Artificial Intelligence

IMPORTANT: PLEASE RSVP ON BEVY FROM THIS LINK Join GDG Melbourne this month to Build with AI (#BuildwithAI)? 💻 What do you need to bring? * Make sure to bring your laptop (better if fully charged) for hands-on training. Also, check the workshop descriptions and prerequisites to stay ahead of the game! Join us for an evening of not 1 but 2 hands-on workshops, delicious food, awesome networking, and some surprise swag you won’t want to miss. 🎉 Whether you're a seasoned developer, a cloud enthusiast, or just dipping your toes into the world of AI and tech, this is the place to be. 📍 Where? Mantel Group Office, Level 2/452 Flinders St, Melbourne Doors open at 5:45 PM—message us on Meetup or Slack if you're arriving after 6:00 PM, as the lifts won’t let you up. 🎤 Agenda: 6:10 - 6:20 Welcome &Intro6:20 - 6:30 Cloud Credits setup6:30 - 6:55 Building a Multi-Agent System: Patrick Haralabidis6:55 - 7:05 Break7:05- 8:00 Hands-on Workshop: The Self-Curation Engine (Gemini + Cloud Run + EventArc) : Anupam Phogat8:00 - 8:15 Closing and Door prizes From 8:15 Continue networking, chat & drinks at Insignia on Flinders, 502 Flinders St. 🍻Workshop: Building a Multi-Agent System - Patrick Haralabidis In this Workshop, you will go beyond simple chatbots and build a distributed multi-agent system. While a single LLM can answer questions, real-world complexity often requires specialised roles. You don't ask your backend engineer to design the UI, and you don't ask your designer to optimise database queries. Similarly, we can create specialised AI agents that focus on one task and coordinate with each other to solve complex problems. Handson Workshop: The Self-Curation Engine (Gemini + Cloud Run + EventArc) - Anupam Phogat Data arrives from disparate sources with inconsistent schemas in our warehouse. To solve this, we present a serverless Cloud Run agent that uses the Gemini API to automate schema mapping. Triggered by new data, the agent compares raw schemas to a BigQuery target and dynamically generates the required SQL or Dataform transformations. This talk highlights how AI automates the most manual parts of data engineering: schema maintenance and logic generation. 🎁 What’s in it for you? ⚡Workshop on AI from industry experts 🍕 Cloud-shaped snacks (okay, maybe not literally, but the food will be delicious!) 🤝 Networking that’s as smooth as a well-architected cloud solution 🎁 Surprise swag 💡 NOTES: This is an in-person-only event, but if you have any accessibility requirements, reach out to us via Meetup or Slack, and we’ll do our best to accommodate you. Doors open at 5:45 PM at our host, the Mantel Group, Level 2/452 Flinders S,t Melbourne. Message via Meetup or Slack if you are arriving after 6:00, as the lifts won't let you up. Don’t miss this epic night of learning, networking, and fun! RSVP now and we’ll see you there! 👋 #gdgMelbourne #BuildwithAI #fluttermelbourne Agenda *** Speakers Patrick Haralabidis Patrick is a Google Developer Expert (GDE) in AI and Machine Learning, a Cloud Champion Innovator, and the Melbourne TensorFlow User Group organiser. He currently leads the ML and Software Engineering Chapter at Flybuys, where he leverages his extensive experience spanning backend, mobile, cloud, and AI technologies. Patrick excels at developing solutions in emerging tech fields, focusin… Anupam Phoghat - Core-X (Founder) I am a seasoned IT professional with years of experience in the field. I have extensive experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and currently hold many professional level Google Cloud and other industry certifications. I am also certified in Kubernetes, and have a deep understanding of the core concepts of Kubernetes. I am passionate about sharing my knowledge with others by activel… Hosted By Katie Barnett, GDE Android / GDG Organiser Katie is passionate about all things Android. She has taken on a wide variety of challenging projects including in the live event, media and travel space. Her favourite thing is to see someone having a delightful experience using something she has worked on. Katie is very active in the development community, she is a Google Developer Expert for Android, one of the organisers of GDG Melbourne and is a Women Techmakers Ambassador. She frequently runs events, speaks on technical and non-technical topics and enjoys writing blog posts to share her experience with others. Katie is based in Melbourne, Australia but loves to travel the world and outside of tech she enjoys boardgaming and attempting to finish many craft projects. Suesi Tran, Senior Flutter Developer Google Developer Expert in Dart, Flutter & Firebase, Women Techmaker Melbourne ambassador, GDG Melbourne & Flutter Melbourne co-organiser. In short: Flutter is love, and mobile is life. Poornima Sivakumar, GDG Organiser Lovee Jain, GDG Organiser Lovee is a Software Engineer at Prezzee, a GDG Melbourne Organiser and also a Women Techmakers Ambassador. A tech inquisitive philomath, she loves problem solving and solution design. She has worked at a city council where she developed a lot of useful system integrations and while at Prezzee she develops and works on multiple gift card solutions to cater the B2B2C market. Zach Jensz, GDG Organiser Passionate about the web, seamless UX and accessibility. I love attending meetups, find me and come say hi! Ujjawal Raj, GDG Organiser Bramley Turner-Jones, GDG Organiser Yuba Raj (UV) Panta, GDG Organiser Kartik Arora, Android Engineer Google Developer Expert in Android Android Engineer @ Bilue Carolyn Ai Chi Wong, Complete your event RSVP here: https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-melbourne-presents-gdg-melbourne-build-with-ai-event-may/.

