Innovation
Meet other local people interested in Innovation: share experiences, inspire and encourage each other! Join a Innovation group.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Check out innovation events happening today here. These are in-person gatherings where you can meet fellow enthusiasts and participate in activities right now.
Discover all the innovation events taking place this week here. Plan ahead and join exciting meetups throughout the week.
Absolutely! Find innovation events near your location here. Connect with your local community and discover events within your area.
Innovation Events Today
Join in-person Innovation events happening right now
Scanning Tunneling Microscope - Lab Day - Scanning and Post Processing Images
***Join us for an evening in an electronics lab where we will attempt to run clean scans of gold samples, and then clean up that data with post processing.*** This is a high sensitivity experiment, and we do not plan on being successful so early. But we've had promising results lately - so we will be putting in the time. We are NOT meeting at our usual location, but rather at Steve's house/lab.
If you RSVP, you will get a DM with the address but it's located in Silver Spring.
We will attempt full, clean lab - clean tip repeated scanning tests to see what we can learn and improve. We will experiment with online attendees, but if all possible showing up in person is strongly encouraged. Online join link is: - [https://meet.jit.si/mocomakers](https://meet.jit.si/mocomakers)
Our community is building (and documenting for other teams) how to build a scanning tunneling microscope using a mix of common and 3D printed parts. This will allow us to scan and visualize a single atom - an ambitious we are doing over the course of a few months.
The MoCo Makers community is one of the most innovative and competent groups in Maryland, and we've done everything from [publishing cancer research](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38136356/), to [launching products](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gotim/cozy-curvy-multi-contour-pillow), [winning grants](https://covidinfocommons.datascience.columbia.edu/awards/2014255), and inspiring thousands.
Now our biggest challenge yet has appeared. We are building a Scanning Tunneling Microscope, that will allow us to scan and visualize single atoms.
To get a better idea of what we are doing, see our reference project here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N3OqTEq08g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N3OqTEq08g)
All starting CAD, code, and reference files should exist. However, let's be the first Maker community to document the build process and share it with learners around the world.
We will be publishing our work here -[ https://hackaday.io/project/202816-qt-panda](https://hackaday.io/project/202816-qt-panda)
If you need a ride, let us know.
ODSC AI & Snowflake AI Meetup
**Pre-Registration is REQUIRED. RSVP here - [https://luma.com/6twkovvg](https://luma.com/6twkovvg)**
## ODSC AI x Snowflake Present: AI Innovation in the Capital
**Our premier Washington D.C. AI Meetup of March 2026!**
Skip the usual AI hype and join us in the District for an evening of technical deep dives and high-level networking. We’re bringing together **D.C. builders, data scientists, and engineers** to discuss how to bridge the gap between AI experimentation and enterprise-grade deployment.
Come for the networking, stay for the expert insights from the Snowflake team, and leave with a sharper strategy for scaling AI in 2026.
## The Session
**Topic: Engineering the Future of Enterprise AI (Title TBA)** *Official topic and abstract coming soon!*
While the specific title is under wraps, **Matt Harris** typically explores the intersection of high-performance data architecture and generative AI. Expect a session focused on how organizations can leverage Snowflake’s evolving ecosystem to build secure, scalable, and governed AI applications that go beyond the chat box and into core business logic.
**Speaker:** Matt Harris, Principal AI Strategy Architect (FSI at Snowflake
[https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-d-harris/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-d-harris/)
Matt is a veteran in the data space, serving as a Principal Solutions Engineer at Snowflake. He specializes in helping complex organizations transform their data architecture into a competitive advantage. With deep expertise in the Snowflake Data Cloud, Matt focuses on making advanced data science and AI accessible, governed, and ready for production environments.
## Why Attend?
* **Network with the Best:** Connect with AI practitioners and data leaders in the D.C. tech and public sector ecosystem.
* **High-End Experience:** Enjoy bites and refreshments in a professional, collaborative environment.
* **Exclusive Insights:** Get a direct line to Snowflake’s technical leadership on where enterprise AI is headed next.
