Technical Certification

Have you been interested in woodworking, 3D printing, CNC, cosplay or Electronics? Come visit Maker Community to get a tour of our space, learn about our memberships, have a chat with our members and discuss your dream projects.

Monthly meeting for the Victorian Division of the Secular Party of Australia. We welcome anybody who is interested in a secular Australia. (The meeting officially starts at 7:30, with dinner prior from 6:30). http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/f/3/c/600_306312092.jpeg

**Gain The Confidence to Be Unstoppable! Free Class.** How to Achieve Self Confidence! Without question, self confidence is the key to success. It determines how many of your goals you achieve in life and has an enormous impact on your happiness. It affects how people perceive you, your career achievements, your ability to take risks or try new endeavours, as well as your overall attitude toward yourself and others. Self Confidence is something most people would like to have more of, but aren't sure how to get. Did you ever feel more certain of yourself in the past? Would you like to raise your self confidence ? To increase self confidence, you have to understand what reduces it. If you know why this happens you can reverse the situation and rebuild your self esteem. Self Confidence is self-determinism. One's belief in one's ability to determine his own course. As long as one has that, he's go the universe in his pocket. - L. Ron Hubbard. This day you are able to Learn a few things about: • The true source of security in life. • How self-confidence, self respect and self trust interrelate, and what you can do to rehabilitate them. • The exact steps to become more competent in whatever you do. Today's free class will put you into a good position to help you achieve a new level of self-confidence, accomplish more and progress towards a higher level of personal survival. Free parking, Free entree *** Todays free class is open to all people of goodwill and is held at the Life Improvement Centre located at Scientology. Our meetup classes contain universal knowledge that is applicable to all of us and can and is used by anyone of any faith as well as by those with no faith. Our meetups contain TOOLS for better living and they will assist you greatly in achieving your goals! These practical tools can be used straight away!

Join me for a relaxed walk and bird watching at Albert Park Lake, an extraordinary wetland habitat that is home to nearly two hundred species of birds. Created from a lagoon and originally part of the extensive Yarra River Delta, the lake and its surrounds are a popular parkland for locals and visitors alike. Together we can enjoy conversation and make new friends as we follow the path beside the water's edge and look out for gulls and cormorants roosting on the wharves. We'll wind our way around the lake and pass Gunn Island, a tranquil sanctuary and a safe nesting environment for local and migratory birds. Further around the lake we'll see waterbirds such as stilts, swamphens and coots among the reed beds. When we reach the southern end of the lake we can stop to enjoy the magnificent views of the city skyline across the water. This is a great spot for photography. We'll return to relax and socialise together in the Coots Picnic area and enjoy a snack and a drink. You can pick up a coffee and something to eat at the nearby Sir Albert Cafe or bring your own drinks and snacks. **Agenda** I will meet you at 10am on the lakeside of the Light Rail Tram Stop No.129 Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. We'll set off at 10.10am and follow the path beside the Melbourne Aquatic Centre and through the picnic area to the lake. From there we'll stroll past the wharves and Gunn Island, follow the long stretch of reed beds and walk to the southernmost point of the lake to take in the stunning views of the city skyline. We'll then make our way back to the Coots Picnic area to enjoy a snack and a drink together. This is an easy walk on flat pathways and the distance will be about 5.5km all up. It will take us around 1hr 45mins at a leisurely pace with stops along the way to enjoy and photograph the birdlife. **Location** Albert Park Lake is located in the suburb of Albert Park, 3km from the Melbourne CBD. The No.96 tram/light rail runs from the Melbourne CBD down past Albert Park Lake. There is free street parking available on Canterbury Road which runs beside the tram/light rail. Parking Fees apply to all car parks within Albert Park. When you RSVP, please click Attend on the event page and I will be in touch via Direct Messages about the details. I will also be available in the Event Comments on the day.

We’re back in 2026! Come play games with us! This venue is definitely biased towards "euro" style games but any and all games are welcome. Members will bring games that they like. Anything that is fun to play and share is welcome! Don't have a game, don't worry. We've got a decent selection, but you're always welcome to bring a game if you would like. Never played a board game before or it's been 20 years? No problem, we'd be happy to show you how to play. We love beginners, because we were all beginners at one point. Life is full of stress, let Monday nights be a fun night. Some of the games our regulars own: Settlers of Catan Power Grid Dead of Winter Terraforming Mars Stone Age Elder Sign Resistance/Avalon One Night Werewolf Hanabi Race for the Galaxy King of Tokyo Puerto Rico Ticket to Ride Europe 7 Wonders Love Letter Red Planet Century Spice Road Dune and Dark Moon Also, come to a couple of Meetups and Grab your very own discount card for Mindgames in the CBD. For 10% off and other exclusive discounts.

