Cognos

Speaking in public is not easy for most people, nor is running a workshop, writing a speech, thinking on your feet, or even speaking up amongst friends. At POWERtalk you will learn how to gain the confidence to step up to speak up. We've seen it many times over. We help you with simple techniques to look confident as a speaker even when you feel like crumbling. **You'll be giving presentations before you know it and loving it!!!** **\>\>\>** We believe there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to growing as a person and can tailor a plan to help you grow as an individual. **<<<** **Join us at a meeting soon to learn how to build your confidence as a speaker, effectively communicate, get creative, and have lots of fun doing so.** \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- POWERtalk Australia is a not-for-profit organisation training in public speaking and leadership skills. Guests are free of charge for the first 3 meetings. Full membership is surprisingly very affordable. Please ask if you would like more information or become a member. We look forward to meeting you for a night of POWERtalk (1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month) *PS. If you have symptoms of cough, runny nose, fever or are unwell, we wish you a speedy recovery and please ask that you stay away until you are well again. Thanks :)* We meet every 1st & 3rd Tuesday. Address: Power Neighbourhood House - 54 Power Avenue Ashwood Vic 7.45 pm start. 2-hour duration. Come along and enjoy the fun. We look forward to meeting you.

Join us for Linux Town Hall meeting where we discuss the upcoming Hardware Freedom Day. This is an open Town Hall meeting where all community members are welcome to attend, observe, and contribute to the discussion. Whether you're a long-time LUV member or new to our community, your input is valuable as we shape the future of Linux Users Victoria. The meeting will be held online, making it accessible for everyone to participate from the comfort of their own space. This is a great opportunity to learn about Linux Victoria's behind-the-scenes operations and how you can get involved in our growing open-source community. Come be part of the conversation as we work to strengthen and expand Victoria's Linux adoption and open source practice! ## Key Discussion Points \- Upcoming Hardware Freedom Day \(April 18th\) \- Project Moonshine \(Remote Displays for Linux Desktops\): WIP report and demo ## How To Join Online Link to join: [https://electronworkshop.com.au/goto/venue](https://electronworkshop.com.au/goto/venue) We use a self-hosted Big Blue Button instance (aka BBB) for this meeting, managed by Electron Workshop and hosted by Serversaurus. ## Join In Person Maps Link for Inspire9: [https://maps.app.goo.gl/eRMAXpBdmG1Ece4m9](https://maps.app.goo.gl/eRMAXpBdmG1Ece4m9) **Getting to Inspire9:** Train station is located right next to Inspire9. Tram 70 is a short 2 minute walk. There is 2hr parking on the street but very often there are no spots. Inspire9 main entrance is wheelchair accessible. When arriving, head for the AKM building. ## Schedule 19:00 Meet and greet 19:30 Opening 20:30 ClosureApril

**Welcome to 'GENESIS' - The Generative AI Filmmaking Networking Event!** ***THIS MAY BE A LIMITED EVENT - PLEASE MAKE SURE TO RSVP.*** This group is for individuals interested in exploring the intersection of generative AI technology and movie making. Whether you're a filmmaker eager to discuss movie production, a technician looking to collaborate, or simply wishing to learn more and discuss AI in film, this group is for you! Join us at the Emporium food court (located behind Grill’d Burger Restaurant in the CBD, not near Melbourne Station) to discuss AI technologies, workflows, productions, AI ethics, government responsibility and more. After 7pm, we continue the evening with Happy Hour drinks at a nearby bar and a chance to grab dinner together. Feel free to bring friends interested in AI filmmaking; it’s a great way to introduce new faces to our expanding network. RSVP to help us gauge attendance and become part of a growing network of film professionals and enthusiasts. Though the event begins in the afternoon, the relationships you build here can last well into the night and beyond. At 7 PM, we move to The Carlton Club, a five-minute walk away, where we continue networking in a more formal rooftop setting over drinks and food. This change of venue offers an ideal environment to keep conversations flowing. We want to foster a supportive network for creativity, film and television production, and collaboration between the world of cinema and AI. Connect with like-minded individuals and explore the exciting world of generative AI filmmaking together at GENESIS.

