Ray Acayan » Rotman http://www.RayAcayan.com A Geek of All Trades Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:40:09 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Networking in Toronto http://www.RayAcayan.com/events/networking-in-toronto/ http://www.RayAcayan.com/events/networking-in-toronto/#comments Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:14:58 +0000 Ray Acayan http://www.rayacayan.com/blog/?p=56

Our network is our most valuable asset. Unlike other assets such as stocks and real estate, which tend to grow at a constant rate over a very long period of time, the value of our network grows exponentially as its size increases. Not only does it provide value to ourselves, but we in turn create value for each individual in our network. This value can be unlocked in monetary terms through business development, customer acquisition, or career development, as well as non-monetary terms through friendships, referrals, mentoring, and free advice.

To encourage myself and fellow Torontonians to participate in increasing the value of our networks, I have compiled the following list of technology and business networking events in Toronto. It is by no means comprehensive, but let me know if you find other interesting events and I will add them to this list.

Technology Networking Events

Weekly/Monthly Events:

  • hacklab.to – lots of events in Toronto’s first hackerspace
  • Toronto Geek Lunch – every Monday in downtown Toronto
  • Toronto Coffee & Code – coffee shop get-togethers organized by Joey DeVilla
  • Toronto Software Developers Lunch – monthly lunch organized by Kristan Uccello
  • Mobile Monday Toronto – first Monday of every month
  • Ajax Pub Nite – 2nd Monday of every month
  • Wired Wednesdays – 2nd Wednesday of every month
  • Rails Pub Nite – organized by Unspace, 3rd Monday of every month
  • Rails Project Night – monthly event hosted by Corina Newby
  • Refresh Events – Toronto Interactive Media Usergroup, 3rd Monday of every month
  • Toronto Flex User Group – monthly event organized by New Toronto Group
  • Toronto Java Users Group – monthly event
  • TASK – Toronto Area Security Klatch – last Wednesday of every month
  • Toronto Perl Mongers – last Thursday of every month
  • Third Tuesday – Canada’s Social Media Meetup
  • VizThink – visual thinking meetups organized by Ryan Coleman
  • PMI-SOC – Project Management Institute – Southern Ontario Chapter


    • Ad-hoc Events:

  • DemoCamp – un-conference meetings to demo tech projects
  • CodeCamp – a .NET community sponsored event
  • FlexCamp – Adobe Flex event organized by New Toronto Group
  • FacebookCamp – Facebook platform development
  • CloudCamp – Cloud Computing technologies
  • PodCamp – podcasting, blogging, and new media
  • ChangeCamp – open government
  • LifeCamp – a lifehacking event organized by Sacha Chua
  • StartupCamp – present your startup to other entrepreneurs
  • Founders & Funders – invite-only event for tech entrepreneurs and funders


    • Annual Events:

  • mesh – Canada’s Web Conference
  • FutureRuby / RubyFringe – awesome Ruby conference organized by Unspace
  • EnergizeIT – Microsoft’s annual event for Toronto’s IT community


    • Other Event Calendars:

  • TorCamp Google Calendar
  • TOGeekEvents Calendar
  • MSDN Canada
  • MaRS
  • StartupNorth
  • Upcoming
  • Linux Caffe

    • Business Networking Events

  • Rotman School of Management – a fusion of academic and business speakers
  • Economic Club of Toronto – Canada’s platform for policy makers and business leaders
  • Empire Club of Canada – one of Canada’s oldest and largest speakers’ forums
  • Toronto CFA Society – lots of speaker events for members and non-members
  • PRMIA – Professional Risk Managers International Association
  • CAIA Association – ad-hoc members-only events
  • GARP – Global Association of Risk Professionals
  • Toronto Board of Trade – engage with your peers and thought leaders
  • Toronto Talks – speaker events organized by John Klotz
  • Junior Chamber International – federation of young leaders and entrepreneurs

    • Other Groups:

  • Meetup.com
  • Facebook Groups

    • ]]>     http://www.RayAcayan.com/events/networking-in-toronto/feed/ 6     And So It Begins… http://www.RayAcayan.com/personal/and-so-it-begins/ http://www.RayAcayan.com/personal/and-so-it-begins/#comments Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:00:49 +0000 Ray Acayan http://www.rayacayan.com/blog/?p=1

    This is my first blog.

    After many grueling years of hard work and study, I finally have some free time to reflect on what has gone before and to prepare for what lies ahead. Actually, I’m just extremely bored.

    First, a little bit about myself. I’m a recent Rotman MBA grad with a triple-major in Investment Banking, Funds Management, and Risk Management & Financial Engineering. I have worked in Information Technology for my entire career, and I dabble in hedge funds, proprietary trading, real estate, political analysis, web development, social media, private equity, and network security. I’m also studying for the CFA and PMP certifications. You could say that I am “A Geek of All Trades”.

    In June 2008, I was laid off from my full-time job after 11 years in the financial industry. Shortly afterward, I graduated with an MBA from the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto) and proceeded straight to semi-retirement. There were no jobs available as the financial industry collapsed, and we are now headed toward the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression.

    So what happens now?

    I have started looking for a full-time job, preferably in technology management or quantitative finance. If you have any leads, please e-mail me at RayAcayan@gmail.com. Thanks in advance for all your help. In the meantime, I continue to support my wife and 3-year-old son with some gold investments, left-over severance pay, and limited government assistance.

    The job-hunting experience can be extremely boring, and I would rather do something more productive and somewhat entertaining. Hence, the blog. I’ll write about some interesting news, events, and insights that I come across in my adventures as a geek of all trades.




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