Canada’s internet aficionados came together for an unforgettable soiree focused on building a safe, secure internet space for all. And with October being Cybersecurity month, our timing couldn’t be more impeccable!
This latest edition of CIRA’s Canadians Connected event series made its way to Maggie Oakes—a charming bar and grill in the heart of le Vieux Montreal—for networking, engaging talks and pop-up shopping. Here’s a quick recap of all that we heard and saw:
Andrew Overholt, VP of Engineering at Mozilla, got the evening underway by giving us an inside look at his company’s efforts to build a world-class web browser engine in Firefox that contributes to an open, accessible, safe internet.
Joseph Catapano, ICANN’s Director of Stakeholder Engagement took the stage next. He spoke about the importance of bringing together end-users, as well as people from the private sector, academia, and the technical community, and getting them engaged in ICANN’s global internet governance work and policy development.
Fun fact: ICANN coordinates the internet’s IP addresses and domain names across the world and defines how all these unique identifiers should operate.
The evening’s final speaker was our very own Julie Lepine, Manager of Member Relations for CIRA. She invited attendees who weren’t already members to join CIRA (it’s free with a .CA domain!) and shared the important role members play in CIRA’s day to day governance and in shaping the true north strong free future of Canada’s internet.
Pop-up shopping powered by .CA
Four local .CA businesses joined the evening’s festivities as part of a pop-up shopping experience.
Lord Violet: a queer-owned handmade jewelry brand that draws inspiration from film noir and alternative subculture to create its provocative, eye-catching and eco-friendly statement pieces.
Happy Tears: a Montreal-based business that’s all about bringing happiness and mindfulness to the masses. And they’re doing that through games that bring people together, bold, colourful apparel—and more.
Valerie C. Design: provides elegant, high-quality clothing and accessories that are manufactured locally—and sustainably—in Quebec and celebrate body diversity.
Foonie: offers whimsical, hand-drawn greeting cards, prints and tote bags inspired by the wonders of nature and the simple-but-beautiful things in life.
To make for an even sweeter shopping experience, all the evening’s attendees received a raffle ticket upon arrival, where a gift from each of the four business was up for grabs. CIRA members were also entered for a chance to win an uber-special CIRA swag bag. What was in the bag? You may just have to join us at our next event and solve that mystery for yourself!
Special mention: our friends from Web Hosting Canada were in attendance of the event. And in addition to offering top-notch, secure web hosting for Canadian small businesses, proved to be a very photogenic bunch!
As for the evening’s entertainment? Attendees were treated to an interactive, spellbinding floor show by internationally renowned magician, illusionist—and mentalist—Anthony Istar.
Booths galore!
A few additional booths added that much more to the Canadians Connected: Montreal experience:
Watch the recap video
Relive all the highlights from Canadians Connected Montreal courtesy of our friends at CocoFilms!
Keep an eye out for the next Canadians Connected event!
A friendly reminder before we sign off: everyone and anyone is welcome to attend our Canadians Connected networking series. So be sure to watch our CIRA social channels for updates on where and when the next event is happening—both IRL and virtually!
