My Pop CoLab’s 2025 Year in Review 💥

This year, Pop CoLAB helped teams do something kind of wild: talk to each other, laugh a little, and build trust. That is because our purpose is to make play a mindset, a way to do your work, not a thing we do outside or between work.

So what did 2025 look like?

1. We hosted 100+ experiences with teams, leaders, and communities.

2. We expanded our facilitator network with local experts.

3. I wrote hundreds of “Guess Who Team Trivia” questions - which led to a lot of “WAIT… I didn’t know that about you!” moments.

4. We helped people build trust, feel safe, collaborate, and belong.

5. I got to speak with groups and teams about the Power of Play.

6. I met some amazing people who not only became part of the play movement, but I would now call my friends.

7. We hosted our 3rd annual Made for the Holidays: Made Here Market + Mingle - and it was our biggest turnout yet.

8. I joined the Social Entrepreneur Enclave and felt deeply supported and inspired by the people in it.

9. We welcomed teams from outside Manitoba who wanted to experience Pop CoLab for themselves. 

10. We were invited by Scotiabank to run a pop-up activation for 300+ people

11. We hosted youth programs, non-profits, and charities, and kept finding ways to make the space more accessible.

12. We landed in the Winnipeg Free Press a few times, plus a spotlight with Red River Métis business development.

13. I pitched Pop CoLab at Pow Wow Pitch, and then earned the chance to pitch at the national level (didn’t win, but learned a lot and met so many people like our Big Games Play partners, the Smoke Sisters, Tannis and Rayel of Nina Waste Events).

14. I mentored two students from Met High School

And hosted two incredible RRC Cre-comm interns who brought fresh energy and ideas into the space.

15. We changed the website a million times and changed the set-up of space around even more than that 😂 (Thank you, ADHD)

I also celebrated the life of my amazing mother, who I know is with us every day. Love you, Mom. ❤️ 

I also got to do all of this with my wife, Lindsey, and the two best kids a dad could ask for - Ash & Aubs.

I am sure I am forgetting a bunch of highlights, but I am looking forward to 2026, and I’m even more excited to hear from you: the HR folks and culture-builders, the ones who keep people connected, and the innovators who’d use our Playroom to bring new ideas to life.

What would you want to see more of next year from Pop Colab?

-More talks (keynotes or one-on-ones)?

-Learning Labs (hands-on skill building: communication, trust, creativity, leadership, self-awareness)?

-Make + Take (hands-on workshops with no big expectations, just fun)?

-Active activities (movement, games, playful challenges—low cringe, high connection)?

-Mix + Match (talk + activity + make-and-take in one experience)?

-Could we team up? Who knows. 

Let me hear from you! Drop your thoughts in the comments (or DM me if you’d rather keep it private). 👇

popcolab.ca