Agile Project Management

Hi folks! Welcome to our May Cloud Native London meetup! Join us to hear from our three great speakers and network with your fellow techies over pizza and drinks, or alternatively chat and following along on Youtube or LinkedIn! 6:00 Pizza and drinks 6:30 Welcome 6:45 The End of Handoffs: Build, Run, Own in One Flow (Alberto Pose, Pulumi) 7:15 You Can’t Patch Fast Enough: What AI-Driven Attacks Mean (Idan Elor, Oligo Security) 7:45 Break 8:00 From Zero to HyperPod: Distributed Model Training on AWS (Anton Nazaruk, Cloud Combinator) 8:30 Wrap up See you there! Cheryl (@oicheryl) **The End of Handoffs: Build, Run, Own in One Flow (Alberto Pose, Pulumi)** AI is changing the shape of team structures. A similar shift to the one that brought dev and ops together into DevOps is now happening as product must also meet the accountability bar. At the same time, tooling has not caught up with "throwing it to Claude/Codex". Engineers are confronted with a choice: trust code and actions they do not fully understand, or... move too slowly. Are these problems fundamentally new, or are there lessons we can draw from the past to adapt and think about what comes next? *Alberto Pose is a software engineer with a soft spot for developer tooling and infrastructure. He is currently part of the team managing the CI/CD pipelines for Pulumi's open source projects. Before this, he spent nearly ten years at Prime Video and AWS. A major highlight of his time there was helping bootstrap the living room device automation team, taking it from a small group effort to a 30 person organisation that brought full automation to millions of streaming devices worldwide.* **You Can’t Patch Fast Enough: What AI-Driven Attacks Mean (Idan Elor, Oligo Security)** Anthropic’s Project Glasswing announcement put the industry on notice. AI has fundamentally changed the threat landscape and the risks facing organizations, and it’s happening faster than most security models can adapt. AI-assisted attackers can now discover vulnerabilities, generate exploits, and launch attacks at rates never seen before, collapsing the window between disclosure and exploitation. In this environment, patching alone is no longer enough. For cloud-native applications, where systems are dynamic and constantly evolving, this creates a new challenge: how do you stay protected when you can’t fix vulnerabilities fast enough? This talk explores how the attacker model is shifting in the AI era, why traditional approaches are breaking down, and what it means to move from vulnerability-based security to real-time protection at runtime. We’ll cover how focusing on exploit techniques enables teams to stop attacks as they happen, including zero-days. *Idan Elor is Field CTO at Oligo Security, where he partners with large enterprises to solve complex application and cloud security challenges. He most recently served as Director of Solution Engineering & Tech-Alliances at Apiiro, where he empowered enterprises to secure their software supply chains. With over a decade of experience spanning application security, DevSecOps, and mobile security, Idan has also held leadership positions at companies like Snyk, Symantec, and HP. His unique background combines deep hands-on technical expertise. A passionate advocate for bridging the gap between security and development teams, Idan is known for his ability to translate complex security concepts into actionable strategies that organizations can actually implement.* **From Zero to HyperPod: Distributed Model Training on AWS (Anton Nazaruk, Cloud Combinator)** You've got a model that works. You just need more GPUs. How hard can it be? That's where the pain starts. GPU availability, infrastructure complexity, and cost are the three blockers that trip up even experienced teams when scaling from single-GPU training to serious distributed workloads. This talk is a practical walkthrough of how to set up distributed model training on AWS - covering the capacity options (On-Demand, Spot, Capacity Blocks, SageMaker Training Plans), when to use each, and a repeatable infrastructure blueprint for compute, networking, storage, and observability. I'll demo provisioning a HyperPod cluster and running a distributed training job with automatic failure recovery, and share the cost levers that matter at scale. Whether you're a platform engineer supporting ML teams or an ML engineer tired of fighting infrastructure, you'll leave with a decision framework and a blueprint you can implement. *Anton Nazaruk is CTO at Cloud Combinator, where he helps companies run GPU workloads on AWS - from early-stage startups to larger organisations doing distributed training at scale. He focuses on making ML infrastructure repeatable, resilient, and cost-efficient.* *LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anton-nazaruk* *Check out [https://www.oicheryl.com/cloudnativelondon](https://www.oicheryl.com/cloudnativelondon) if you're interested in speaking or sponsoring.*

AI is changing how engineering teams work. Faster iteration. More output. Less time spent on the basics. But turning that speed into real delivery isn’t straightforward. At this Future Form session, we’re looking at what it actually takes to move from faster development to shipping real value. Speakers: **Brian Scanlan\, Senior Principal Engineer \| Intercom** Brian will share how they’re increasing engineering throughput using AI inside a large SaaS codebase. What’s improved, where it’s worked best, and the practical challenges that come with scaling it beyond demos. **Luca Lanziani\, Head of DevOps & Platform Engineering \| Nearform** Luca will explore what happens around the code. Because when development speeds up, the constraints shift. Platform, delivery pipelines, team structures. The organisations that benefit are the ones that adapt. Join us for pizza, drinks, and practical insights of where AI can genuinely accelerate delivery, and what needs to change to make that happen. **If you’re working hands-on with AI tools or responsible for how software gets delivered, this session is for you.**

