25 February 2020

So where are the geeks, students, and other players in the IT industry in Sherbrooke on the first and third Wednesdays of each month?

Not far away: At Techno Drinks and Gaming Drinks Sherbrooke!

It should be mentioned that there is free pizza and beer 😉 But above all technical conferences–with supporting code demonstrations–on topics and issues related to the information technology industry.

A bit of background: Techno Drinks was launched in 2016 by and for the IT community in Sherbrooke with the support of Sherbrooke Innopole. “At a meeting with IT executives in SMEs and startups, recruitment issues were identified as a major concern. The idea of gathering programmers at recurring events came up. We simply provided logistical support to the initiative, and success came very quickly.” recalled Marc-Henri Faure, Director of Business Services, Information and Communication Technologies at Sherbrooke Innopole.

A winning formula

Since then, monthly 5-to-8 meetings have attracted an ever-growing number of participants–as demonstrated by the 100 people at Techno Drinks on artificial intelligence on February 19, which featured Coveo, Menya Solutions, Levio’s AI branch, and CGI.

→ See the photo album

Presenters are job professionals or enthusiastic students who share their knowledge or challenges on different topics each month.

The formula promotes exchanges and the advancement of knowledge in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

It is also an opportunity for corporate sponsors to make their available positions known and, for participants, to remain on the lookout for upcoming IT events in Sherbrooke and elsewhere.

The Techno Drinks community is also on the Meetup web platform, which includes almost 700 members, on Slack, and on Facebook.

Gaming Drinks

And since 2019, programmers, artists, and fans of video games have had their own techno-creative gathering: Gaming Drinks Sherbrooke, the first Wednesday of each month.

This smaller sibling of Techno Drinks already has 200 members on Meetup.

Both communities contribute to the vitality of the IT community in Sherbrooke and strengthen the positioning of #SherbyValley as a hub for innovation and collaboration in the IT world.