Bayesian networks

Schedule: * Introductions and Disclaimers * Topic for the week * Sharing circle(s) * Wrap up Code of Conduct: 1. No bigotry of any kind (racism, sexism, ableism, etc.) 2. Treat others how you want to be treated 3. Prioritize listening, ask for permission before providing solutions to problems 4. Stressful topic may be convered, strive to maintain a positive mental attitude

**Are you and your business ready to join the team and run with a Pack? 🐺🤝🇺🇸💪** **This Wednesday, March 4th at 8 am Jonathan Gessert -CEO of 321 Web Marketing will talk to the team about “Seeds, Nets and Spears: How to Grow a service business by 20-30% every year.”** **Open Networking starts at 7:45 am** **Order breakfast, Tip our great servers at Founding Farmers generously**

**The next GeoDC will be held on Wednesday, May 6 from 6-9pm at Sudhouse DC (1340 U St NW, Washington, DC 20009) with the program starting at 7pm.** We’ve got 3 presentations scheduled for the evening– Please check out the program details below. Join us early from 6-7pm to grow your network, socialize and grab drinks and appetizers, compliments of our sponsor for the month, [Voyager](https://www.voyagersearch.com/). Please remember to [RSVP through the GeoDC Meetup page](https://www.meetup.com/geo-dc/), and we hope to see you in a few weeks. *If you’d like to present or sponsor a future GeoDC Meetup, please complete this [form](https://forms.gle/QbAXPfrDnX12GGaS8).* **Brian Davidson:** **Zero to Map: A 10-Minute Geospatial Speedrun with Gemini** * Think building a functional mapping application requires hours of boilerplate and API frustration? Think again. In this talk, we’ll race against the clock to build a live mapping app from scratch using Gemini and Antigravity. You’ll see how to leverage LLMs to handle everything from a mapping provider integration to complex coordinate rendering in minutes. Whether you’re a seasoned GIS pro or a curious dev, my hope is you'll leave with a better understanding of how to turn your idea into a working map before your coffee gets cold. **Noah Goodman**: **Voyager** * The Voyager platform has enabled customers to resolve data management issues, such as duplication, lack of governance & metadata. Demos of the Voyager platform capabilities and will discussion of a recent State DOT project. **Dr. Aditya Kapoor: Assessment of Inundation Dynamics in Nebraska Using AlphaEarth Foundations** **Embeddings** * This study demonstrates that AlphaEarth Foundation Embeddings (AFE) provide a highly efficient, "analysis-ready" framework for mapping regional surface water inundation without the computational burden of traditional multi-source data fusion. By applying Random Forest classifiers to AFE data across 901 Nebraska lakes from 2017 to 2025, I found that this method outperformed existing products like Dynamic World, which exhibited estimation errors of up to 43.8%. The analysis revealed a critical environmental trend: a mean inundation decline of over 6,600 m² per year, closely mirroring a regional rainfall reduction of 14.18 mm/year. Ultimately, the findings highlight AFE as a scalable tool for identifying hydrological instabilities, particularly in smaller water bodies, offering significant advantages for real-world water resource planning and flood risk assessment.

The BNI Capital Business Alliance is a business and professional networking organization for all industry leaders. We are one of the top BNI groups in the region, focused on building business relationships and friendships that lead to growing each others business. We meet every Wednesday morning to build relationships, showcase our services, and meet new people! We welcome all visitors who are looking to expand their referral networks and grow their business. There is no fee for visiting our lite fare breakfast meeting and if your business category is open in our chapter you can learn more about how to become a member and join us every week! We are very active outside of our Wednesday morning meetings as well! We host member-only events regularly and are always out and about networking at other events. Due to COVID-19 circumstances our meetings are currently being held virtually through a Virtual Zoom Meeting from 7:30 - 9:00 am. A link to the meeting will be sent to you once you register as Attending on Meetup. We can't wait to meet you! Be prepared to tell us all about your business!