Welcome to our May event. We're delighted to welcome [Elena Lape](http://linkedin.com/in/elenalape), Founder, Holopin and [Rupam Jha](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rupam-jha-151313a7/), Senior DevOps Engineer, as well as [Areg Hovakimyan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/areg-hovakimyan/), Senior DevOps Engineer. **Elena** takes an affectionate but honest look at the wonderfully chaotic reality of working with AWS, a platform that can do almost anything, but rarely in just one obvious way. **Rupam** answers the question every fast-moving team faces: how do you stay secure, compliant, and audit-ready on AWS without creating bottlenecks for builders? **Areg** provides an overview of Amazon EKS, while highlighting what truly makes a difference in production. A big thank you to our sponsors [Cloudscaler](https://rebrand.ly/cloudscaler), [Rayo](https://rebrand.ly/rayo-cloud) & [The Scale Factory](https://rebrand.ly/scalefactory) **Programme:** 18:00: Arrival, registration 18:15: Talks start 20:00: Networking with food and a drink provided by the generosity of our sponsors. **Talk 1:** ***AWS: An Experience with Elena Lape*** Those of us who care a lot about developer experience would certainly agree: AWS is, undeniably, an experience. This session explores the quirks, overlaps, and “wait, why?” moments that make AWS both impressive and deeply relatable. Expect an affectionate look at the strange reality of using a platform that can do everything except explain itself briefly. **Elena** is founder and Head of Engineering at Holopin, where she leads a platform used by 150,000+ software engineers worldwide. Before Holopin, she worked across several Silicon Valley scaleups building Kubernetes integrations, developer tooling, and cloud infrastructure, and has been building on AWS since 2016. Elena is deeply focused on developer experience. She spent part of her early career at GitHub, remains active in hackathon communities, and today serves on the W3C Advisory Board. **Talk 2:** ***Learn how to turn AWS security and compliance policies into automated, scalable, and auditable practices — without slowing down innovation with Rupam Jha*** Many organisations struggle to enforce security and compliance consistently across AWS environments while scaling their workloads. In this session, I’ll walk through practical strategies to secure AWS accounts, implement automated compliance controls, and simplify audits. Using real-world examples and best practices, attendees will leave with actionable techniques to protect data, streamline operations, and maintain regulatory readiness in the cloud. **Rupam** is a Senior DevOps and Platform Engineer who enjoys building AWS platforms that are scalable, secure, and easy for teams to use. Her focus is on creating cloud-native environments with tools like AWS, Kubernetes, EKS, Terraform, and Vault, helping engineering teams ship faster and more confidently through automation, standardisation, and strong platform foundations. A big part of what she does is reducing complexity for developers by building self-service infrastructure, improving delivery pipelines, and making platforms more reliable, observable, and cost-effective. She cares about security by design and operational excellence, and she believes infrastructure should feel like a product - something dependable, well-designed, and built to help teams move quickly without adding unnecessary risk. **Lightning Talk:** ***EKS in Production: What Actually Changed After Adoption*** **Areg** is a Senior DevOps Engineer and will talk about Amazon EKS. Amazon EKS offers many capabilities to simplify Kubernetes operations, but in practice, not all of them deliver the same value. In this 15 minute talk, Areg will provide a quick overview of key EKS capabilities, highlight 2-3 that truly make a difference in production, and explore common areas where teams tend to overcomplicate their platforms. **Do you have a story to share?** If you are interested in speaking at one of our events, please check out our [call for papers here](https://awsuguk.org/call-for-papers/). We are advocates for greater inclusion & diversity in UK Tech and are especially keen to receive talk submissions from people in underrepresented groups. If you are interested in speaking at a future meetup but would like to discuss what to expect or need assistance, please contact our Inclusion & Diversity Lead Natalie Gray - graynataliej@gmail.com or DM her [@natjgray](https://twitter.com/natjgray) Check out our [website](https://awsuguk.org/) for more information about our community. Remember to follow us [@AWSUserGroupUK](https://twitter.com/AWSUserGroupUK) and on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/aws-ug-uk) for the latest updates, and you can find videos of our past meetups [here.](https://awsuguk.org/our-videos/)

