Calgary keeps its people the same way a good room does: on purpose.
I’m not from Calgary. I moved here from Vancouver in 2008 for a fresh start and planned to stay six months. It’s been almost two decades. I stayed because of the people. (The blue skies helped.)
I’ve spent my career gathering people: a magazine, a media company, a membership, a digital community of 250,000. Every year I bring 2,000 brand leaders to Banff for The Gathering. The biggest lesson from all of it is that the gap between a good event and a great one is rarely the budget. It’s intention, and intention costs almost nothing.
That matters for this city more than we admit. Gallup and the Knight Foundation spent three years studying 26 American cities to learn what makes people attached to where they live. Social offerings, openness and beauty came out on top, ahead of the local economy, leadership and safety. The cities with the highest attachment also had the highest GDP growth.
Now look at home. At the end of 2024, 54% of Canadians reported a strong sense of belonging to their community. Alberta came last, at 50%. Fewer than half of adults aged 20 to 34 feel that belonging, and they’re deciding right now whether Calgary is home or a stopover. I think of connection as a resource, the same as time or money. Run low on it, and everything else costs more. So should Calgarians be concerned?
Why We Gather
Every year The Gathering rallies around one theme. This year it was boldness. Next year it’s Lead the Way. The longer I do this work, the more convinced I am that nobody leads the way alone. Each of us is holding a piece of the map. The founder knows something the CMO doesn’t. The newcomer sees what the lifer stopped noticing years ago. You only see the whole route when everyone puts their piece on the same table. That’s what gathering is for.
How to Host on Purpose
Start with why. Before the invite goes out, decide what you want people to leave with. Then give the room something to do with it. The best thing I can hand a group as a facilitator is one good question they work on together. It gets people past the weather in about four minutes.
Introduce people by what they’re building, not by their titles. Leave time where nothing is scheduled, because that’s where the second conversation happens, and the second conversation is where belonging starts. I’ve run sold-out events where nobody left with a new relationship. Attendance is the easy part.
And mind the door. Years ago I scaled an event across Canada, and the first thing we standardized wasn’t the stage or the sound. It was how we greeted people when they walked in. Every room tells a newcomer whether they belong within about ten seconds.
How to be a good guest
Hosting is half of it. The other half is showing up well. Be where your feet are. Put the phone away. Ask the second question. Walk over to the person standing alone, because you’ve been that person. A fully present guest changes a room as much as the host does.
One of the best community builders this city ever had was Jim Button, co-founder of Village Brewery. I worked alongside him building The Best of Calgary Awards. Jim was generous with connection. You’d get a text out of nowhere: I know someone you should know. It was always intentional. On Wednesdays he opened the doors at Village for Hump Day, and that’s where he did his matchmaking. He built the room, invited the people, and let the room do its thing.
Start with the room you already have
You don’t need a venue or a title to do what Jim did. Start with the next meeting you run. The next family dinner. The coffee with the new hire who just moved here and doesn’t know anyone yet. Decide why you’re bringing people together and how you want them to feel when they leave. Then show up like it matters, because to someone in that room, it does.
Some city builders pour foundations. Others open the door and make the introduction. Calgary keeps its best people when more of us do the second kind of work.
Everyone holds a piece of the map. Bring yours.
Sources
- Knight Foundation and Gallup, Soul of the Community
- Knight Foundation, Soul of the Community FAQ
- Statistics Canada, “Sense of belonging to your local community”
Mandy Balak is a 3X founder, entrepreneur of 18 years, president of The Gathering Festival,
and the author of Chasing Enough: The High Achiever's Guide to Sustainable Success. She
works with founders and executives on building the capacity to lead without burning down their
lives to do it.