## Agenda
* **6:00 PM – 6:30 PM:** Networking & Bites/Drinks
* **6:30 PM – 7:15 PM:** Presentation by Matt Harris, Principal Solutions Engineer at Snowflake
* **7:15 PM – 7:30 PM:** Interactive Q&A
* **7:30 PM – 8:00 PM:** Networking & Closing
**Venue:** Mindspace, 1301 K Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20005
**RSVP now to secure your spot!**
## Useful Links
* **Free access to more talks/trainings:** [Ai+ Training platform](https://aiplus.training/)
* **ODSC Blog:** [https://opendatascience.com/](https://opendatascience.com/)
* **Join the Community:** [Slack Channel](https://www.google.com/search?q=https://odsc.ai/slack)
* **Code of Conduct:** [https://odsc.ai/code-of-conduct/](https://odsc.ai/code-of-conduct/)
Ballroom Dancing for Beginners & Up.
Join us every Thursday for Beginner Friendly Social Classes and Social Ballroom Dancing. All is welcome and no partner is necessary.
You will learn 2 dances per month in our beginner friendly classes every Thursday.
7:00 Pm Beginner Smooth (Waltz, Tango, or Foxtrot). Please see website schedule for dances of the month.
8:00 Pm Beginner Rhythm (Cha Cha, Rumba, or Swing). Please Check Schedule.
9:00 pm - 10:30 Pm Social dancing.
[Register for Classes Here 📌](https://crowndancestudio.com/group-classes/)
* Please visit our website in the link above to register and claim your free intro offer for first time visitors.
\*You MUST register online to claim the free offer!! Select “Intro offer.”
\*The RSVP here does not reflect the size of our classes. We have e at least 15 members each week. And the number is growing.
On https://blackecon101.podbean.com/ every Thursday at 6 pm
• What we'll do
On https://blackecon101.podbean.com/ Thursdays at 6 pm. discussing the economy....
Wednesday Night Samba! Beginner & Intermediate Level Class
Samba gives a great cardio work out and introduces to Brazilian culture. Join the fun staff of Vava United School of Samba instructors for a samba experience. 8:00pm class is for absolut beginners to dancers looking to sharpen technique. 9:00pm is for experienced sambistas that want to heighten their stamina, learn Combinations and love the samba rhythms.
Beginners ($15)
Intermediate ($15)
Hardware Hacking Night
Want to mess with some electronics? Or perhaps contribute to HacDC's main group project?
HacDC's latest event brings hardware projects to the community. We will focus primarily on the main project (Space Blimp!) but please feel free to bring some of your own projects to show off and work on!
Innovation Events This Week
Discover what is happening in the next few days
DC Service Jam 2026
**DC Service Jam is back.** This March, SD:DC is hosting the DC edition of Global Service Jam 2026 week. We are part of a worldwide movement of designers, strategists, and curious minds who come together to build real service concepts from scratch.
From **Saturday March 14 to Sunday March 15**, you'll work in a small team around a secret theme revealed at kick-off. No briefs, no client. Just hands-on design, rapid prototyping, and plenty of Post-its.
This year we're bringing AI into the mix. Throughout the weekend we'll look at how AI tools can support service design work, as a sensemaking tool, to build artifacts faster, and to push prototypes further.
**WHAT TO EXPECT**
**Saturday March 14th**
* **9 - 10am:** social / breakfast (theme reveal + team formation)
* **10am - 6pm:** full day of research, ideation, and prototyping (meals provided)
* **6:30pm (optional):** social / happy hour (nearby bar)
**Sunday March 15th**
* **9 - 10am:** social / breakfast
* **10am - 12pm:** finalize prototyping & storytelling
* **12pm - 2pm:** present your work and share what DC made with the world
**WHO SHOULD COME**
You don't need to be a service designer. If you're a UX or product designer, strategist, public servant, researcher, or just someone curious about how services actually work, you're welcome here.
