Tech Groups and Events: Connect Over Technology with Meetup

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!

**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 **Abstract** GitHub Copilot is rapidly changing how developers write, understand, and maintain code. Powered by generative AI and deeply integrated into modern development environments, Copilot acts as an intelligent coding assistant, helping developers move faster while maintaining quality and focus. In this session, we’ll explore what GitHub Copilot is, how it works, and where it fits into a real-world developer workflow. We’ll break down what Copilot can (and cannot) do, where it can be used, and how licensing differs for individuals and organizations. Most importantly, this talk goes beyond theory with a live, hands-on demo showcasing Copilot inside the IDE and on GitHub, demonstrating how it can assist with code generation, refactoring, learning new APIs, and accelerating day-to-day development tasks. Designed for developers, technical leads, and engineering managers, this session provides a practical introduction to AI-assisted development, highlights best practices for getting value from Copilot, and closes with guidance on how to continue learning and evolving alongside this rapidly advancing tool. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how GitHub Copilot can enhance productivity, improve developer experience, and fit into modern software teams today, not someday. **YouTube Link** TBA

**Doing KPIs Right: a KEY to Analytics (and AI!) Impact!** On the one hand, KPIs are such a Business 101 concept that it may seem a little silly to dedicate an entire session to the topic. On the other hand, KPIs get handled so poorly so often that a case could be made that this meetup could just be one of the most impactful sessions of the entire year! We’re starting off the year at a new location: [COhatch Upper Arlington](https://www.cohatch.com/locations/columbus/upper-arlington/) but with a familiar speaker, Tim Wilson! We’ll be back at Rev1 in February, when the speaker will presumably not be Tim. Tim will make the case that effectively measuring performance of projects, campaigns, and initiatives (and even meetups!) should be a foundation for any data analytics program. Topics covered will include: the “two magic questions” of performance measurement, how to help business partners distinguish between outcomes and outputs, and effective tactics for collaboratively establishing KPI targets. He will also stick his neck out by demonstrating some of these techniques in real-time by measuring whether his talk lives up to the promise of this description! All CBUSDAW events are free thanks to our 2026 Sponsors: Clarivoy, Conductrics, What Box Consulting Group, and Piwik PRO. Check out [cbusdaw.com](https://cbusdaw.com) for more information.

## Learn Infrastructure-as-Code (the FUN Way) — Through Minecraft 🎮☁️ **Joint Meetup: Azure CBUS × Columbus HashiCorp User Group** What if learning Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code didn’t feel like a whitepaper… but more like a game? Join us for a joint Azure CBUS and Columbus HashiCorp User Group meetup where **Mark Tinderholt** \(Principal Architect\, Microsoft Azure \| HashiCorp Ambassador \| “The Azure Terraformer”\) shows how **Minecraft** can be used as a surprisingly powerful way to understand real-world Infrastructure-as-Code concepts. In this session, Mark will demonstrate how Terraform and Azure can be used to provision, configure, and manage Minecraft servers—while teaching the same patterns you’d use for production cloud infrastructure. ### What we’ll cover * Infrastructure-as-Code fundamentals using **Terraform** * Provisioning real infrastructure on **Azure** * Applying **IaC best practices** (immutability, repeatability, versioning) * How playful environments like Minecraft make complex concepts *click* * Why learning through experimentation beats click-ops every time ### Who should attend * Developers, platform engineers, and cloud engineers * Terraform users (new or experienced) * Anyone curious about Infrastructure-as-Code but tired of boring examples * Minecraft fans who want to see it used in a totally unexpected way No prior Minecraft experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to learn infrastructure the fun way. Come for the blocks, stay for the Terraform. 🧱➡️📐 Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/

