Architecture Groups Near Me

< $200 /Month, Ready for Infinity: Modernizing CRM with Claude + AWS in 90 Days

What happens when a fast-growing business outgrows a CRM built to handle 100–200 customers a year? In this session, I'll walk through how I used Claude and AWS to modernize the entire operation in just three months, scaling it to handle an unlimited number of customers for under $200 a month. We'll start with the foundation: a serverless sync that pulls CRM data into RDS Postgres every hour during business hours, plus on demand when key operations happen. This gives the business fast, flexible reporting without overloading the CRM. From there, we'll look at how leads from multiple sources now flow through a single Lambda function, and how new front-end and back-end tools transformed lead handling, sales pipeline visibility, and company-wide reporting. You'll also get the behind-the-scenes examples that made this pace possible: * CI/CD pipelines that let you deploy quickly and often * Using code reviews as the main quality gate for every release * Tips for writing a CLAUDE.md file that maximizes your workflow * A shared STYLE.md that keeps standards consistent across projects * Splitting and combining projects with separate CloudFormation templates so they stay easy to update and simple to maintain Whether you're a solo developer, a consultant, or part of a lean team, you'll leave with practical patterns for building scalable, low-cost systems on AWS, and for getting the most out of AI as a development partner. **SPEAKER BIO** Angelo Mandato is an AWS Columbus User Group leader, AWS Community Builder, and Certified Solutions Architect - Associate who has been developing solutions on AWS since 2007. https://angelo.mandato.com **CALL FOR SPEAKERS** Learn more: [https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/](https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/) **THANK YOU** *VEEAM* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Veeam*, please visit their website: [https://www.veeam.com/](https://www.veeam.com/) **DIRECTIONS** 8800 Lyra Dr #450 · Columbus, OH go to 4th floor. **Want to sponsor the pizza and/or bar tab?** Please contact me if you would like to sponsor this meetup's pizza and/or bar tab: angelo@mandato.com

Building a RAG Assistant with Azure AI Search + Azure OpenAI

**From React Docs to AI Answers: Building a RAG Assistant with Azure AI Search + Azure OpenAI** In this session, I’ll walk through how to build an AI-powered documentation assistant for a modern React web product using Azure AI Search, Azure OpenAI, and a Next.js frontend. The talk will focus on a practical use case: taking documentation, component examples, and product content, indexing it for retrieval, and using that context to generate grounded answers inside a web app. I’ll cover the architecture, data flow, prompt design, chunking strategy, deployment approach, and common mistakes developers run into when adding AI to real web products. The session will include code examples and a demo-style walkthrough showing how a developer could turn static docs or internal knowledge into an interactive AI assistant. Attendees will leave with a practical blueprint for building their own RAG-powered web experience on Azure without turning it into an overcomplicated cloud architecture.

Haunted Hike Through Walhalla Ravine

**Dare to Enter Walhalla Ravine?** There are places in Columbus where the city seems to disappear. Walk far enough into **Walhalla Ravine**, beneath the old trees and steep wooded hillsides, and the traffic grows distant. The houses above become harder to see. The path narrows, shadows gather beneath the canopy, and suddenly it becomes very easy to understand why people have been telling strange stories about this place for generations. Stories of **murder, apparitions beneath the bridge, unexplained lights, and the thing once whispered about as the Walhalla Witch** have become part of Clintonville folklore. Most have been embellished over the years. Some can be debunked. Others are simply stories with no way left to determine where the truth ended and the legend began. We’re going in anyway. **Disclaimer:** This is **NOT a scripted ghost tour**, and **I’m NOT a professional storyteller. I'm not here to entertain.** **Think of it more as a group adventure**: we’ll hike, explore, discuss the legends and history, and see some of the locations that inspired the stories for ourselves. Come prepared to walk, explore, and get a little off the beaten path. **Click Here: [Read about the ghosts and legends of Walhalla Ravine](https://thearcanefoundry.com/daclaud-lee/haunted-columbus/walhalla-ravine-the-ghosts-witch-legends-of-columbus-ohio/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)** This is a FREE event. Tips are appreciated (but never required) for showing you the hidden paths and lesser-known parts of the ravine. Just a reminder: **if you RSVP, please make every effort to attend.** This is going to be a 3-mile hike, so please make sure you can do this. There may also be some slightly rugged terrain (nothing too crazy) but depending on where we end up, there might be some light climbing. **OPTIONAL:** Afterward, anyone who wants to keep the evening going can join us nearby for drinks at Derive Brewing Company or pizza and drinks at Hounddog’s.

Columbus PHP: Monthly Meetup

Our monthly PHP meetup. A virtual shindig courtesy of Zoom. Check back here for the details around 6:15 pm

October Childfree Connection Night!!