**LOGISTICS**
* **Dates:** Saturday March 14th & Sunday 15th (ending at 2pm)
* **Venue:** SteamPunk, McLean, VA
* **Capacity:** 50 spots only (first come, first served)
* **Attendee fee:** $60\* (covers meals, materials, and space)
*\* If the fee is a barrier for you, we have a limited number of discounted tickets available, just reach out to Sergio Venegas directly for a code.*
**WHAT TO BRING**
✔️ An open mind and a willingness to make things
✔️ Laptop and charger
✔️ Curiosity about Service Design (no experience needed)
**Follow SD:DC on LinkedIn and @DCServiceJam on Instagram for updates!**
\*\*\*
Many thanks to our host and sponsor, **SteamPunk**
*Design. Disrupt, Repeat. Steampunk is anchored by a startup culture with a customer-centered delivery approach. We put our Federal government clients in the center of everything we design, develop, and deliver to drive high quality mission impacts and user experiences at speed.*
Family Constellations workshop with Randy Goldberg
Family Constellation work is a powerful experiential process for discovering the hidden dynamics operating within families and systems. Often the struggles we carry—conflicts, repeating patterns, unexplained emotions, or blocks in life—are not only personal but connected to deeper, unseen loyalties in our family lineage. In a constellation workshop we learn to slow down and look at what actually is, without judgment or blame. By respectfully acknowledging forgotten or excluded members of a system, and by allowing what has been hidden to be seen, the deeper intelligence of the field begins to reveal unexpected solutions.
As order is restored, people often find themselves able to release burdens that were never truly theirs to carry. Unconscious entanglements between victim and perpetrator can soften, making space for dignity and understanding on all sides. Participants frequently experience a renewed sense of belonging—to their family, their life, and their place in the larger human story. Through the shared field of the group, movements toward resolution emerge organically, allowing individuals to step forward with greater clarity, strength, and freedom.
Randy Goldberg, LMT is a graduate of the DC Hellinger Institute, and of advanced studies in Family Constellation with Heinz Stark of Germany. He is a former Yoga monk, Craniosacral therapist, and a world-renowned astrologer (both Western and Vedic) interviewed by the Washington Post, NPR, and CNN. He has facilitated Family Constellation therapy for individuals and groups for more than 20 years. More information at www.randygoldberg.org ; 202-380-6850 or randygoldberg.org@gmail.com
March 15th Sunday 1-5pm at the TEAL Center in Arlington VA $65
4001 9th Street North, Suite 230 Arlington, VA 22203
To register, go to https://www.wellnessliving.com/rs/event/teal_center?k_class=870820&fbclid=IwY2xjawQVgiVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFYbFZ5OWRPUWFuemZvMm9Qc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHknaoX9jvagt8WzeiPnyYQPJ95xVrGgNKZZBvyIzYLBfUs7kpWXDyXae3Wm4_aem_U4mAzhpgkvjl7FbpeSVyWQ
Navigating Innovation, AI, and Entrepreneurship
Pitch Labs is happy to partner with George Mason University's Computer Science Graduate Student Association to host a tech talk for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, AI, and more. Damon Feldman, co-founder of Advocara, will be joining us to share his experiences in a fireside-chat styled event.
**About the Event**
This fireside chat will bring together students, founders, and innovators for an engaging conversation at the intersection of AI, entrepreneurship, and real‑world problem‑solving. Damon will share insights from:
* Building and scaling AI‑driven products
* Navigating the startup landscape from idea to execution
* Lessons learned from leading engineering teams and deploying mission‑critical systems
* Opportunities for CS students in emerging tech and founder ecosystems
The session will include a moderated discussion, audience Q&A, and opportunities to connect with fellow students, founders, and members of the DMV startup community.
**About the Speaker**
Damon Feldman is the President and Co‑Founder of Advocara, an AI‑based healthcare navigation startup working to bring transparency to medical billing. His career spans leadership roles in customer engineering, large‑scale data integration, and complex system design across healthcare, government, and enterprise technology. Damon holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and has led engineering initiatives for organizations of various sizes and industries
Pi Day Celebration - Free Pie
Every year MoCo Makers is proud to partner with the DMV Petri Dish to celebrate Pi Day, 3/14, which is a celebration of the mathematical "transcendental number" pi - 3.14159.... Pi day is also a great excuse to be social and eat Pie!
This event is open to all backgrounds, even if this is your first event!
We are meeting at the 7 Locks Brewery, and they kindly let us bring our own food. No worries if you don't drink alcoholic drinks, all are welcome.