Join us at SalsaTrain for a fun-filled evening of dancing and learning the art of salsa, suitable for all levels! SalsaTrain is in its 5th year now. All aboard! The SalsaTrain every Weds @ the Selhurst Railway Club in South London right by Selhurst Train station. Salsa classes every Weds night from 6.30-11pm. The classes are fun & interactive with Dominic Insta(Salsa_Legend) with over 20 years salsa experience, and Trish with 10 years teaching experience. Dominic's style is Predominately L.A. on 1/ cuban fusion. He was placed 1st in the Tropicana Tropics World Open Salsa Championship (Ama Division) 2003, has performed with a team of dancers at the 2005 UK salsa congress and placed as runner up in the European Open Salsa Championships (Cab 2007). He has also performed at the Scandinavian Salsa Congress 2009 in Sweden; as part of a team at one of the New York Salsa Congresses and instructed for many salsa promoters within the UK and Internationally. During lockdown, Dom launched his weekly music show "Sundown Salsa Live" on Mixcloud and has played regularly on OSSR radio every Friday 10am-12pm. Trish teaches the beginner class and has had experience teaching with another Salsa Group. All lessons (45 mins long) include party. No partner necessary. Free stop - 6.30-7pm Bachata Time (Music and Dance for 30 mins). There will be Bachata Tasters - (Beginners steps - 30 mins - Subject to change). 1st stop - 7-7.45pm Beginners & Improvers 2nd stop - 8-8.45pm Improvers plus level 3rd stop - 9-11pm - PartyTrain Social dancing Homeward Bound 11pm £10 for 1 class, £12.50 for 2 classes, £5 for party only. Early bird tickets for beginners Salsa class only for £8.50 & for 2 classes including party train for £10.00 inc Eventbrite fee available until 6.30pm each Tuesday - 24 hours before SalsaTrain. Boarding from 6.30pm. Get your tickets via [www.latindianevents.com](http://%5Bhttp://www.latindianevents.com%5D(http://www.latindianevents.com) "\[http://www.latindianevents.com\](http://www.latindianevents.com)") which leads to the following eventbrite link - [[https://salsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk/](https://salsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk/)]([https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsalsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk%2F&data=05%7C02%7CA.Kapadia%40mdx.ac.uk%7Cfdc1b99d8569432c544008de4ebfb677%7C38e37b88a3a148cf9f056537427fed24%7C0%7C0%7C639034782480290305%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bK7omfXlIt1Thr9F%2BZ4ZzCfdEWF9B27DChx7%2FsEcOIU%3D&reserved=0](https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsalsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk%2F&data=05%7C02%7CA.Kapadia%40mdx.ac.uk%7Cfdc1b99d8569432c544008de4ebfb677%7C38e37b88a3a148cf9f056537427fed24%7C0%7C0%7C639034782480290305%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bK7omfXlIt1Thr9F%2BZ4ZzCfdEWF9B27DChx7%2FsEcOIU%3D&reserved=0) "[https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsalsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk%2F&data=05%7C02%7CA.Kapadia%40mdx.ac.uk%7Cfdc1b99d8569432c544008de4ebfb677%7C38e37b88a3a148cf9f056537427fed24%7C0%7C0%7C639034782480290305%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bK7omfXlIt1Thr9F%2BZ4ZzCfdEWF9B27DChx7%2FsEcOIU%3D&reserved=0](https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsalsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk%2F&data=05%7C02%7CA.Kapadia%40mdx.ac.uk%7Cfdc1b99d8569432c544008de4ebfb677%7C38e37b88a3a148cf9f056537427fed24%7C0%7C0%7C639034782480290305%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bK7omfXlIt1Thr9F%2BZ4ZzCfdEWF9B27DChx7%2FsEcOIU%3D&reserved=0)") (WE ALSO ACCEPT PAYMENT BY CARD ON THE NIGHT) You will be refunded or have your ticket transferred to another night providing you inform either of the contacts below by 7pm on the day you are coming. More info please contact Abs 07507634241 or Dom 07939587944 Venue details and information. Selhurst Railway Club is a stones throw from Selhurst train station - well connected by London Victoria, Clapham Junction and East Croydon. Upon arrival please press the buzzer and wait to be let in. You will need to show your pre paid ticket on your phone & asked to give your details to the club management. You will then be escorted into the room to board the SalsaTrain. The venue has a fully stocked bar at extremely reasonable prices & crisps, nuts. It is a very spacious venue and has a very comfortable feel with great wooden floor for dancing. All aboard!!!!

In this session, we’ll explore how **AI** can enhance your **React app development** workflow. Whether you're a **junior developer** or just starting out, this workshop will introduce you to **best practices** for building **React applications**, including how to integrate **REST APIs**, manage app **state**, and structure your components for long-term success. You’ll also learn how to use **AI tools** to generate code snippets, troubleshoot issues, and automate repetitive tasks, making the development process faster and more efficient. 🧪 **What You’ll Learn:** * **React Development Best Practices**: Core principles for structuring components, managing state, and optimizing performance. * **REST API Integration**: How to efficiently connect React apps with REST APIs for dynamic data and functionality. * **State Management**: Best practices for managing app state and syncing data from APIs. * **AI Assistance**: Use AI tools like ChatGPT to speed up development, generate code, and improve overall code quality. * **Error Handling & Debugging**: Leverage AI to identify and fix common issues in your React apps. 💡 **Why It Matters:** * **Efficient Development**: Building React apps with AI assistance allows you to write cleaner, faster code while reducing errors. * **API Integration**: Mastering API integration is essential for creating dynamic and data-driven applications. * **AI-Powered Tools**: AI tools like ChatGPT enhance your productivity by automating repetitive tasks, debugging code, and improving your development process. 👨‍💻 **Who Should Attend:** * **Juniors** and **new graduates** eager to learn **React app development** and how AI tools can help. * **Non-tech people** curious about the development process and how AI tools are shaping modern web development. * **Developers** looking to streamline their **React development workflow** with AI-powered assistance. 🕓 **Schedule:** * 18:15 - Networking * 18:30 - Program starts * 19:30 - Q&A - networking * 20:00 - End \-\-\-\-\- zero2hero Address: Unit 15 Castle Square, 40 Elephant Rd, London SE17 1EU WhatsApp: +447470914266