### Tools in your AI's Toolbox : An introduction to MCP Servers The generative AI revolution has unlocked unprecedented capabilities, but the next frontier is agency: empowering models to interact with, query, and act upon the world. The current challenge is the “N x M integration problem,” where every AI model requires a custom, brittle integration for each external tool or data source. This approach simply doesn’t scale. How can we give an AI access to our sales leads, code repositories, or IoT devices in a standardized, secure, and reusable way? This session introduces Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open-source framework designed to solve this challenge and become the universal connector—the USB-C port—for AI. MCP standardizes how AI models discover and use external tools, moving beyond simple function-calling to a robust, client-server architecture. We will dive into how this open protocol is creating a new ecosystem for building powerful, context-aware AI agents. Join this session for a developer-focused introduction where you will learn how to: Understand the core concepts of the open-source Model Context Protocol and its architecture. Utilize pre-built, open-source MCP servers to instantly connect AI to tools like Git, Slack, and databases. Build a custom MCP server to securely expose your own proprietary data and APIs as tools for any compliant AI. Move beyond bespoke integrations and contribute to a standardized, collaborative, and open ecosystem. Stop building one-off connectors and start building intelligent agents. This session will give you the practical knowledge to leverage MCP and create the next generation of AI that doesn’t just talk, but does. Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! [https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/](https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/)

## Learn Infrastructure-as-Code (the FUN Way) — Through Minecraft 🎮☁️ **Joint Meetup: Azure CBUS × Columbus HashiCorp User Group** What if learning Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code didn’t feel like a whitepaper… but more like a game? Join us for a joint Azure CBUS and Columbus HashiCorp User Group meetup where **Mark Tinderholt** \(Principal Architect\, Microsoft Azure \| HashiCorp Ambassador \| “The Azure Terraformer”\) shows how **Minecraft** can be used as a surprisingly powerful way to understand real-world Infrastructure-as-Code concepts. In this session, Mark will demonstrate how Terraform and Azure can be used to provision, configure, and manage Minecraft servers—while teaching the same patterns you’d use for production cloud infrastructure. ### What we’ll cover * Infrastructure-as-Code fundamentals using **Terraform** * Provisioning real infrastructure on **Azure** * Applying **IaC best practices** (immutability, repeatability, versioning) * How playful environments like Minecraft make complex concepts *click* * Why learning through experimentation beats click-ops every time ### Who should attend * Developers, platform engineers, and cloud engineers * Terraform users (new or experienced) * Anyone curious about Infrastructure-as-Code but tired of boring examples * Minecraft fans who want to see it used in a totally unexpected way No prior Minecraft experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to learn infrastructure the fun way. Come for the blocks, stay for the Terraform. 🧱➡️📐 Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/cbus-hug-2026/

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. I've been hardware hacking a See N Say to make it say whatever I want - while the project is in progress still, it should be working by this meetup! I'll bring it for demo. [See N Say Project](https://github.com/cdeever/esp32-see-n-say) While we continue to pursue a more permanent venue for this Meetup, we’ll be using public library facilities based on availability. This session will be at the Worthington Park Library in the Olentangy Meeting Room.

**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 **Abstract** TBD **YouTube Link** TBA

**NEW LOCATION: Improving Office in Franklinton** Physical location: Improving Office 330 Rush Alley Suite #150 Columbus, OH 43215 Schedule: * 6:00 p.m.: Socialize, eat, and drink. Improving will be providing pizza and beverages. * 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Main meeting and presentation(s). For this first meeting of the year, we will be reviewing submissions for the Your Program is Hideous and Obfuscated Challenge (YPHOC). Submissions for this challenge are due by January 12th, 2026. The details can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13zbxwElpJqPMuAN4Ele2hUgsqtFKzH3OCTL5NEeiLKQ or on our website http://www.cohpy.org We meet on the last Monday of each Month. Presentations are given by members and friends of this group. If you would like to do a presentation (small or large) on a python topic, please contact centralohpython@gmail.com

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. Topic TBD! While we continue to pursue a more permanent venue for this Meetup, we’ll be using public library facilities based on availability. This session will be at the Columbus Library - Northern Lights Branch in the Meeting Room 1C.