# 🧠 **Build With Me #1: Prompt to Product (Live Demo Night)** 🗓 Wednesday \| 7–9 PM 📍 Venue: Martha Washington Library Ever had an idea… but no clue how to actually build it? In this session, we’ll take a simple idea and turn it into a real, working product — live. No slides. No theory. Just building. *** ## ⚡ What You’ll See * Idea → working app in real time * A project dashboard built from scratch * A landing page generated and refined live * How AI improves as it learns your context *** ## 🧠 What You’ll Learn * How to talk to AI effectively (prompting that actually works) * How to go from vague idea → structured build * How non-engineers can start building real tools *** ## 🎯 Who This Is For * People with ideas they haven’t built yet * Developers curious about AI workflows * Founders, operators, and side-hustlers *** This is your starting point. Come see what’s possible — and how fast you can get there.

Join Service Design DC for a community movie night focused on learning, reflection, and connection through two keynote presentations from last year’s Service Design Global Conference. SDGC25 brought the global service design community together around the theme “Business Transformation by Design,” exploring how service design can influence strategy, operations, and customer experience across organizations. For this gathering, we’ll watch 2 selected talks from SDGC25, then open up a casual group discussion about what resonated, what feels relevant for our work now, and what these ideas might mean for service design practice in DC. The 2025 conference centered on service design’s role in helping organizations navigate cross-functional transformation, making these talks especially relevant for practitioners working across systems, teams, and change. **What to expect** * Watch 2 selected presentations from SDGC25 together. * Casual facilitated discussion after each talk. * Time to connect with other service design and adjacent practitioners in the DC area. **Evening Agenda** 6:00 P.M. - Doors Open + Socializing & Networking 6:30 P.M. - First talk highlights + conversation 7:15 P.M. - Second talk highlights + conversation 8:00 P.M. - Wrap up **Many thanks to our host and sponsor, MediaBarn!** *Mediabarn’s customer-centric philosophy defines who we are.* *In its simplest form, we are committed to applying Human-Centered Design (HCD) methods to understand customer needs, collect feedback, and use that feedback to improve services and products. Whether it’s for customers, citizens, or employees, our Experience Design Studio creates research-informed designs to improve the experience of every human involved.*

\#\# A low\-cost\, 6\-week beginner\-level Mongolian course with the non\-profit organization\, the Global Language Network\. Ready to dive into the world of Mongolian? Join our fun and interactive class designed especially for those new to the language. **Details** Mongolian Foreigner with Dorjpagam Wednesdays from 5:30pm - 7:30pm ET Apr 8th to May 13th In-person, Farragut Square DC Ready to learn? **Register [HERE](http://%5Bhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSem9IdJEYqsE91SvfEEjIe8FuvoAjOusgE2ab_qkvm3apyjzg/viewform%5D(https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSem9IdJEYqsE91SvfEEjIe8FuvoAjOusgE2ab_qkvm3apyjzg/viewform) "\[https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSem9IdJEYqsE91SvfEEjIe8FuvoAjOusgE2ab_qkvm3apyjzg/viewform\](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSem9IdJEYqsE91SvfEEjIe8FuvoAjOusgE2ab_qkvm3apyjzg/viewform)").** **Additional Information** * GLN classes are open to everyone over 18 years of age. * Have a credit or stipend to apply to your payment? Learn more about our credit, stipend, and refund policy on the [Pricing & Course Levels page.](http://%5Bhttps://thegln.org/pricing-%26-course-levels%5D(https://thegln.org/pricing-%26-course-levels) "\[https://thegln.org/pricing-%26-course-levels\](https://thegln.org/pricing-%26-course-levels)") **About GLN** We are a Washington, DC-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to "Use Language as a Tool to Help Fix Our World." Since 2015 we have been rated #1 Best Language Classes in Washington, DC by Yelp! We are so happy and grateful to have you join our network and we appreciate your support of our mission.