As official AI Community Partner for the **Digital Marketing World forum,** we (AI Professionals Network) are pleased to offer **discounted and complimentary tickets for the upcoming event at Excel in London on 6-7 May 2026.** This is a prestigious London event focused on AI and Digital Marketing. Join **3,000+ CMOs, marketing directors and senior leaders** for two days of insight, innovation, and networking covering **• AI, Agentic & Hyper Personalisation** **• Digital Transformation & Leadership Strategy** **• Content Video & StoryTelling Marketing** **• Influencer & Creator Economy** **\* Omnichannel Marketing and more** For full details on the event: [https://www.digitalmarketing-conference.com/global](https://www.digitalmarketing-conference.com/global) **To register for your special tickets visit: [https://aiprofessionals.network/dmwf26](https://aiprofessionals.network/dmwf26)** Note: this event is also being promoted by other groups.

***Enter the live meeting room here: [https://discord.gg/5wgxtr4c2u](https://discord.gg/5wgxtr4c2u)*** ***Download the engine here: [https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/download](https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/download)*** Welcome to the **Unreal Engine Workshop!** In each session we'll tackle essential game design discussions, then transition into hands-on project creation. Participants will build and expand their skills continuously as we explore every aspect of game development. From basic blueprints and interactive mechanics, to advanced rigging, animation, environment design, and lighting, we'll work our way up to creating small complete games. We encourage experimentation and peer teaching, so whether you're a beginner or experienced developer looking to deepen your expertise, our sessions provide a supportive environment to learn, create, and innovate together in Unreal Engine 5.

Join fellow product people at **The Product Group London** on **Thu 7th May** for an evening of learning, sharing and networking. **Topic of the Night: Product Today: Surviving & Succeeding** Succeeding (or even surviving) in product management today, what does it take? On the night we’ll explore the current state of the industry and what’s required to succeed (and/or survive) now and in the future. Topics will include what’s changing about the role, what’s staying the same and what’s unknown? How is AI, economic uncertainty, changing company dynamics and the selective job market impacting the role? How do you succeed (or survive) today and in the near future incl. what to focus on and which skills to optimize for? **Featured Guest: David Eason, Principal Product Manager, Trainline** David is a Principal Product Manager at Trainline, where he has spent 7 years building and scaling customer-facing products. He currently leads monitisation initiatives, focused on driving meaningful revenue growth by expanding the core Trainline proposition. As a product generalist, David has delivered across all parts of Trainline’s web and app products in B2B and B2B2C spaces. His work has covered the full product lifecycle incl. launching new AI-powered tools in the product. Before joining Trainline, David worked at Ford, where he focused on experimental product development and collaborated with leading London-based software and design agencies. **About The Product Group London** The Product Group London is a monthly meetup designed to bring product people of all levels together for topical discussions, as a group and with our guest speakers. With attendees from startups to large enterprises, there is no shortage of opportunities to network and make new connections. And whilst the focus is on product management, we welcome product designers and engineers to join for some friendly and lively discussions. **A word about our sponsor and host, BrainStation** [BrainStation](https://brainstation.io/london) is a global leader in digital skills training, empowering businesses and brands to succeed in the digital age. Established in 2012, BrainStation has worked with over 500 instructors from the most innovative companies, developing cutting-edge, real-world digital education that has empowered professionals and some of the largest corporations in the world.

*📌**Description*** Agentic AI isn’t about replacing engineers — it’s about reshaping how work flows through the SDLC. We’ll explore new interaction patterns, boundaries, and responsibilities in AI-native delivery. 🔍 ***Key topics*** •Agentic AI • SDLC **⏲️ *Agenda*** 6:00 Pizza and drinks 6:30 Welcome 6:45 Talk 7:30 Q&A 7:45 Networking and Pizzas! 🍕 8:30 Wrap up & See you at the next Meetup! **🎙️*Speaker*** Giulio Roggero CTO @ Mia-Platform 25 years of experience in software engineering, serial entrepreneur with more than 10 business initiatives launched, today is co-founder and CTO at Mia-Platform, the Internal Developer Platform named by Gartner Cool Vendor for Software Engineering Technologies and in the Cloud Application Platforms Magic Quadrant. Principal focus: cloud native, platform engineering, data fabric and omnichannel experience. He likes to paint Blood Bowl miniatures, construct Lego, build and drive RC Cars and learn piano. 📍**Location:** – London Bridge Hive, 8 Holyrood Street, SE1 2EL London

