About us
This is group for technologists in Charlottesville that primarily serves as the hub for some of Charlottesville's most interesting technology events, including beSwarm, beCraft, First Wednesdays, and others.
Contact the organizers if you have any questions!
Upcoming events
15
Cville AI Explorers (CvAIEx) - Meeting #17
Studio IX, 969 2nd St SE, Charlottesville, VA, USAI Design Bake-Off: Hands-On with AI Design Tools
This month's meeting is a hands-on experiment, so bring a laptop. Instead of talks, we'll break into small teams, each pick an AI-based front-end design tool, and spend about 45 minutes seeing what it can do. Then we'll reconvene to demo the results and share lessons learned.
The common use case for all teams: redesign the Charlottesville AI Explorers website, cvaiex.org. We'll provide the existing content in markdown. The focus is on look+feel and user experience rather than content, though content improvements are welcome too.
Everyone is welcome and will join a team, whatever your experience level. You can drive a tool, contribute ideas, or just hang out with a team and watch how it goes. No coding or design background is required, and a short list of suggested tools will be posted before the meeting. Each team will have a lead to guide the workflow and keep things moving; we have four lined up and would love one or two more, so let us know in `#cvilleaiexplorers` if you're up for it.
Bring a laptop if you'd like to get hands-on with the tools.
***
## Event Details
Date: Tuesday, September 29th
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Studio IX – 969 2nd St SE, Charlottesville, VA***
## Schedule
5:30 PM – Setup begins
5:45 PM – (Optional) Book Club Track
6:00 PM – Doors open
6:30 PM – Opening and hackathon
7:15 PM – Demos and lessons learnedOrganizers
Owen Zanzal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/owenzanzal/
Mike Powers - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-powers-4262033/
Chat with us on Cville Slack #cvilleaiexplorers
If you aren't a member of Cville Slack, DM me your email, and I'll send you an invite.Sponsors
Studio IX
Coworking space in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, designed for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and remote workers.
Studio IX offers a flexible shared office environment with options for open workspaces, dedicated desks, and private offices. The space fosters a collaborative community through weekly events and mixers, featuring a 'warm industrial' atmosphere with ample natural light.
Amenities include high-speed internet, soundproof phone booths, conference rooms, and premium coffee. Studio IX is staffed by a community manager on weekdays and provides 24/7 access for members.
Tours of the space are available; interested individuals can contact them via:- Email: COWORK@STUDIOIX.CO
- Phone: 434.260.3803
- Website: https://www.studioix.co/
5 attendees
beCamp 2026 - Reception & Pitch Night
UVA School of Data Science, 1919 Ivy Rd, Charlottesville, VA, USYOU MUST REGISTER AT https://be.camp
This year is a special one: beCamp is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
If you haven't been before, beCamp is Charlottesville's unconference — the conference planned by the people who show up. There are no pre-selected speakers or sessions. We build the agenda together.
Friday, October 2 — Reception & Pitch Night
4:30–5:30pm · The Poplar Restaurant
We’ll kick things off with appetizers, drinks, and a chance to reconnect with Charlottesville’s tech community.5:30–8:30pm · UVA School of Data Science
Then we’ll head over to the School of Data Science for Pitch Night. Bring a topic you want to present, a question you want to explore, or simply come hear what others have in mind. We’ll pitch ideas, vote, and build Saturday’s schedule together.Saturday, October 3 — Sessions
9am–4pm · UVA School of Data Science
Saturday is the conference itself. Choose your own path through the sessions the community selected the night before — presentations, discussions, demos, lightning talks, and plenty of time to meet people and exchange ideas.beCamp is completely free to attend, including food and drinks, thanks to the sponsors and community members who make it possible.
A huge thank you to our sponsors for investing in Charlottesville’s tech community and helping us keep beCamp open and accessible to everyone. We couldn’t do this without you.Premier Sponsors
Scale — An award-winning digital product and brand agency trusted by global companies including Volkswagen, Mars, ServiceNow, and OPEI. Scale specializes in building brands and digital experiences designed to deliver measurable results.UVA School of Data Science — The University of Virginia’s dedicated school for data science, bringing together researchers, students, and partners across disciplines to use data to solve complex problems. Its work spans computing, statistics, AI, health, business, and the social sciences.
John Feminella — A software engineer, enthusiastic technologist, and curiosity advocate.
Carson Sweet — A serial entrepreneur and cybersecurity innovator with more than 30 years of experience building and scaling startups. He has founded or co-founded six startups, achieved four exits, and now advises startups on cloud architecture, cybersecurity, AI systems, and B2B SaaS.
