Community Events Melbourne

English Workshop - Boardgames Night

🎲✨ **Board Games Night at The Couch** ✨🎲 Looking for a fun and relaxed way to meet new people and practise your English? Join us for a **Board Games Night** at The Couch! This session is all about laughter, connection, and friendly competition. You’ll play a variety of popular board games while chatting, sharing ideas, and enjoying a supportive environment with other international students. No matter your English level, this is a great chance to build confidence and make new friends. 📅 **Date:** Thursday, 30 April ⏰ **Time:** 6:00 – 8:00 PM 📍 **Location:** The Couch International Student Centre (69 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000) 🥘 **Free dinner provided by The Couch!** 🎮 **What to expect:** – Play fun and easy-to-learn board games – Practise English naturally through conversation – Meet and connect with other international students – Enjoy a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere Come solo or bring a friend — everyone’s welcome! Let’s play, talk, and have a great night together. 🌟 **[IMPORTANT] Please be advised that this event is for international and exchange students ONLY** ✨ **Community Rules** ✨ * This is a rain-or-shine event. * 18+ only. * Maintain respect and no unsolicited contact. * No advertising and selling during the event. * By attending this event, you accept our [Terms and Conditions](https://docs.google.com/document/d/11Afnnu5xW6Yhtgl4LGDAVEMSdJ-7M3aC7Cs-s_t0uOo/edit?usp=sharing), including [media consent policy](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rgNOcewZs-tKYUEBt3gV84hob1HdDXydjrGf_tEiXjQ/edit?usp=drive_link), and agree to adhere to our [liability waiver](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hKqVIMcXMFdzvpjqO3KRf_uQ5xAzd-jt/view?usp=drive_link)

Board Game Playtesting – 3 May

**Welcome to Incubator Melbourne!** Curious about how board games are made? This is our regular event to test prototype games. Newcomers are very welcome and no experience is needed. You don’t need to bring a game to join and play. ***Please RSVP here and cancel if you cannot attend.*** *Total attendance is higher than the Meetup RSVP list, and we typically have a good-sized group on the day.* 🗺️ **HOW TO FIND US** The Lion Hotel is on level 3 of Melbourne Central. We’ll be down the back at Jac’s Bar. Look for our tables and grab a seat. 👀 **WHAT TO EXPECT** • Bring a game to test, or just join in others’ games • Two sessions: short games first, longer games after lunch • Quick intros, setup, lunch break, then afternoon games ⏰ **TIMES** • 11:00–11:30am: Intros and setup • 11:30–1:00pm: Short games • 1:00–1:30pm: Lunch • 1:30–4:00pm: Longer games

Community Night

## 🎲 **Fortnightly Monday Community Nights** **Facilitated by Sasa Lestrange** 🕕 Starts 6PM \| 🎟️ $5 Entry \| 🔒 15 Spaces Only ### **The Quick Details** Come as you are, bring what you love. Whether you’re sketching, crafting, chatting, or diving into a YouTube watch party over the projector, this is your space to relax and connect. Bring your own arts and crafts, share your favourite tunes, or just hang out with good people. Got a TTRPG group? You’re welcome to play here. Looking for one? Use our Discord to find fellow adventurers and storytellers. This is a chill, welcoming evening for creatives, gamers, and anyone who wants to spend time in good company. No pressure, no prep — just good vibes and shared space. ## 🌟 **Why Join** * Make new friends or bring your own crew * Get out of the house and into the community * Perfect for newcomers to Melbourne or anyone wanting to build good habits * Enjoy a relaxed, inclusive atmosphere ## 👋 **Facilitator** Your host, **Sasa of EGAD**, will welcome you, introduce you to the space, and help get the group started — often with a game or by interest. ## 🍴 **Food & Drink** Snacks and drinks are available on the ground floor. You can also BYO, or join the **6:30 PM Schnitz order** for dinner. ## ♿ **Accessibility** The event space is up one flight of stairs, and bathrooms are not wheelchair‑friendly. Lighting is bright white overhead unless the group opts to dim for projector use. ## ⏰ **Timing** You don’t need to be on time — just note that if you’re joining for games, you might wait for a table to free up. ## 💡 **Suggestions** Got an idea for an activity or theme? Absolutely share it! The group votes on what to do each night. Let’s kick off the week with fun, creativity, and connection. This event is