This is an in person networking breakfast for Team Network’s Vienna Venture Network

What does it look like when ideas come to life? Join NOVA Scribes and MAFN for a full-day, in-person open house where the public is invited to step inside the world of facilitation. This is a come-and-go experience designed for curiosity, exploration, and conversation. Whether you are new to facilitation groups, you are welcome. The space will be set up as a "theater in the round," (see the image) with facilitators working live around the room. Throughout the day, you will see different techniques, styles, and modalities demonstrated in real time, from visual templates, facilitation tools, and decision-support methods. You can observe, ask questions, and engage directly with the practitioners as the work unfolds. **What you can expect** * Live demonstrations of facilitation techniques * Multiple practitioners working simultaneously, each with their own approach and style * Short, informal demos and tiny teaches that explain how and why specific techniques are used * Opportunities to talk one-on-one with experienced facilitators * A chance to see how facilitation can support sensemaking, alignment, and group dialogue **What you might explore** * Methods and templates for planning, strategy, and reflection * Facilitation methods that support participation and decision making * Tools, materials, and setup considerations for live work This open house is designed to be accessible, hands-on, and inspiring. You do not need to stay all day. Come for 20 minutes or stay for hours. Watch ideas take shape. Notice how facilitation can change the energy in the room. Ask the questions you have always wanted to ask. If you have ever been curious about how facilitation works and supports groups, this is your chance to experience it up close. **Open to the general public. No prior experience required.** We’re not charging for this workshop, but we will be asking for donations!

7:30- 8 AM: Networking and Chit Chat 8 AM - 9 AM: Presentation and Q/A **Topic:** Do you know if your next major technology initiative will succeed? **Presenter**: Lokesh Kumar **Description:** Most diligence tools read documents. Groundworx builds understanding. We believe every industry has an underlying knowledge graph — how things actually work: the players, workflows, risks, and hidden dependencies. Groundworx starts there. Then each company brings its own reality: decks, contracts, data, transcripts — we turn that into a company graph. And the magic happens when the two connect. That’s how you go from: “What does this document say?” to “What does this company actually look like in its industry?” The result: Gaps you wouldn’t see in isolation Risks hiding between systems, teams, and assumptions And insights that normally take months of expert diligence Compressed into days. This isn’t just document analysis. It’s graph-native diligence.

No one truly understands AI, not even experts, says Helen Toner, an AI policy researcher and former board member of OpenAI. But that doesn't mean we can't govern it. She shows how we can make smart policies to regulate this technology even as we struggle to predict where it's headed — and why the right actions, right now, can shape the future we want. ​​​​Here is how it works: * ​​​​​​​Prior to the event: **Please watch this YouTube video:** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUn8IjZKBPg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUn8IjZKBPg) * ​During the event: We will discuss the following questions: 1. Because AI is changing so fast, it is hard to predict what new things it will be able to do next month. What steps can we take to stay open-minded and adaptable as these tools change how we learn and create? 2. There is a big debate about whether using AI helps us learn faster or makes us skip the hard work of thinking. How can we find a healthy balance between using these new tools and keeping our own minds sharp and active? 3. History shows that the people who use a technology should have a say in how it is shaped for the future. How can we ensure that our local communities have a voice in how AI is developed and used? \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- To provide an enjoyable experience for fellow participants, here are three ground rules during discussion events: 1. Step up and step back. (If you feel that you’ve been talking too much, step back to listen more. If you feel that you’ve been relatively quiet, step up to share your perspective or ask a question) 2. Listen to understand, not to respond. 3. Be open-minded and value differences.

Whether you're attending DynamicsCon in Las Vegas or simply want to get to know fellow users of the Dynamics & Power Platform tools, you are cordially invited to join us on Friday, May 8th for an informal meet & greet! Get to know Lenore & Meron (and other attendees) in an informal and friendly environment. This is a great opportunity for anyone who interested in learning more about the panoply of tools that fall under the Dynamics User Group.

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.

