Welcome to this week’s Sunday Briefing. In this issue, read about Redbrick’s storied history, the impact of Rifflandia festival on Greater Victoria, and find out who’s taking Certn’s name.

Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 645 words: a three-minute read.

-Emily, [email protected]

By the way, if you're not already subscribed, you can fix that here.

BestHuman and VICA are building together

Victoria’s BestHuman recently announced a new partner: the Vancouver Island Construction Association (VICA).

BestHuman is a learning and development platform, offering coaching and mentoring-based learning programs.

The result of the partnership is a leadership course designed for new managers in the construction industry. The program, titled "Transformative Leadership: Creating Effective Managers," is a seven-week, live cohort-based course aimed at enhancing the leadership competencies essential for managerial success in today's fast-moving workplaces.

"Moving up into a management role isn’t just about you anymore — it involves people-management with leadership competencies," said Humaira Ahmed, founder of BestHuman. "We focus on equipping new managers with essential skills like effective communication, feedback, delegation, time management, and strategic thinking."

The hybrid coaching course is intended to support new supervisors within the construction industry.

SPONSORED BY IWIST

Wrap up summer with Island Women in Science and Technology

Pace yourself — three hours of fun can go by fast! Join the community of women in STEM and their allies at the annual Geeky Girls Patio Party this Wednesday, August 28, at Ocean Networks Canada!

GGPP has been a popular event since launching in 2015, providing a fun and welcoming place guaranteed to spark connections and conversations. iWIST continues to build a strong community for women by hosting events and supporting groups looking to better support their own teams.

Event details:
4:30 — 7:30 pm at Ocean Networks Canada (UVic Queenswood Campus, off Arbutus.) Pay parking available

Members $10 | Future Members $21

Your ticket includes two drinks, lots of tasty appies, prizes, and the best summer mixer!

Buy your ticket here!

📰 More Victoria innovation news

🤝 Say my name: In the latest Greater Vancouver Chamber Chat, Chamber CEO Bruce Williams met with Nick Blasko, founder of the Rifflandia Festival, to discuss how the festival has helped draw attention to Greater Victoria.

💥 (Not) just another brick in the wall: Redbrick’s COO, Rory Capern, sat down with Authority Magazine to share his backstory and the innovative approaches Redbrick is taking to business.

💍 Will you be mine: After acquiring the company in 2022, Certn has integrated U.K.-based Credence Background Screening under the Certn brand. Credence will now take the Certn name.

🕴️ Tech jobs of the week

Find your next career:

• Product Manager at Cascadia Seaweed

• Client Support Technician - Auxiliary at ISM

• Windows – Technical Analyst at Myra Systems

Hiring in Victoria? Reply to this email and let us know!

📅 Upcoming events

August 27 | Supabase Meetup

Supabase Launch Week is coming to Victoria! Join and celebrate Launch Week with the community. Take part in this tech get-together, with networking opportunities, talks, and, of course, swag.

August 27 | Demystifying AI: Planning Session

AI is a hot topic both in and outside of the tech world, and rightfully so! We’ve heard from our learner community that it can be overwhelming and scary to start understanding it, so we decided to create some content and space to start this conversation with our community. We want learners to start exploring the power of AI in ways that are most relevant to them and their career goals. Everyone should (and can!) understand how AI works to use it ethically and effectively – and we can do that together.

August 28 | Geeky Girls Patio Party 2024

Join iWIST (Island Women in Science and Technology) for its annual patio party! This year, Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is hosting. The company’s CEO Kate Moran will make a special welcome and show off the work being done by ONC to support ocean tech.

Have an upcoming event? Reply to let us know.

🙋 I need a…

We at Victoria Tech Journal know you, our community, pretty well. Are you searching for someone in your field to have coffee with, a hiring hookup, a lead on local investors, or suggestion for a great Victoria tech tool? Whatever you’re hunting for, let us know. We’ll post it in this section and make it happen.

This week:

• A recent University of Victoria graduate is looking for a full-time position as a data analyst. He is currently working part time in the London Drugs tech department.

Email your requests to [email protected].

Have something or someone we should know about?

Reply or email [email protected] so we can work together to spotlight the lesser-known stories of Victoria's tech ecosystem.