**Dear RPBO members,** We hope we find you well. We are thrilled to bring to your attention the third-party event organised by Future Romania, which is set to arrive in **London** between 8 and 10 May 2026. Over three intensive days, participants interested in Romanian public sector leadership will engage in high-level lectures, practical workshops, crisis simulations, public speaking training, and policy debates, led by top experts and international faculty. The program is completely free for selected candidates. If you are a young leader aged 18–32 or 33+ with potential and ambition to shape Romania’s future, don’t miss this opportunity! Registrations: [https://inscrieri.futureromania.ro/formular](https://inscrieri.futureromania.ro/formular) More info about Future Romania: https://futureromania.ro/en/

Flamenco Dance Classes for Improvers at Danceworks every Thursday! We will work on the placement of the body, the perception of the rhythm, clapping, footwork, and movements of arms and head. Choreography depends on the level: Alegrías, Bulerías, Tangos, Soleá, etc. If you have dancing shoes and clothes, bring them. Otherwise, don't worry, feel comfortable to dance! When? **Every Thursday** Time: **19:00 - 20:00** Where? **Danceworks** 16 Balderton St, London W1K 6TN Studio 4 Nearest Tube stations: **Bond St.** Marble Arch Cost? £12 per class. **Book here:** https://danceworks.com/london/classes/timetable/ Class bookings become available 7 days in advance. Online bookings close 15 minutes before the class starts but you can book in person up to the start time. **Waiting lists are available.** ***About Maika:*** Maika is a flamenco and Spanish dance teacher with more than 17 years of experience, teaching adults and children in Spain, the United States of America, Mexico, Canada, and UK. She also led flamenco classes at Rey Juan Carlos University from 2013 to 2018. Born and raised in Madrid (Spain), she began studying ballet and Spanish dance at the tender age of nine. Maika studied at Karen Taft Dance Academy and Flamenco Centre “Amor de Dios”, majoring in Spanish Dance at the Conservatory of Dance in Madrid. In 2003, she was awarded a Teaching Methodology Applied to Spanish Dance certificate and then focused her career on dance education. Maika has continued her professional training alongside teachers including Antonio Canales, Alfonso Losa, La Lupi, Rojas and Rodriguez. Maika co-founded the company Spanish Flamenco Tour, based in Miami (USA), a business dedicated to promoting flamenco and Spanish culture, to a local audience. Adding more strings to her bow, Maika embarked on a Master´s Degree in Leadership and Management of Cultural Projects at the Institute of Dance “Alicia Alonso”, Rey Juan Carlos University. Her final master’s project was based on promoting Spanish dance, receiving a First-Class Degree. Maika’s classes are designed to extract every student’s natural ability to dance and show them how wonderful and fun, this art form is.

**UNIQUE COMBINED PROCESS RETREAT** **March \| April \| May \| June \| Sept \| Oct \| Nov 2026** Dear Constellation Explorer, We’re delighted to invite you to a unique 3-day retreat that brings together two powerful healing modalities: **Systemic & Family Constellations** and **Ceremonial Plant-Spirit Work**. This immersive experience is designed to support deep emotional healing, release of trauma, and reconnection with your inner wisdom. Whether you are seeking **personal growth**, **support of your spiritual awakening journey** or **facing emotional challenges**, even if they are life-long, participants in the Combined Process are **reporting major shifts and breakthroughs** in many aspects of life. ✨ **What Awaits You:** • **Healing Fusion** – Masterfully facilitated constellation sessions alongside traditional plant-spirit ceremony • **Trauma Release** – Space to address long-held emotional imprints, PTSD, depression, and complex trauma • **Small Group Setting** – Intimate circle of max 8 participants held by 4 experienced facilitators • **Sacred Integration** – Deeply guided work and personal support throughout the process • **Nature Immersion** – Held in beautiful, sun-drenched natural locations across Europe This retreat is not just a healing space — it’s an invitation to **transform your life** by reconnecting with what’s real, raw, and ready to be released. 🌀 **Who is it for?** • Those committed to their inner work • Seekers ready to open to new levels of self-awareness and growth • Professionals looking to deepen their own process in a safe, sacred setting 📩 **Enrollment is by application only**, to ensure the retreat is aligned with your needs. Attending is subject to a personal interview via Zoom. **Retreat Price is €895** (£777) including all **3-day sessions, ceremony, medicine and 3 meals a day** \- not including flights or accommodation\. £200 enrolment deposit is required to reserve your place\, the remaining fee will be paid onsite in Euros\. 👉 To request full retreat details and apply, email us at: **nature@earth.is** Are you ready to take the next step on your healing path? We would be honoured to hold space for you.