Come out to Improving for our monthly iOS and Mac meetings. This Month's Presentation: **Use AI to convert an old game into an iOS App** **John Endres** How I decided to learn AI tools in Xcode (Claude and ChatGPT) John is a long time iOS Developer. What is Cocoaheads (http://cocoaheads.org/)? CocoaHeads is a group devoted to discussion of Apple Computer's Cocoa Framework for programming on MacOS X and iOS (including the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch). During monthly meetings, members present on their projects and offer tutorials on various programming topics. What is BuckeyeCocoa (http://buckeyecocoa.org/)? BuckeyeCocoa is a group of Objective-C/Swift developers/enthusiasts. We host monthly Cocoaheads and near-weekly NSCoder meetings in Columbus, Ohio. The meetings are free to attend. Presentations! Presenters welcome! We are always in need of people willing to present material. Any Swift and/or Objective-C related topic is welcome. Times can be 5 minutes (i.e. lightning talks) to a maximum of 2 hours. Interested? Contact info is on the BuckeyeCocoa website. To volunteer for a presentation contact us at @BuckeyeCocoa on Twitter. Follow us on Twitter! @BuckeyeCocoa (https://twitter.com/#!/Buckeyecocoa/) For more information: http://buckeyecocoa.org/

**\*\*\*\* More details and sign up at: https://aifalliance.org/summit-2026/ \*\*\*\*** **What is AI Freedom Alliance?** AI Freedom Alliance promotes the responsible growth of AI guided by practical, commonsense ethics. Our nonprofit is built by professionals from a wide range of industries and is made up entirely of small- and mediumbusiness representatives—never large tech companies. We provide a counterbalance to big corporate influence, focusing instead on how AI can benefit businesses and the world at large. **What’s Happening?** ***The inaugural AI Freedom Alliance Summit.*** This full-day event will explore how we can ensure AI is adopted responsibly through shared ethical standards that empower humanity. The summit will feature interactive and educational sessions led by thought leaders, technologists, policymakers, and advocates who are passionate about making AI fair, transparent, and beneficial for everyone. **Why Attend?** Learn about the legal and technical challenges with implementing AI solutions within your organization. Build better solutions while protecting your organization from legal and compliance risks. And learn how to think strategically about AI as a differentiation tool for your business. This summit is highly recommended for C-Suite leaders to learn as well as interact with each other and our sponsors.

**Web Design Decoded: Tools, Practices, and Proven Processes:** **Semantic HTML** At WebDev Columbus, we are exploring some of the most important topics of professional high-end web design and page building. Primarily focused on site building in the WordPress environment, our group explores tools, tips, and techniques for building the best WordPress sites possible. Additionally, we focus on disciplines and technologies that take website design from visually appealing to optimized spaces for delivering you and/or your client's message effectively and with a nod towards extended reach. Each session combines practical demonstrations with real-world insights, giving you actionable knowledge you can apply immediately. Whether you're a seasoned developer looking to enhance your design skills or a newcomer wanting to understand design best practices, this series offers valuable insights for every skill level. **What to expect:** * Hands-on demonstrations of popular design tools * Best practices for design-to-development workflows * Tips for creating responsive, accessible designs * Real-world problem-solving scenarios * Interactive Q&A sessions * Networking opportunities with fellow developers **Each meetup features:** 60 minutes of focused presentation 30 minutes of live demonstrations 30 minutes for questions and discussion **See you there!** Our casual, collaborative environment encourages learning from both presenters and fellow attendees. Bring your questions, share your experiences, and connect with Central Ohio's web development community! **Stay tuned for specific session topics and dates.**

Let's get together and **WORKSHOP** about Job Searching and Career Management. Here are some of the content areas we can cover - expect this to change. * Using AI effectively (search, resume). * Job Search Tooling (i.e. TopResume, Job-Squid). * Resume / LinkedIn Review * Practice Interview * Practice Elevator Pitch Food and drinks will be available. **FREE PARKING:** 6725 Longshore Street, Dublin, OH 43017

**PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT NOTES:** 1. The dates listed for this series are about 95% reliable. We are completing our 2026 schedule as we speak, so minor adjustments are still occurring. 2. Each class in this series has an attendance fee, on a first-come, first-served basis. 3. Each class, from BOTH a sign-up and fee perspective, is a separate entity. **Introduction:** **The breakdown of the four-class series is as follows:** **Class 1: Introduction to Web Styling and Basic CSS3** **Class 2:** **Class 3:** **Class 4:** **Class 5:** **Class 6:**

**PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT NOTES:** 1. The dates listed for this series are about 95% reliable. We are completing our 2026 schedule as we speak, so minor adjustments are still occurring. 2. Each class in this series has an attendance fee, on a first-come, first-served basis. 3. Each class, from BOTH a sign-up and fee perspective, is a separate entity. **Introduction:** **The breakdown of the four-class series is as follows:** **Class 1: Introduction to Web Styling and Basic CSS3** **Class 2:** **Class 3:** **Class 4:** **Class 5:** **Class 6:**

**PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT NOTES:** 1. The dates listed for this series are about 95% reliable. We are completing our 2026 schedule as we speak, so minor adjustments are still occurring. 2. Each class in this series has an attendance fee, on a first-come, first-served basis. 3. Each class, from BOTH a sign-up and fee perspective, is a separate entity. **Introduction:** **The breakdown of the four-class series is as follows:** **Class 1: Introduction to Web Styling and Basic CSS3** **Class 2:** **Class 3:** **Class 4:** **Class 5:** **Class 6:**

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)

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.

2026 may be the last year many developers write code by hand. We need coding agents to solve complex problems in production codebases, but vibe coding alone won’t get us there. Vibe coding is all gas, no brakes. It burns up the context window until the agent slips on its own slop. You can go fast at first, but the more you stuff into the context window, the more tangled its outputs get. While the industry is rapidly increasing code generation speed, we still have to understand, review, merge, and maintain what gets shipped. This talk will outline how coding agents (Claude Code + Gas Town) work and a framework for orchestrating them to solve complicated problems in complex codebases. It’s about steering the model: doing the research to align intent, planning the approach up front, implementing in parallel steps, and breaking early. Human judgment still matters, but it should be spent on high-leverage decisions: what to build, what to forbid, and “what is quality?”, not cleaning up slop. Attendees will leave with a checklist to identify workflow and environment gaps that hold agents back, so you and your team can ship higher-quality software starting tomorrow.

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)

* Who Can Attend * The Central Ohio .Net Developers Group meetings are free and open to the public! All developers; professional, student, and hobbiest are welcome and encouraged to attend. * When we meet * The Central Ohio .Net Developers Group meets on the 4th Thursday of every month. * Where we meet * Please check our Meetup group link below for location details! * Join our Meetup Group * https://www.meetup.com/Central-Ohio-NET-Developers-Group-CONDG/

Bring your work or your hobby, hang out, and code with us. Follow @buckeyecocoa for more information.

Missed re:Invent or overwhelmed by the sheer number of announcements? We've got your back. Join us for this VIRTUAL EVENT where we walk through the most exciting re:Invent happenings. We'll be joined by everyone's favorite AWS Dev Advocate, [Darko Mesaroš](https://www.linkedin.com/in/darko-mesaros/), who will present this two hour session. We'll see you there! Note: The virtual event information will be made available 24 hours before the session starts. Zoom link to be published Jan 14th on meetup.com, you must be registered for this meetup to see the link. Thank you [Kathie Kinde Clark](https://www.meetup.com/members/385006225), leader of the Cleveland AWS User Group for organizing this event. **Agenda:** **Welcome and intros** User groups from across the universe are teaming up to bring you a very packed 2 hours of recaps from the AWS re:Invent conference. **Stay up to date with AWS news and updates:** * Official [AWS news website and RSS](https://aws.amazon.com/new/) * [AWS YouTube channel ](https://www.youtube.com/@AWSEventsChannel)with re:Invent talks and keynotes * [AWS Hero](https://builder.aws.com/community/@donkersgoed) [Luc van Donkersgoed ](https://lucvandonkersgoed.com/)'s (unofficial) [The AWS News Feed](https://aws-news.com/) * Download the summary of AWS re:Invent announcements: [https://s12d.com/AWSreCapPDF](https://s12d.com/AWSreCapPDF)

