The HTML500 is a multi-city

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

technology

conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

that teaches 500 attendees per event the basics of

HTML The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaS ...

and

CSS Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone technolo ...

programming. Its goal is to promote

web development Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). Web development can range from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web applications ...

and

web programming Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). Web development can range from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web applications, ...

literacy among Canadian youth, and open the doors for those who may be interested in pursuing careers in

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...

. The HTML500 is Canada's largest educational

event, having taught thousands of Canadians how to

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...

since its inception. Its annual events are held in four Canadian cities:

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

. Event sponsors include IBM,

Telus Telus Communications Inc. (TCI) is the wholly owned principal subsidiary of Telus Corporation, a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian national telecommunications company that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services ...

(a Canadian telecom giant), the

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

Government's Innovation Council, and

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...

History

The HTML500 was founded in 2013 by Canadian entrepreneurs Khurram Virani and Jeremy Shaki. Virani and Shaki are the co-founders of Lighthouse Labs, the largest Canadian

web developer A web developer is a programmer who develops World Wide Web applications using a client–server model. The applications typically use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in the client, and any general-purpose programming language in the server. is used f ...

Coding Bootcamp Coding bootcamps are intensive programs of software development. They first appeared in 2011. History The first coding bootcamps were opened in 2011. As of July 2017, there were 95 full-time coding bootcamp courses in the United States. The le ...

. Lighthouse Labs acts as the official sponsor and parent company of the conferences. In an interview with BetaKit, Shaki said of the educational initiative, "It's about more people in Canada understanding the value of digital literacy. It's about trying to get our governments and other major Canadian institutions involved in the conversation." In 2014, the event expanded to three additional Canadian cities:

, and

. The second annual event in

had over 2500 applicants, of which the official 500 were selected through a lottery process. Over half of the attendees were women. Beginning with the second Vancouver event, the Vancouver Economic Commission began running a career fair in tandem with the day's activities to further provide career resources to aspiring

s. The multi-city events are routinely covered on the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governmen ...

television network.

Event activities

Each event is designed to host 500 attendees. In each city, 50 local technology companies are chosen to help participate by managing and providing teaching assistance at one of the event's 50 attendee roundtables. All the partners and local community members who participate in the event donate their time voluntarily, as the event is a

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, and there is no entry charge. Each event begins with a keynote speech plus an educational crash course taught by a notable member of the Canadian technology industry. Attendees are then provided with reference materials to assist them in the second phase of the schedule: building a website from scratch. By the end of the seven-hour schedule, it is the conference's goal to have removed the attendees' intimidation associated with programming, and to give them the confidence and resources needed to continue their

learning if they choose to do so.

References

External links

Official SiteDeveloper Awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:HTML500 Recurring events established in 2013 Technology conferences Business conferences International conferences in Canada