**Details** Join us for networking, drinks and a good time catching up with fellow Power BI and Microsoft Fabric enthusiasts **Agenda:** 5:30PM - 6:00PM Welcome and Networking 6:00PM - 7:00PM Speaker Session **Topic:** Stream, Transform, Act: Real-Time Intelligence in Microsoft Fabric **THE SPEAKER -** Heidi Hasting - Heidi Hasting is a Business Intelligence professional and former software developer with over seven years experience in Microsoft products. She is an ALM/DLM enthusiast and Azure DevOps fan and co-founder and organiser of the Adelaide Power BI User Group. Heidi is a regular attendee at tech events including Azure Bootcamps, DevOps days, SQLSaturdays, Difinity and PASS Summit. **THE SESSION** An event occurs — a file lands, a sensor fires, a transaction completes — and you want something to happen. Whether it's streaming data, intermittent batch events, or a trigger the moment a file becomes available, that's all Real-Time Intelligence. We'll dig into Microsoft Fabric's RTI stack, covering Eventstreams, transformations, and a medallion architecture built on Kusto tables in Eventhouses. We'll visualise it all with Real-Time Dashboards, then kick it up a notch with Activator triggers and a look at what's possible with Fabric Operations Agents and Fabric IQ. **Sponsors:** **Vivanti** A big thank you goes out to our sponsor, Vivanti, for their support of this Meetup; providing the venue as well as drinks for attendees. **GET AI** A big thanks to GET AI for sponsoring the food. GET AI is a Microsoft speciliased consulting company focussed on building AI solutions in the Microsoft Ecosystem https://www.getai.com.au

A11y Bytes is back for its fourteenth year, celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day. [Register for A11y Bytes Melbourne 2026](https://events.humanitix.com/a11y-bytes-2026-melbourne) The heart of digital accessibility and inclusion is not about guidelines, codes or regulations. It’s about people, and life, and how we live, how we access information, and how our lives are affected by the technologies of today. As many as 500 people have attended online Bytes events, as well as physical events in Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney attended an A11y Bytes event, making this the largest community run accessibility event in Australia. The event has since branched out into parts of New Zealand and it continues to grow. You don’t have to be an accessibility aficionado to attend. This event is about us all talking, thinking and learning about digital accessibility and inclusion together. Take part in A11y Bytes and connect, be inspired and have some fun as we talk, learn, grow and change the world. A big thank you to **Bupa** for being the Melbourne venue sponsor for this year's A11y Bytes. **Time and date** A11y Bytes Melbourne will be held on **Thursday 21 May 2026**, celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day. **Doors open at 6pm for a 6.30pm start** **Register** RSVP through humanitix to register. [Register for A11y Bytes Melbourne 2026](https://events.humanitix.com/a11y-bytes-2026-melbourne) **Presenters** * Scott Herschberger – From Insights to Action: Transforming Accessibility Through Data-Driven Mapping * Balram Singh – AI and Accessibility * Sam Sabour – Beyond Contrast: Rethinking Accessibility in Design Systems * Ayesha Semfel – Where to Start (and Stop) with Screen Reader Testing * Jamila Savoy * Xavier Vella – Early Findings from an Accessibility Audit of Hiring Systems.

