Name: Meetup #4 - Hands-On MCP Server Building
Start: 2025-12-18T19:00:00+02:00
End: 2025-12-18T21:00:00+02:00
Location: fromScratch Design Studio

MCP (Model Context Protocol) was released one year ago, and in that time it has made a huge difference in the way we use Large Language Models. So what better way to celebrate this anniversary than with our 4th Practical AI Meetup on **Thursday**, **18 December**, at the fromScratch Studio HQ.

**Savvas Papadopoulos** from **Geekbot** will guide us through the basics of MCPs, what they are, how they work, and how they can help us. He will then demonstrate live how to build custom MCP servers for various use cases!

As always, the goal of this meetup is not just to learn new things, but to apply that knowledge and create something meaningful. So if you want to get your hands dirty and leave the event with a fully working custom MCP server, feel free to join!

**What the Speaker**
**Savvas Papadopoulos** is the **AI Lead** at **Geekbot**, bringing years of hands-on experience in AI, machine learning, and software engineering. He follows the fast-moving AI world closely and enjoys digging into data, experimenting with models, and writing code to turn ideas into practical, working solutions. His latest interests revolve around LLMs, agents, and knowledge graphs, exploring how they can power smarter, context-aware applications.

**What to expect**
This will be an almost 2-hour session. The first hour (or so) will be dedicated to learning the theory and seeing in practice how MCPs are built. During the remaining time, attendees will be able to start implementing one of the demonstrated use cases on their own. Savvas and the organizers will be there to help.

**Stick around after the event for beers and networking!**

**Preparation**
To get the most out of this session, we recommend having your setup ready beforehand. Please bring a laptop with the following:

* [Python](https://www.python.org/downloads/) (at least v3.8)
* [uv package manager](https://github.com/astral-sh/uv)
* [LM Studio](https://lmstudio.ai/). Once installed, download the opensource (and lightweight) [Qwen3-4b model](https://lmstudio.ai/docs/app/basics/download-model). The model is small enough to fit even in 8GB of RAM and runs perfectly on CPUs (no GPU required)
* [Free Trello account](https://trello.com/). We will use a Trello board to build our Project Management Tool. You’ll have to create a Trello API key and a token (it’s free). To do so, follow these [instructions](https://www.merge.dev/blog/trello-api-key). Once you reach step 4, make sure to click on the `token` link to get your Trello token. we will need both to create our MCP server

**Registration**
We will meet from **19:00** to **21:00** at **fromScratch HQ** (Themistokli Sofouli 70Α). Don’t forget to RSVP to secure your spot!

**Please note that all presentations and discussions will be conducted in Greek.**

We look forward to seeing you there and exploring the world of AI together!

George Kamtziridis

Practical AI Thessaloniki

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Meetup #4 - Hands-On MCP Server Building

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Meetup #4 - Hands-On MCP Server Building

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