admission: $10

Hashtag: #TGT2015

Info: techgottalent.com

App Camp for Girls

July 6 to 10 at the B.C. Technology Industry Association’s Innovation Hub

Unless you’re a subscriber to The Red Pill on Reddit, it’s obvious the technology sector suffers from a gender problem. In 2013, App Camp for Girls was created in Portland to address the imbalance, and now the summer camp will be held in Canada for the first time. “It’s led by all-female volunteers in the industry,” Briana Sim, Vancouver co-organizer for AC4G and chief operating officer of software-development company Radical I/O Technology, said during an interview near the Straight office. “So girls get to see themselves or identify with various women who are testers, web developers, iOS developers, and just get inspired to pursue further education in technology.” Participants, who will be entering grades 8 and 9 in September, will learn about iOS app development and marketing, and contribute to a quiz app sold in the iTunes Store. There’ll also be hula-hooping, yoga, and a field trip to a tech firm’s office.

Admission: $375

Hashtag: #ac4gyvr

Info: appcamp4girls.com

Anime Revolution

August 14 to 16 at the Vancouver Convention Centre East

Admit it: it’s not news to you that International Sailor Moon Day will be observed on August 15. Well, the upcoming Anime Revolution convention is the place to be for aficionados of Sailor Moon and myriad other Japanese animated productions. (Okay, there’s also the rival event Anime Evolution, taking place July 17 to 19 on the University of British Columbia’s Point Grey campus.) A three-day affair celebrating Japanese pop culture, AniRevo: Summer 2015 will feature special guests, exhibits, panels, and performances. For fans of dressing up, there’ll be anime cosplay skit and swimsuit contests. Anime-music-video, talent, and voice-actor competitions are also on the program.

Admission: $50 to $60 for a day pass, $60 for a weekend pass

Hashtag: #AniRevo2015

Info: www.animerevolution.ca

Grow

August 19 to 21 at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler

What would you do with three summer days in Whistler? Instead of backpacking the Musical Bumps to Russet Lake, 800 or so tech-company founders, executives, and investors will gather at Grow, all hoping to build the next billion-dollar firm. Dealmaker Media’s sixth annual conference will feature such speakers as Slack CEO (and Flickr cofounder) Stewart Butterfield, CloudFlare cofounder Michelle Zatlyn, and Shopify chief platform officer Harley Finkelstein. “The people who come to town are the people who are building all of the products and tools and apps that we use on a daily basis, and half the time we don’t realize it,” Debbie Landa, CEO of Dealmaker, told the Straight by phone from San Francisco. Grow’s Smackdown will see a select group of companies make pitches to leading investors and journalists. But it won’t all be demos, talks, and networking. Planned activities include barbecues, games, mountain biking, and yoga. “The amazing view, the smell of clean air, being in the mountains, and talking about something you’re deeply passionate about—there’s nothing better than that,” Landa said.

Admission: US$795 in June, US$895 in July, US$995 in August

Hashtag: #growconf

Info: growconf.com