## **SEA OF FAITH IN AUSTRALIA (SoFiA)** \- Melbourne\. In-Person Lecture/Discussion. ***"Sophia: The Goddess of Wisdom."*** Speaker: Barbara Jandric. *\~ SoFiA promotes the open exploration of religion, spirituality and the search for meaning. They welcome ALL viewpoints, including Atheism.\~* Enquiries: sofmelbourne@gmail.com **[SOFiA Website](http://www.sof-in-australia.org/).** **[Facebook: 'Sofiatalk'](https://www.facebook.com/groups/sofiatalk/)** \- Please join their ongoing discussions\.

Too many kids as well as teenagers and adults have problems with study. Today's meetup will inform you about the basics in STUDY TECHNOLOGY that provides an understanding of the basics of learning and supplies exact ways to overcome all the pitfalls one can encounter during study. This is applicable to young children, teenagers (or their parents that are trying to help them) and adults alike. Study Technology shows how one studies in order to comprehend a subject so one can apply it. Laws on which learning is based and workable methods have also been discovered for anyone to apply for themselves or when teaching others. Too many students graduate from school and college unable to put to use what they’ve learned in school. It’s not that they’re stupid or that their teachers didn’t know how to teach. More than likely it traces back to the one thing missing from most educations—learning how to learn in the first place. We all went to school, yet isn’t it odd that no one taught us how to study? The information presented at this meetup can help anyone improve others or his own ability to learn. It is a practical tool that parents and teachers alike can use to enhance a child's study performance. You’ll learn the barriers that lie between your own or a child's education. And you will very quickly learn how to overcome them. This technology will enable you or a child to pursue any subject with skill and confidence. Teachers who have "hard to handle/distributive " or slow learners in class will absolutely love the amazing turn around most often seen in improved behaviour and student performance in class. If you or your child has difficulties at school (or learning new things at work or online) than this meetup is important to you. If you can not make it to our meetup than contact the organizer and arrange it to suit your time. This technology can if one was to live far away be taught online. (extension course) You may offcourse also opt to have this technology taught to your own child by experienced volunteeer staff or learn about this yourself and transfer this knowledge to those you want to have better grades. Yes it is possible to improve anyone's study performance. All it takes is just 5 steps. See you at this meetup. Pam

We will be continuing our trial of our new venue - 3rd floor of MIT Mahjong at 139 Franklin St, just a short walk from Melbourne Central! Players of all skill levels are welcome, and no experience is needed. Stop by for one game or play for the whole 6 hours. Warmup and casual gaming from 5 to 5:30 pm, and the first timed and recorded game starts at 5:30 pm. If you want to learn how to play, we can teach, and if you already know how, then join our shuffle and monthly leaderboard! The games schedule is: * 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm: Setup, Freeplay * 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Game 1 * 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm: Game 2 * 8:30 pm - 10:00 pm: Game 3 * 10:00 pm - 11:00 pm: Freeplay This event has a $10 fee which you can pay on the night. This money is used to pay for our use of the store space, maintaining equipment and other meetup services, and organising larger events open to everyone! Members get a special discount, which you can sign up for on the website links below. We also take photos and videos at our meetups for posting on social media, you may potentially appear in these. Hope to see you all then! *** Scores tracking: [https://scores.vicriichi.org/](https://scores.vicriichi.org/) The mahjong ruleset we play with: [https://www.vicriichi.org/mahjong-meetups#meetup-rules](https://www.vicriichi.org/mahjong-meetups#meetup-rules) Join us on Discord and connect with other jongers! [https://vicriichi.org/discord](https://vicriichi.org/discord)

We are meeting in the board-room of the 55th floor of 318 Russel Street (The Abode). I'll be in the lobby till about 10 past, if you arrive late call me on 0447 591 141 and I'll come down and get you. Join the group chat via https://imagineering.cc/ ## **🛠️ Meetup Format (2 hours)** **⚡ Project Intros (5 minutes total)** Each participant gets **1 minute (hard stop)** to briefly share: * What they’re building * What they want to focus on today **🚀 Build Sprints (90 minutes total)** We’ll run **three focused build cycles**: * **25 minutes** of deep, uninterrupted building * **5 minutes** of casual chatting, sharing progress, and asking questions **🎤 Demos & Wrap-up (10 minutes total)** Each participant gets **1 minute (hard stop)** to: * Demo what they built * Share learnings or next steps This format balances **deep focus**, **collaboration**, and **show-and-tell**, while keeping things lightweight and fun.