If you have been diagnosed with an Anxiety Disorder join us at 10 Yarra Street, South Yarra for the Mental Health Foundation Australia Face to Face Anxiety Support Group. Introducing John as our current facilitator., he is an experienced facilitator in many diagnoses including Anxiety. John is passionate about mental health and offering support to consumers. Our facilitator is non judgmental and takes a compassionate approach to addressing mental health issues and engages participants to share in a positive and safe environment. **This support group is for those affected with a diagnosed anxiety disorder.** To register your attendance please see: [https://supportgroup.mhfa.org.au/anxiety-support-group](https://supportgroup.mhfa.org.au/anxiety-support-group) For other MHFA support groups please see: [https://supportgroup.mhfa.org.au/](https://supportgroup.mhfa.org.au/) If you need any further information feel free to contact us at supportgroup@mhfa.org.au

We have joined forces with the Statistical Society of Australia to broadcast their "Di Cook Award Seminar". **When:** Wednesday 8th of April, 6:30-8:15pm **Where:** 750 Collins St, Room 853, Level 8 (Studio Room) **What:** Free food & drinks while watching the Di Cook Award Seminar! The [Statistical Computing and Visualisation](https://www.statsoc.org.au/Statistical-Computing-and-Visualisation-Section) section of the Statistical Society of Australia proudly presents the Di Cook Award webinar, promoting open-source statistical software development. This event will showcase outstanding work submitted to the [2025 Di Cook Award](https://statsocaus.github.io/dicook-award/). The award winner will present their winning project in a 30-minute talk, highlighting the motivation, methods, and key insights behind their work. Two highly commended applicants will also share their submissions, each delivering a 15-minute presentation that outlines the ideas, approaches, and contributions of their projects. Together, these talks will provide an engaging overview of innovative software development represented in this year’s award submissions, offering attendees the opportunity to learn from and discuss exemplary work in the field. For more information about the award and the event, see the [SSA website](https://www.statsoc.org.au/event-6618285).

Hello everyone! Join us for an Apache Kafka® x Apache Flink® meetup on **Apr 9th from 5:30pm**, in Melbourne! The address, agenda, and speaker information can be found below. See you there! **📍Venue**: 394 High Street Northcote, Victoria 3070 \*\*\* **🗓 Agenda:** * 5:30pm: Doors open * 5:30pm - 6:00pm: Pizza, Drinks, and Networking * 6:00pm - 6:30pm: Chad Harris, Solutions Architect, Factor House * 6:30pm - 7:00pm: Stephen Ermann, Senior Customer Success Technical Architect * 7:00pm - 7:30pm: Additional Networking \*\*\* **💡 Speaker:** Chad Harris, Solutions Architect, Factor House **Talk:** Things that go bump in the night: Kafka Operational Issues and How to Survive Them **Abstract:** Most Kafka talks focus on how things should work—this one is about what actually happens in production. We’ll walk through real-world operational issues encountered with Apache Kafka and its clients, from subtle misconfigurations to full “why is everything on fire?” moments. Along the way, we’ll break down how to identify what’s going wrong, which signals actually matter, and how to approach debugging when the system doesn’t behave the way you expect. This talk will also touch on observability, common failure patterns, and practical mitigation strategies you can apply immediately. Expect a mix of technical deep dives, debugging workflows, and a few war stories (including some questionable decisions and log-staring sessions). If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s just you? It's not! **Bio:** Chad Harris is a streaming data specialist and Solutions Architect at Factor House, where he helps organisations design, scale, and operate Apache Kafka platforms using industry-leading tooling. With experience scaling Kafka across organisations ranging from small startups to some of Silicon Valley's largest companies, Chad has been working with Kafka since its early days. He brings deep expertise across both real-time streaming and data-at-rest systems, with a strong focus on practical, production-ready architectures. \-\-\-\-\- **💡 Speaker:** Stephen Ermann, Senior Customer Success Technical Architect **Talk:** From Lag to Smooth Sailing: How Queues for Kafka (KIP-932) Fix Slow Consumers **Abstract:** Slow or bursty consumers are one of the most common reasons Kafka applications end up fighting lag, over-provisioning, and operational fire drills. Traditional Kafka consumer groups work brilliantly for high-throughput stream processing, but they can make it hard to serve heterogeneous consumers, apply backpressure cleanly, or guarantee fair access when some consumers fall behind. In this talk, we’ll explore **Queues for Kafka**, the new KIP-932 feature that introduces native queue semantics on top of Kafka’s battle-tested log foundation. We’ll look at how queues decouple producer and consumer throughput, isolate slow consumers without penalising fast ones, and provide more predictable delivery and scaling behaviour for “task” and “work queue” style workloads. You’ll walk away with: * A clear mental model of how Kafka queues differ from topics and consumer groups * Concrete design patterns for handling slow and spiky consumers * Migration tips for evolving existing Kafka-based services to use queues safely If you’ve ever stared at a lag graph wondering whether to add more consumers, more partitions, or more coffee, this session will show you a cleaner path to smooth sailing with Kafka. **Bio:** Stephen Ermann is a **Senior Customer Success Technical Architect at Confluent**, working with leading financial institutions across APAC to design and operate mission-critical, real-time data platforms. With deep experience in **Apache Kafka**, **Confluent Cloud and Platform**, and surrounding ecosystems like **Kafka Connect** and **Apache Flink**, Stephen helps customers solve hard problems around scalability, reliability, and security in production. They are particularly focused on **RBAC, OAuth, mTLS, and container image security**, as well as emerging **agentic AI** patterns built on streaming data. Outside day-to-day architecture work, Stephen regularly shares practical patterns and lessons learned at meetups and user groups across the region. \*\*\* If you would like to speak or host our next event please let us know! community@[confluent.io](http://confluent.io/)

