I’m a huge believer in Jim Rohn’s maxim that “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

It’s important to surround yourself with people that inspire and empower you to turn your ideas into reality and make a positive impact in the world.

Here’s a quick guide to local events in Vancouver’s startup scene and creative community:

Creative Community:

1. Creative Mornings – Held monthly at SFU’s Woodwards Campus in Gastown. Local artists, advertising executives and digital media creators talk about their passion for their craft. Make sure you sign up on their website and pay attention for their monthly ticket releases since all the free tickets are usually scooped in a couple hours.

2. Pecha Kucha Vancouver – Pecha Kucha (prounouncd peh ‘chak cha) is a global event that started in Tokyo and is now held in over 300 cities around the world. Local entrepreneurs, educators, artists, academics and innovators give quick presentations of exactly 20 slides with only 20 seconds spent on each slide that tells their story in 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

3. Fuse – Held quarterly throughout the year, Fuse transforms the Vancouver Art Gallery into a surrealist mix of art, music and live performance. Fuse is a great place to meet new people in a casual environment surrounded by inspiring art.

4. Likemind – Meet interesting people in Vancouver’s creative community in a relaxed environment over coffee. Happens early, around 8 a.m.

5. Changemakers Vancouver – Monthly events dedicated to creating synergies and a better community for Vancouver’s social changemakers.

Local Tech Organizations:

1. DigiBC – The Digital Media and Wireless Industry Association of BC holds regular workshops and networking mixers.

2. BCAMA – The BC Chapter of the American Marketing Association is the largest networking group for Marketers in Vancouver. They regular hold breakfast series, networking mixers, workshops, conferences and the Marketer of the Year event.

3. IABC – The British Columbia chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators has over 600 members in Vancouver. They regularly hold career building events, networking mixers and a bi-weekly Toastmasters meeting.

Co-working Spaces:

1. The Launch Academy – A great space with lots of hot desks, a foosball table and a huge kitchen with unlimited free coffee. The strong community here makes it ideal for learning and collaborating with other local entrepreneurs and contributing to their startups.

2. The Network Hub – The largest and most established of the co-working spaces serving local entrepreneurs and startups. Minna Van, who runs the Network Hub is very helpful and she knows just about everyone in the local startup scene. Their Toastmasters Club is highly recommended.

3. The Hive – This Gastown co-working space regularly holds meetups for startup folks, entrepreneurs and changemakers. I recommend checking out their Social Impact Learning and Support Group held the third Monday of each month.

4. L’Atlier Vancouver – A stylish new coworking space on the edge of Gastown, L’Atlier hosts weekly Happy Hour social mixers on Wednesdays, entrepreneurship meetups and regular meeting for Vancouver chapter of Young Women In Business (YWIB).

Meetups:

1. Vancouver Pixel Crafters – The largest meetup group of local entrepreneurs and digital media creators with events focused around technology, tech entrepreneurship and design.

2. Net Tuesday Vancouver – Social media and web enthusiasts come together with social changemakers and non-profits to mix, swap stories and ideas, and build new relationships.

3. Vancouver Young Professionals – Young urban professionals passionate about networking, growing a business and meeting new people in Vancouver.

4. Internet Masterminds – A weekly Meetup of Internet marketers and social media enthusiasts that get together to discuss Internet marketing related strategies.

Annual Events and Conferences:

1. BIL Conference – An unconference for people changing the world in big ways. The next conference is going to be from April 28th, 2017 – April 30th, 2017.

2. TEDxVancouver – The biggest annual TEDx event held in the Lower Mainland. Other local TEDx events in the Vancouver area

3. TEDxStanley Park – An annual TEDx event with 12 high-impact talks that are both educational and inspirational.

Silicon Valley North Guide:

You may also want to check out guide to startups and tech companies in Silicon Valley North.