A regular meetup for those committed to practising and improving their Arabic. It is designed for those who know the very basics and want a structured opportunity to practise reading, listening, speaking, and building confidence. If you're still learning the very basics but want some motivation to keep going, you're very welcome to join. Note: This is a practice group facilitated by a native speaker - not a formal teacher or taught class, and not a Quran teaching session. 📚 SESSION FORMAT: ⏱️ 30 mins Intro & Social: We'll go around and introduce ourselves in Arabic. Feel free to prepare 2-3 sentences beforehand if you don't like being put on the spot! 🗣️ 60 mins Structured Practice: A focused session practising together with guidance : ◾ Taking turns reading passages aloud ◾ Listening to excerpts from an audiobook ◾ Working together to translate and understand the text 💬 Continued Socialising: Feel free to stick around afterwards for more informal chat and connection. ✊ Note: Active Muslims is equally about focusing on the actual activity, in this case, it is a practice session requiring mental engagement and active participation (and not just a social), therefore it is advised to approach and attend these events with that mindset, intention and purpose. 📍 LOCATION: Barbican ⌚ MEET: By the cafe G Level (Benugo) ⏱️ TIME: Meet from **11:00am** for intros and socialising. The practice session starts promptly at **11:30am** insha'Allah. 🎒 What to bring: 📚 Any Arabic texts you would like to read 🎧 Headphones (optional, if you prefer listening privately) ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ If you can no longer attend, please update your RSVP to free up your spot for someone on the waiting list. ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🌐 **[@Active.Muslims](https://www.instagram.com/active.muslims)** *(Follow for latest events updates)*

