🎉 Get ready for Conestoga College's Growth Summit! 🚀

Join us on March 17th, from 3 pm to 9 pm, at the Waterloo Campus, for an unforgettable evening of innovation, entrepreneurship, networking, learning, and fun  — proudly hosted in collaboration with IT Club and CSI!

💻Startup 101 with Conestoga Entrepreneurship Collective, 🧠 Cloud-Native Foundations: Building Scalable APIs on Google Cloud, 🕵️ Hack the human: Understanding Social Engineering in Tech Communities, 💬 Networking with Startups

💡 What's Happening:

Registration starts at 3 pm!

💻Startup 101 with Conestoga Entrepreneurship Collective (4 pm - 5:30 pm) (1F05)

Have you ever thought of starting a startup? Do you have innovative ideas and projects that you think can be taken to the next level? Join coaches from Conestoga Entrepreneurship Collective to learn how to take the first steps in your startup journey and what that might look like! In this workshop, you will learn about idea generation & validation, market research & customer discovery, and many other startup aspects. Most importantly, you will have a chance to compete in the Pitch Competition (with the opportunity to win cash and other prizes) - details will be available to the attendees of the Growth Summit and this workshop.

🧠 Cloud-Native Foundations: Building Scalable APIs on Google Cloud (4 - 5:30 pm) (Room TBD)

Join us for the hands-on workshop that introduces participants to building and deploying scalable, serverless APIs on Google Cloud. Attendees will learn how to design cloud-native architecture, manage infrastructure as code, and implement CRUD operations in a real-world environment. By the end, participants will understand how to leverage GCP’s scale-to-zero model and automated infrastructure to build efficient, production-ready APIs. It is a beginner-friendly workshop, the code and files will be provided!

🕵️ Hack the human: Understanding Social Engineering in Tech Communities (4 - 5:30 pm) (Room (Venture Lab Space))

Join us for an interactive workshop hosted by the Conestoga Cyber Security Association (CCSA). In today’s fast-paced tech and startup environments, the biggest security risks often come from human interaction rather than technical vulnerabilities. This interactive workshop explores how social engineering works, why manipulation tactics are effective, and how developers, entrepreneurs, and tech teams can recognize and defend against them. Through real-world scenarios and group roleplay activities, participants will learn to identify common psychological triggers, evaluate risk in professional communication, and build stronger security habits — all from a defensive, ethical perspective. No prior cybersecurity experience is required — just curiosity and a willingness to think critically.Students from all programs will benefit from attending!

💬 AI and Your Resume, Understanding the Job Posting, Applicant Tracking Systems with TalentHub (4 - 5:30 pm) (Room TBD)

Join us for an interactive workshop hosted by TalentHub to learn more about resume and networking tips. During this session, you will learn the important things that employers are looking for in resumes, practice your networking skills, and be able to ask Career Services any questions! P.S.: You will be able to practice skills from this workshop later at the event, engaging with startups ;)

🍕Catered Lunch (5:30 - 6:15 pm) (Cafeteria)

💡Startup Networking & Talent Engagement (6:15 - 8:45 pm) (Rooms TBD)

After the refreshments, meet us for networking with startups and their founders. This is YOUR opportunity to engage and network with people and teams passionate about their idea, and learn about their journey. It is YOUR chance to build relationships with industry leaders and ask any questions you are interested in! Confirmed startups include Octopodi Technologies, Alphaz, The Home Taste, JVPLabs, ORU and others. Some startups have co-op positions available!

🎁 Plus:

Post-event Pitch Competition - opportunity to win up to $500 for the further development of your startup idea.

🎟️Bring a friend! Spots are limited, so register soon before it's full!

To secure your spot, RSVP using the following link - https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-growth-summit-tickets-1981793637117