Big Drone Show and Film Festival take Toronto to new heights

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 12, 2017) - If the experts are right, chances are you will be seeing far more drones in the skies in coming years. Drones, and their seemingly endless potential, were on full display last week at The Big Drone Show, Canada's premier drone event. The Show, in its second year, featured over 40 speakers, representatives from over 100 innovative companies, and panels and speeches covering topics from cargo drones to defense, and regulatory frameworks to diversity in the drone and technology industry.

"Seeing so much interest from over 1000 attendees over the two days is just amazing," said Adam Sax, President and CEO of The Sky Guys, a GTA-based drone services company. "For many it's hard to grasp the potential uses of drone technology, but when you bring industry leaders together and enable them to discuss developments in their field, you get a far more detailed vision of the future."

In addition to the trade show, The Big Drone Show played host to the inaugural Toronto Drone Film Festival, which featured the best in aerial cinematography from around the world. The Film Festival, the first of its kind in Canada, offered an international platform for filmmakers to showcase their work in front of industry professionals, the drone community and an extensive media network. This year, Doug Meadows won the grand prize, a DJI Phantom 4 drone and $3,000 cash, for his film, "Lucid Dreaming." Submissions were limited to 120 seconds and required a minimum of 50% drone footage.

There has been exponential growth in the global drone market size over the last several years, climbing to $1.6 billion as of 2016. Canada, with its highly educated and technical workforce, is primed to take advantage of this transportation revolution. "Canada has been an important market for Propeller since the early days at our company, and it's still the case now that we're in 120 countries," said Andy Pérez-Benzo, Director - Americas of Propeller Aero. "We maintain an office here because it's a nation of industry, where many of our clients in mining, aggregates, waste management and heavy civil operate. It's great to see that many of the drone service providers who fly for these kinds of clients are coming to the Big Drone Show to keep up with the latest trends in the industry, and we look forward to working with each of them."

Central to the Show this year was the guest speaker series, where topics ranged from diversity in the industry to navigating the ever-changing world of drone regulation. "These industry pioneers have shown that drones can and will continue to drive social and economic changes," said Sax. "It was a great forum for these experts to address critical technical, economic, social, and governance topics related to drones."

"The growth we experienced in the Big Drone Show this year was great, it really mirrors the growth in interest in the industry as a whole. We can't wait to welcome the drone world back to Toronto again next year."

For event photos, please click here.

About The Sky Guys

The Sky Guys are Canada's leading solutions providers and technology developers in the UAV / Drone industry. Their team of world class engineers, data scientists and advanced technologists continually break the mould by providing clients with new insights and innovative applications.

The Sky Guys offers specialized UAV services to over 600 clients, using a unique approach to capture data, aerial video and photography, infrastructure inspection and 3D mapping.

Through its wholly owned technology division, Defiant Labs, they instigate disruption at every corner. Developing proprietary drone technology and advanced data analytics for commercial and industrial use to give clients that needed edge. Defiant Labs, the future lives here.

About Cambridge House International

Cambridge House International has been building flagship, must-attend events for over 25 years, providing industries with the platform for networking, education and investment discovery.