The Marketing Meetup IRL: Toronto

The Toronto Marketing Meetup is an informal, friendly place for the marketers of Toronto to meet, learn, and share knowledge with one another. Come in 'listen' not 'sell' mode 🙂

We'll be in a brand new venue for this one, and we just want to get together, say hello, have a chat, and have a nice time.

Think of this as a community event, where the focus is very much on you meeting other people in a chilled out friendly space. We’ll chat over food and drink, listen to an inspirational speaker, chat some more, and go home buzzing with new contacts and new ideas.

Let’s have a lovely night in the company of some amazin’ people.

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Speaker: Shiv Narayanan, President & Founder, How To SaaS

Topic: How to Build a 2026 Budget that Turns Marketing Into a Revenue Engine

Budget planning isn’t just a finance task—it’s one of the most strategic levers a marketer has. With changing buyer journeys and AI tools impacting growth strategies for 2026, having a marketing budget that ladders up to high level goals is more important than ever before. This session gives you the frameworks and data-driven thinking needed to build a marketing budget that actually drives results.

You’ll learn:

• How to calculate the right-sized budget based on your business model and revenue targets
• How to diagnose inefficiencies and redirect spend toward proven, high-ROI channels
• How to forecast the investment required to hit pipeline and revenue goals
• How to factor in org design and headcount so your team has the resources to deliver

You’ll walk away with a clear, defensible 2026 budgeting model you can confidently present to leadership.

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The format of the night:

6:30 pm - doors open - drinks, networking, and smiles

7:00 pm - introduction and talks begin

7:30 pm - talks finish, networking, listening, saying hello, and positively lovely people

8:30 pm - end of the night - you leave with new contacts and fresh ideas

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A big round of thank-yous to…

Our local host, EVNT by LAUFT, offers versatile event and coworking spaces available on-demand across LAUFT’s flexible workspace network. Book desks, offices, workrooms, or boardrooms, by the hour or day. Lauft.work

Our photography partner, Lamor Photography, who deliver polished brand imagery you can repurpose across campaigns, presentations, and social platforms.

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And finally...

This is a donation ticketed event. Ticket price is yours to choose, from $5 to $20 😊

We of course understand that these are tough times, so if you are experiencing financial hardship and cannot afford the minimum donation amount, please reach out to el@themarketingmeetup.com and we’ll find a ticket for you (provided capacity hasn't already been reached!) 🙂

Please let your marketing friends and colleagues know about this group too, we hope to build it into a great resource for the community over the coming months and years. Attendance will be taken at this event. If you sign up but don’t show up, this has a knock on effect on event arrangements. If it happens 3 times, you’re outta here! This is simply a measure to allow appropriate respect to the organisers, speakers, sponsors, and your fellow community members 🙂

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See you there!