Information Architecture

**A software engineers guide to LLMs** In this talk Richard Conway will break down what LLMs are layer by layer, how they work, how they use software principles to work and how to use them in software. This will be a fluid talk with a lot of philosophy, maths from school and how to build your software understanding things like hallucinations and new techniques that can make your management of LLMs more deterministic. We'll consider a lot of things here including the new code generation tools which have developers quivering in their boots, what they mean for our industry and how to use them for effect. Lots of mini-demos and great discussions, good people, beer and pizza! **About the speaker** Richard Conway co-founded the user group, along with Andy Cross, Joe Hancock and Chris Parsons. He is a Microsoft AI MVP and a Microsoft Regional Director and has been writing software in one form or another since his fingers were large enough to hit a ZX81 keyboard.

Registration Portal: [Event Registration Portal](https://luma.com/cclondon26?utm_source=sherif) About Event ​"Why are there no coffeeshops open late? But what if I want to co-work at night?!?" - everyone on Twitter ​Cerebras is excited to present, Cafe Compute. The first, late-night pop-up coffeeshop with a barista bar ☕️, cozy snacks and couches 🛋️, and more. ​​​​​​This event is brought to you in collaboration with OpenAI. ​​Cerebras is the world’s fastest AI inference, up to 15x faster than leading GPUs. Cerebras Inference is powered by our Wafer-Scale Engine (WSE-3) - the world's largest AI chip. Experience the speed for yourself with OpenAI Codex-Spark, powered on Cerebras, and get free compute at cerebras.ai. Location Please register to see the exact location of this event.

**Message Graig in advance for location, usually a pub or beer garden in new cross** Come along and join some fellow writers. We'll write together and chat together. Take two hours to get creative! All you need is yourself and a pen and paper (or laptop) :) You can either work on your own project, or pick one of the provided prompts to fire your imagination.

Vibe Coding Collective is teaming up with **ElevenLabs** to push the boundaries of sound-first vibe coded apps. For one night, we’re getting full access to their tech to explore what’s possible when vibe coding meets voice and music generation. Whether you want to build a voice-controlled game, an AI storyteller, or a children’s app, this is your playground. Use any tools you like (Lovable, Google AI Studio, v0, Cursor, Replit…) and plug in ElevenLabs' power. 🍻 **Format 🛠️** We’ll be teaming up in small groups (2–3 people). We'll provide a specific "Voice & Vibe" challenge, then it’s heads-down building. The goal is to **vibe, experiment with sound, and see how voice and music changes the way we interact with vibe coding**. ## New to vibe coding or voice tech? ✨ No worries! We’ll provide a special **ElevenLabs Starter Kit** with API recipes and prompt examples so even total beginners can get an AI talking in minutes. ## Schedule 🕒 *(Aim to arrive by 6:50 PM so we can get your API access sorted!)* * 7:00 – ElevenLabs Presentation & Tech Demo * 7:20 – The Challenge + Team Formation 🤝 * 7:30 – Round 1: Build & Hear 💻 * 8:15 – Break (Grab a drink, hear what others are cooking) 🍺 * 8:30 – Round 2: Polish & Play 🏗️ * 9:00 – The "Vibe Check" Demos 📺 (Show/Hear what you built!) * 9:20 – Hang out, network, make friends ✌️ ## Who is it for? Anyone! Curious coders, GameDevs, artists, musicians, sound designers, voice actors, entrepreneurs. If you’ve ever wanted to talk to your computer (and have it talk back), you belong here. ## What to bring: * Laptop! 💻 * Headphones (Essential for testing those voice vibes!) 🎧 * Vibes ⚡ ## Location 📍 London College of Political Technology Newspeak House 133-135 Bethnal Green Road London E2 7DG 👉 No gatekeeping. No silence (this time). Just new voices and friends! Disclaimer: By signing up, you consent to the collection and sharing of your name, email address, photos, videos, and software, unless you explicitly opt out by informing the organizers.

We start with warm up exercises. These are gentle movements and stretching from Qi Gong. We then proceed through the Tai Chi Form (short-form Yang style), usually at an easy pace, but with continous repetition. You need to wear loose clothing that allows body movement. The sessions end with some more Qi Gong meditations. Tea and Coffee is available. Please RSVP if you are going to attend, so as we have some idea about numbers.

