BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Meetup//Meetup Calendar 1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH NAME:The Tech Academy X-WR-CALNAME:The Tech Academy BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles TZURL:http://tzurl.org/zoneinfo-outlook/America/Los_Angeles X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_316585963@meetup.com SEQUENCE:1 DTSTAMP:20261016T020659Z DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261016T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261016T113000 SUMMARY:Tech Talk | Staying Relevant in Tech with Advait Sowale DESCRIPTION:The Tech Academy\n**What will matter most when AI can do more of the work faster than ever?**\n\nAs AI continues to change how software is built\, speed and productivity are no longer the only measures of succe ss. Knowing what good work looks like\, questioning the results\, and appl ying sound judgment are becoming increasingly important skills for anyone working in tech.\n\nIn this live Tech Talk\, **Advait Sowale**\, an IT pro fessional with more than 17 years of experience across analysis\, design\, development\, quality assurance\, and delivery\, will share his perspecti ve on staying relevant in a rapidly changing industry. Over the past five years\, he has focused on emerging technologies including AI\, IoT\, Mixed Reality\, Blockchain\, and Data Science.\n\nIn this session\, Advait will explore how developers and technology professionals can use AI as a helpf ul tool without blindly relying on its output. He will discuss the importa nce of understanding the fundamentals\, questioning what AI produces\, and developing the critical thinking skills needed to recognize quality work. \n\nYou will gain a clearer perspective on why good judgment is becoming i ncreasingly valuable as AI takes on more tasks. The session will provide p ractical ways to keep learning\, evaluate AI-generated work\, and stay eng aged in the thinking behind the technology you use.\n\nBring your question s and your curiosity! Follow along with Advait as he shares practical insi ghts on working with AI\, evaluating quality\, and strengthening your crit ical thinking\, and consider how you can apply these ideas to your own wor k and learning.\n\nJoin us at our new time slot just this **Friday\\\, Oct ober 16\\\, at 10 AM PT \\| 12 PM CT \\| 1 PM ET**\, and save your spot no w to discover how quality\, critical thinking\, and good judgment can help you stay relevant in tech. URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.meetup.com/techacademy/events/316585963/ STATUS:CONFIRMED CREATED:20260916T202200Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260916T202200Z CLASS:PUBLIC END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_316900919@meetup.com SEQUENCE:1 DTSTAMP:20261016T020659Z DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261023T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261023T143000 SUMMARY:Tech Talk | Blocked: A Survival Guide with Mindi Weik DESCRIPTION:The Tech Academy\n**What can you do when you are stuck on a pr oblem and have no idea where to start?**\n\nGetting stuck is not a bug in your learning. It is part of the job. Knowing how to work through a proble m\, figure out what is missing\, and ask for help effectively can be just as important as knowing how to write the code itself.\n\nOur guest speaker **Mindi Weik**\, a software engineer at OpenRouter and founding engineer at Audition Cat\, will share practical strategies for getting unstuck as a developer. After taking a nontraditional path into tech through a bootcam p and a career change\, Mindi brings a perspective shaped by software inte grations\, RESTful APIs\, developer productivity\, and leading projects an d teams.\n\nDuring this live\, interactive session\, Mindi will walk you t hrough a hands-on mystery app where you will practice the exact moves deve lopers use to get unstuck. You will work through how to reproduce a proble m\, build around what is missing\, and ask for help in a way that gives ot hers enough information to actually help you.\n\nYou will gain a practical process for approaching problems when you feel stuck instead of immediate ly reaching for the answer. You will also learn how to investigate what is happening\, identify what you need\, and communicate your questions more effectively when you need support.\n\nGet ready to work through a mystery! Follow along with Mindi as you practice troubleshooting and problem-solvi ng techniques\, and bring your questions as you think through how you can use these strategies in your own development work.