**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 **Abstract** GitHub Copilot is rapidly changing how developers write, understand, and maintain code. Powered by generative AI and deeply integrated into modern development environments, Copilot acts as an intelligent coding assistant, helping developers move faster while maintaining quality and focus. In this session, we’ll explore what GitHub Copilot is, how it works, and where it fits into a real-world developer workflow. We’ll break down what Copilot can (and cannot) do, where it can be used, and how licensing differs for individuals and organizations. Most importantly, this talk goes beyond theory with a live, hands-on demo showcasing Copilot inside the IDE and on GitHub, demonstrating how it can assist with code generation, refactoring, learning new APIs, and accelerating day-to-day development tasks. Designed for developers, technical leads, and engineering managers, this session provides a practical introduction to AI-assisted development, highlights best practices for getting value from Copilot, and closes with guidance on how to continue learning and evolving alongside this rapidly advancing tool. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how GitHub Copilot can enhance productivity, improve developer experience, and fit into modern software teams today, not someday. **YouTube Link** TBA

Join other experienced and aspiring agile coaches and professionals to: * develop and practice your coaching skills in a peer-to-peer environment * share current successes and challenges in your work environment and get support from each other * learn from each other, build better relationships and experiment with new ideas

Topic to be announced! The February AWS Columbus meetup will be virtual to avoid potential bad weather. March-December we will be back to in-person meetups! Note: The virtual event information will be made available 24 hours before the session starts. Zoom link to be published Jan 16th on meetup.com, you must be registered for this meetup to see the link. **CALL FOR SPEAKERS** We are now using Sessionize to manage speaker submissions. Learn more: [https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/](https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/) **THANK YOU 2025 SPONSORS** *Leading EDJE*, VEEAM, Franklin University, Branch Insurance, and AWS. Your participation is greatly appreciated!!! **DIRECTIONS** This is a virtual meetup. The Zoom link to be published the day before the scheduled meetup on this page. You must be registered for this meetup to see the link. **Want to sponsor the pizza and/or bar tab for a future meetup?** Please contact me if you would like to sponsor this meetup's pizza and/or bar tab: [angelo@mandato.com](mailto:angelo@mandato.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 **Abstract** TBD **YouTube Link** TBA

An Evening of Kibitzing and Coding. Columbus Code Jam is a casual meetup to pair on cool projects, to get one-on-one guidance from experienced developers & sys admins, to network, learn, and eat pizza. Twitter: @CodeJamCMH Some topics we've discussed while hacking: Git Workflows for moving from single-developers to small teams. Modelling tree structures in RDBMS tables and the SQL to query them. Computing in the bad-old-days of dial-up. What are the IT needs of a small not-for-profit foundation looking to create an informational web site for foundation members/subscribers? How often does one need to collect data samples to monitor the performance of an application. Demonstrating the difference between 'programming' and 'coding' by deriving an algorithm to sort a list of numbers. Where can an entrepreneur go in Columbus to find technical resources and/or investors. What additional tools and skills are needed to go from an HTML/CSS/JS prototype to a full-featured application. How to refactor large methods into several smaller methods in a Rails Model. What kinds of web site analytics are available for word press sites? What are some good online resources for a single-founder software startup dealing with marketing and launching software products? Come and add your voice and language to the conversation. Please RSVP so that we can ensure that there are enough refreshments for everybody. Refreshments for Columbus Code Jam are provided by Len Jaffe. Are you interested in sponsoring Code Jam? Contact Len Jaffe for details. Columbus Code Jam is brought to you by: [The Nest Theatre](https://www.nesttheatre.com/), [Ohio Roller Derby (http://www.ohiorollerderby.com/)](http://www.ohiorollerderby.com/), Columbus Perl Underground, and a nice hot cup of coffee.