Applied Scholastics Study Technology is able to improve anyone's ability to study. Millions of people are already using this technology and whole countries are now adopting it. - You can learn Faster with less stress - You don't forget the information - You stay interested in the subject - Your marks increase English literacy rates routinely improve by 25 to 35 percent. Likewise, student test scores improve dramatically with students routinely meeting or exceeding grade level expectations in EVERY ACADEMIC SUBJECT. Our workshop will be focusing on how students learn. Study Technology can easily be incorporated into any educational activity—from classroom instruction and curriculum design to employee training or homeschooling. It provides a stable foundation enhancing all educational efforts. Study Technology is what teachers, tutors, trainers, parents and students can use to improve the quality of teaching and learning. No matter the curriculum in your current academic setting, Study Technology offers proven teaching strategies and resources that can help resolve classroom issues and improve student achievement. No matter if you are a teacher yourself or a good students or bad student we can all do better at study once we have this technology under our belt. Teachers who use this technology report amazing turn around with once troubled students. The application of Study Technology has quite literally changed millions of lives. You are most welcome to bring along a friend or those that struggle with study. (any topic) If you are unable to attend this meetup then let me know, We can arrange for you to meetup at a different time and date. Light refreshments will be provided.

Hi Gophers! Join us this April for an evening of Go talks exploring real-world systems, from building a BitTorrent client to running Go on legacy architectures. We are looking forward to connecting with you. * **Agenda** **6:00pm — Food & Networking** **6:30pm — Intro + Go News** **6:45pm — Talks** **8.00pm — Wrap up then head out for kick ons** **🎤 Tom Clancy** **Building a BitTorrent client in Go** BitTorrent, first released in 2001 is a peer-to-peer protocol for file sharing. Its decentralised approach, where pieces of files are exchanged with peers (rather than a central server), is a natural fit for Go's concurrency model. This talk looks at the inner workings of the protocol, how to build your own client, and concurrency patterns for performance. Bio: Tom is a Software Engineer at Megaport, working on their edge networking functions platform (written in Go). **🎤 Sam Hobson** **Compiling Go for Ancient Architectures** Some customers approached Knocknoc asking if we can get our Go agent to run on their old HPUX PA-RISC and Solaris SPARC machines, both unsupported by Go, and we took on the challenge of finding a way to make it work Bio: "I'm Sam, I'm a software engineer of a couple of years working at a startup called Knocknoc on Just-in-time network layer access control software. Please come talk to me about cool stuff you're working on!" * **Interested in speaking at an upcoming event?** We will aim to have a mix of short (\~10min) and in-depth (20-30min) talks. If you’re keen to give a talk on a topic, share a project, or idea, please let us know [bit.ly/GolangMelbourneSpeakersForm](https://bit.ly/GolangMelbourneSpeakersForm)

Our regular monthly presentation night on the second Thursday of the month from 6:30pm! Thanks to Mantel Group for hosting us again this month. If you're coming in person we're there with food and drinks from 6pm. We will be live streaming the presentations as usual from 6:30pm at [http://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/live](http://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/live) \-\-\- **Agenda** \| 6:00pm \| Food \+ Networking \| \| 6:30pm \| Event begins\. Introductions \| \| 6:40pm \| Chris Hocking — Pretending to be a coder \- Version 3: The world has changed since we last saw Chris… Codex\, Claude and burnout\. \| \| 7:15pm \| TBC \| \| 7:55pm \| Wrap up \+ social time at a nearby venue \| \* All times are approximate. Presentation order will be confirmed on the night. \-\-\-\- We are always looking for speakers and believe everyone has an interesting talk hiding inside themselves. If you are interested in letting that talk out at a future event you can get in touch on the website [https://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/talks](https://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/talks) or on Slack.