\n\nJoin us on **Friday\ \\, October 23 at 1 PM PT \\| 3 PM CT \\| 4 PM ET** and save your spot now to practice the skills that can help you get unstuck as a developer. URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.meetup.com/techacademy/events/316900919/ STATUS:CONFIRMED CREATED:20261008T194207Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261008T194207Z CLASS:PUBLIC END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_316803366@meetup.com SEQUENCE:1 DTSTAMP:20261016T020659Z DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261030T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261030T143000 SUMMARY:Tech Talk: Why a Dev Blog Is Your Career’s Secret Weapon with Ra chel Kaufman DESCRIPTION:The Tech Academy\n**What can writing about your development wo rk do for your tech career?**\n\nMost developers do not think of themselve s as writers\, but writing can be a powerful way to strengthen your skills and grow professionally. A dev blog is not about becoming an internet-fam ous thought leader. Writing helps you think through problems\, remember wh at you have learned\, and become better at your work.\n\nOur guest speaker \, **Rachel Kaufman**\, is a full-stack software engineer in the martech s pace. She will share why writing and learning in public can be valuable fo r developers at any stage of their careers. She is also a lead organizer w ith Women and Gender eXpansive Coders DC\, where she helps create technica l workshops and networking opportunities for women and nonbinary people in tech.\n\nIn this live session\, Rachel will break down the practical bene fits of keeping a dev blog and walk through different ways to get started. She will cover the logistics of writing and publishing\, along with how d ocumenting your work can help you think more clearly\, retain what you lea rn\, and strengthen your development skills.\n\nYou will leave with a bett er understanding of how writing can support your growth as a developer and practical ideas for starting a dev blog of your own. Most importantly\, y ou will see how writing can be useful for learning and improving your work \, not simply building an online presence.\n\nBring your questions and you r ideas! Follow along with Rachel as she shares practical ways to start wr iting and learning in public\, and think about what you could document fro m your own development journey.\n\nJoin us on **Friday\\\, October 30 at 1 PM PT \\| 3 PM CT \\| 4 PM ET** and save your spot now to discover how a dev blog can become a valuable part of your career. URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.meetup.com/techacademy/events/316803366/ STATUS:CONFIRMED CREATED:20261001T210454Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261001T210454Z CLASS:PUBLIC END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_316998907@meetup.com SEQUENCE:1 DTSTAMP:20261016T020659Z DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261106T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261106T143000 SUMMARY:Tech Talk: AI in Practice with Bethany Janos DESCRIPTION:The Tech Academy\n**How can developers use AI effectively with out losing sight of the fundamentals?**\n\nAI is changing how software is built and how developers approach everyday problems. For students and earl y-career engineers\, keeping up with new tools and practices can feel over whelming. Understanding how the industry has evolved and learning to make thoughtful decisions about AI can help you adapt and build skills that las t.\n\nOur guest speaker\, **Bethany Janos**\, is a senior software enginee r at GitHub who works on the backend systems powering Copilot chat and age nts. Since starting her career in 2018\, she has built backend systems acr oss different products and teams. She is also passionate about mentoring s tudents and helping new developers build the technical skills and confiden ce they need to succeed.\n\nIn this live Tech Talk\, Bethany will explore practical approaches to working with AI in software engineering. She will cover a brief history of the field\, explain harnesses and why they matter \, and introduce MCPs\, plugins\, skills\, and the concept of tokenmaxxing . She will also discuss when AI can be useful and when it is better to set it aside.\n\nYou will gain a clearer understanding of the tools and workf lows shaping AI-assisted development and how to make informed decisions ab out using them. You will also learn what to consider as you build your ski lls and prepare for a software industry that continues to evolve.\n\nBring your questions and curiosity about AI! Follow along with Bethany as she u npacks these tools and approaches\, and think about how you can use them i n your own learning and development projects.\n\nJoin us on **Friday\\\, N ovember 6 at 1 PM PT \\| 3 PM CT \\| 4 PM ET** and save your spot now to e xplore practical ways to work with AI and prepare for the future of softwa re engineering. URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.meetup.com/techacademy/events/316998907/ STATUS:CONFIRMED CREATED:20261015T185718Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261015T185718Z CLASS:PUBLIC END:VEVENT X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.meetup.com/techacademy/events/ical/ X-WR-CALNAME:The Tech Academy END:VCALENDAR