April Edition ✨✨! We will be at Kraken Tech (Octopus Energy Group), London office! (in-person only event, no streaming) **Talks:** **Digitising Historical Caving Data with Django** - *Andrew Northall* Building an automated pipeline with Django which can extract, structure and publish 2,700+ historical printed reports from scanned PDF copies. *Andrew Northall* is a Python & Django specialist who maintains several open source Django projects/services for the caving and amateur radio communities. **llms.txt for Django: what works** - *Thibaud Colas* The llms.txt format is an emerging standard to structure information for Large Language Models. It’s a desirable addition to the docs of Python packages. Let’s review how to adopt it! We’ll discuss the fundamentals of the format and its benefits as a user of the docs, and as a maintainer. How to produce and consume those files across different tools (Sphinx, mkdocs, Django). How to optimize them for different LLMs with an eval suite. Tools and techniques you should be able to reuse through other engineering tasks with LLMs. *Thibaud Colas* works at Torchbox as developer, core contributor to the Wagtail CMS build on Django. **Want to share your Django or Python knowledge?** We’d love to feature your talk! Just fill out our [speaker form](https://forms.gle/LkaRdKVTF9ApbrEq7) to propose a talk! **Agenda:** • 6:15pm Doors open, socialising • 6:30pm Food and drinks offered by our sponsor • 7:00pm Doors close \*\* • 7:15pm Introduction, News, Talks • 8:30pm Socialising • 9:30pm Fin **Please make sure to arrive between 6:15 PM and 6:55 PM**. If you arrive earlier than 6:15 PM or later than 6:55 PM, you can take a seat in the seating area located in the downstairs reception. **Please note that we cannot accommodate arrivals after 7:15 PM.** Our meetups are governed by a [Code of Conduct](https://www.djangolondon.com/code-of-conduct/). Please take a few minutes to read it. This meetup is sponsored by: • [Kraken Tech (Octopus Energy Group)](https://kraken.tech/): "Kraken is a revolutionary energy tech platform built with predominantly Python & Django. We Serve 54 million households worldwide and have 38GW of contracted capacity." • [JetBrains](https://www.jetbrains.com/): "We make professional software development a more productive and enjoyable experience." Website: [https://djangolondon.com](https://djangolondon.com/) BlueSky: [@djangolondon.com](https://bsky.app/profile/djangolondon.com) Github: [github.com/djangolondon](https://github.com/djangolondon/) Open Collective: [opencollective.com/the-london-django-meetup-group](https://opencollective.com/the-london-django-meetup-group/)

**Venue:** Riverbank House, 2 Swan Ln, London EC4R 3AD **Please note:** 1\. 🚨🚨🚨 A valid photo ID is required by building security\. 🚨🚨🚨 2\. This event follows the [NumFOCUS Code of Conduct](https://numfocus.org/code-of-conduct). Please familiarise yourself with it before attending. If your RSVP status says "You're going" you will be able to get in. No need to show your RSVP confirmation when signing in. If you can no longer make it, please unRSVP as soon as possible. **Code of Conduct:** This event follows the NumFOCUS Code of Conduct. Please get in touch with the organisers with any questions or concerns. As always, there will be free food and drinks, generously provided by our host, Man Group. **Main Talks** 1. **[Nicoleta Lazar](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleta-lazar-921a6864/) Query federation in modern OLAP databases** As analytics ecosystems grow more diverse, organisations increasingly need to query data across warehouses, data lakes, and operational systems without excessive data movement or duplication. **Query federation** has become essential by enabling unified SQL access and intelligent predicate pushdown into heterogeneous sources. This talk introduces the core principles of federation and why it matters for modern OLAP workloads. Using StarRocks as a model system, we highlight its vectorised execution engine, native connectors, and deep Apache Iceberg integration that together deliver high-performance lakehouse querying. 2. [Ben Guerin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjhguerin/) **How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let Claude Code Write the Python [the story of [ismypubfucked.com](http://ismypubfucked.com/ "http://ismypubfucked.com")]** 43,000 pubs. Official VOA data. One question. [ismypubfucked.com](http://ismypubfucked.com/ "http://ismypubfucked.com") got 400k visits in two weeks and wall-to-wall media coverage: from the Mirror to the Telegraph to City AM. I'm not a Python developer. I used Claude Code to wrangle government spreadsheets, match them to OpenStreetMap, and ship a working site. All in less than 6 hours from initial idea to a live website. The AI wrote the Python, I just knew what story the data could tell. This talk covers what happens when tools like Claude Code unlock Python for people who think in narratives rather than syntax, and what a decade of building viral campaigns has taught me about making people actually give a shit about spreadsheets. **Lightning Talks** 1. **TBC** 2. **TBC** \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **Logistics** Doors open at **6.30 pm** (get there early as you'll need to sign in with building security). Talks start at **7:00 pm**, with drinks afterwards from **9:00 pm** at The Banker (EC4). We have reduced capacity for this event, but there will be plenty of people to discuss data science questions with. Please unRSVP in good time if you realise you can't make it. We're limited by building security on the number of attendees, so please free up your place for your fellow community members. If you want me to trim lightning talks down to two or shorten any abstracts, say which ones.