Kon’nichiwa! Finally a chance to explore Japan for an amazing 2 week experience of futuristic and ancient cities with activities which will blow your mind. Experience the ancient temples, shrines and traditions which add to the culture of the country and indulge in all of the food and arcade fun as we get the best out of Japan seeing the key sights in a 2 week (14 Night) Trip. What’s included in the package: \*Accomodation - Shared Room/Own Room for 14 night stay across 4 different hotels \*All Breakfasts \*Airport Pickup and Transport around Japan and Cities \*All 18 activities as listed below (Including guided day trips to Nagano, Mt Fuji and Nara) What’s not included: \*Flights to Japan \*Other Meals and Expenses \*Optional activities not listed below **18 Activities Included and more:** \*Tokyo Guided Tour with local: Temple, Shrine Visits, Key Areas \*Sushi Making Class \*Team Lab Planets Immersive Experience \*Nagano Day Trip - inc Snow Monkeys, Hot Springs and more \*Mt Fuji and Hakone Day Trip - Many Views of Mt Fuji and more \*Osaka City Tour - Osaka Castle Tour and more \*Karaoke Night \*Universal Studios Entry Ticket and Travel \*Tea Ceremony X 2 in Osaka and Kyoto \*Mino Forrest Walk with Waterfall \*Overnight stay in Buddhist Temple with meditations, night temple walk and morning prayer meditation \*Geisha night tour of Kyoto \*Bamboo forest trip \*Golden Pavilion temple visit \*Bowling Night \*Nara Daytrip - Nara Park, Temples and Shrines \*Fushimi- Inari Visit \*Samurai Sword Weilding Experience \*NOTE - We will have 3 X Day Trips as above so a total of 7 locations in Japan we will visit **7 Places we will visit in Total** **TOKYO** \- 5 Nights \(Including Day Trip to **NAGANO** and **HAKONE**), **OSAKA** \- 3 Nights\, **KOYOSAN** temple stay - 1 Night, **KYOTO** \- 5 nights \(Including Day Trip to **NARA**) We will arrive in Tokyo and check into our hotel with some time to rest after the long travel, we will then check out the local area and head to Asakusa to experience the old Tokyo atmosphere immersing ourselves in some Tokyo Culture and grab some food. **Day 2 - Tokyo Day Tour: Temples and Key Areas** We will do a day tour starting late morning by a local guide who will take us to see the sights such as: Senso-ji Temple, Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Shibuya Crossing and after head to Shinjuku for some food and checking out one of the tiny bars. **Day 3 - Sushi Class and Electric CIty** Today we will head to a Sushi Class to make our own Sushi we can have for lunch and after that we can check out the fabulous Team Lab Planets immersive experience. After that we will check out the Electric City to experience the arcades, maid cafes and Japanese phone booths. **Day 4 - Nagano (Day Trip)** Our first full day out as we check out the amazing Nagano, where we will see the famous snow monkeys of Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park, Visit the Zenko-ji Temple, explore the charming hot spring towns of Shibu Onsen and Yudanaka and take a dip in the many hot springs and more. **Day 5 - Mt Fuji/ Hakone (Day Trip)** A memorable day trip as we head to the Majestic Mt Fuji on a private tour as we stop at various spots for the best views of Mt Fujia and lakes including in front of the iconic Chureito Pagoda. We will also explore the many amazing landscapes in the town of Hakone. **Day 6 - Arrive in Osaka - Mino Forest Walk and Tea Ceremony** Our final morning in Tokyo before we head to our next destination by Bullet Train to Osaka. After dropping our bags off we will head to Mino Forest for a trail walk and to see an amazing waterfall, on our return we will finally embark on the popular tea ceremony. Then explore the area which is known for it’s food and nightlife where can do some Karaoke in the evening! **Day 7 - Osaka Tour** Today we will have a guided tour of Osaka including the famous Osaka Castle with a tour, Markets with time for shopping. Later heading to the canal area of Dotonbori known for some of the best food in the country. **Day 8 - Universal Studios Japan** Today is a day of fun as we head to one of the worlds famous theme parks Universal Studios, with the recent addition of Super Mario World, in the full day we will explore all the areas such as Jurassic Park in this Hollywood Themed theme park to ride the many rides and see as man shows as possible and ending with the firework show. **Day 9 - Koyosan Temple Stay** We head to the mountains to beautiful Koyasan, for a once-in-a-lifetime experience - staying overnight in a 1,000-year-old Buddhist Temple! We will be taught meditation by the monks, served their traditional food. The temple is set in beautiful grounds and Japanese style accomdation. Spend a peaceful night here bathed in the tranquillity of the temple. **Day 10 - Kyoto and Geisha Night Tour** Start the day with most Zen experience ever - watching the Buddhist monks perform their morning prayers and fire ceremony. After the ceremony the monks serve us breakfast, before we travel to the spiritual heart of Japan – Kyoto. We head to our final destination stay in Kyoto, this evening we head on one of Japan’s mysterious Geishas with a tour of the Gion district. **Day 11 - The Bamboo Forest and Kyoto Landmarks** Today is the day we check out the incredible Bamboo forest and other Kyoto sights such as the Golden Pavilion and Monkey Park. After that we can head to a sushi restaurant and check out the arcades in Kyoto. **Day 12 - Nara (Day Trip)** Today we had to Nara to see the famous Nara Park with the sacred deers, you can feed them and they also bow to you. We will also visit Kofuku-ji Temple, Todai-ji Temple and Kasuga Grand Shrine to see they key highlights of Nara. **Day 13 -FREE DAY in Kyoto** Today you will be able to spend the day as you please to do what you wish in Kyoto or if you wanted to visit one of the surrounding areas or day tour in Japan. **Day 14 - Fushimi-Inari and Samurai Experience** Today we will head to the Fushimi Inari Shrine surrounded by its endless red Torii gates. Then the unique experience of being trained by a Samuarai Master. The sensei will teach you how to wield a traditional sword and then slice through bamboo mats like a real warrior. **Day 15 - Travel Home** We will check out of the hotel and catch the Bullet Train to Tokyo Airport where we will get our flight back home. **Accomodation** You will be staying at 4 different hotels, all breakfast included and you will have a room to share or own room at additional cost in a mixture of 3 star and 4 star hotels. You will be staying at: *APA Hotel Asakusa Eikme - Tokyo (5 Nights)* *Hotel Brighton City Osaka Kitahama -Osaka - (3 Nights)* *Temple Stay - Koyosan Shukubo Saizenin -Koyosan (1 Night)* *\*Note this will be only accommodation which will be sharing as a two only due to availability, we will aim to put people together same sex and someone can always sleep in the lounge area also so can keep sleeping rooms separate.* *Sometsu Fresca Inn -Kyoto (5 Nights)* **Visa and Entry Restrictions** No Visa needed from UK (Please Check if you have a different country of origin) **Requirements for trip** * In line with the values of the group, taking responsibility for themselves and ability to step out their comfort zone to learn new skills and give things a go, punctuality and to go with the flow of the group, whilst being able to do your own thing on free days without depending on others * Moderate levels of fitness for a couple of nature trail walks which are not challenging * Open minded and willingness to try new activities and experience a new culture **Flights** You will need to get your own flights to Japan, we recommend British Airways (only company who fly direct). We can head together on this one, but feel free to get your own flight and we can see you in Tokyo at the hotel (let me know flight arrival). **Outbound** \- Saturday 9th May \- British Airways LHR 09:20am -> HND 7:00am (Tokyo on Sunday 10th May) **Inbound** \- Sunday 24th May \- British Airways HND 1:05pm -> LHR 7:55pm (UK on Sunday 24th May) Approx cost ***-*** £1,100 (July 2025) Please wait until deposit sent, place confirmed and the minimum deposits for trip before buying flights. Also feel free to buy a flight to Tokyo, and heading back to Osaka on final day as alternative as we will be near that airport on final day **Other** * There will be an option to do Optional Activities such as Sumo wrestling, Go Kart street race (driving license), spa/ massages, other tea ceremonies and more. * Please note that the schedule may change slightly, an activity may change, also hotels depending on availability but expect activities and hotels of similar value. Expect up to 20% of trip to change at most - due to availability issues or to improve the trip * Full Documentation on every day will be provided a 2 - 3 weeks before the trip as well as a group Zoom call a week before to go through all the info. We will also provide a breakdown of activities and approx agenda 1 month before as well as set up a whats app group after the zoom call. Following the deposit feel free to email me for any questions about the trip. **COST** Total cost for the trip is **£2,050 ONLY** \- Option for your own Room is £300 extra \(Depending on availability \- also note for Koyosan Temple overnight stay you will share with one other\) Deposit of **£450** to hold your space, with final payment due 6 weeks before the trip. In order to come on this trip/pay the deposit you will need to drop me an email and we will need to either have a quick chat on the phone/ apply for the trip to check this trip is right for you (unless you have been on one of the trips before). For more details and to register email me at yourlondonlifecoach@gmail.com or message me on Meetup Messenger.