Community Night

## 🎲 **Fortnightly Monday Community Nights** **Facilitated by Sasa Lestrange** 🕕 Starts 6PM \| 🎟️ $5 Entry \| 🔒 15 Spaces Only ### **The Quick Details** Come as you are, bring what you love. Whether you’re sketching, crafting, chatting, or diving into a YouTube watch party over the projector, this is your space to relax and connect. Bring your own arts and crafts, share your favourite tunes, or just hang out with good people. Got a TTRPG group? You’re welcome to play here. Looking for one? Use our Discord to find fellow adventurers and storytellers. This is a chill, welcoming evening for creatives, gamers, and anyone who wants to spend time in good company. No pressure, no prep — just good vibes and shared space. ## 🌟 **Why Join** * Make new friends or bring your own crew * Get out of the house and into the community * Perfect for newcomers to Melbourne or anyone wanting to build good habits * Enjoy a relaxed, inclusive atmosphere ## 👋 **Facilitator** Your host, **Sasa of EGAD**, will welcome you, introduce you to the space, and help get the group started — often with a game or by interest. ## 🍴 **Food & Drink** Snacks and drinks are available on the ground floor. You can also BYO, or join the **6:30 PM Schnitz order** for dinner. ## ♿ **Accessibility** The event space is up one flight of stairs, and bathrooms are not wheelchair‑friendly. Lighting is bright white overhead unless the group opts to dim for projector use. ## ⏰ **Timing** You don’t need to be on time — just note that if you’re joining for games, you might wait for a table to free up. ## 💡 **Suggestions** Got an idea for an activity or theme? Absolutely share it! The group votes on what to do each night. Let’s kick off the week with fun, creativity, and connection. This event is

Community Night

## 🎲 **Fortnightly Monday Community Nights** **Facilitated by Sasa Lestrange** 🕕 Starts 6PM \| 🎟️ $5 Entry \| 🔒 15 Spaces Only ### **The Quick Details** Come as you are, bring what you love. Whether you’re sketching, crafting, chatting, or diving into a YouTube watch party over the projector, this is your space to relax and connect. Bring your own arts and crafts, share your favourite tunes, or just hang out with good people. Got a TTRPG group? You’re welcome to play here. Looking for one? Use our Discord to find fellow adventurers and storytellers. This is a chill, welcoming evening for creatives, gamers, and anyone who wants to spend time in good company. No pressure, no prep — just good vibes and shared space. ## 🌟 **Why Join** * Make new friends or bring your own crew * Get out of the house and into the community * Perfect for newcomers to Melbourne or anyone wanting to build good habits * Enjoy a relaxed, inclusive atmosphere ## 👋 **Facilitator** Your host, **Sasa of EGAD**, will welcome you, introduce you to the space, and help get the group started — often with a game or by interest. ## 🍴 **Food & Drink** Snacks and drinks are available on the ground floor. You can also BYO, or join the **6:30 PM Schnitz order** for dinner. ## ♿ **Accessibility** The event space is up one flight of stairs, and bathrooms are not wheelchair‑friendly. Lighting is bright white overhead unless the group opts to dim for projector use. ## ⏰ **Timing** You don’t need to be on time — just note that if you’re joining for games, you might wait for a table to free up. ## 💡 **Suggestions** Got an idea for an activity or theme? Absolutely share it! The group votes on what to do each night. Let’s kick off the week with fun, creativity, and connection. This event is

Our monthly social in the Southern Suburbs

Do you live in the Southern suburbs? Want to explore what the Southern suburbs has to offer? Or are you just interested to catch-up with like-minded people? Once a month Steph hosts our Southern socials. It is a great opportunity to meet others. Our emphasis is on fun whilst helping and supporting each other. The socials include drinks and chats, casual coffees, dinners and other activities suggested by members from time to time. Our socials are informal and open to all. We pay for own food and drinks individually and there is no charge for the organisation of the events. We hope to see you!

Community Conversations: Finding Calm in the Chaos

A gentle exploration of how the nervous system responds to stress, and how it can become easily overwhelmed when life feels full and fast, Together, we'll explore how creating moments of inner space can support the nervous system in softening. settling, and returning to balance. Join us as we explore how cultivating inner space can be an ingredient to sustainable long-term wellbeing. Our Community Conversations are designed to build a warm and inclusive space, facilitating meaningful discussions and sparking positive initiatives in our neighbourhood. Each session involves a short presentation, followed by open and shared conversations, socialising, and light refreshments. Everyone's voice is welcome in this uplifting discussion. Come share your thoughts and help us celebrate the beauty of our shared humanity! This is a free event and all are invited to attend.