NuCalm is a patented, drug-free neuroscience technology designed to rapidly reduce stress, improve sleep quality, and aid recovery by shifting the body from a "fight-or-flight" state to a deeply relaxed parasympathetic state within minutes. [https://stamina.xosialx.com/nucalm.html](https://stamina.xosialx.com/nucalm.html) It uses neuroacoustic software, a biosignal processing disc, and light-blocking eye masks to guide brain waves from active beta states down to alpha/theta (relaxation/meditation) levels NuCalm uses a patented, clinically proven pitch and frequency matrix with non-linear oscillating algorithms to safely present your brain with precise signals, prompting what is known as a frequency-following response. Your brain synchronizes with the incoming NuCalm signals helping you naturally and effortlessly manage your state of mind by speeding up or slowing down your brain wave frequencies. NuCalm has mapped all of your brain wave frequency zones and created products to safely and predictably guide you to whatever mental state you desire. The amazing thing is, NuCalm is all-natural and works every time you use it within minutes. The best thing to do now is to watch the video on the website and download the NuCalm app. All you need is a headset and eye mask. This app purchase is covered with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Get started today and FEEL the difference even 15 minutes can make. WATCH THE VIDEO ON THE WEBSITE. [https://stamina.xosialx.com/nucalm.html](https://stamina.xosialx.com/nucalm.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.

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/)

Welcome to Serverless Sushi, the hottest new restaurant in town! As their newly hired developer, you've been tasked with revolutionizing their online ordering system. Let's embark on this exciting journey of building a robust, scalable API using Powertools for AWS Lambda. Powertools for AWS Lambda is a developer toolkit to implement Serverless best practices and increase developer velocity. It’s an open-source project that helps implement well architected best practices earlier in the development lifecycle. Learn how to build production ready AWS Serverless APIs that will instantly work at scale and learn about Powertools for AWS Lambda. **A laptop is required to participate.**

3 Teams. 3 Goals. Hexagonal Pitch. A game of alliance and betrayal in equal measure. We are looking for new players and returning players alike to come play a match. Players of any ability, fitness level or background are welcomed - the game is intended to be fun for a Sunday morning rather than super competitive. If you've never played before, that's okay - the rules are as simple as this: * There's no offside - roam where you will * Defend your goal at all costs * No hands (this is soccer-style football after all) Come down for 9:00am, we make some balanced teams and warm up for the match starting at 9:15. Three thirds are played of 25 minutes each so we're usually done by about 11:00am. All fitness and soccer skill levels more than welcome and encouraged! A note regarding junior players: We very much enjoy and encourage junior players to come along and play however please be aware of the following: * As most attendees are adults, all players must be a minimum of 1.5m tall and 13 years of age. Soccer may have incidental contact when contesting a ball, and we would hate for someone small to be injured as a result of running into someone larger than them. * Any players under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a playing parent or guardian. How to find us - We meet on the astroturf pitch near the Baselball and Hockey clubs in Albert Park. The main location we use is called "Dorothy Coleman Field". If we aren't there then there may be a couple of other locations, [as noted on this dynamic map](https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1JdDwV4AOV5e-xP5d56m16-eu29GlnZQ&usp=sharing) \- generally we will follow in number order\.

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.

Central Ohio Radio Enthusiasts—CORE—is an informal community for anyone enthusiastic or curious about radio—whether you're new to radio and want to learn or you've been tinkering for years and want to share. Ham radio operators, GMRS users, Meshtastic fans, software-defined radio nerds, makers, and technical and non-technical folks are all welcome. No experience required or expected. This month we have **WiFi HaLow: Introduction and Practical Use** with **Alex Barbur**. Details are are [core.radio](https://core.radio).

Christians in Tech is a community at the intersection of faith and technology. Our meetups are designed to spark meaningful conversations, promote knowledge sharing, and encourage growth—both in your career and your spiritual walk with God. Whether you're an experienced professional or just starting your tech journey, CIT welcomes you. Our Website [https://linktr.ee/citcbus](https://linktr.ee/citcbus) Sponsors and Partners * Improving (Venue Sponsor) * Bethel World Prayer Center (Fiscal Sponsor) * Fruits & Roots (Coffee Partner)

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!

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!

Make sure to RSVP on the Cental Ohio Azure event! 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)

Columbus Code & Coffee is an inclusive, informal co-working session. People of all skill levels attend, and we love it that way. Many people (optionally) bring projects to work on, and many other people (optionally) socialize the entire time. It's entirely up to you! **What to Expect at the Intro Circle** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ Near the beginning of the event (1:30 pm), we do a standup: * Organizer announcements, updates, and logistics Round 1 - (7 secs max): * Your name * What you're working on * What you can help others with Round 2: * Community events you wanna plug. If none, that's cool too. Round 3: * Job opportunities you're hiring for OR announce that you are looking for one. If none, that's cool. After the introduction circle, everything is self-organized! Feel free to work alone, pair up, attend one of our workshops/presentations, or mingle!