C & C++

**🏸 Tuesday Badminton Session: 8-10 PM at QMSC Victoria** 📍 **Queen Mother Sports Centre (Everyone Active), Victoria, SW1** Hi Everyone, **RSVP Required:** Everyone attending the session must RSVP in advance, whether you’re a member, returning player, or joining us for the first time. Members can also confirm attendance by email or text if preferred. ----- ## 💰 SESSION FEE: £14 **💡 Why Pay More? Join as a Member Instead!** **Annual Membership: £450** = just **£8.65/session** (Save £278 per year vs pay-as-you-go!) **3-Month Trial: £155** – test the waters before committing **Student/U25/Unemployed: 20% OFF** all memberships 👉 **[View Full Membership Benefits & Join](https://www.sidsbadmintonclub.org.uk/membership.php)** **What You Get as a Member:** ✓ Premium feather shuttles included ✓ Priority access to both venues (Victoria & Richmond) ✓ League team eligibility ✓ Member WhatsApp group & social events ✓ This is a **membership-first club** – join the community! ----- ## 🏸 SESSION DETAILS **Venue:** Queen Mother Sports Centre (Everyone Active) 223 Vauxhall Bridge Road, Victoria, SW1V 1EL *(5-minute walk from Victoria Station)* **Skill Level:** Lower Intermediate Ladies (C+) | Intermediate Men (B) and above *(No beginners or improvers at Tuesday sessions)* **What’s Included:** • Premium feather shuttles provided (Yonex, Yehlex, Victor) • MatchMaking App grades your skill level based on wins/losses – see how you rank! • 5 courts available for play • Players grouped by skill level • Last 30 mins (when scheduled): grade-based competitive groups on allocated courts ----- ## 💳 PAYMENT **Cash preferred** – pay organisers **at the beginning of session** (correct change appreciated) **Bank transfer available** (**NOT for first-timers**) **First-timers:** You must pay at the start of the session and register on our MatchMaking App ----- ## 📋 IMPORTANT INFORMATION **Cancellation Policy:** Cancel **24 hours before** or you’ll be charged the full £14 session fee. Outstanding fees **must be cleared** before attending your next session. This helps us run sessions efficiently. **Parking:** Free from 6:30 PM (single yellow lines) and 7:00 PM (single red lines) on Tuesdays. Please check local signage before parking. **Not Sure About Your Level?** Attend your first session – we’ll help assess if it’s the right fit for you! **Liability:** Sid’s Badminton Club is not responsible for personal property loss or injury. ----- **Questions?** 💬 Text us on Meetup 📧 Email: info@sidsbadmintonclub.org.uk 📝 Or use our [Contact Form](https://www.sidsbadmintonclub.org.uk/contact.php) 🌐 Visit: [www.sidsbadmintonclub.org.uk](https://www.sidsbadmintonclub.org.uk/) **Looking forward to seeing you on court!** *Sid’s Badminton Club – Competitive play since 1981* !​​​​​​​​​

uSwitch is located on the first floor of the ZPG building at 5 Copper Row, London, SE1 2LH, London (Click on the map for directions) What 3 words location: [https://what3words.com/puts.sudden.else](https://what3words.com/puts.sudden.else) The Clojure dojo is a collaborative way to learn Clojure/ClojureScript through practice. The aim is to learn a little more than before you started. This event is for those new to coding through to more experienced developers. We organise into small groups (2-4) people and write code to solve challenges great and small, chosen by those at the event. We aim to ensure someone in your group has some Clojure experience, so you shouldn't feel lost (well no more than all developers do when Stack Overflow is broken). Example challenges for the coding dojo are listed on this website: http://www.londonclojurians.org/code-dojo/ Various past exercises have been loaded to [https://github.com/ldnclj](https://github.com/ldnclj/lisp1.5/blob/master/src/lisp1/5.clj) # Approximate schedule: 18:40 Doors open and start collecting suggestions 18.45 Pizza should have arrived 19:00 Quick intros and vote on suggestions 19:15 Break out into groups and start practising 20:45 Gather together for a quick show and tell # What should I bring? We organise into small groups, so if you have a laptop with a working Clojure environment please bring it along (there are lots of online Clojure environments, so you can just use your browser too). # How do I get in to the building? At the glass doors press the buzzer to inform the security guard you are here. Say you are here for the event on the first floor. Is there way to talk with the Clojure community? Why yes. The Clojurians Slack channel is full of friendly people who love to try and help. People based in London are often in the #clojure-uk channel. Sign up for a free account to the Clojurians Slack community via http://clojurians.net/ What is Clojure? Clojure is a JVM language that has syntactically similarities to Lisp, full integration with Java and its libraries and focuses on providing a solution to the issue of single machine concurrency. Its small core makes it surprisingly easy for Java developers to pick up and it provides a powerful set of concurrency strategies and data structures designed to make immutable data easy to work with. If you went to Rich Hickey’s LJC talk about creating Clojure you’ll already know this, if not it’s well worth watching the Rich Hickey “Clojure for Java Programmers” video or Stuart Halloway “Radical Simplicity” video .

