SummaryBeer & Analytics, a long-running networking event founded by Martin McGarry, President and Chief Data Scientist of Bronson Analytics, is expanding to Toronto with an edition scheduled for September 14 at High Park Brewery. The event combines industry-expert presentations with extended networking in an informal venue, and has become a fixture on the Ottawa data community calendar since its establishment in 2018. The Toronto edition arrives at a moment when in-person professional networking is broadly recovering after an extended period of disruption. Bronson Analytics successfully resumed its in-person Ottawa events in October 2021 and May 2022, and the firm now extends the format to a new market. The event reflects a broader thesis articulated by McGarry: that modern analytics tools are proliferating at extraordinary speed, that they can determine whether a business succeeds or fails, and that the benefits of analytics should be accessible to organizations of every size, not only the largest corporations. Beer & Analytics is the most visible expression of that conviction, alongside Bronson’s consulting practice, which is structured around the same philosophy of client empowerment rather than long-term consultant entrenchment. |
A Staple Date on the Ottawa Networking Scene
Beer & Analytics has become a recognized fixture on the Ottawa networking calendar. The event combines a curated lineup of industry-expert speakers with extended networking, craft beer, and food in informal settings. It maintained continuity through the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a deliberate pivot to virtual and safely managed in-person formats that allowed the gatherings to continue when most comparable events were paused.
The series is the brainchild of Martin McGarry, President and Chief Data Scientist of Bronson Analytics. The motivation behind the format, in his framing, was to generate genuine energy and excitement around new technology, presented in a format that audiences would find engaging and digestible. As he has described the original ambition:
“I wanted to create the kind of energy and excitement about all this new technology in a digestible and fun format.”
With professional networking now broadly returning, the timing of the firm’s expansion of the format to Toronto appears well calibrated to demand.
A Deliberate Departure from the Conference Norm
The format of Beer & Analytics reflects a specific frustration on McGarry’s part with conventional industry-event design. He has been direct about both the experiential and economic shortcomings of the typical conference model:
“I have never liked the fireside chat format at conferences; too stuffy, and the audience participation is so contrived. What is more, the cost of conferences is so prohibitive for even medium-sized-business owners.”
Beer & Analytics is structured to address both shortcomings simultaneously. The informal venue and the integrated networking design are intended to produce more genuine interaction than the traditional conference format, while a more accessible price point is intended to widen the door for the small and medium-sized businesses that have historically been priced out of major industry gatherings.
Returning to In-Person Networking
After more than two years of operating under pandemic conditions, the team at Bronson has been deliberately working to bring the energy of in-person networking back to its event series. In October 2021 and May 2022, the firm successfully resumed in-person Beer & Analytics events with safe networking protocols and limited capacity. Hosting networking events under COVID-19 conditions has presented genuine challenges.
In fact, Beer & Analytics was among the first in-person events to resurface in Ottawa in the autumn of 2021, requiring Bronson to navigate the inherent paradox of networking while maintaining social distancing. The firm managed those challenges by planning and operating with substantial precaution, calibrating event design to varying levels of attendee comfort, and respecting the reality that the pandemic has affected people in different ways. At the same time, the firm has recognized the breadth of demand for in-person professional connection that has built up over the period of disruption.
For attendees who are eager to resume professional networking, Beer & Analytics is well positioned as a venue for doing so. As an additional incentive, attendees can earn professional development credits through their respective professional bodies.
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Beer & Analytics networking event looks to help businesses unlock the value of their data
