On October 12, the fourth annual Made in Alberta Conference and Awards celebrated local makers, artisans and business owners at Calgary’s Central Library.
The day kicked off with coffee and pastries, followed by opening remarks and a series of presentations and panels. Local business owners engaged in a discussion on expanding from e-commerce to a bricks-and-mortar storefront, while CEO Daniel Monzon led a presentation on the ins and outs of venture capital funding. This was followed by a panel of entrepreneurs who talked about what it takes to succeed at growing into new markets and one-on-one speed consulting sessions.
During lunch, participants were invited to network with likeminded professionals at the industry roundtables. Additionally, photographer José Soriano was on site providing product photography to business owners.
Lunch was followed by more workshops, panels and learning opportunities, which included topics such as co-working spaces, pitching brands to online media, how to have success at local arts markets and risk management. The conference wrapped up with a presentation from pipikwan pêhtâkwan on decolonizing business practices and a discussion with the team from MNP on facing financial fears.
The awards portion of the conference kicked off with an evening cocktail reception in the performance hall. Global News‘s Bindu Suri was the Master of Ceremonies as Avenue honoured the winning products of the Made in Alberta Awards in eleven different categories, along with the grand-prize winner, who took home a cheque for $5,000.
Click here for a full list of the winners and runners-up in every category and be sure to check out the Made in Alberta Markets on November 23 and 24 at Bow Valley Square.