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/43573 **Game Description:** Mixed nationality and gender players play volleyball in our club for 10 years every Tuesday & Thursday from 8pm-10pm in upper intermediate and advance level. **Rules** Respect each other, focused on your own play and progress, be kind and cheer your team mate.

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/44230 **Game Description:** Come and play in a casual​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​,​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ friendly & social badminton session. The session is for mixed ability players (mainly beginners & intermediate players). So please be respectful and kind towards less experienced players - we all have to start somewhere 🧡 🌱 We use YONEX MAVIS 300 Nylon Shuttlecocks. 🏸 We have a few spare rackets if needed. Format: We play doubles for the whole time and keep rotating opponents/partners across courts so everyone plays each other. Venue: 🚪Entrance to the sports hall is on the corner of Celebration Avenue and Temple Mills Ln 🧼There are showers, changing rooms & a water fountain at the venue 🚶‍♂️5 minute walk from Stratford International DLR Station 🚗 Paid car parking is available on site **Rules** Classic doubles rules - can be explained at the start of the session if you’re new to badminton or need a reminder 🤝

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/42689 **Game Description:** Come and join our badminton session in Canning Town 🔥 Music 🎶 3 courts, social session, so no matter your ability you are welcome to join 🙏 There will be spare rackets but please bring your own racket if you do have one. Plastic shuttles will be provided. Join our whatsapp Group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LsLjg8CxI8MIxSFb82qkdb 🚪 Getting Into the School 1\. The school is surrounded by a green fence\. 2\. Entrance is near the stone wall\. 3\. At the gate\, find the intercom on the right\-hand side\. 4\. Press the ‘Call’ button and wait for security to respond\. 5\. When the intercom flashes green\, push the gate open\. \-\-\- 🏸 Finding the Indoor Court 1\. After entering\, go through the visitor gate\. 2\. Follow the corridor to the end\. 3\. Look for the yellow double doors – the badminton courts are inside\! \-\-\- 🚻 Facilities 🔹 Changing Rooms & Toilets \- Located outside the court area in the corridor\. \- Male facilities – right\-hand side\. \- Female facilities – left\-hand side\. 💧 Water Points \- There are three water points in the corridor outside the court\. \- Bring a water bottle to use with the water pump\. Enjoy your game! 🏸🔥 **Rules** Games to 21 points

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/44232 **Game Description:** Come and play Tuesday evenings Lower-Intermediate volleyball session in Poplar 🔥 Picturesque court with plenty of serving space and also space to stay warm on the side when your team is off waiting for the next game 🙌 **Rules** 3 teams of 6 Games to 15 points

Fun and experienced doubles badminton! We play over four courts each Tuesday, bring your own kit and racket. £9.00per person for 2hrs; quarterly payments should be discussed with Eli is desired. if less than 24 notice is given for a cancellation then the session fee will have to be paid. we need this so other people on the waiting list can attend. We play with plastic shuttle on most courts; feather available as advance request. Important note: Our club is paid for by individuals; as such your attendance and payment is required when making a commitments to play - as a matter of respect, please ensure that you consider this when saying you will attend. If you desire a PayPal link to make a payment please contact the Hosts first (these are personal payments). Please ensure you tell the host via the app, when any payment been made.