**Building a great product is one thing—building momentum behind it is another.** Join **Senior Product Manager Adam Solaiman** and **User Experience Manager Tyson Smith** for a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to turn complex ideas into scalable products inside large organizations. In this session, they’ll share how teams move from ambiguity to execution—navigating organizational complexity, aligning stakeholders, and continuously evolving products after launch. You’ll walk away with insights on how to: * Build and sustain momentum across teams * Adapt to changing priorities without losing direction * Scale products thoughtfully in complex environments Whether you're driving a new initiative or growing an existing product, this conversation will give you practical strategies to keep things moving forward. Come connect, learn, and swap stories with fellow product professionals. \-\-\- Food and drinks will be provided by Switchbox, our generous host. Free parking will be available at the front and back sides of the Switchbox Office.

This meetup is a beginner-friendly session introducing version control for Unity projects, with a look at three common tools: Git, Perforce, and Unity Version Control. The goal is to help you understand what version control is, why it matters for Unity development, and what options are out there. The format will likely be presentation-style, with live demos and time for questions throughout. You'll see each tool in action and learn how they fit into a Unity workflow. What to Expect: * An introduction to version control and why it's essential for Unity projects * An overview of Git, Perforce, and Unity Version Control * Demos of each tool in a Unity workflow * Tips for getting started * No prior version control experience required * Resources for continued learning All experience levels are welcome. Whether you're new to version control or already using one of these tools, this session will help you understand what each one offers. Food and drinks provided. Join us to learn more about version control options for Unity.

On Thursday, May 21, 2026, we will meet at the 700N Conference Room at 700 N Hurstbourne Pkwy. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m., and the presentations will begin sharply at 6:30 p.m. Along with an excellent presentation, TEKsystems will provide food. Please RSVP so we know how much food to order. Afterward, we will go to Brick House Tavern for drinks and food to continue the conversation. The session will also be broadcast at https://twitch.tv/TaleLearnCode. ### **GitOps: Easy Deploy and Even Easier Rollback** GitOps isn't just for containers. The methodology of deploying from a build is now baked into our culture. Take it a touch farther with infrastructure as code and a few extra techniques, and you can reliably deploy to any platform: cloud, on-prem, container, PaaS, and more. Join us as we learn the methodology of GitOps, the critical pieces you need in place, and the elegance of rollbacks with GitOps. You'll leave with a working repo of deployment techniques that doesn't consume any paid tools or container-specific techniques.

We will show how to build custom agents with Microsoft Agent Framework. Attendees will learn how to build and custom host agents when Microsoft Foundry is not a viable option.

Connected Westerville Night of Networking flips the script on networking, with surprises and connections that'll make you say, "Who knew networking could be this much fun?!"

Practical AI for Power BI Developers A year ago, “agentic AI” was mostly hype for Power BI teams. Today, it deserves your undivided attention. For Power BI pros, there is now a real opportunity to reduce repetitive development work, accelerate delivery, and help developers do more, but only when strong DataOps practices are in place to make AI workflows effective. This session is a no-nonsense introduction to effective AI patterns for Power BI and Fabric development. Along the way, we will make sense of the growing pile of terminology, including skills, plugins, hooks, and MCP. You will see examples of how modern AI tooling can help with development tasks across Power BI and Fabric, along with the prerequisites, guardrails, and DataOps principles needed to use it responsibly. Whether you're burned out on AI hype or already using Copilot CLI daily, this session will show you the foundations that are finally making AI-assisted development genuinely useful.

Customer identity resolution becomes increasingly complex as organizations scale across multiple systems, regions, and data formats. Traditional rule-based approaches often fail to keep up with data variability, require constant manual tuning, and struggle with real-time processing needs. This session presents a practical approach to building a scalable identity resolution pipeline using AWS services and modern AI techniques. The architecture combines data ingestion through Amazon S3 and AWS Glue, transformation pipelines using Spark on EMR, and machine learning models deployed via SageMaker for entity matching and standardization. Graph-based relationship modeling is implemented using Amazon Neptune to improve resolution accuracy by incorporating household and shared attribute context. We will walk through how machine learning models can be used for name and address normalization, how intelligent blocking strategies improve matching efficiency, and how feedback loops can be introduced to continuously improve accuracy. The session also highlights how serverless components such as AWS Lambda can be used for orchestration and real-time processing. **SPEAKER BIO** Mosaic Syed is a Senior Data Engineering and Cloud Solutions Architect with over 20 years of experience designing and delivering scalable, secure, and high-performance data solutions across global enterprise environments. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosaic-basha-syed-92300856 **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