Telecommunications Pros

The Future of Software Needs Product Leaders Who Build With Purpose Join GitLab and Obsidi® for an exclusive Tech Talk in Toronto—designed specifically for mid- to senior-level product managers who are shaping the next era of technology and want to accelerate their impact. As a global DevSecOps leader, GitLab is transforming the way products are built, shipped, secured, and scaled in a fully remote-first world. This event explores how GitLab’s AI-driven development, secure product practices, and inclusive culture are setting new standards for product leadership across the industry. This isn’t just a tech conversation—it’s a career catalyst. Connect directly with GitLab product leaders, hear how they navigate complex roadmaps at global scale, and discover what it takes to lead product with clarity, influence, and vision. **Why Product Managers Should Attend** * **Advance your career trajectory** \- Engage with GitLab’s product recruitment team\, explore open roles\, and uncover how your experience aligns with their global product strategy\. * **Learn from product leaders building at scale** \- Gain insights from GitLab’s senior product and engineering experts on leading AI integration\, driving security\-first product decisions\, and building in a DevSecOps world\. * **Expand your influence and network** \- Connect with fellow product professionals and innovators across the Obsidi® community who are charting new paths in tech leadership\. 💻 Can’t attend in person? Join virtually and take part in the conversation online. **[CLICK HERE](https://app.obsidi.com/event/8ce930f5-5e50-433f-8b0b-b747518fd855?utm_source=obsidi&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=TechTalk-2026-jan-29&utm_content=meetup-hyperlink&utm_obsidi_source=events)** to register

The future of software needs product leaders who build with purpose. Join GitLab and Obsidi® for an **[exclusive Tech Talk](https://app.obsidi.com/event/8ce930f5-5e50-433f-8b0b-b747518fd855?utm_source=obsidi&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=techtalks-2026-jan-29&utm_content=meetup-hyperlink&utm_obsidi_source=events)** in Toronto—designed specifically for mid- to senior-level product managers who are shaping the next era of technology and want to accelerate their impact. As a global DevSecOps leader, GitLab is transforming the way products are built, shipped, secured, and scaled in a fully remote-first world. This Tech Talk explores how GitLab’s AI-driven development, secure-by-design product practices, and product-led culture are redefining what excellence looks like for today’s product leaders. This isn’t just a tech conversation—it’s a career catalyst. Connect directly with GitLab’s product leaders, hear how they navigate complex roadmaps at global scale, and discover what it takes to lead product with clarity, influence, and vision. Build smarter. Lead stronger. Ship with purpose — at GitLab. 💻 Can’t attend in person? Join virtually and take part in the conversation online. **[CLICK HERE TO REGISTER](https://app.obsidi.com/event/8ce930f5-5e50-433f-8b0b-b747518fd855?utm_source=obsidi&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=techtalks-2026-jan-29&utm_content=meetup-hyperlink&utm_obsidi_source=events)**

### JUST GO WITH IT IMPROV Come join us if you are experienced in improv or completely new, you’re invited to join us each week at the Thornhill Community Centre. We welcome all skill levels for a fun, supportive, and high-energy session. Have limited spots available and hoping to get a few extra from meetup. **$25 per drop-in • MONDAY Dec 29 6:30–8:00 PM (we could stay longer)**

The Ethereum Developers Meetup in Toronto (and surrounding area) is back for 2026! Our first guest of the year will be [Jan Gorzny](https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jangorzny), co-founder of the Ethereum Layer 2 [Zircuit](https://www.zircuit.com/), the safe haven for onchain finance. We have a second guest confirmed last minute who unexpectedly showed up in Toronto! [Willem Olding](https://www.linkedin.com/in/willem-olding/) of Boundless Network, will be showcasing some work from Signal Ethereum, ZK-proofs of Ethereum consensus. Jan is a co-founder of Zircuit. He is an experienced researcher in algorithm design and formal methods and is interested in all things rollups, plasma, and beyond. At Zircuit, Jan's research is focused on sequencer-level security, minimizing proof generation time, and developing novel methods to check the correctness of zero-knowledge circuits. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo in 2022. Willem has worked in crypto since 2018, and on Ethereum since 2021. For much of this time his focus has been on verifiable computation in the form of state channels, fraud proofs, and ZK proofs. He currently works as a protocol engineer at Boundless Network, a spinout company of RISC Zero. Regardless if you're new to the Ethereum community or have been in this community for years, we'd love to get Toronto, Waterloo and surrounding area Ethereum builders bonded together to create and build synergies. Please join us for some refreshments and enjoy a couple hours surrounded by like-minded builders of Ethereum. RSVP here and follow our Luma group calendar here: https://luma.com/ethereumdevelopers