PLEASE NOTE NEW TIME OF 2 Hrs +. 19.:30 - 22:00PM PLEASE MAKE PAYMENT AT TIME OF BOOKING. PAYMENT BY BANK TRANSFER, DETAILS BELOW. NO CASH PAYMENTS_. Your space is not guaranteed until payment is received. Welcome back....Please note our sessions have now returned to Park View. Thankyou to all those members old and new who continued to come and support and play fantastic games of badminton. We welcome you all back. **Please note moving forward the sessions will be pay before play, regardless of whether you pay online or cash in person** Join us for friendly, competition badminton with like-minded enthusiasts. We have sole use of four courts. Players do not have to attend for the entire duration however the price is the same. Please note we limit the amount of attendees to 24 so that everybody gets a fair number of games. Play is from 19:30pm to 22:00pm The cost is £15 per session, which includes feather shuttles. Please pay via bank transfer to the following account: L Samuels Sort code: 040004 Account number: 99854842 Please include your name and date as reference. If you do not show without notice we reserve the right to charge a full non-attendance fee and persistent offenders may be blocked from our club. So please be thoughtful and let us know in good time if you cannot attend. **Rules of attendance/Disclaimer**. Park View Badminton Club exists purely to offer an opportunity for like-minded players to exercise, play and socialise together and nothing more. All attendees should consider the club as an informal gathering of people who will train together in a loosely structured format. The club is operated and managed by a number of volunteers in their free time and these volunteers cannot accept any responsibility for any events that occur at the club. If you have any medical conditions that could affect you, it’s your responsibility to make the club aware of these. Neither the club nor Park View School will take responsibility for any injury, loss or damage that might arise as a result of participation in club activities. Effective warmup and stretches should be undertaken before play to avoid injury and appropriate clothing and footwear is to be worn whilst playing at all times. Every person attending the club must take full and complete responsibility for their own actions. Know your limits! The club does not discriminate against any attendees of ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or beliefs, sex or disability except as a necessary consequence of the requirements of safely training and participating in the required sport. All attendees are expected to behave with mutual respect and in a way that does not endanger others or bring the club into disrepute. Not complying with this may result in suspension or termination of attendance. Any matters of concern should be directed to the administrators via email (parkviewbclub@gmail.com).

This Valentine’s Day, skip the small talk and build something together instead! 🥳 PLEASE, JOIN THE WAITING LIST TO BE APPROVED This is a special edition of our 2-hour vibe coding jam, sponsored by [Lovable](https://lovable.dev/), for singles and others who are open to meeting people in a low-pressure way. You don’t need to be a developer or have an idea. **You don’t even need to be single!** We’ll team up in **small groups**, and **use AI tools** to **build an app**, or **experiment**. No pitching yourself. No awkward speed-dating questions. Just make something together and see if the vibe arises! **Join our What'sApp Chat:** https://chat.whatsapp.com/BxLUpQMiXwo6d1vG7YSirT **New to vibe coding? ✨** No worries! We begin with a simple starter guide with example prompts and tips so even total beginners can dive in without stress. **Who it’s for** •⁠ ⁠Singles who’d rather build than swipe •⁠ ⁠People open to friends, collaborators, or more •⁠ ⁠Designers, GameDevs, Product folks, Artists, Sales, curious humans... •⁠ ⁠Anyone! **How it works 🚀** •⁠ ⁠Quick welcome + what “vibe coding” means •⁠ ⁠A Valentine-themed challenge •⁠ ⁠90 minutes of building with AI, chatting, helping, and experimenting •⁠ ⁠Switching up teams every so often, so you meet more people •⁠ ⁠Optional demos •⁠ ⁠Hangouts **Opt-in badges to signal your vibe** 💘 Open to dating 🌼 Open to friends 💻 Just here to build **What to bring:** * ID to verify that you are 18+ 🪪 * Laptop! 💻 * Vibes ⚡ **What you’ll leave with** •⁠ ⁠A funky project you made in one evening •⁠ ⁠New friends •⁠ ⁠Possibly a crush, but definitely a story **Location 📍** **Brewhouse & Kitchen Highbury** 2A Corsica St, N51JJ, London 👉 **No pressure, no gatekeeping.** Come solo, or as a couple. Leave with something built, and maybe someone to build with again! 🔞 This event is strictly for people who are 18+. We may ask to see your ID if you look younger, in which case you may be denied entry.