In this workshop, you’ll see how AI agents can reason over telemetry data, detect AWS infrastructure issues, and trigger automated remediation to keep your systems healthy and resilient. ⚠️ **Important:** to attend, **you MUST register at** [https://www.honeycomb.io/go/honeycomb-aws-pulumi-ai-agents-workshop](https://www.honeycomb.io/go/honeycomb-aws-pulumi-ai-agents-workshop) **Speakers:** * **Liz Fong-Jones**, Field CTO at Honeycomb * **Marina Novikova**, Senior Solutions Architect at AWS * **Engin Diri**, Senior Solutions Architect at Pulumi **Join us to learn:** * How to stream telemetry from Honeycomb to detect #AWS issues * How Neo, Pulumi's AI Infrastructure agent, automates remediation workflows * How to build a closed-loop system for intelligent cloud operations ⚠️ **Don’t forget:** You **must register** to attend: [https://www.honeycomb.io/go/honeycomb-aws-pulumi-ai-agents-workshop](https://www.honeycomb.io/go/honeycomb-aws-pulumi-ai-agents-workshop) Explore more workshops here: [https://pulumip.us/UpcomingWorkshops](https://pulumip.us/UpcomingWorkshops)

**Startup Founders: Bring your startup questions and challenges to the Startup Council’s FREE founder support “Office Hours”. Get FREE expert Silicon Valley advice to help you start and grow your venture.** **Want to find angel investors? Practice your investor pitch? Have questions about raising venture capital? How to find product/market fit? Pitch decks? Building your team? Protecting your intellectual property? Starting a company as a first-time, female, or minority founder? We're here to help!** A **free, fun, friendly livestream** show for startup founders and friends worldwide, our mission is to increase access to innovation and investment for all. Join Startup Council CEO, **Scott Fox**, for valuable startup strategy advice, fundraising expertise, and networking, too. **FREE TICKETS LINK:** https://startup-office-hours.eventbrite.com **WHEN: The 4th Tuesday of every month at 900pm US Pacific Time (aka 12 midnight US ET).** **That's WEDNESDAY at 5.00am UTC / 9.00am GST / 10.30am IST / 3.00pm AEST for our friends in Asia, Australia, MENA, and India.** **AT SHOW TIME YOU CAN WATCH & CHAT LIVE AT ANY OF THESE CHANNELS:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/startupcouncil https://www.youtube.com/scottfox (with Live Chat!) https://www.facebook.com/clickmillionaire Podcast: http://scottfoxradio.com/ **HAVE A STARTUP QUESTION to ask Scott ON CAMERA? Or want to practice your Investor Pitch?** Submit your Startup Question or Pitch summary here **BEFORE** the show to get the ON CAMERA participation link: https://startupcouncil.org/sohsrsvp You'll get helpful, free expert feedback LIVE if you RSVP in advance! **Your Host & Moderator:** Scott Fox, CEO of the Startup Council, Chairman of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs SoCal (Orange County), ecosystem builder & speaker, investor in 30+ startup companies, serial startup founder, best-selling entrepreneurship author of Click Millionaires, Internet Riches, more… **SPONSORS** StartupCouncil.org is a community service group helping founders worldwide to accelerate the success of their early stage startups! Our mission is to help entrepreneurs and investors globally by increasing access to relationships, expertise, and innovation capital, especially for first-time, minority, and under-represented founders. Join the Startup Council and **SUBSCRIBE to the free Startup Council email lists HERE:** https://www.startupcouncil.org/newsletters StartupInvestorsDirectory.com: Visit https://www.startupinvestorsdirectory.com/ for 3000+ exclusive and detailed angel and VC firms listings. Use the easy search tools to find the RIGHT investors for your startup. (Special Launch Offer Code: SIDLAUNCH ) **SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE FOR FREE VIDEO REPLAYS** **Want great FREE Startup Advice NOW?** Click to SUBSCRIBE & see previous shows now at https://www.youtube.com/scottfox \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- By attending/watching all participants recognize that advice given is PUBLIC, is for entertainment/informational use only, agree to release, indemnify, hold harmless, defend, and pay defense costs for all organizers from any and all liability or claims, and consent to use and public sharing in any media of any information, photos, or videos taken.