**༅།༅།Tibetan Art Group (TAG) – Learn Painting & Symbolism།།** Join TAG to explore Tibetan art and meet like-minded people. Workshops are creative, educational, and mindful (not therapy). **Current events (limited):** • Runs monthly or during holidays • Group bookings (5+) available anytime • CBD or Malvern (2–3 hrs) • All materials provided – take your artwork home **Pricing:** $35/hr full \| $25/hr concession Explore Buddhist iconographic painting through guided, hands-on practice—traditional symbolism, Buddha imagery, and unique designs in a relaxed setting. Led by a Tibetan practitioner with experience in community, school, TAFE and local govt programs. Open to all levels. Small group, supportive space. **Bookings:** Full payment secures your place. Limited spots (also listed on other platforms).

The optimum computing machine is a subject many of us have studied. If you were building one how would you design it? First the computer should be able to compute with perfect accuracy on any problem in the universe and produce answers which were always and invariably right. Second the computer would have to be swift, working much more quickly than the problem and process could be vocally articulated. Third the computer would have to be able to handle large numbers of variables and large numbers of problems simultaneously. Forth, the computer would have to be able to evaluate its own data and there would have to remain available within it not only a record of its former conclusions but the evaluations leading to those conclusions. Fifth, the computer would have to be served by a memory bank of nearly infinite capacity and would have to be available to the analytical portion of the computer in the smallest fractions of a second. Sixth, the computer would have to be able to rearrange former conclusions or alter them in the light of new experience. Seventh, the computer would need no exterior director, but would be entirely self determined about its programing guided only by the necessity –value of the solution which it itself would determine. Eight the computer should be self servicing and self arming against present and future damage and would be able to estimate future damage. Ninth the computer should be served by perception by which it could determine necessity –value. Tenth ,the memory bank should store perceptions as perceived ,consecutive with time received with the smallest possible time divisions between perception .It would then store in color-Visio (moving),tone audio (flowing),odor ,tactile and self sensation ,all of them cross –coordinated . Eleventh, for the purposes of solutions, it would have to be able to create new situations and imagine new perceptions hitherto not perceived and should be able to conceive these to itself in terms of tone –audio ,color-visio ,odor, tactile, and self sensation –and should be able to file anything so conceived as imagined ,labeled “memories” Twelfth, the entire machine should be portable. It might be somewhat astonishing at first to conceive such a computer .But the fact is, the machine is in existence .There are billions of them in use today and many ,many more billions have been made and used in the past . In fact you’ve got one .for we are dealing with the human mind. L.RON .HUBBARD Do you want to learn how the mind works?Then do not miss this meetup. RSVP now !!

Ready to ride the vibe? Join us for **Vibe Hack** – a free workshop where you'll learn to build real, practical apps using AI-powered vibe coding tools. **No experience needed**, just curiosity and good energy. Whether you're a small business owner, creative professional, or lifelong learner, this **hands-on session** will help you turn your ideas into digital solutions. Come discover that "I can do this!" feeling in a welcoming, energetic space where everyone belongs. Bring your laptop, build something awesome, and connect with the Vibe Club community.