Cafe then Quiet Zone

Melbourne TED Talk Community Event

Join the Melbourne TED Talk Community for an engaging session and meet people who like being an ideator, who want to bring their voice to a larger community. In contrast to a typical public speaking training event, where you receive feedback on your amms and aas and the way you present, this goes beyond that. **The objective of this community is to get inspired by some of the best ideas serving humanity, find your own calling and voice, be an ideator, and share your ideas clearly and persuasively.** The talk we will play is one of the amazing talks from the TED Library. In this session, we will delve deeper into the topic and gain perspective, and learn from each other. Be prepared to network, engage in meaningful conversations, and embark on a journey of professional development and leadership growth. **Mark your calendars and don't miss this opportunity to refine your public speaking abilities with the Melbourne TED Talk Community!** **TED Talk link to watch together:** **TBA** **Agenda (as a guide)** 6.00 PM Registration 6.10 PM Introduction by Attendees 6.20 PM 10 min talk on screen (optional) 6.30 PM Breakout session (Group / Individual) based on topic 6.45 PM Individual / Group shares their takeaways 7.00 PM Practice the Art of Public Speaking - 2-3 talks of 2.5 minutes 7.10 PM Feedback to the Presenters and overall session 7.20 PM Event Concludes & floor opens for Networking **Fees: The event has a $5 contribution towards hiring the hall and Audiovisual. This can be paid through PayPal at the time of registration.** Looking forward to seeing you there. The Organisers Raj

Community Dinner: Where strangers become friends

**We’re really excited about this one!** Following the success of our first community dinner, Chris (from 100 Coffee Movement) and I are hosting a second. This is a simple, warm space to share a meal, have good conversations and meet new people. We’ll also have a few light, fun activities to help you mingle naturally (nothing forced, don’t worry). The cost for this event is **$5** per person, which will cover the food and venue fees. No profits are made here; everything goes straight into making the community event happen. We’re capping this at 60 people so get in early. Payment can be made via PayID to: 0448 474 277 (Arjun Bhugra) **Payment confirms your spot.** Really looking forward to seeing you there. These spaces are only as special as the people in them, and it’s been amazing so far. Thanks again for supporting our community. _________________________________________________ Refunds: We prepare the meals based on the number of people attending, so unfortunately refunds aren’t available. If you can’t make it, feel free to pass your spot on to a friend :))

MEL MLOps Community #17 | Robots in Aged Care and AI in Software Delivery

We’re excited to announce our next **Melbourne MLOps Community Meetup** of the year! This one is right out of a sci-fi blockbuster. We are going to explore the AI landscape from **humanoid robotics** in Aged Care, something the team at Andromeda is actively trying to achieve, to the rise of agentic AI **as a teammate** in Software Delivery. DO NOT miss this chance to see how the world is changing right before your eyes. **🎤 Speakers** We’re thrilled to introduce: **\- Jason Chan**, Head of Machine Learning *at* Andromeda. Jason is a jack of all trades in the ML/Software engineering domain. He’s a rare talent who seamlessly pivots from leading elite defense autonomy teams at BAE Systems to architecting **enterprise MLOps** and teaching Deep Generative Models for **Stanford Online**. In his talk, *Making a Machine Feel Like a Character, and Other Hard Problems at Andromeda Robotics* Jason will explain how they are building a companion robot for aged care. A character that a resident is happy to see. **\- Farzad Khodadadi**, Principal Engineer *at* Catapult Sports. Farzad is a seasoned engineer with over 15 years of experience delivering enterprise-scale, cloud-native technology solutions. Specialising in the design and architecture of enterprise IoT platforms, he leads high-performing engineering teams while shaping long-term technical strategy. He will share his wisdom on utilising **Agentic AI** in Software Delivery in his talk: *From Tool to Teammate: Agentic AI in Software Delivery*. **Networking** The Melbourne MLOps Community is committed to fostering a space where AI/ML engineers and practitioners can connect, exchange ideas, and build meaningful relationships. Come ready to discuss: * The tools you’re experimenting with * Trends you’re seeing in ML and MLOps * Challenges you’re tackling * Ways to find peer support We’ll have food, drinks, and the perfect space for great conversations — so feel free to bring along anyone interested in ML, MLOps, or AI more broadly. **Agenda** 🍕 **5:30pm** – Networking, drinks & food 🙋 **6:00pm** – Welcome 🎤 **6:10pm** – Presentation by Jason ❓ **6:30pm** – Questions for Jason 🎤 **6:40pm** – Presentation by Farzad ❓ **7:00pm** – Questions for Farzad 🍻 **7:10pm onwards** – Networking, drinks & food We’re looking forward to seeing you there! **P.S.** If you can’t make it in person, we’ll be streaming the event via Google Meet. Google Meet link: [https://meet.google.com/fxh-hpsg-ryt](https://meet.google.com/fxh-hpsg-ryt)

Coffee with new friends

We’ll be hanging out in the Market Pavilion, between Caffè Ducale and TODCO. It’s easy to find, and perfect for dropping in or slipping out without any awkwardness. If you’re looking to escape the house, procrastinate on chores, or just have a bit of human interaction that isn’t transactional—this is your spot. Conversation starters will be on hand if you want them. There’s no agenda. I’m new in town. Come exactly as you are, stay for 10 minutes or the full hour—it all counts.