Tech About Town by Communitech
Episodes
Beyond the Play Button: Scaling Content with Josh & Norm Clare
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we’re cracking the code on modern media.If you’ve ever wondered how a YouTube channel hits millions of subscribers or how a business can ac...
Six Degrees of Waterloo: Boxing, Innovation, and Supporting Community with Jennifer Appleby Vines and Troy Murrary
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
They say it’s a small world, but in Waterloo Region, it’s even smaller. In this episode of Tech about Town, Alex Kinsella and Alison Piel prove th...
The Power of Education: Lessons for Bulding Inclusion with Stefanie Bruinsma and Ren Navarro
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we are joined by two founders who are taking a sledgehammer to the 'status quo.' Ren Navarro, founder of B Diversity Group, ...
The Human Engine: Scaling Leadership with Artemis Canada's Kristina McDougall
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We often talk about 'product-market fit,' but we rarely talk about 'people-founder fit' at the executive level. Today, we’re diving into the human e...
LIVE with Midtown Radio's Deren Atkins
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to create a hyperlocal internet radio station? We found out when Deren Atkins joined us LIVE in the Communitech Hub to talk about Mi...
Building Ontario's MedTech Future: Inside Medical Innovation Xchange with Elliot Fung
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How do you move a medical breakthrough from a lab bench to a hospital bedside? In this episode of Tech About Town, Jill Mills and Alex Kinsella sit do...
AI with a Purpose: How municiPal AI's Kristy Guthrie and Kerry Fraser are building the "Easy Button" for Municipal Governments
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ever tried to find the specific bylaws for a backyard fence or the rules for keeping chickens on a city website? If you’ve felt the frustration of d...
How the Clicks Communicator Won CES Without a Booth: A Conversation With Jeff Gadway & Joseph Hofer
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The physical keyboard is back, and it is arguably cooler than ever. In this episode of Tech About Town, hosts Alex Kinsella and Alison Piel are joined...
Beating Blue Monday with Battle of the Bands with Ruth Casselman and Rick Andrade
07 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Kick off 2026 by turning the "saddest day of the year" into the loudest! In this episode, host Alex Kinsella sits down with Ruth Casselman (...
Building Digital Kitchener 2.0 with Nicole Amaral
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How does a city of nearly 300,000 people stay ahead of the technological curve? In this episode of Tech About Town, we sit down with Nicole Amaral, Di...
Making Cycling Accessible Through Technology: Mark Connolly from the Cycling Guide Foundation
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Commuting by bike helps the environment and is great for your health, but getting from point A to point B isn’t always easy. That was part of the mo...
Authenticity Over Algorithms: Rebuilding Community with Samantha Campbell
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of the things we talk about constantly on this show is that 'tech' isn't just about code or hardware—it's about the people who b...
Dinah Davis on sharing stories of women in tech with Code Like A Girl
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ask Dinah Davis about the state of women in tech, and she’ll tell you we’re moving forward, but not nearly far enough. It’s a perspective shaped...
Mike Kirkup is turning startup mistakes into caregiver insights with Elderella
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You can learn a lot from your successes, but you can learn even more from your failures.Mike Kirkup joins us for his record-breaking third appearance ...
Inside KidsAbility’s Rocket Discovery Centre with Brendan Wylie-Toal
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When most people think about innovation, they think startups or software. But at KidsAbility, innovation is happening inside a non-profit — reshapin...
Why Waterloo Region is a great place to build a startup (and a great place to visit!) with Ashley Lansink from Explore Waterloo Region
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tourism might not be the first thing you associate with tech—but it should be.In this episode, we talk with Ashley Lansink from Explore Waterloo Reg...
What startups can learn from community foundations with Eric Avner
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every founder needs trust and connection. So does every community.In this episode, we sit down with Eric Avner, President and CEO of the Waterloo Regi...
Why community comes first: Communitech CEO Sheldon McCormick on what’s next
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to be community-first in a tech ecosystem?In this episode, we check in with Communitech CEO Sheldon McCormick to reflect on his firs...
How Elderella is changing caregiving – a talk with Jacqui Murphy and Mike Kirkup
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There are over 71 million people acting as caregivers for their parents in North America, spending an average of 26 hours a week with everything from ...
Marketing on a Startup Budget: Tips from fractional CMO Roshni Wijayasinha
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When you’re building a startup, resources are scarce. Time. Money. People. Unfortunately that means founders make trade offs that might hurt them in...
AI, Total Rewards and HR's Evolving Role – A Preview of SocialHRCamp KW with Selina Miah and Larissa Currah
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you're navigating return-to-office policies, figuring out how to adopt AI safely, or rethinking your total rewards strategy, HR leaders are fa...
RE-RELEASE: What’s next for Communitech with CEO Sheldon McCormick
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Originally released on May 28, 2025He's six weeks into the job, and Communitech's new CEO, Sheldon McCormick, has some thoughts. On this episo...
How to make a great tech event with Victoria Harrison and the Accelerator Centre's Shriaa Sheth
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Waterloo Region's tech community is built on events. From founder meetup to hardtech hikes to panel discussion (yeah, even panel discussions), getting...
Improving patient outcomes for stroke survivors with Sensible Vascular's Kevin Macwan and Purvish Soni
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Whether it was a PSA on TV or inside a bus, we’ve all learned the FAST method for detecting a stroke. Each year, 12 million people suffer a stroke—...
Turning mushrooms into sustainable textiles with Stephanie Lipp, co‑founder of MycoFutures
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re trading silicon for shiitake with Stephanie Lipp, co‑founder of MycoFutures. The biomaterials startup is turning mushroom mycelium into a ...
How Cognitive Systems’ Taj Manku is reimagining home care through Wi-Fi
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if your Wi-Fi could do more than just connect your devices?For Taj Manku, co-founder and CEO of Cognitive Systems, a personal caregiving challeng...