Data & Analytics Wednesday - Fighting Hunger with Data

**Beyond the Numbers: How Mid-Ohio Food Collective Combines Data, Customer Insights, and Human-Centered Design to Fight Hunger** Data tells us what is happening. Customer stories help us understand why. So, what happens when dashboards and lived experience are brought together? In this session, [Mid-Ohio Food Collective](https://mofc.org/)'s Data & Insights team will share how quantitative analytics, qualitative research, and human-centered design are combined to make more informed decisions, improve programs, and better serve our customers and partners. Attendees will learn how a mission-driven organization is building a culture where data and lived experience work together to drive impact. **About Our Speakers** [Kevin W. Jolly](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinwjolly/) is Mid-Ohio Food Collective’s Sr. Manager of Data and Analytics, having joined the organization in February 2026. He earned his PhD in General Psychology from the University of Texas at El Paso after attending Iowa State University and like anyone who has studied human behavior, he remains fascinated by the stories that people tell through their data. Kevin has served in data and data leadership roles in a career that spans the education and energy sectors, and he takes the greatest joy in visualizing information for others. He lives in Columbus with his wife, two dogs, and a handful of chickens. [Nicole DeLozier](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-delozier-157483162/) is the Strategy & Insights Manager at Mid-Ohio Food Collective, where she leads customer insights, qualitative research, and human-centered design initiatives that help shape organizational decision-making. Throughout her career, she has been driven by the belief that the strongest insights emerge when data and human experiences are understood together. Nicole is passionate about helping organizations combine data, lived experience, and curiosity to better understand the communities they serve. When she’s not facilitating conversations or designing research projects, she’s often exploring new ways to bring people together through learning, creativity, and shared experiences. **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/)

NFT AI ART Columbus

NFT's are here to stay folks! This is a group for like minded people interested in understanding, leveraging, using, creating for, profiting from, trading too i suppose, NFT's.. everything around them, complexity, fear and exploits, best practices and more. **PLUS** This group will talk AI ART tools, techniques, artists, video, audio, prototypes and more in the AI assisted production space- ART specifically, but we can get into any aspect of some of the cooler things happening in AI in general.

Columbus Arduino Raspberry Pi Enthusiasts (CARPE) (Check Location)

Bring your Raspberry Pi, Arduino, microcontroller, or any other electronic project and join fellow electronics makers for a night of creativity and collaboration! This session is open forum to share your current projects—whether complete or in progress, it’s all interesting! Whether you’re deep into embedded systems, exploring new ideas, or just getting started, you’ll find a welcoming space to collaborate, share, and get inspired. **New to electronics or curious about tinkering?** You’re absolutely welcome. If you’re a beginner and want to experiment, I’ll have a couple of starter kits available so you can try things out—whether that’s blinking your first LED, putting something on a display, or experimenting with simple sensors. No pressure and no experience required—just an interest in learning and building. While we continue to pursue a more permanent venue for this Meetup, we’ll be using public library facilities based on availability.

Morning people unite!! 🐤 ☕ + 💬 @ Grumpy's Coffee Garage

Early-bird coffee and conversation at [Grumpy's Coffee Garage](https://grumpyscoffeegarage.com/)!

Columbus Code & Coffee 91 @ Improving

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!

Saturday Mornings @ East Market

Let's grab some coffee/food and share a morning chat! The East Market has an ample parking lot and outdoor and indoor seating. Grab a cup of coffee from Winston's Coffee & Waffles or on your way to East Market and meet us on the second floor - table behind or east of the elevator. Per what this group is about: "Everyone is welcome! International transplants to Columbus who want to improve language skills, Columbus residents who enjoy talking to people from other countries, and those who would like to discuss international travel and culture, and who enjoy getting together for good conversations."

Casual Hobby Night at The Arcane Foundry: Drinks & More

Come hang out at **The Arcane Foundry** for a casual evening of miniature painting, terrain building, drinks, and conversation. I’m working on putting together a gaming room and have plenty of unpainted miniatures and terrain that could use some attention, so bring your own project or **help me work through mine**. This is **NOT** a class or structured event. It’s really just an excuse to get some creative people together, paint some minis, have a few drinks, put on some music, and shoot the shit. Beginners are completely welcome. I’m also into **woodworking**, **plant propagation**, **gardening**, **axe and knife throwing**, and other maker hobbies, so there will probably be plenty of other projects and future hangouts if people click. I have an axe/knife throwing area, a blacksmithing forge and a woodworking station outside for future events. **Bring a drink if you'd like, bring a project if you have one, and come hang out. No real agenda, just paint, create, and meet some people.** Yes, The Arcane Foundry is my hobby-based business, but no, I will not be working and you do not need to buy anything. The only thing I ask is that you clean up after yourself. This is strictly a casual hangout and I'm just opening up the space so we can paint, work on projects, have some drinks, and enjoy each other's company. This is BYOB. So, bring whatever you want (soda, beer, wine, kava, whataver). I will have my own stash here. [https://thearcanefoundry.com/](https://thearcanefoundry.com/)