**Online Agenda - Via Teams** * 18.20 - Introductions * 18:30 - Guest Speaker Talk * 19:30 - Q&A. Event Close **______________________________________________________** **In Person Agenda** 18:00 - Arrive. Networking 18:30 - Guest Speaker Talk 19:30 - Q&A & Pizza 20:30 - Event Close **______________________________________________________** **Report Design and Your Brain** Your brain is amazing but it can work in strange ways when trying to understand your visualisations and data. How can we make it easier for viewers to understand it, how can you hack your visual to give it a better emotional context. In this fun and slightly interactive session, Jon will give you insight on how to structure your visuals and dashboards, and learn how your brain can mislead lead you, and processes information. **_____________________________________________________** **MeetUp Member Resources In GitHub Here:** [https://github.com/EastMidlandsData](https://github.com/EastMidlandsData) Including introduction slides and our **Code of Conduct**. **______________________________________________________**

**Meet likeminded UX professionals and discuss ways to use design to reduce burnout.** ​**The Problem:** With stress and burnout on the rise, how can we use design to help Londoners "switch off" and reconnect with nature? ​For our first **design impact lab** session, we’ll be using the Japanese practice of *Shinrin-yoku* (forest bathing) as a lens to discuss how simple interventions can help us reconnect with nature to reduce stress & burnout. ​**The Flow (Sunday 12th April 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM):** * ​**10:00 \| Coffee & Intros \(WatchHouse\, Hanover\):** We’ll meet for coffee to kick things off. You'll meet other attendees and discuss the problem space. * ​**10:30 \| Observation Walk:** A 15-minute mini fieldwork walk to Hyde Park. You'll observe how the environment changes from a busy urban centre to the park and how this impacts how you feel. * ​**11:00 \| Shinrinyoku & Brainstorming:** Once we find a quiet spot, we’ll dive into the world of *Shinrin-yoku*. We’ll discuss how nature can boost wellbeing and brainstorm "micro-interventions" - simple design ideas (digital or physical) that could encourage more people in London to engage with nature to reduce stress & burnout. * ​**12:00 \| Closing & Optional Lunch:** We'll wrap up our discussions and those who have time can go for a casual lunch or picnic in the park. *** ​**Pre-Event Mission:** ​Your mission is to bring **one photo on your phone** of a natural spot that made you feel good recently. It can be a park, a window box, or even a stubborn weed in the pavement. We’ll share these over coffee to explore the different ways in which nature impacts our day to day experiences. *** ​**The Details:** * ​**Meeting Point:** WatchHouse, Hanover (Oxford Circus). * ​**Capacity:** We’re keeping this to a small group to ensure everyone can connect and contribute. Please ensure your RSVP is up to date and let us know if you're unable to attend. * ​**Vibe:** Friendly and relaxed! No laptops, just notebooks and fresh air. *** ​**Why Join?** ​If you’re a designer or researcher who wants to use your skills for more than just "conversion," come say hi. ​It’s a chance to meet like-minded people, learn about forest bathing and brainstorm design solutions to a universal problem. ​It's also our very first event, and I would love to hear everyone's thoughts and feedback to improve. ​**Who is this for?** ​Our events are for UX designers, researchers and other strategic and creative thinkers who are passionate about using their skills for social good, not just profit. ​**Who is the host?** ​Hi! 👋 I'm Max - a London based design researcher. Until recently I was based in Tokyo, where I ran a small design agency and spent over 10 years as a meetup organizer. I'm exploring ways to bring designers together to use our skills to work on meaningful problems. If that sounds like something you're interested in, I'd love to have you join! \*This event is being advertised on multiple sites, so the actual number of attendees will be different to what appears on meetup.

(pictured: the Overground tracks crossing the Grand Union Canal, officially the 'Kew Curve Grand Canal Bridge'. Behind, on L, in Victoria Road, is Nash House, now 'The Collective Old Oak' co-living project) Around a new station, to be called 'Old Oak Common', where HS2, the GWR main line and the Elizabeth Line will interchange, is planned a new extension of London, called Old Oak Park Royal. They're saying it'll be the 'Canary Wharf of the West'! It's got a canal running through it, the Grand Union, remarkably unchanged since its opening in 1801, and an extraordinary number of railway lines. Starting in the 1920's Park Royal became the UK's largest area of industrial estates: distribution depots, sorting offices, factories, warehouses and breweries, at London's doorstep for goods to and from Bristol, Liverpool and Manchester. On 27th January this year, Karen and Madeline\*, hero TBM's\*\* of the Elizabeth Line campaign, set off on a new 7 km journey, from the underground 'box' in the future interchange, toward Euston in Central London. The extension will upgrade and diversify the area. Let's see it before that happens. We'll meet at noon on Saturday April 11th at Willesden Junction Station, and see the area once intended to be 'Old Oak North'\*\*\*, then along the Grand Union Canal to 'The Collective' co-housing development, and Old Oak Common Lane, passing the HS2 station box, into Wormwood Scrubs, seeing the LCC's Old Oak Estate, past the eponymous Prison, then the LCC's White City Estate ('where their chickens came home to roost', architecturally speaking), QPR's stadium, and so to 'The Hoxton Hotel' at Shepherd's Bush, where our table will be waiting! Hope you can come! Andy \*named for Karen Harrison, the UK's first female train driver, and Madeline Hobbs, former President of the Women's Engineering Society. \*\*Tunnel Boring Machines \*\*\* abandoned in 2018 after the attempted Compulsory Purchase failed.

