Welcome to TechSPARK’s regular events round-up, summarising the upcoming tech-related events in Bristol and Bath!
*Featured Event* Techie Brekkie: Virtual Reality, The Engine Shed, 21 January 2015 @ 8:45am – 10am
Techie Brekkies are a great way to network and meet others with similar interests on the Bristol and Bath tech scene. With a new theme for each brekkie, they also offer the opportunity to expand your knowledge and stay up to date with current and up and coming areas of tech in the South West.
While virtual reality (VR) might still seem like something from the realms of science fiction, it’s fast materialising as a very real prospect and becoming increasingly relevant to a seemingly endless list of industries poised to take advantage of its immersive capabilities.
Head to the Engine Shed to discuss this disruptive technology with Opposable Games‘s Ben Trewhella and Dan Page, who’ll soon be bringing everyone who’s anyone in VR to Bristol with their upcoming SouthWest VR Conference.
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Bristol Festival of Ideas: Judith Rodin, University of Bristol, 16 January @ 6 -7pmAs a part of Bristol 2015 and the Festival of the Future City and run in association with the Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, the Bristol Cultural Development Partnership (BCDP) has organised this free talk on resilient cities will discuss how we (companies, individuals and societies) can prepare for our future by building disaster proof cities (ranging from natural disasters, terrorist attacks and disease to name a few). Find out more and get your free ticket to Building Resilient Cities. |
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Executive Briefing on Web Application Security, The Engine Shed, 20 January @ 7.30 -9.30amAimed at companies who write or use software connected to the internet. According to TVS, this free breakfast briefing will “inform you of the security threats you face, your responsibilities in respect of those threats and practical suggestions on how to discharge those responsibilities.” Get your free tickets to the Executive Briefing on Web Application Security. |
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LCSW Business Breakfast: Sustainable Transport and Logistics, Bath Innovation Centre, 20 January @ 7.45 -10amLow Carbon South West (LCSW) is an organisation working to support the growth of the low carbon and environmental sector in the South West of England. Join them this month at the University of Bath Innovation Centre where they will be looking at some of the new companies and business models that are helping to provide 21st Century solutions in sustainable transport and logistics. Tickets for the LCSW Business Breakfast: Sustainable Transport and Logistics are now available and cost £7 for LCSW members or £14 for non members. |
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ACCU Bristol: Lessons from the OuLiPo, Marriott Hotel, 21 January @ 7 -9pmACCU Bristol is the local chapter of the ACCU (which stands for professionalism in programming). They meet most months to discuss a wide range of topics relating to software development. This month they will be joined by speaker Thomas Guest who will talk about OuLiPo, a literary collective of mathematicians and writers whose interest is in applying algorithmic constraints to works of fiction. Want to find out more? Check out the ACCU Meetup group and sign up to Lessons from the OuLiPo. |
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SW Mobile: Let’s talk freelancing, University of Bristol, 21 January @ 7 -8.30pmSWmobile is a mobile focused tech group in the South West England. The events are free and give members a meet and learn from other mobile professionals based in the area and beyond. This month they will be joined by three guest speakers, Karl Nosworthy, Dave Jones and James Barlow to discuss the trials and rewards of running your own small business or going it alone as a contractor. Find out more and sign up for free to attend SW Mobile: Let’s talk freelancing. |
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Bristol and area Software and CTO Meetup, The Three Tuns, 21 January @ 7pmBristol and area Software and CTO Meetup run regular casual gatherings aimed at bringing together senior technologists within software companies to meet others in a similar position, share problems and solutions and discuss any other relevant topics.