**PLEASE BUY TICKETS THROUGH EVENTBRITE. RSVP THROUGH MEETUP IS NOT A TICKET PURCHASE CONFIRMATION.** Strive welcomes you to 'General Business Networking', Columbus' hottest networking event! We are set in the perfect central location in Downtown for all to join. Are you interested in business? Want to elevate your career? Meet Consultants, Analysts of all types, Bankers, Software Engineers, Entrepreneurs, and more who are active in the space or are eager to get started. **\*\*This will be a multi-vertical event\*\*** **There will be professionals with backgrounds in the arts, finance, tech, real estate, healthcare, and more. Come with an open mind, and leave with connections that wouldn't be possible otherwise!** Pack some business cards and come with an open mind! Meet your future business partners, employers, coworkers, investors, and friends. You don't want to miss this opportunity to expand your network and create a brighter future. We will have a space for our event to check-in. The event will go from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (feel free to come at any point in this timeframe). Name tags will be provided. Business casual dress code. Job fair attire. **Remember, it's not who you know, it's who you meet tomorrow!** We look forward to meeting you at the event! Sincerely, Strive Networking Team *Refund requests are permitted up to 24 hours after purchase, so long as we are not within 48 hours before the event start time. Refunds will be made in full and repaid to your method of payment. Note that we are unable to reimburse PayPal fees.* *Disclaimer: By attending Strive Networking events you agree to photos/videos taken during the event being used to promote future events.*

Join us for a practical, beginner-friendly guide to choosing the right large language model. We’ll compare major models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Llama, talk about when to use hosted APIs versus local models, and break down the tradeoffs around cost, speed, quality, privacy, context windows, coding ability, and reliability. You’ll leave with a clearer mental model for picking an LLM based on your actual use case instead of hype, benchmarks, or brand names. No deep AI background required. 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.

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

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?!"

When judging morality, should we prioritize **intentions/duty** or **outcomes/results**? It introduces two influential philosophers as representatives of these approaches. * **Immanuel Kant (deontology):** An action is moral when it is done from **duty** and follows rational, universal principles (the **categorical imperative**). Certain acts—like lying—are wrong regardless of the consequences; you can’t do a wrong thing for a right reason. * **John Stuart Mill (utilitarian consequentialism):** The morality of an action is determined by its **effects**, specifically how much **happiness/well-being** it produces. Mill argues that some pleasures are “higher” than others, and that good intentions don’t redeem harmful outcomes. ## Discussion Questions 1. **The lying dilemma:** A murderer comes to your door and asks if your friend is hiding inside. Kant would say you must not lie. 2. **Can good intentions rescue a bad outcome?** 3. **The organ harvest problem:** A surgeon has five patients dying of organ failure and one healthy patient in for a checkup. Killing the one to harvest organs would save five lives, and the math works out for the utilitarian. Why does this feel so deeply wrong? Is that feeling a point in Kant's favor, or just a bias we should overcome? 4. **Do rules need exceptions?** Kant insists moral rules must be universal, with no exceptions. But most of us can imagine extreme scenarios where any rule seems like it should bend. Does the need for exceptions fatally undermine deontology, or is the strength of the system precisely that it refuses to bend? 5. **Who gets to calculate the consequences?** Utilitarianism asks us to maximize good outcomes, but we're notoriously bad at predicting consequences. If we can't reliably know the results of our actions, is it practical to base our entire moral system on outcomes? Does this uncertainty push us back toward rules and principles? 6. **Everyday morality:** Think about a real moral decision you've made recently, even a small one. Did you reason more like a Kantian (what's the right thing to do in principle?) or more like a utilitarian (what will produce the best result?)? Do most people naturally lean one way? 7. **Justice vs. the greater good:** A town can prevent a deadly plague by sacrificing one innocent person. The greater good is clearly served. But is it just? Can an action be morally right and deeply unjust at the same time? 8. **The big synthesis question:** Are these two systems actually opposed, or do they often arrive at the same answers by different paths? Is it possible that we need both: rules to guide us in the moment and consequences to evaluate systems and policies over time?