**Welcome to Startup Oasis!** If you are a startup founder, developer, UX designer, marketer, or anyone else in the tech ecosystem looking to start, join, or help a tech startup, this event is for you! Startup founders pitch their business or idea to the audience like on Shark Tank. Except there are no winners, and founders are not pitching for money. Instead, founders get their own breakout room to continue building, workshopping, and/or onboarding the startup with attendees. This is a brand-new type of structure that has never existed before, and there is so much direct value for all parties. Startup Oasis was created to pierce the illusion of accessibility of startups and tech by creating a grassroots forum for early-stage founders to pitch to those in the tech ecosystem to get real-time feedback for their idea or business. See our [overview video ](https://youtu.be/VH11MFd3X1Q?si=eavhvdVj5oSn5RI8)for more info! **Agenda:** 1. **Introductions:** during the first 10 minutes, we will give you the history, structure, and future plans of Startup Oasis and open signups for founders that want to pitch their startups. 2. **Pitches:** each founder will then get up to 3 minutes to pitch their startup. This format is recommended: name, business, the problem, your solution, target customer base, and your biggest challenge/current need. This part is similar to Shark Tank. 3. **Breakouts:** for the remainder of the event, each founder gets a breakout room, and you can talk to the founders in greater detail their about their needs and challenges in a small group setting. This part is similar to a hackathon. Use this [link](https://lnk.bio/startup.oasis) to: * Follow us on LinkedIn * Join our community on Discord * Donate to our cause * Visit our website **FAQ:** **Is this event free to attend?** Yes - Startup Oasis will always be free for anyone to attend. If you would like to donate, you can do so directly on our [website](https://donate.stripe.com/eVa2a0dV27Nlb2ofYY). You can also talk to us about volunteer or sponsorship opportunities. **How do I sign up to pitch?** RSVP here. Right when the event starts, fill out the form and then raise your hand on Zoom. That will also determine the order. You can also buy a VIP ticket to support our cause and guarantee you a spot to pitch. To be eligible to pitch, you must be the cofounder of a technology-based startup. Agencies, consultants, coaches, MLM schemes, and nonprofits are not eligible to pitch, but you can still watch the pitches and join the breakouts. **What happens after the pitches?** The breakout groups open for the remainder of the event. Each founder gets a breakout room, and you can talk more about their business and needs with them. **Can I invite other people that I know?** Yes - please have them RSVP here or on the [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-oasis-global) event listing. **How do I get the most out of this event?** * Founders - In this event, no money is awarded nor are any winners named. We are not here to critique your pitch, just to help you find teammates, cofounders, and feedback from other professionals. Make sure your pitch is 3 minutes or less and clear about what your biggest needs are. * Attendees - If you are new to startups and tech, feel free to just watch with no pressure to participate. If you are looking to join a startup or find a side project, make sure you take notes during the pitches to join the group of the founder that you're most interested in helping. Most founders need help with either developing the product or with a go-to-market strategy. **Do we meet in person?** We do this event in Atlanta, USA each month. We will visit your city in the future to do this event in person during our world tour. If you'd like to help us organize, please let us know! **Content:** We are looking for founders to be interviewed or people to interview founders for short videos. Let us know if you are interested!