The future of software needs product leaders who build with purpose. Join GitLab and Obsidi® for an **[exclusive Tech Talk](https://app.obsidi.com/event/8ce930f5-5e50-433f-8b0b-b747518fd855?utm_source=obsidi&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=techtalks-2026-jan-29&utm_content=meetup-hyperlink&utm_obsidi_source=events)** in Toronto—designed specifically for mid- to senior-level product managers who are shaping the next era of technology and want to accelerate their impact. As a global DevSecOps leader, GitLab is transforming the way products are built, shipped, secured, and scaled in a fully remote-first world. This Tech Talk explores how GitLab’s AI-driven development, secure-by-design product practices, and product-led culture are redefining what excellence looks like for today’s product leaders. This isn’t just a tech conversation—it’s a career catalyst. Connect directly with GitLab’s product leaders, hear how they navigate complex roadmaps at global scale, and discover what it takes to lead product with clarity, influence, and vision. Build smarter. Lead stronger. Ship with purpose — at GitLab. 💻 Can’t attend in person? Join virtually and take part in the conversation online. **[CLICK HERE TO REGISTER](https://app.obsidi.com/event/8ce930f5-5e50-433f-8b0b-b747518fd855?utm_source=obsidi&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=techtalks-2026-jan-29&utm_content=meetup-hyperlink&utm_obsidi_source=events)**

The public sphere is currently dominated by a handful of social media platforms — for example, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit — all built on centralized networks. Centralized networks concentrate decision-making and infrastructure in a single entity that manages user identity, data storage, policy enforcement, and content curation. This concentration of control grants platforms enormous power over online communication and public discourse. Yet these platforms are operated by unelected actors accountable primarily to shareholders rather than the public. I argue that operators of platforms built on centralized networks can’t legitimately exercise power over the public sphere. By contrast, platforms built on decentralized networks — which distribute control over identity, data, and policy across independent nodes interoperating through open protocols — can in principle exercise their power legitimately. The upshot is that legitimate platform governance requires migrating to decentralized architectures. Chris Howard https://www.mcgill.ca/philosophy/chris-howard Associate Professor Department of Philosophy McGill University About the Speaker: I'm an Associate Professor of Philosophy at [McGill University](https://www.mcgill.ca/philosophy/), where i direct the [Philosophy, Technology, & Policy Lab](https://www.mcgillptplab.com/). My earlier work was in normative ethics & metaethics. Now I work on questions about power, legitimacy, & governance in digital infrastructure. I'm focused on the illegitimate power of centralized social media platforms & AI systems, & on the prospects for legitimate decentralized alternatives. Before joining McGill, I was a research assistant professor at [UNC-Chapel Hill](https://philosophy.unc.edu/) & core faculty in the [UNC/Duke program in philosophy, politics, & economics](https://ppe.unc.edu/). **\* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \*** This is a talk with audience Q&A presented by the University of Toronto's Centre for Ethics that is free to attend and open to the public. The talk will also be streamed online with live chat [here](https://www.youtube.com/live/NGJrCWCnkyY). About the Centre for Ethics (http://ethics.utoronto.ca): The Centre for Ethics is an interdisciplinary centre aimed at advancing research and teaching in the field of ethics, broadly defined. The Centre seeks to bring together the theoretical and practical knowledge of diverse scholars, students, public servants and social leaders in order to increase understanding of the ethical dimensions of individual, social, and political life. In pursuit of its interdisciplinary mission, the Centre fosters lines of inquiry such as (1) foundations of ethics, which encompasses the history of ethics and core concepts in the philosophical study of ethics; (2) ethics in action, which relates theory to practice in key domains of social life, including bioethics, business ethics, and ethics in the public sphere; and (3) ethics in translation, which draws upon the rich multiculturalism of the City of Toronto and addresses the ethics of multicultural societies, ethical discourse across religious and cultural boundaries, and the ethics of international society. The Ethics of A.I. Lab at the Centre For Ethics recently appeared on a list of 10 organizations leading the way in ethical A.I.: https://ocean.sagepub.com/blog/10-organizations-leading-the-way-in-ethical-ai

