Office Hours Vancouver brings experts and community together
A new event series pairs academic research with social connection, tackling isolation and misinformation one conversation at a time. The first two sold out in six hours.
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Avneet Dhillon was working in mental health and research when she noticed a problem: great information was locked behind academic paywalls, expensive conferences, or student-only access. Meanwhile, Katrina Martin had spent years building We Should Be Friends, an organization devoted to creating spaces where adults could meet, learn, and make friends. By 2021, Martin had organized nearly 100 events — book clubs, camping trips, salons — all designed around the human need for connection.
When the two met at a coffee shop, the idea came quickly: what if they brought research experts directly to people who wanted to learn, and made the learning itself a social event?
Office Hours Vancouver was born.
Dhillon, who is completing her PhD with UBC's Connections Lab, and Martin partnered with The Pleasant on Main Street to host the events. Each one brings in an expert to share knowledge with the public — presented conversationally, free of jargon, and structured so attendees can both socialize with each other and the expert.
The first event featured Yuthika Girme, a psychology professor at Simon Fraser University, who talked about the science of relationships and singlehood. Both the first and second events sold out within six hours of opening registration, each drawing over 100 people.
The second event, on men's mental health on June 15, will feature Dr. John Oliffe, a UBC professor and an expert in the field. That one is already full. The third, on June 29, will bring in Paul Kershaw, another UBC professor focused on generational fairness.
"I think it just comes from that human desire to want to learn," Dhillon said. "And then also wanting to be in a setting where you can socialize. When you're in school, it's quite easy to make friends, but it becomes harder to make friends when you get older, so I think it just combines those two things."
The pair work closely with each professor to shape the presentation — ensuring it's interactive, jargon-free, and genuinely engaging. Dhillon said they plan each session so that attendees have real opportunity to connect, not just passively listen.
The rapid sellouts suggest Dhillon and Martin have tapped into something real. In a city where loneliness is common and misinformation spreads fast, Office Hours Vancouver offers something simple: real experts, real conversation, real people in a room together. No paywalls. No distance. Just the desire to learn and belong, in one place at one time.
More information about upcoming Office Hours Vancouver events is available online.