This meetup is your introduction to Dianetics, and you can have your questions answered. **[DIANETICS THE ALL-TIME CLASSIC ON THE HUMAN MIND](https://www.dianetics.org/about/films/what-is-dianetics.html)** For 75 years, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health has remained popular, with over 20 million copies sold across 206 nations. Why? Because it challenges everything you thought you knew-about yourself, your decisions, and the unseen influences affecting your life. You may not know what the reactive mind is-yet. But once you do, it will change your life forever. This hidden part of your mind stores painful experiences and uses them against you, altering your thoughts, emotions and behaviors in ways you don't even realize. Inside this handbook, you'll discover: • Why the same struggles keep repeating—and how you can break free • The real reason behind stress, unreasonable fears, and negative emotions • A clear step-by-step method to clear your mind and unlock your true potential This is not theory—it's a practical, one-on-one journey into your reactive mind and how you can get rid of it. You don't have to wait for change-you can start today. **Discover the Power of Your Mind** Join us for a relaxed, interactive **Dianetics Meetup**, where it's your chance to explore the groundbreaking discoveries in *Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health* and have all your questions answered. Come with your curiosity—leave with insight. Ask for Michel, Pam or Donovan. If the time and date do not suit you personally, you may reschedule, SMS Pam on: 0405 648 822 https://www.dianetics.org/about/films/what-is-dianetics.html

**Cloud to Career** **Proudly presented by AWS Cloud Club @ University of Melbourne & Quantum Club** **Sponsored by CareerXlerate** **Turn your cloud knowledge into real-world impact—and your passion into a career.** In today’s world, knowing the cloud is just the beginning. The real question is: **How do you turn those skills into meaningful, real-world AI and industry solutions?** **Cloud to Career** is a high-impact, immersive evening designed to bridge that exact gap — bringing together students, industry leaders, and innovators into one powerful space. Whether you're exploring cloud, diving into AI, or preparing for your first role in tech, this event will give you something far more valuable than theory: **insight, exposure, and real connection with the people already doing it.** **Event Details** * **Date:** April 8th * **Time:** 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM * **Audience:** \~100 students, engineers, and aspiring tech professionals **What to Expect** Industry Panel: Real Stories, Real Insights. Kick off the evening with a high-value panel featuring leading professionals from the industry. Learn how they transitioned from learning cloud to building impactful solutions in AI, engineering, and beyond. **We’ll dive into:** * Breaking into the tech industry * Real-world applications of cloud + AI * Skills that actually matter (beyond coursework) * Mistakes, lessons, and career-defining moments **Live Q&A — Ask Anything** An open Q&A session where you drive the conversation. Ask your questions — whether you're unsure about career paths, technical skills, or industry expectations. Includes both: * In-person audience questions * Online audience participation **Networking + Buffet** Move into a relaxed networking session with food and meaningful conversations. This is your chance to: * Speak directly with industry professionals * Build genuine connections * Explore opportunities, mentorship, and ideas **Live Case Challenge (Student × Industry Collaboration)** This is where things get exciting. During networking, 2 students and 2 industry professionals will be randomly selected to take part in a live architecture challenge. **What happens:** * A real-world case scenario is presented * Collaborate for 40 minutes * They design and discuss a solution architecture * Present their thinking to a panel of judges **Then:** * Judges break down the solution * Highlight what worked and what didn’t * Share how they would approach the problem Meanwhile, the rest of the room continues networking — making this a dynamic, interactive, and high-energy environment. Why You Should Attend * Go beyond theory and see how cloud + AI is applied in the real world * Learn directly from industry leaders * Build meaningful connections that could shape your career * Experience a live problem-solving environment * Be part of one of the most engaging student-industry tech events at UniMelb **Final Note** This isn’t just another tech event. It’s a bridge between where you are and where you want to be. If you're serious about turning your skills into a career — *this* is where it starts.