To register, please visit https://www.bnibusinessconnectionsone.com/ • What we'll do Doors open: 6:45 am Structured meeting: 7:00 am - 8:30 am (We start and stop on time.) - Informal Networking - President’s Welcome - Leadership Team Introductions - Education Moment: 2-minute talk on a networking topic - Weekly Presentations (45-seconds per member and guest- pitching your own services) - VP’s Report: Chapter Performance Update - Reports: Treasurer and Membership Committee - 5-Minute Break - 10-Minute Feature Presentation by a Member - Passing of referrals, testimonials, thank yous to guests - Presenter’s Gift Draw - Close OUR GUARANTEE: Business Connections One are full of life, laughter and learning! • What to bring What you’ll need to do as a visitor: - Plan a 45 second (100 words) infomercial on your business and what makes a good referral. - Bring about 40 business cards for circulation to the group. - Pay $30 in cash or cheque at the door (or via Paypal on this site) • Important to know

Eventbrite Link: **[https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/436240616427?aff=oddtdtcreator](https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/436240616427?aff=oddtdtcreator)** **Savor the laughter at Sizzling Saturdays! Toronto's comedy spectacle starts at 8 PM. A night of uproarious fun awaits!** Join us for a sizzling Saturday night at 8 PM! Backroom Comedy Club presents a comedy extravaganza featuring Toronto's top comedians. Immerse yourself in an evening of wit, humor, and uproarious laughter. Make your Saturday memorable—reserve your seat now for an unforgettable entertainment experience!

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone ! Welcome to our new location : The Urban House Kitchen & Bar on Queen St East! If you're available, please join us on the SECOND FLOOR of Urban House Kitchen & Bar, for your favourite Film and TV Networking evenings. Rain, Shine or Blizzard, WE WILL BE THERE! If you want to make sure you're receiving this invitation by email every month, please register for FREE at [https://tinyurl.com/TFIJan2026](https://tinyurl.com/TFIJan2026) Of course, if you feel sick, have a fever, a cough, or don't feel comfortable with attending such an event post COVID times, please, don't put yourself and others in a bad position, and wait for the next one, because there will always be a next one. :D Bring your smiles and business cards! See you there ! DISCLAIMER : The organizers are not responsible for the potential stupid behaviour of some people, and you and us know that there is always a possibility of these happening, so by RSVPing to this event, you assume all responsibility and won't be able to hold the organizers responsible if anything happens that is related to your decision of attending. ================ JANUARY Toronto Film and TV Industry Social Evening Thursday, Jan 29th 2026, 6PM The SECOND FLOOR at Urban House Kitchen & Bar 718 Queen St E. Toronto, ON M4M 1H2

At Eglinton-Yonge Toastmasters, we're more than just a club - we're a community. Please arrive by 6:00 p.m. to socialize. Guests are welcome. There is no fee to visit. We meet at: Northern District Library 40 Orchard View Blvd. Second Floor, RM# 200. Directions to the room can be viewed at the following link: [https://bit.ly/eytm-welcome](https://bit.ly/eytm-welcome) Members of Eglinton-Yonge Toastmasters learn and practice public speaking and leadership skills with a friendly, helpful, and encouraging group of people. As a year-round club, attendance varies depending on the season. A typical meeting involves 25-30 active members and 2-5 guests. Guests are able to: • Meet a great group of people • Participate in Table Topics • Share feedback at the end Members receive: • Learning materials • Monthly Toastmasters magazine • Access to Pathways • Online resources through Toastmasters International • An Easy-speak.org account to track speech progress We look forward to seeing you!