GA-Intelligence - GA-Intelligence is an industry leader in geospatial storage, visualization, and analysis serving government and commercial clients. GA-Intelligence enables you to understand what the world is telling you, so you can focus on what to do about it.
Hardshell AI - Hardshell is a venture-backed AI security startup based in Charlottesville that enables organizations to safely use sensitive data in the AI systems they build, buy, and deploy.
Sponsors
The Poplar Restaurant
SpiffWorks
Standard Agents
Cville AI Explorers
Fraccel
Control Alt RecycleRegistration is open now:
https://be.campYOU MUST REGISTER AT https://be.camp
Come with an idea. Come with a question. Come because you’re curious.
The people who show up make beCamp what it is.Want to help support beCamp?
beCamp is free because the community helps make it happen. We’re looking for sponsors and supporters to help cover specific event needs, from food and drinks to other costs that keep the weekend running smoothly.
You can see the current call for needs here:https://github.com/becamp/becamp.github.io/milestone/9
If you or your organization are interested in sponsoring a specific need—or helping in another way—DM me and we’ll figure out the best fit.
Every contribution helps us keep beCamp free and community-driven.YOU MUST REGISTER AT https://be.camp
6 attendees
beCamp 2026 - Saturday Sessions
UVA School of Data Science, 1919 Ivy Rd, Charlottesville, VA, USYOU MUST REGISTER AT https://be.camp
This year is a special one: beCamp is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
If you haven't been before, beCamp is Charlottesville's unconference — the conference planned by the people who show up. There are no pre-selected speakers or sessions. We build the agenda together.
Friday, October 2 — Reception & Pitch Night
4:30–5:30pm · The Poplar Restaurant
We’ll kick things off with appetizers, drinks, and a chance to reconnect with Charlottesville’s tech community.5:30–8:30pm · UVA School of Data Science
Then we’ll head over to the School of Data Science for Pitch Night. Bring a topic you want to present, a question you want to explore, or simply come hear what others have in mind. We’ll pitch ideas, vote, and build Saturday’s schedule together.Saturday, October 3 — Sessions
9am–4pm · UVA School of Data Science
Saturday is the conference itself. Choose your own path through the sessions the community selected the night before — presentations, discussions, demos, lightning talks, and plenty of time to meet people and exchange ideas.beCamp is completely free to attend, including food and drinks, thanks to the sponsors and community members who make it possible.
A huge thank you to our sponsors for investing in Charlottesville’s tech community and helping us keep beCamp open and accessible to everyone. We couldn’t do this without you.Premier Sponsors
Scale — An award-winning digital product and brand agency trusted by global companies including Volkswagen, Mars, ServiceNow, and OPEI. Scale specializes in building brands and digital experiences designed to deliver measurable results.UVA School of Data Science — The University of Virginia’s dedicated school for data science, bringing together researchers, students, and partners across disciplines to use data to solve complex problems. Its work spans computing, statistics, AI, health, business, and the social sciences.
John Feminella — A software engineer, enthusiastic technologist, and curiosity advocate.
Carson Sweet — A serial entrepreneur and cybersecurity innovator with more than 30 years of experience building and scaling startups. He has founded or co-founded six startups, achieved four exits, and now advises startups on cloud architecture, cybersecurity, AI systems, and B2B SaaS.
GA-Intelligence - GA-Intelligence is an industry leader in geospatial storage, visualization, and analysis serving government and commercial clients. GA-Intelligence enables you to understand what the world is telling you, so you can focus on what to do about it.
Hardshell AI - Hardshell is a venture-backed AI security startup based in Charlottesville that enables organizations to safely use sensitive data in the AI systems they build, buy, and deploy.
Sponsors
The Poplar Restaurant
SpiffWorks
Standard Agents
Cville AI Explorers
Fraccel
Control Alt RecycleRegistration is open now:
https://be.campYOU MUST REGISTER AT https://be.camp
Come with an idea. Come with a question. Come because you’re curious.
The people who show up make beCamp what it is.Want to help support beCamp?
beCamp is free because the community helps make it happen. We’re looking for sponsors and supporters to help cover specific event needs, from food and drinks to other costs that keep the weekend running smoothly.
You can see the current call for needs here:https://github.com/becamp/becamp.github.io/milestone/9
If you or your organization are interested in sponsoring a specific need—or helping in another way—DM me and we’ll figure out the best fit.
Every contribution helps us keep beCamp free and community-driven.YOU MUST REGISTER AT https://be.camp
3 attendees
Past events
174