The Fellowship of the Star Schema: Transforming OLTP Data for Power BI One does not simply build reports on OLTP data. Join us on an epic journey from the depths of raw, normalized tables to the shining halls of a well-modeled star schema fit for Power BI greatness. We will demystify the differences between OLTP and OLAP, walk through star schema vs snowflake (and why Power BI has a clear favorite), and show you the compression differences between normalized and columnar storage that will make you never look at an OLTP model the same way again. We will cover the different types of dimensions, when to use them, and how to handle Slowly Changing Dimensions without losing your mind. You will leave knowing exactly how to identify a bad model, how to convert OLTP data into a clean star schema, and how to forge relationships that rule them all. Whether you are a data wizard, a curious hobbit, or somewhere in between, your models will never be the same.

**The Data-Driven Brand: Using Analytics to Shape Perception** Can you use analytics to improve tacos? This being CBUSDAW, we think the answer is probably “yes”, but we’re not sure how to implement or test this theory. For our April meetup we’ve got Sara Kear, CMO of Condado Tacos, to investigate this delicious question. Sara will explore how she blends quantitative data and qualitative customer feedback to shape brand positioning and drive business decisions. We all know that marketing and analytics go way beyond attribution. Sara will show how Condado uses customer insights to inform product and pricing strategy. She’ll also highlight how Condado leverages customer feedback at scale to influence operational priorities, positioning marketing as the voice of the customer across the organization. In the last 12 years Condado has gone from one location in Columbus to 52 locations across 10 states, so we’re guessing there’s more to that growth than really good guac (though the guac probably helps). Ultimately, this talk focuses on the intersection of art and science—using data to inform creativity and build a brand that resonates with customers in a measurable way. **About Our Speaker** Sara Kear is Chief Marketing Officer at Condado Tacos, where she oversees brand, restaurant design, menu and pricing strategy, off-premise including catering, and customer data strategy. Since joining in 2021, she has helped grow the brand from 19 to 52 locations while building a data-driven marketing organization focused on loyalty and customer insights. Condado has since been named to the Inc. 5000, recognized as Breakout Retailer by Chain Store Age, and consistently ranked among FastCasual’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers. Thanks to our 2026 sponsors: [Clarivoy](https://www.clarivoy.com), [What Box Consulting Group](https://www.whatboxconsultinggroup.com), [Conductrics](https://www.conductrics.com), and [Piwik PRO](https://piwik.pro) More info at [cbusdaw.com](https://cbusdaw.com)

Pay attention! We’re delaying a week for those of you who may be on Spring break and/or celebrating the holiday. Ok, no pancakes, but waffles-a-plenty. Join the local UX and Digital Design community for a casual monthly breakfast. Look for us upstairs!

We're bringing the community together for a casual happy hour with ServiceNow-themed trivia, food and drinks, and great conversation. Details coming soon - for now, save the date and plan to join us for connection and fun.

AI is changing how art is made. But when does it stop being your work and start being the machine’s? This month we're going to be doing a panel with with digital image, music, and written word artists, talking about at what point, while using AI in the creation process, does the work become not the artist creation? We encourage audience participation during this event that will be moderated by Chris Slee. Whether you’re deep in the field or just getting curious, come connect with others building and exploring AI in Columbus. Sponsored by [Transform Labs](https://www.transformlabs.com/services)

The global Azure community is coming together again, and Columbus is officially on the map. View the session lineup and speakers at [Global Azure Columbus 2026](https://coazure.github.io/cbus-global-azure-2026/) On **Saturday, April 18, 2026**, the Azure Columbus Meetup, DevOps Meetup, and Code and Coffee Meetup are hosting our local edition of Global Azure 2026. This is a free, community-driven event packed with learning, networking, and all things Microsoft Azure. Whether you’re building modern cloud-native apps, experimenting with AI agents, deploying containers, automating infrastructure, or just beginning your Azure journey, this event is for you! **What to Expect** * Engaging technical sessions * Real-world Azure architecture & cloud-native patterns * AI, agents, automation, and modern DevOps * Food and drinks (because learning burns calories) * Time to connect with fellow engineers, architects, and cloud enthusiasts **Who Should Attend?** * Software engineers (any language, any stack) * Cloud architects * DevOps engineers * Data professionals * AI explorers * Platform builders * Anyone who loves solving hard problems with great tools If you build, deploy, automate, scale, monitor, or optimize in Azure, you’ll feel right at home. **Why Global Azure?** Global Azure is a worldwide community event where Azure user groups host learning sessions on the same day across the globe. It’s grassroots. It’s technical. It’s practical. And it’s powered by people who genuinely love sharing what they’ve learned. And yes, it’s free to attend!