3rd Sunday of every month, unleash your inner language ninja with our fun Mandarin learning games! Get ready to ditch stale textbooks and rote memorisation, and watch your language skills truly skyrocket! These monthly gatherings are designed for you to: * **Boost Conversational Confidence:** Engage in lively, real-time communication that feels like play, not practice. * **Sharpen Your Listening Skills** as you navigate thoughtfully designed game scenarios and interact with fellow learners. * **Expand Your Vocabulary:** Effortlessly pick up new words and phrases, enabling you to express yourself with precision and richness. * **Retain More, Stress Less:** Experience the power of learning through fun, making new vocabulary and grammar stick with less effort! **What Makes Our Language Games Special:** Unlike traditional lessons, our sessions are a unique blend of structured fun and effective learning: * **Immersive & Interactive:** We transform language concepts into engaging, team-based games that facilitate natural conversation and active participation. * **Relaxed & Supportive Environment:** Forget competition! Our classroom setting is designed to be comfortable and non-intimidating, encouraging everyone to experiment and learn at their own pace. * **All Levels Learn Together:** You'll consolidate what you already know while effortlessly picking up new vocabulary from our well-facilitated activities. * **Expert Guidance:** Our experienced tutor provides active language support, ensuring every activity is both enjoyable and highly effective for language improvement. * **Suitable for All Levels!** (For beginners: if you have more than 20 hours of Mandarin learning, you're good to join us!) **Session Details:** 🗓️ **When:** 3rd Sunday of every month ⏰ **Time:** 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM **💰 Price:** £10 - [Tap for Easy Payment](https://monzo.com/pay/r/china-unbound_eTW5aAZoqiDQ3p) (To secure your spot, please complete payment when you RSVP) Join us, and accelerate your road to fluency today! We can't wait to welcome you. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **Take your Mandarin beyond the event.** 🤝 If you’re looking for a bit more structure to go along with your conversation practice, let’s chat! We're offering **FREE 1-on-1 advice sessions** to help you find the perfect learning path. Get a professional assessment of your level so you can study with confidence. **No commitment** required. [Book your Free Session](https://eu.bigin.online/org20070515371/bookings/course-advice) \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **China Unbound** is the best place to learn practical Chinese for adults. While most schools prioritise grammar and writing, China Unbound empowers you to confidently converse, understand, and actively apply Chinese in real-world situations. Join us and discover a fun, fast, and personalised way to master Chinese! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **Hear From Our Learners:** "The Language games session provides a well-structured and immersive way of learning. Even as a beginner I am able to practice all aspects of the language and have learnt a lot whilst having fun!" - Jeremy Smithers "The Sunday games session is in a classroom environment but relaxed with organized team-based games designed to facilitate conversation. It’s a good way to consolidate what you know and pick up some new vocab. The folks who attend vary massively in ability so it’s not competitive, but more a chance to learn from people who are more advanced and help along newbies. I recommend it!" - Mark Mansell **FAQ 常见问题::** **What if I don’t feel my Chinese is good enough to join?** Don’t worry, our hosts will be on hand to offer support and help you participate. Many are also group exercises, so you can lean on stronger members too. **What games will I be playing?** You'll be diving into a variety of engaging and interactive language activities specifically designed to match your proficiency level! Think fun, familiar formats like Articulate, and creative role-play scenarios. Our games are carefully designed (by us!) to intensively develop your speaking and listening abilities, providing you with comprehensive language input. In addition, every game is expertly facilitated by our experienced tutors. They provide real-time support and guidance, ensure activities are well-structured for optimal learning, and offer clear explanations and consolidation of any new vocabulary or concepts that emerge. It's learning through play, with expert support! **I’m not into games, is it still for me?** Yes!! Think of it as immersive practice, not gaming. Even if you’re not a gamer, you will enjoy learning Mandarin this way! Our activities are designed to boost your vocabulary, pronunciation, and fluency in a natural and engaging way. **Are there any discounts for Chinese lessons for members?** Yes, you can use code MEETUP10 for your exclusive £10 discount on our [Chinese courses](https://china-unbound.co.uk/personal/) site-wide!