In modern Java applications, distributed systems are everywhere, and so are failure modes. But how do you know when your cluster is fragile, or if it’s on the brink of breaking? This talk dives into practical observability and resiliency techniques for distributed Java environments. We’ll highlight key patterns, failure signals, and metrics that matter, backed by a live demo using Hazelcast, Chaos-mesh, Prometheus, and Grafana. You’ll learn: Core Patterns – Leader election, partitioning, replication Metrics That Matter – Backup count, member count, JVM health, Golden Signals Failure-Aware Design – Resilience patterns, chaos testing principles Live Demo – Deploy a working cluster, simulate node failure, and explore metrics to observe how data integrity holds as the system nears its fault tolerance threshold Ideal for Java developers, architects, and SREs, this session blends theory, tools, and real-world failure scenarios to help you build distributed systems that stay online—even when things go wrong. **About the venue** Free Times Cafe has bistro-style seating and a full food and drink menu. Please consider helping to support the venue by planning to have supper during the talk. **Speaker Bio** Joe Sherwin is a Principal Solution Architect at Hazelcast with 22 years of experience in the design, development, and implementation of application systems within multi-tier distributed computing environments. Working with clients such as Vanguard, Fannie Mae, Federal Reserve Bank, Citi Group, Bear Stearns, Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, Comcast Corp, Webster Bank, Gartner Group, The Hartford Life Company, IBM Global Services, Mass Mutual, Lincoln National Financial Corporation, Bank of America, and Barnes & Noble Online Group, Mr. Sherwin has been instrumental in the development of large-scale mission-critical E-commerce, insurance, and financial systems. He has experience architecting & implementing solution using CORBA, RMI, Java EE compliant distributed Object architectures, in-memory high transaction/low latency solutions using Hazelcast IMDG®, GemFire, Ehcache & Oracle Coherence, and solutions deployable on IaaS or PaaS platforms like Cloud Foundry, Amazon Web Services, Rackspace or Heroku.

**Running and Building Azure Functions with Modern .NET** Azure Functions have changed a lot recently. In this talk, we’ll start with Azure Functions Flex Consumption—what it is, how it compares to other hosting options, and when you should actually use it—followed by a quick demo. We’ll then shift to the developer side, looking at what’s new in .NET 10 for Azure Functions, including Central Package Management and the new SLNX solution format, with practical demos. **Speaker: Callon Campbell** Callon Campbell is an Azure Architect, Developer and Microsoft MVP in Azure. With over 25 years of experience, he's been developing enterprise applications for web, desktop, mobile, and cloud-native applications using Microsoft Azure, .NET, ASP.NET, and SQL Server. He's passionate about learning new technologies and sharing his experience with fellow peers in the community. Callon is also the organizer of “Canada’s Technology Triangle .NET User Group” in Kitchener, Ontario. Callon can be reached on Twitter via [@Flying_Maverick](https://x.com/flying_maverick/), and has a blog at [https://TheFlyingMaverick.com](https://TheFlyingMaverick.com). **Schedule:** 6:00 - 6:30 - Meet 'n Greet with Pizza and Pop 6:30 - 6:45 - Introduction and Welcome 6:45 - 7:45 - Main Presentation 7:45 - 8:00 - Closing and Prize Draw (You're not going to want to miss this prize!!) 8:00 - ? - (Optional - whoever would like to join) Continue our conversations at Bar 6ix, 201 City Centre Drive (3 minute walk) **Where to Find Us** Room 204 in the Hazel McCallion Central Library. 2nd Level. **Parking** There is a parking garage under the library. Parking is free from 6PM on.

Join us this week as a guest to overcome your fear of public speaking and speak with confidence! We hold weekly meetings on Thursday nights to facilitate impromptu speaking, debates, discussions, and prepared speeches to practice our skills and give each other constructive feedback. We are a friendly group of all ages and backgrounds in the GTA, where we help our members and guests in their personal and professional development. We typically meet at the Etobicoke Civic Centre with lots of free visitor parking. You can join us as a guest anytime you want, for as long as you would like, to see what Toastmasters is all about! Come and join us this Thursday to become the best version of you. The theme for this week's meeting is TBD! Join us to practice your improv. speaking skills, debating skills, and to improve your public speaking abilities. If you're interested in attending this meeting, please contact us through our "Contact Us" form on http://goodyeartoastmasters.com/ See you there! ABOUT GOODYEAR TOASTMASTERS \*NOTE\* We are now back in-person at the Etobicoke Civic Centre! Visitor Parking is free. Simply let the Security Person know you're here for a Toastmasters meeting. • Our meetings start at 6:45 PM and lasts for about 2-hours. We suggest you arrive earlier to settle in and network before we begin. • It's free to attend as a guest and you can join us as many times as you would like. For the full access to the Toastmasters Pathways Programme, however, you will need to join as a member and pay a membership fee. • Don't worry about the low attendance numbers on Meetup. Members do not RSVP here. We use the club website instead. Meetup is primarily a place for us to reach out to newcomers such as yourself!