### (CS)²AI Online™ Seminar **New Era of Defense Cybersecurity: Understanding CMMC 2.0** The cybersecurity landscape for the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) is rapidly evolving—and **CMMC 2.0** is reshaping how organizations approach compliance, risk management, and cyber resilience. In this (CS)²AI Online™ Seminar, subject matter experts break down the **intent, structure, and practical implications of CMMC 2.0**, helping organizations move beyond checkbox compliance toward meaningful security outcomes. Attendees will gain clarity on what has changed from previous versions, what requirements apply to their organization, and how to prepare effectively for assessments. This session is designed for defense contractors, subcontractors, cybersecurity professionals, compliance leaders, and anyone responsible for protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) within the defense ecosystem. **Key topics include:** * Overview of CMMC 2.0 and its streamlined model * Understanding the three maturity levels and assessment requirements * Alignment with NIST SP 800-171 * Common gaps and challenges organizations face * Practical steps to prepare for CMMC assessments * Training and workforce readiness considerations Whether you’re just beginning your CMMC journey or refining an existing compliance strategy, this seminar provides actionable insights to help you navigate the **new era of defense cybersecurity** with confidence. **[CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT](https://events.zoom.us/ev/Aup2XDvRHt6LcH6W9CuFpub1vtw8lQbPXfOC9YR4kclZ9zU9jhnL~Asb1H6aldIH-JC8jzpUSEHkVhDGYkLUpwallQmnPE9q4w2zrnNjunxl9CZucaO7HHJAq38CP1nBamFTAkJ242bT8aA)** ***[https://events.zoom.us/ev/Aup2XDvRHt6LcH6W9CuFpub1vtw8lQbPXfOC9YR4kclZ9zU9jhnL~Asb1H6aldIH-JC8jzpUSEHkVhDGYkLUpwallQmnPE9q4w2zrnNjunxl9CZucaO7HHJAq38CP1nBamFTAkJ242bT8aA](https://events.zoom.us/ev/Aup2XDvRHt6LcH6W9CuFpub1vtw8lQbPXfOC9YR4kclZ9zU9jhnL~Asb1H6aldIH-JC8jzpUSEHkVhDGYkLUpwallQmnPE9q4w2zrnNjunxl9CZucaO7HHJAq38CP1nBamFTAkJ242bT8aA)*** \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- Becoming a paid member is quick and easy (and helps us keep offering these educational opportunities!). Please join now! [[https://www.cs2ai.org/plans-pricing\](https://www.cs2ai.org/plans-pricing)](https://www.cs2ai.org/plans-pricing%5D(https://www.cs2ai.org/plans-pricing)) All past seminars and symposiums are available to paid [CS2AI.ORG](http://cs2ai.org/) members. Check out the Resources area of our website in the Members Portal [[https://www.cs2ai.org/\](https://www.cs2ai.org/)](https://www.cs2ai.org/%5D(https://www.cs2ai.org/)) Certificates for Professional Development/Continuing Education Units (PDUs/CEUs) are available for all registered individuals who attend at least one hour of the event.[https://www.cs2ai.org/get-involved\](https://www.cs2ai.org/get-involved)](https://www.cs2ai.org/get-involved%5D(https://www.cs2ai.org/get-involved)) \*Please note that (CS)²AI Online™ events are provided free of charge as educational career development content through the support of our paid members and the generous contributions of our corporate Strategic Alliance Partners. Contact information used in registering for our directly supported seminars may be shared with sponsors funding those specific events. Unless noted on our Zoom Event registration page, all events are open for direct funding support.

As zkSNARKs gain adoption in production systems like digital ID and decentralized finance, institutions and developers are seeing an increasing need for rigorous standards. This lab will explore a modular approach towards standardizing generic zk-SNARKs. In this meetup, we present work done on the arithmetisation, Fiat-Shamir, and polynomial commitment schemes used in many zk-SNARK protocols. We call for community feedback and participation in shaping this standardization effort. More about the lab is at: https://github.com/LF-Decentralized-Trust-labs/zkproof-polycommit

AWS CEO Matt Garman recently referenced Pulumi during a re:Invent keynote while discussing AgentCore, sparking new interest in how teams can bring automation and familiar programming languages into their AWS workflows. Join this hands-on workshop to learn how modern infrastructure management becomes faster and more consistent when you use real programming languages — in this case, Python — to define and deploy AWS resources. You’ll see how Pulumi lets developers and operations teams write infrastructure the same way they write applications, removing the need for domain-specific languages and enabling stronger software engineering practices across your cloud environments. **Speakers:** * Engin Diri, Sr. Solutions Architect at Pulumi **Join us to learn:** * How to provision AWS resources using Python and apply modern development practices to your infrastructure * How Pulumi’s programming model helps teams deploy cloud architecture with confidence and repeatability * How Pulumi’s ecosystem supports deployments across multiple environments and workflows **Where:** BigMarker at [https://pulumip.us/AWS-on-Python](https://pulumip.us/AWS-on-Python) Join our other workshop here: [https://pulumip.us/UpcomingWorkshops](https://pulumip.us/UpcomingWorkshops)