This is a guest post written by the Notman Young Founder’s Circle

Earlier this year, a group of inspired young professionals and entrepreneurs launched the Notman House’s Young Founders Circle (“YFC”). The objective of the Young Founders Circle is to improve the connections between startups and more traditional businesses by organizing activities and events for both parties to participate and mingle.

Notman House, meanwhile, is at the heart of Montreal’s thriving startup community and is a project which is in constant evolution. The OSMO Café and the Google Terrace provide the House with unique spaces for networking events and attract large numbers of daily visitors.

One aspect that Notman House still needs to improve in is engaging the more traditional business community of Montreal in its mission. There still exists a large portion of business people in Montreal who are not aware of the growing startup scene or the House.

Having corporations and startups working together will be a key element of this success. Corporate leaders understand that innovation comes from inside and outside the walls of their businesses, while great startups can make use of corporate guidance, access to markets and resources. The objective is to merge the two distinct startup and corporate communities in Montreal into one unique network of leaders.

The Young Founders Circle wants more young professionals in Montreal to become involved with everything that Notman House represents. As of today, over 70 ambassadors from leading businesses in Montreal are strong supporters of the YFC’s mission.

The inaugural event of the YFC, a massive Halloween Ball (#NotmanBall), is happening this Saturday, October 29. The four-story haunted house party will offer lounges for like-minded people to network, a guest appearance by the ghost of William Notman, DJs to keep the dancing going until the wee hours and, of course, a costume contest (with the winners taking home round-trip tickets to San Francisco, courtesy of Air Canada). Over 400 guests are expected to party the night away.

Moreover, beginning in 2017, the Young Founders Circle will also be throwing a series of quarterly breakfasts, networking events and workshops.