Season of AI (confirmed for Monday June 24, 2024)

Season of AI is a series of technical presentations focused on AI on Azure

Hello Boston Azure Community!

Some final details have been added below. We are ready!

On Monday we are hosting a set of Azure AI-focused presentations on the following topics:

• Concise overview of AI terminology and relevant concepts.
• We will illustrate some limitations of current LLMs and show examples of overcoming such limitations using advanced prompt engineering techniques and the RAG pattern.
• Azure AI Studio will be used to demonstrate concepts.
• Semantic Kernel will be used to demonstrate RAG and some related concepts.
• Most or all sample code will be C# - though the concepts are general and SDKs and Semantic Kernel supports other language bindings.

Hope to see you there!

Sincerely,
Jason, Bill, and Veronika on behalf of @bostonazure

VENUE, LOCATION, and ID REQUIREMENTS
This event is taking place at Microsoft New England Research and Development, affectionately known as Microsoft NERD.

• Location: One Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA
• Parking: Parking is available under the building (cost: $10 for parking on weekends and [I AM UNABLE TO VALIDATE THE NEXT STATEMEWNT BECAUSE www.microsoftnewengland.com is down right now] weekday discounts when you arrive after 5 PM) - sometimes on-street parking can also be found along Memorial Drive or other nearby streets.
• Public Transportation: the nearest MBTA station is the Kendall/MIT stop on the Red Line (NERD is a just a short walk from there).
• Government-issued ID needed for entry. Please check in at the security desk with photo id on street level. They will direct you to the event (one floor up on the elevator).
• Please set up your Meetup account to have your real name. (Because real name is needed to get into the building - may take an extra minute or two at security desk if your name doesn't match or you are not on the list.)
• Note: While we are still separately running Virtual Boston Azure events where participants join the event over the internet, we do NOT intend to broadcast this event. This event is IN-PERSON ONLY.

SPONSORSHIP
Thank you to Daymark for supporting the local technology community by sponsoring this event by providing food for our attendees!

AGENDA

• 6:00 PM - open to attendees!
• 6:00-6:30 - Have a couple of slices of pizza while socializing with others from the local tech community**. (We will get at least one Vegetarian and Gluten-free option.)**
• 6:30-8:00 - Azure OpenAI and adjacent topics, as mentioned above.
• 8:00 - done!

PRESENTERS

1. Jason Haley • @haleyjason • Azure MVP, North Boston Azure Organizer
2. Bill Wilder • @codingoutloud • Azure MVP, Boston Azure Co-organizer
3. Veronika Kolesnikova • @veronika_dev1 • AI MVP, Boston Azure Co-organizer

IN SUMMARY...

• SHOW UP AROUND 6 bringing GOV'T-ISSUED ID - driver's license or passport or similar should do the trick - this is to get into NERD.
• EAT and SOCIALIZE until 6:30
• LEARN AI stuff until 8:00

Aside: There are no longer any mask or vaccine requirements from Microsoft who is kindly offering the space for us to host this event.