**"TechWalking" - Networking + Walking** Are you a tech professional looking to network beyond the screen? Look no further than my upcoming #TechWalking event! ‍ Join us for a refreshing walk around the scenic Albert Park Lake. It’s the perfect chance to connect with industry peers while getting in some steps! I know many of you have been tuning in to my online events, but we've never had the opportunity to meet in person. Let's change that! Check out the video from the last event: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MovUsNFg-qk We'll kick things off at **10 am sharp** at the Albert Park Fitness Station. Please, don't be late! We're hitting the trail around the lake as soon as we gather. And trust me, you won't want to miss it – unless you're up for a bit of a sprint to catch up! (we're going anti-clockwise) This event is pet and kid-friendly, as long as your little ones and furry friends can manage a 5 km walk, they're more than welcome to join. Looking forward to meeting you all in real life! Join the TechWalking group on LinkedIn! [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14477058/](https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14477058/) \*\*\* Follow me on LinkedIn for more information: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-martens/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-martens/) Just moved to Australia? Grab your FREE guide to land your tech job! [https://yanamartens.com/first-tech-job-in-australia/](https://yanamartens.com/first-tech-job-in-australia/) Subscribe to YouTube Channel: [https://www.youtube.com/@ITCareerinAustralia](https://www.youtube.com/@ITCareerinAustralia)

## 🌿 **Kismetrix Singles Social Run/Walk + Coffee – TAN Track** [Register Here](https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/apr-26-kismetrix-social-runwalk-coffee-the-tan-botanical-gardens-tickets-1985661113844?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl) 📅 **Date: Sunday** 26th of April 🕘 **Time:** 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM (please arrive by 9:45 AM) 📍 **Meeting Point:** Royal Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre 🏃 **Route:** TAN Track loop through the Royal Botanic Gardens 📏 **Distance:** Approx. 3–4 km (relaxed social pace) Or Walk 🎽 **Dress Code:** Comfortable activewear or casual running clothes ## **About the Event** Looking to meet new people, get active, and enjoy great company — without the pressure of a dating event? The **Kismetrix Singles Social Run or Walk + Coffee** is a relaxed, feel-good experience for singles who enjoy movement, nature, and meaningful conversation in a warm, welcoming environment. We’ll run at an easy, conversational pace around the iconic **TAN Track**, giving you plenty of chances to chat, laugh, and connect with different people along the way. There’s no racing, no awkward icebreakers — just a friendly group of singles sharing a beautiful morning together. After the run, we’ll walk back as a group and enjoy **optional coffee and mingling at the Visitor Centre café**, where conversations can continue naturally and comfortably. Many guests tell us these events feel more like meeting new friends — with a spark of something extra. ## **Who It’s For** ✨ Singles who want to meet people offline ✨ Adults 18+ across a wide range of ages (20s to 60s+) ✨ People who enjoy light running, jogging, or active social experiences ✨ Anyone looking for community, confidence, and connection **Singles only. Adults only. No children or dogs.** This helps keep the space relaxed, focused, and socially comfortable for everyone. ## **What to Bring** * Water bottle * Comfortable running or walking shoes * Sunscreen / hat * Light jacket (weather can change) * Positive energy and an open heart 💛 ## 🎟️ This is a **free community event**, with **optional donations** to support the Kismetrix community. While many of our curated singles events are ticketed, this run is part of our **open community series**, created to make connection, movement, and belonging accessible to everyone. Your support helps Kismetrix continue building safe, welcoming spaces where real human connection can grow — romantically or platonically. ### **Hosted by:** **Kismetrix \| True Connection** Because real love starts with real connection. ### **🔗 Stay Connected with Kismetrix \| True Connection** Love this event? We run a variety of experiences to help people meet and connect in meaningful ways. 📧 **[social@kismetrix.com.au]()** 🌐 **[www.kismetrix.com.au](http://www.kismetrix.com.au "http://www.kismetrix.com.au")** 📱 **Follow us on Instagram:** [https://www.instagram.com/kismetrix_/](https://www.instagram.com/kismetrix_/ "https://www.instagram.com/kismetrix_/") **, Facebook & Eventbrite** 🤝 **Collaborations: [collabs@kismetrix.com.au]()** ### **📄 Important Notice** By registering for this event\, you confirm that you have read and agree to Kismetrix \| True Connection’s Terms & Conditions\, Privacy Policy\, Disclaimer and Code of Conduct\. Some events may be non\-refundable as stated in their individual descriptions\.