Bringing your own food is encouraged but not required. If you are planning to bring something, please enter your name, item name, and quantity in the spreadsheet below:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ldQxYBECyxwTeX_woLhbQZlj0EkAyB5qrc-Q16hBOn0/edit?usp=drivesdk
There will be a countdown leading up to 1:59 pm, complete with disco ball drop. 🪩
Dr. Cheryl Lohman is sponsoring an assortment of chef-crafted savory-style pies, and they come well reviewed (just ask past attendees).
Join us for some good times, and tasty eats!
Play at the Library: A Video Game Showcase
*A series of pop-up arcades of locally-made games!*
The Washington, D.C. Chapter of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA DC) has partnered with the D.C. Public Library to host a series of showcases at library branches across the city.
**At these showcases you can come play games made by local developers and learn about how those games were made!**
Saturday, March 14, 2026
2-5pm
Lamond-Riggs/Lillian J. Huff Neighborhood Library
5401 South Dakota Ave NE, Washington, DC 20011
(Near the Fort Totten Metro Station)
Family-friendly and appropriate for all ages (recommended for children ages 7 and up mainly because video game controllers are hard for younger children to use.)
Come out and support your local community of game developers!
Google Build with AI Series (D.C) - Production-Ready AI and Multimodal Agents
**Important:** Register on the [event website ](https://www.aicamp.ai/event/eventdetails/W2026031207)is required for admission.(RSVP is turned off on meetup)
**Description:**
Join Google Cloud for the 2-days agentic AI bootcamp to learn how to build production-ready AI and multimodal agents.
**Day 1: The ‘Now’ – Solving for Scale**
Start building tools. Day 1 is dedicated to bridging the "Proof-of-Concept Gap"—the difficult space between a successful demo and a live, enterprise-grade application. We are moving beyond the novelty of "cool prompts" to focus on the engineering rigor required for the real world.
**Day 1: What to Expect:**
* \- Architecture for Scale: Learn how to design robust AI systems that don't just work once\, but work every time\.
* \- Data\-Driven Evaluation: Replace subjective "vibe checks" with rigorous\, programmatic assessment\. Implement adaptive rubrics and tool\-use metrics to ensure reliability\.
* \- Security: Deep dive into enterprise\-grade protection for AI workloads\.
*
**Day 2: The ‘Next’ – Capturing Innovation**
The era of the text-only chatbot is evolving. Focus on the bleeding edge of AI: Multimodality. We’ll explore how to build intelligent agents that can see, hear, and respond to the world in real-time, creating immersive experiences that feel more human than ever before.
**Day 2: What to Expect:**
* \- Multimodal Gemini Agents: Coordinate agents to analyze video and audio while maintaining character consistency across multi\-turn image generation\.
* \- Intelligence Beyond RAG: Move past simple retrieval with hybrid search\, context engineering\, and multi\-agent pipelines\.
* \- Real\-Time Live Interaction: Build low\-latency\, interruptible agents that "see" and "hear" using the Gemini Live API and bidirectional streaming\.
**Who Should Attend?**
This hands-on workshop is designed for software developers, data scientists, and AI practitioners who have some experience building applications or working with models, and are looking to productionize them. To get the most out of the labs, you should have foundational knowledge of a programming language like Python and be comfortable using the command-line interface. While expertise is not required, a basic understanding of Cloud computing concepts, web APIs, and containerization technology like Docker will be highly beneficial.
To participate, you must bring your own laptop and power cable. The activities are intended for laptops and cannot be completed on a tablet or phone.
AWS EKS And The Great Ingress-Nginx Deprecation Of 2026
In March of 2026, the long-time staple of Kubernetes ingress controllers, ingress-nginx, will stop receiving security patches and regular updates. For many Kubernetes operators, this is a forcing function for us to migrate to a new solution that supports the newer Gateway API. The ecosystem of solutions in this space is large and complex, and operators find themselves weighing a myriad of options. In this talk, I hope to answer many questions that we have had to answer in this space, such as:
* What are the advantages of Gateway API over the Ingress API?
* Which Gateway API Solution should you use for different scenarios
* Why not simply migrate to another ingress controller?
* Where does the AWS Load Balancer Controller fit in this new ecosystem?
* What does support for WAF, ALB, NLB, etc. look like going forward?