Let’s do some coding together at a cafe! No more working alone in the weekend. Here, we write code together. And I mean together together. Not occupying-the-same-space-but-separate together. Here’s how it works: Jennifer brings her mobile app project, tells everyone that it is like Pinterest for recipes and she’d like to work on the nav bar. Paul and Chloe think Jennifer's project is fascinating, and they join the group. They gather around Jennifer’s laptop and work on the nav bar for 2 hours. Jennifer is the one typing out the code while Paul and Chloe research, brainstorm, and offer suggestions. If you’re feeling stuck on your own project or need a motivation boost, bring it to mob programming! Want to learn by watching how others code and solve problems? Join someone else’s project at this event! Oh and we love your half-done projects that you are a bit embarrassed to share. Absolutely bring those to the event! **Discord**: We use Discord to share screen & code snippets during the event. Also feel free to share your projects here before the event! https://discord.gg/Da9fZFxPfs **Event policy**: * We have 0 tolerance for harassment. * We don’t allow the projects that are not meant to be shared in public such as school assignments, interview tasks, or trade secrets. * The goal is to write code. We discourage you from pitching business ideas here, doing code reviews, or spending the whole event on planning what to do. * Please buy a drink, and tip the barista well.

Bring your business cards and network in person with other business professionals! Gold Star Referral Clubs is one of the most established professional networking organizations in the country, with multiple groups in central Ohio. Join us!

**People Analytics 101: Making Sense of Compensation Data** Compensation data is one of the most widely used and widely misunderstood forms of people analytics. The session will cover where compensation data comes from, including market pricing data, internal payroll data, and benchmarking sources, and how companies think about structuring and analyzing that information. We will explore how compensation data is leveraged to set salary ranges, manage internal equity, support hiring and retention, and align pay with business strategy. A portion of the session will address common data challenges and limitations, such as market noise, inconsistent job matching, and incomplete datasets, while keeping the primary focus on practical use rather than technical depth. The session will also look ahead at where the space is going, including the growing impact of pay transparency laws, expanding pay equity requirements, and emerging regulations in the US and Europe that require organizations to report on gender and pay gaps. The goal is to give attendees a clear mental model for how compensation analytics works today and why getting it right is becoming increasingly critical. (note: we are back at Rev1 this month!) **About Our Speaker** [Alex Moore](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexscottmoore/) is the founder of [Moore Cooperative](https://moorecooperative.com/), where he advises organizations on compensation strategy, pay equity, and people analytics. His work focuses on helping organizations like the Ohio Supreme Court design, analyze, and communicate compensation systems that are data-informed, defensible, and aligned with organizational goals. Alex lives in Granville, Ohio and has three little kiddos. More info at [cbusdaw.com](https://cbusdaw.com)

How to be a Better Communicator Communication is everything in life You are only as successful as your ability to communicate. \- What if you could confidently talk to anyone? \- What if you had the ability to calmly control every conversation? \- What if you could close that sale\, ask for that date\, make new friends\, repair problematic relationships\, get that raise\, or effortlessly express any idea with confidence? You can! The secret to success relies on your ability or inability to effectively communicate. Attend a free seminar and gain a better ability to communicate. Hosted by the Church of Scientology of Central Ohio 1266 Dublin Road, Columbus, OH 43215 For more information, contact Rhiannon, the Event Host at 614-221-5024

**How to take control of your subconscious and harness its power!** Join us for an eye-opening lecture where the speaker will break down complex ideas in a clear and practical way. You’ll gain insights into: ✅ The true definition of the subconscious ✅ How it generates unwanted emotions ✅ Its real purpose and function ✅ What determines the pressure it exerts on you And the most important topic: **How do you take control of your subconscious!** But this isn’t just another lecture where you sit and listen passively. It’s interactive and engaging—you can ask questions at any time. 📅 Reserve your spot now! Seats are limited, so don’t wait too long to sign up. Location: 1266 Dublin Rd, Columbus, OH 43215 Hosted by the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation

Connected Westerville Night of Networking flips the script on networking, with surprises and connections that'll make you say, "Who knew networking could be this much fun?!"