One of the best networks I’ve connected with since moving to Hamilton is Silicon Halton. I found them through another meetup that I attend regularly and have been very happy with not only their meetings, but with the community itself.
This is a grass roots organization founded by Chris Herbert and Rick Stomphorst in 2009 dedicated to creating “a thriving community of people in technology that live and/or work in Halton region”. (Silicon Halton website) Couldn’t have stated it better myself.
Though they have a pretty sturdy rule about having their members live and work in Halton, they are extremely welcoming and do not let their friendly fence get in the way of making connections. In addition to their Peer-to-Peer groups, such as SEO, Big Data and CEO, they also have an open meetup every month which anyone can attend. The format is simple yet effective: One or two presentations, meet your member which are shorter presentations done by the members of Silicon Halton to let people know what they do, and then an open floor for anyone to tell the group about anything, including events or initiatives.
Last night, they had their inaugural Demo Night, so I’m sure we’ll see a post very soon to wrap that up. Their next monthly meeting is on September 11, 2012 and they are having a panel on “SMB Business Disaster Planning – What’s Realistic?” and I highly recommend attending. Silicon Halton has been very good to me and I know that there are more good things coming. You can find them on Twitter @SiliconHalton so follow along!
Silicon Halton
TantienHime's Blog 
Shanta, on behalf of the Silicon Halton community, thanks for the kind words and letting your readers know about Silicon Halton.
We see technology professionals and companies as one of the keys to economic growth and prosperity for Halton region. The demo night you mentioned illustrated that there is local talent, great ideas, smart people and local startups that will fuel opportunity for Halton and neighbouring regions.
A special thanks to HalTech, the Halton based Regional Innovation Centre. This was Siilcon Halton’s and HalTech’s first joint event and the team did a great job. Thanks to Robert and Carol Duvall of RDC Networks who’s show Halton Tech Today covered the event for Cogeco Community TV.
Thank you, Shanta!
The ‘Big Data / Analytics’ Peer2Peer within Silicon Halton is looking to create business solutions. We offer a free consulting service for growing companies that are thinking of implementing analytics.
Our meetings are open – every 4th Tuesday at 7pm in King’s Arms Pub – Oakville. The next one, August 28, includes a speaker on ‘Technical patents for SMEs’. Hope you can join us!
Thanks everyone for the kind words and information. Just speaking from the heart.