Join me for a family friendly afternoon walk, coffee and a game of bocce in the Royal Botanic Gardens. This environment is a stunning place to relax, explore, and make new connections in all seasons. There are winding paths, groves, lakes, lawns and more than 8,500 species of plants. We will stop in at the Terrace cafe for takeaways, or bring your own drinks and snacks and we can stop for a chat and a game on the lawns. Our walk will finish at the Shrine of Remembrance to see the beautiful views of the city. This walk is rated easy, it is relatively flat and we will walk at a slow to moderate pace so we can socialise along the way. There are a few sections with stairs but there are alternative pathways close by. **Agenda:** I will meet you at **2pm** at the circular sculpture near the Observatory & Visitors Centre, 100 Birdwood Avenue. There is a map and photo of the meeting place below. We will head off no later than **2.15pm** We will reach the Terrace Cafe by **3pm**, have a coffee and a game of bocce on the lawns, then explore the gardens finishing at the Shrine of Remembrance at 5pm. When you RSVP **please click Attend** on the event page and I will be in touch about the details via direct message. As this is a rain or shine event I will also be available in the Event Comments on the day, and add any updates there if needed regarding weather conditions.

**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 You will need to scan your ID at the door to get a visitor badge. **Abstract** Like it or not, AI agents are now capable of turning a quickly written paragraph of requirements into a pull request that is ready to be integrated into real-world production applications and it's now our responsibility to make sure AI doesn't go rogue and take down prod - or corrupt our data by misunderstanding the requirements or our existing schemas. In this session we'll explore strategies to protect our codebases through unit and integration testing, documentation, and code review along with additional ways of providing context and guard rails to our AI agents as they carry out the work we've assigned them to do. By the time we're done, you'll have a firm grasp of the problem and understand some helpful options for protecting your codebase from vibe coding mishaps getting YOLOed into prod. **YouTube Link** TBD

Topic to be announced. **THANK YOU** *Franklin University* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Franklin University*, please visit their website: https://www.franklin.edu/ **DIRECTIONS** Franklin University Fisher Hall 300 E. Main St, Columbus, OH 43215 Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jxjBA2hUmS5qrvhq8 Parking is FREE! Please park in Lot C in front of Fisher Hall. See attached map. NOTE: Map the address only. When mapping with Google Maps it may use the Fisher Hall at OSU, which is NOT correct. **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

Most people use AI like a search box: they type one sentence, hope for the best, and get frustrated when the answer is generic, wrong, or useless. But getting better results from tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other AI systems is not about memorizing magic prompts. It is about learning how to give the AI better context. In this beginner-friendly session, we’ll break down how to make AI dramatically more useful by improving the way you communicate with it. You’ll learn how to give clearer instructions, provide examples, set constraints, ask for better output formats, and use follow-up questions to turn a mediocre answer into a genuinely useful one. We’ll cover practical techniques you can use immediately for work, learning, writing, coding, planning, research, and everyday problem solving. We’ll also touch on why these same ideas show up in more advanced AI systems, including RAG, agents, evaluations, and AI workflows. No technical background required. Bring your curiosity, your questions, and maybe one real task you wish AI was better at helping you with. **What you’ll learn:** * Why “better prompting” is really about better context * How to structure requests so AI gives more useful answers * How to use examples, constraints, and output formats * How to iterate when the first answer is not good enough * How these skills connect to more advanced AI workflows This meetup is for anyone who wants to move beyond basic ChatGPT usage and start getting more practical value out of AI. LOGISTICS AND PARKING: The talk starts at 7:00 PM. The first half hour is reserved for everyone to get set up and mingle. Free pizza and drinks! The cheapest parking option is to find street parking, which will only cost you a few bucks. Otherwise, park in the nearby veteran's museum lot for $8. It's highly recommended you avoid the nearby $15 garage parking.