Agents are writing code, running workflows, and building other agents. ​ The challenge isn’t basic functionality. It’s getting these systems to operate predictably in production, and integrating them into how teams build and ship software. ​This session covers both. ​ From a production lens: how to build agentic systems using spec-driven development, structured context, and evaluation loops that hold up at scale. ​From a human lens: what breaks when agents become collaborators. Ownership, coordination, and how teams actually adapt. ​Speakers: ​**Clifton Cunningham** ​**Member of Technical Staff, [guidemode.dev](https://guidemode.dev/?utm_source=luma) \| Former CTO at DailyMail\, Infinitas Learning\, TES Global** ​Clifton will explore what happens when AI agents become part of your team. Drawing on experience leading large-scale engineering organisations, he’ll unpack the human, cultural, and operational challenges of working alongside AI colleagues. ​**Alfonso Graziano** ​**AI Tech Lead\, Nearform \| Author of *AI-Native Software Engineering*** ​Alfonso will walk through how to build agents that build and maintain other agents. A practical, production-focused session covering spec-driven development, context engineering, evaluation loops, and how to make agentic systems reliable at scale. ​ Join us for pizza, drinks, and practical AI insights.

**Important:** Register on the [event website](https://www.aicamp.ai/event/eventdetails/W2026040809) is required for admission. **RSVP on meetup is turned off** Enjoy afterwork drinks and practical discussions on Apache Kafka, ClickHouse, PostgreSQL and much more. Enjoy a session designed for data engineers, architects and technical decisions-makers like you, who want to address the challenges they face in data-infrastructure. No high-level pitches but straight into practical discussions on how to build scalable, efficient open sourced-powered data platforms. **Why Attend?** * Connect with local data and tech professionals * Get practical insights into streaming, storage, and analytics with Kafka, Iceberg, PostgreSQL, and ClickHouse * Learn how to reduce operational overhead while scaling your data infrastructure performance * Bring your questions and challenges for direct discussions with Aiven experts **Agenda:** * 4:00pm\~4:30pm: Checkin, Food, Networking * 4:30pm\~6:00pm: Tech talks and Q&A * 6:00pm\~7:00pm: Happy hour, Open discussion, Networking * **Tech Talk: Context Is the New Infrastructure** **Speaker:** Stan Dmitriev (Aiven) **Tech Talk: Apache Kafka on Aiven** **Speaker:** Hugh Evans (Aiven)

PHP London Pub Social – April 9th, Jack Horner, Tottenham Court Road Join us for an informal PHP London pub social at the Jack Horner on Tottenham Court Road! We've got a reserved space from 6:30pm to 8:30pm on Thursday 9th April - a mix of seating and standing with a few tables. This is a relaxed, no-agenda evening — just good conversation with fellow PHP developers over a drink. Whether you're a long-time community regular or coming along for the first time, all are welcome. Places are limited.

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!

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 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!

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!

**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)

**Important time note:** Please plan on arriving between 5:30 and 6:00 as the elevators lock after 6 and you'll need to message us and we'll need to come get you. The building address is 4450 Bridge Park The entrance is 6620 Mooney St, Suite 400 You will need to scan your ID at the door to get a visitor badge. **Abstract** GitHub Copilot is powerful, but what if you could scale from a solo AI assistant to an entire team of specialized agents working in parallel? This session introduces Squad: an open-source framework for multi-agent orchestration that lets you define teams of AI agents with specific roles, responsibilities, and expertise. We'll progress from Copilot basics to the Copilot CLI, explore how Agents add autonomy, and see how Instructions and Skills let you customize agent behavior. Then, the climax: a live demo where a Squad team of 3 agents (Lead, Developer, Tester) stands up and builds a working application in real-time, showcasing true multi-agent collaboration. Whether you're new to AI or exploring how to scale your use of Copilot, this session will show you what's possible when agents work as a team. **YouTube Link** TBD