Building trust in the creator economy, one plush at a time: Landon Brett, CEO of Makeship
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What do plush toys and tech startups have in common? If you ask Landon Brett, the answer is everything.Landon is the CEO of Makeship, one of Canada’...
Detecting the undetectable: Shalini Gupta on building Asima Health
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a personal health scare revealed the limits of existing diagnostic tools, scientist and entrepreneur Shalini Gupta saw an opportunity to build so...
Growing Pains: How to scale without losing control with Dave Litwiller
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What got you here won’t get you there. In this episode of Tech About Town, we sit down with Communitech Growth Coach Dave Litwiller to talk about sc...
Rebooting the Mission: What’s next for Communitech with CEO Sheldon McCormick
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He's six weeks into the job, and Communitech's new CEO, Sheldon McCormick, has some thoughts. On this episode of Tech About Town, we've got Sheldon ...
Charging Ahead: How Clockwork is fixing EV infrastructure one station at a time
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if two of the four gas pumps at a gas station were out of order, but no one told you until you pulled in? That’s the reality for many electric ...
SEO isn’t dead: Tim Peckover shares why you shouldn't write for robots
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is SEO really dead—or just evolving (again)? In this episode, Alex and guest host Alison Piel sit down with freelance content strategist Tim Peckove...
From caregiver to CEO: Seun Adetunji is breaking down barriers in healthcare communication
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a loved one faces a health crisis, language barriers and medical jargon can make an already stressful situation even harder. Seun Adetunji, found...
Axe the Fax: How Sifio Health is using AI to reduce surgery delays
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Tech About Town, we welcome JP Eskander, CEO and founder of Sifio Health, and Stacy Sobering from Communitech to discuss how AI-dri...
Heavy Lifting: How DOZR is using Communitech Outpost to scale across North America
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wondered how startups scale globally without getting tangled up in red tape? In this episode of Tech About Town, we dive into the dynamic world o...
From McMaster to the World: The Evolution of QReserve with Graeme Brown
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Tech About Town, we're joined by Graeme Brown, co-founder and CEO of QReserve. Graeme takes us through the journey of QReserve,...
How Startup Bootcamp helped Cirtus founders Adanna Amechi and Dimitri Njila win big
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode ofTech About Town, host Alex Kinsella and guest co-host Angela Bruce talk about theCommunitech Startup Bootcamp, a six-week program de...
Unlocking the power of intellectual property for startups with Jim Hinton
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to IP, we follow the motto “protect it, don’t neglect it.” In this episode ofTech About Town, hosts Alex Kinsella and Rosie Del Ca...
From Fast Track to Full Scale: How ConeLabs is helping to prevent infrastructure failures
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Tech About Talent, we catch up with Communitech’s Carleigh Johnston and ConeLabs co-founder and CEO Albert Mansour to talk about ...
Founders First: A Conversation with Ruth Casselman and Jennifer Gruber
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Tech About Town, we sit down with two powerhouse leaders in Waterloo Region's tech ecosystem: Ruth Casselman, CEO of the Accele...
Mentoring, Magic, and Meat Processing: A Chat with Dan Silivestru and Heather Galt
09 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Tech About Town, we welcome Dan Silivestru, CEO of Chocolate Soup, and Heather Galt, Chief Customer Officer of P&P Optica for a...
Why your pitch deck should be a movie trailer with Rob Darling and Michael Ho
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s episode, we’ve got two people with fundraising experience and opinions. Rob Darling is the founder and CEO of runQL, a tool designed to...
Giving pathologists AI-superpowers with Tenomix's co-founder Saumik Biswas
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Is the AI hype cycle bringing you down? Don’t worry—we’re here with an episode of the podcast that will inspire new hope for AI being used for m...
Innovating Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest with Allan Cayenne and Allie Steffler
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Forget PSL season. It’s schnitzel and stein season here in Waterloo Region as the 56th annual Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest kicks off. In this e...
Helping all athletes access mental health support with Trainwave's Rosie MacLennan
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How are athletes and founders similar? How do you overcome mental challenges in a high-performance sport? What's the Olympic Village really like? ...
What founders need to know about fundraising with Vartika Manasvi and Mike Kirkup
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Are you down with O.P.M. (other people's money)? One of Communitech founder members' top questions is how to get in front of VCs. But the answer is o...
Public Relations 101 for Startups with Rosie Del Campo
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Class is in session with Rosie Del Campo, Communitech's Senior Corporate Communications Manager. Rosie leads our external and internal communicati...
Revitalizing Downtown Kitchener with Cory Bluhm
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Don’t count downtown out just yet. This week on Tech About Town, Cory Bluhm, Executive Director of Economic Development for the City of Kitchener, j...
Exploring Quantum Frontiers with Dr. Paul Terry and Jessica Hodgson
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Going to a cocktail party and scared someone will ask you about quantum technologies? We've got you covered. On this episode of Tech About Town, D...
MedReddie's Kara Leblanc and Google's Iran Karimian on Accelerating Startup Growth
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to applying to an accelerator like Google for Startups Accelerator, MedReddie’s Kara Leblanc says you just have to go for it. Kara sho...
Marianne Bulger on Letting Your Employees Date Other Companies
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Navigating career paths isn't what it used to be. On this episode of the Tech About Town podcast, Marianne Bulger, Partner at True Executive Sear...
We're going to need a bigger boat
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Communitech President and CEO Chris Albinson joins us for a stream-of-consciousness discussion covering everything from the rapid growth of technologi...
Allow us to reintroduce ourselves
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A lot has changed in the Waterloo Region tech ecosystem over the last 25 years. That includes Communitech, too. On our first episode of the Tech Abou...