QA or the Highway is a one-day, affordable, regional, professional conference featuring real-world experience and thought leadership in the QA and testing industry. This is a ticketed event please register here: https://www.qaorthehwy.com/ Featured Keynote Speakers: **Matthew-Hope Eland** **(Wizard at Leading EDJE)** \- An AI Specialist and Wizard at Leading EDJE who is known to teach software engineering\, AI\, and data science concepts in the most ridiculous ways possible\. Matt has used machine learning to settle debates over whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie\, reinforcement learning to drive the behavior of digital squirrels\, data analytics to suggest improvements to his favorite TV show\, and AI agents to play board games and create an AI agent with the personality of a dog\. Matt is the author of "Data Science in \.NET with Polyglot Notebooks" and "Refactoring with C\#" as well as several LinkedIn Learning courses\. Matt helps organize the Central Ohio \.NET Developer Group\, runs several blogs and a YouTube channel\, has a Master’s of Science in Data Analytics\, and is a current Microsoft MVP in AI and \.NET\. **Tatyana Arbouzova** **(CEO at Innovate QA)** \- Tatyana Arbouzova is an engineering and business leader with a strong background in Quality Engineering across multiple industries\, including Big Tech\, Healthcare\, and Entertainment\. She has held leadership roles at world\-class companies such as Microsoft\, VMware\, Disney\, and The Pokémon Company International\, where she focused on building quality\-driven cultures and scaling teams to deliver high\-impact products\. With decades of experience\, Tatyana has helped organizations transform their quality practices so teams can deliver software efficiently\, confidently\, and with measurable business outcomes\. Today\, Tatyana advises software companies on adopting AI to optimize quality practices and improve how software is delivered at scale\. She is also a passionate community builder and the founder of Innovate QA\, a thriving Seattle\-based community and conference for quality professionals\.

**Welcome to Drunken Philosophy** a casual, curious social discussion **Optional topic for this meetup: What's up with all the AI hate?** A recent survey found that 74% of Americans have a negative view of AI, and I want to know why. Come out and debate whether AI is good or bad. My hot take: a labor-saving tool that could potentially help cure cancer gets called dangerous because it might raise unemployment or cause a speculative investment bubble, that tells you a lot more about capitalism and the economic system we live under than it does about the tool itself. As a computer programmer, I think AI is a wonderful tool that has increased my productivity by at least an order of magnitude. I'd go so far as to say Claude Code is the best tool I have ever used. Debate me and name a better one. Is AI potentially dangerous? Yes, but so are a lot of tools. Chainsaws. Steam engines (early ones would occasionally explode and kill everyone in the room). Do you think cavemen sat around debating whether fire could be used as a weapon or for self-harm, and decided not to discover it? I have two friends who hate AI for opposite reasons: one thinks it's a fad and not useful, and the other thinks it's going to take over everything and cause human extinction. Come out tonight, have a friendly debate, and make some friends. No lectures. Friendly crowd. Drop in for one drink and stay if it's fun.

**Presenter:** Auri Rahimzadeh, Principal Software Architect, Momentum3 **Time:** Pizza at 6:00, Presentation Starts at 6:30pm Eastern **Location:** Theoris, 9000 Keystone Crossing, Suite 230, Indianapolis Auri's been using AI a lot. Are you? Let's discuss how to be your most effective self by using AI in your development workflow. Looking forward to seeing you there!

PLEASE NOTE!!! This event will be In-Person for our very 1st Improving collab! If you know the [Columbus Unity group](https://www.meetup.com/columbus-unity-user-group/) location, we'll be at the same place. This is our 1st event and are doing a soft launch with limited attendance. 1st come 1st serve. If you want to be there and we fill up, please email me at [info@thecogg.com](mailto:info@thecogg.com) and I'll be in touch. All street parking is free on Sundays but you can also pay to park in any of the local garages. See image of [parking map here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mr9_LFIggbs-0_Zd3AJTGNqEhgMf2TzQ/view?usp=sharing). \-\-\- On the last Sunday of the month, we're having our usual end-of-the-month social gathering with our GameDev Meetup meeting. There will be announcements and presentations followed by some social networking Let's continue the conversations with good vibes and friends. All are welcomed from all ages and backgrounds to this public event. If we can, we'll be streaming or uploading the video later via our COGG YouTube channel here: [https://www.youtube.com/@TheCOGG/streams](https://www.youtube.com/@TheCOGG/streams) (Also please do subscribe if you have not done so!) No game development experience required! If you are interested in doing a 20 minute game development related presentation, please fill out our form online here: [https://goo.gl/forms/lVdTJZiNJewlPJuj1](https://goo.gl/forms/lVdTJZiNJewlPJuj1) Or e-mail us at info@thecogg.com with the following: Your Name, Company/Affiliation, Name of Your Game/Topic, Description, Tech Needs, and Your Contact. Be sure to check out our Discord for real time news updates: [https://discord.gg/NrBhuNQ](https://discord.gg/NrBhuNQ)