**Timeline:**
**6:00 PM** \- Doors Open\. Please be prepared to show ID that matches your registration\.
**6:30 PM - 7:30 PM** \- Speaker
**7:30 PM - 8:00 PM** \- Networking
**8:00 PM** \- Event ends\. Conversation continues at Highline for anyone interested\.
Innovation Events Near You
Connect with your local Innovation community
Agile Coaching Circle -- IN-PERSON
Join other experienced and aspiring agile coaches and professionals to:
* develop and practice your coaching skills in a peer-to-peer environment
* share current successes and challenges in your work environment and get support from each other
* learn from each other, build better relationships and experiment with new ideas
Quarterly Goals Reset for Product Professionals
One of the most valuable parts of this community is the opportunity to think out loud with other product professionals. This session is built for exactly that.
As we wrap up the quarter, it’s a great time to pause and reflect. What’s on track? What needs adjustment? Where could a small shift create bigger impact?
Join fellow product professionals for a focused, interactive conversation designed to help you recalibrate for the next quarter. You’ll have the opportunity to share where you are, hear how others are thinking through similar challenges, and gain fresh perspective you can bring back to your team and organization.
We’ll gather at 8:00AM, with discussion starting promptly at 8:15AM.
📍 First Watch - 7227 N High St
Located in: The Shops at Worthington
Ample parking is available.
Food and beverages will be available for purchase.
Start your morning with clarity and connection — we hope to see you there! ☀️
Dinner After the Movie: Dinner at FUGU SUSHI After Project Hail Mary!
A great movie deserves a great dinner! Join us after PROJECT HAIL MARY for another fun and tasty dinner at a CMG-favorite restaurant, FUGU SUSHI! RSVPs are limited for the dinner portion of this event! Here are complete details:
FUGU SUSHI: Fugu Sushi offers a truly authentic experience that keeps customers (and the Movie Group) coming back for more. They offer an extensive menu with a delightful array of options and something for everyone! From their top-rated sushi, to tasty appetizers, soups, salads, bento boxes, tempura, delicious teriyaki dishes (including chicken, shrimp, salmon, tofu, vegetable and more), and vegetarian and vegan options, you’ll be certain to find something you love!
MENU: https://www.fugusushicolumbus.com/menus
RSVP: An RSVP here means you're signed up for the DINNER portion of this event. Seating is limited. If you also plan to join for the movie, please also RSVP in the separate event listing for the movie portion of this event. For the movie, we'll meet in the theater lobby at 2:10pm for the 2:30pm SuperScreen DLX showing. Advance ticket purchase for the movie is advised. Please RSVP in both events, if you plan to attend the movie and dinner.
Look forward to seeing you there, Dan
NFT AI ART Columbus
NFT's are here to stay folks!
This is a group for like minded people interested in understanding, leveraging, using, creating for, profiting from, trading too i suppose, NFT's.. everything around them, complexity, fear and exploits, best practices and more.
**PLUS**
This group will talk AI ART tools, techniques, artists, video, audio, prototypes and more in the AI assisted production space- ART specifically, but we can get into any aspect of some of the cooler things happening in AI in general.
Dinner at Tora Sushi
Let’s meet up at this popular sushi restaurant in Gahanna. There are cooked items as sushi.
Check out the menu:
https://restauranttora.com/columbus-tora-food-menu
ServiceNow's Got Talent
Builders, creators, architects, admins, consultants - come one, come all. This one's for you.
We're bringing a little friendly competition to the Columbus ServiceNow community while highlighting the cool things people have built on the platform.
Five presenters will take the stage to showcase something they've built, solved, designed, or imagined on the ServiceNow platform - and a panel of judges (plus YOU, our amazing audience) will score them live.
So basically, America's Got Talent but make it ServiceNow's Got Talent.
Bring a notepad if you'd like 'cause you'll definitely be learning something new.
Each presenter gets 10 minutes max to wow the crowd with:
• A demo
• A real-world business solution
• A bold idea
• A UX transformation
• Or a creative use of the platform
Judging Criteria:
🏆 Business Value
🚀 Innovation
✨ User Experience
This event is about celebrating ideas, sharing knowledge, and showing how ServiceNow can drive both business impact and meaningful user value.
Come learn. Come support. Come get inspired.
Refreshments and bites will be provided.
And maybe next time… you’ll be on stage.




