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South West AerospaceHackers Meetup, The Watershed, 21 January @ 7.30 -9.30pmSouth West Aerospace Hackers is a monthly meet-up for people based in the South-West or South Wales who work (or want to work) in the aerospace industry, and are seeking to hack their experience of it. |
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Bristol WordPress People: Setting up WordPress + Q&A, 21 January @ 7pmA meetup group aimed at people who love to use WordPress (or are interested in using WordPress) to create websites. This month’s meetup is perfect for those who are new to WordPress as it covers the basics of setting up WordPress, covering some best practices and tips and tricks. Find out more and sign up for free to the Bristol WordPress Meetup group. |
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South-West ElasticSearch Community: ElasticSearch and Apache Spark, The Guild Hub, Bath, 22 January @ 6.30 -8.30pmThis meetup will start with a brief introduction to some of the capabilities of ElasticSearch, including its power as a real-time analytics engine, followed by a demo of how the team at The Filter are beginning to integrate ElasticSearch with Apache Spark to solve larger and more complex analytics tasks that ElasticSearch can’t solve alone. Find out more about this South-West ElasticSearch Community talk. |
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Lunchtime Talk: How to write about Social Media, The Watershed, 23 January @ 2 -3pmThe Pervasive Media Studio at the Watershed is open for a lunchtime talk every Friday. This week, join Literary novelists Nikesh Shukla and Chris Killen as they talk about the impact Social Media has on our lives. Find out more about this week’s Pervasive Media lunchtime talk. |
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The Pulse: Open Office Hours, The Engine Shed, 23 January @ 10am -4pmThe Pulse is a community of entrepreneurs, founders and business owners with the aim of bringing together and supporting people at the Seed stage of their Startup business. This month, founder of the group, James Barlow is running an ‘ask me anything’ open office at the Engine Shed in Bristol. |
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SETsquared Alumni CEO Forum, The Engine Shed, 23 January @ 3.30 -5.30pmA safe and secure opportunity for CEOs of growing businesses to share challenges and help peers with their challenges – be they people, strategy, funding or market related. Please note this forum is for Bristol SETsquared Alumni members only. |
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SETsquared Masterclass: Developing Strategies, The Engine Shed, 27 January @ 10am -3pmThis workshop is a largely practical session which explores the various kinds of business strategies new ventures must develop. It reviews how to go about developing good strategies, making them feasible, measurable and then communicating them. |
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CodeHub: Bristol Hack Night, The Engine Shed, 27 January @ 6 -9pmThis month’s CodeHub Bristol Meetup will offer the chance for developers in Bristol to get together in an informal social setting to work on projects, learn, and share with other developers. Find out more about what’s involved in hack nights and sign up to CodeHub Bristol for free. |
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Women Who Code: Innovative Outlook for 2015, Bristol, 27 January @ 6pmWomen Who Code is a global non-profit organisation. Their mission is to inspire women to excel in technology careers by creating a global, connected community of women in technology. Join them this month for their first meetup of 2015 where they will be joined by guest speakers with plenty of opportunities for Q&A and networking. |
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Accessible Bristol: Talk about HTML5, ARIA and the Open Web, The Engine Shed, 27 January @ 7pmAccessible Bristol is a meetup for everyone who enjoys planning, designing, developing or using technology that is accessible and usable by everyone. This month they will be joined by Steve Faulkner, a Principal Accessibility Engineer at The Paciello Group (TPG) for a talk on HTML5, ARIA and the Open Web.
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BathSPARK New Year Mixer, Bath Brew House, 28 January @ 6 -9pmBathSPARK brings together people of Bath who work in tech. It aims to create opportunity, encourage diversity and spark new ventures. Coder meet Creative. Creative meet entrepreneur. Entrepreneur meet talented graduate. This is social networking (for real) with local digital people enjoying a drink, and talking about what they love. This is an extremely popular networking event so sign up quick as places are limited! |
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Bristol JS: HTML5 game development in Phaser.js, BaseKit Bristol, 28 January @ 7 -10pmBristol JS is a meetup group for Javascript developers and those who are looking to find out more about Javascript. Are you interested in making games with Javascript? Come learn with Jeff Schomay how to go from blank page to a fully playable game in 2 hours. Sign up to attend HTML5 game development meetup with Bristol JS. |
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Bristol Open Source Meetup Group: Winter social, 28 January @ 7pmBristol Open Source User Group is free meetup group focused on open source software usage, design, development and support. If you use, contribute, support, develop or enjoy open source software then this is the group for you. In order to find out more detailed information about this meetup, you need to become a member.
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If you have an upcoming tech or creative event we haven’t mentioned in this list, tell us about it! And check out more events on our events calendar.

Shona Wright
Shona covers all things editorial at TechSPARK. She publishes news articles, interviews and features about our fantastic tech and digital ecosystem, working with startups and scaleups to spread the word about the cool things they're up to.
She also oversees TechSPARK's social media, sharing the latest updates on everything from investment news to green tech meetups and inspirational stories.