***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.

🎉 Come along to the London Scala Talks! 🎉 In this event you'll hear from Jacob Wang and Jack Higgs. **Agenda** 6:00pm - 🥤 Doors open. Come along and grab a drink! 6:40pm - 🗣️ Jacob Wang: A comprehensive tour of error handling in Scala 7:20pm - 🍕 Intermission: Join us for some free food and drinks! Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options are provided. Let us know if you'd like something special - we'd be happy to accommodate. 7:50pm - 🗣️ Jack Higgs: Starship Enterprise: Functional Programming at Huge Companies 8:30pm - 🥤 Socialising: Grab a drink and let's discuss the talks. 9:00pm - 🍻 Join us in a pub to discuss the talks! 🌐 **This event may have a live stream** Watch this space for more details. **🗣️ Jacob Wang: A comprehensive tour of error handling in Scala** Errors are part of life - But how best to work with them in our code? In this talk, I'll take you on a tour of various typed error handling approaches within the Scala ecosystem, as well introduce a new one for cats/cats-effect ecosystem! ⭐ Jacob Wang ⭐ Jacob has been writing Scala for close to 10 years. He enjoys creating programs that mostly behave, as well as sharing this joy via open source & teaching. **🗣️ Jack Higgs: Starship Enterprise: Functional Programming at Huge Companies** Practicing functional programming inside a Fortune 100 enterprise can feel like flying the Starship Enterprise through asteroid fields of legacy code and bureaucracy. This talk shares hard-earned lessons from the Information Engineering team at JPMorganChase, which runs a production Scala codebase powering a novel metadata platform. We'll explore the political, cultural, and technical friction of pushing functional programming in a Java and Python dominated environment. We'll introduce the domain we work in, the techniques that have worked (and those that haven't), the compromises we've made, and why - despite it all - we still think it's worth it. If you've never tried to run cats-effect in a place where Spring Boot is king, add this talk to your battle log. ⭐ Jack Higgs ⭐ Jack Higgs is a technologist with fifteen years of experience in investment banking, including the past decade at JPMorganChase. He leads teams building metadata platforms using Scala and functional programming techniques. Over the past six years, Jack has worked at the intersection of software engineering, data architecture, and large-scale enterprise systems. Passionate about type safety, functional design, and making abstract ideas practical, he thrives on applying elegant code in messy real-world environments. ———————————————————— 🗣️ Would you like to present, but are not sure how to start? Give a talk with us and you'll receive mentorship from a trained toastmaster! Get in touch through [this form](https://forms.gle/zv5i9eeto1BsnSwe8) and we'll get you started 🏡 Interested in hosting or supporting us? Please get in touch through [this form](https://forms.gle/3SX3Bm6zHqVodBaMA) and we can discuss how you can get involved. 📜 All London Scala User Group events operate under the [Scala Community Code of Conduct](https://www.scala-lang.org/conduct/). We encourage each of you to report the breach of the conduct, either anonymously through [this form](https://forms.gle/9PMMorUWgBnbk1mm6) or by contacting one of our team members. We guarantee privacy and confidentiality, as well as that we will take your report seriously and react quickly.

Unless otherwise announced this is an in-person social gathering for Smalltalkers to get together and talk about Smalltalk (the Programming Language!). Everyone is welcome from the grizzled and experienced to the merely curious.

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/43578 **Game Description:** Mixed nationality and gender players play volleyball in our club for 10 years every Tuesday & Thursday from 8pm-10pm in upper intermediate and advance level. **Rules** Respect each other, focused on your own play and progress, be kind and cheer your team mate.

踏入《广论》研讨班，对许多人来说是开启生命转变的契机。或许您也会好奇：在繁忙的工作与生活之余，投入时间研读佛典，究竟能为人生带来哪些实质的成长与收获？ 《广论》研讨班秉持着日常老和尚以心灵提升、圆满生命的目标，提供大众身、心、灵健康的学习环境与循序渐进的佛法课程。学员通过听师父的录音带和研讨交流，对佛法建立整体认识，全面的理解，同时学习如何将佛法智慧运用于生活中，打造幸福人生。 **《菩提道次第广论》简介** 佛法大全，给与您心灵滋养，人生方向 次第井然，引领您脚踏实地，步步向上 心智科学，帮助您认识自己，了解他人 幸福教育，教会您正确取舍，离苦得乐 生命教育，陪伴您创造希望，走向美好

You must read the following NVHC Sign-in Sheet Statement/Liability Disclaimer, [https://nvhc.com/signin.pdf](https://nvhc.com/signin.pdf) and then answer the question that you will see when you RSVP with "I accept" to be permitted on the hike. This is a pleasant 7.3 mile/ 212 foot elevation gain hike around Beaverdam Reservoir with plenty of water views. For those of you who like numbers the reservoir is 350 acres and holds between 1.3 and 1.5 billion gallons of water. We will meet in front of the Visitors Center at 8:45. The Visitor Center, with the trailhead, is new and the GPS mapping apps are still updating. **The Reservoir Park Main entrance is located within the Brambleton Community Park West Baseball field complex, accessed from Belmont Ridge Road in Ashburn.** The address is 22211 Water Vista Drive Ashburn, Virginia. The GPS coordinates are: 39.00223 N, 77.53529W. We hike at a pace of \~ 2.5 mph while moving. You must have experience with hikes of this length and elevation gain. Meet in front of the Visitor Center at 8:45am for sign-in. Restrooms are available. Dogs are welcome on this hike in accordance with the NVHC Dog Policy. [https://tinyurl.com/nvhcdogpolicyhttps://tinyurl.com/nvhcdogpolic](https://tinyurl.com/nvhcdogpolicy) Leaders: Steve Frith cell 703-629-0174 Park Entry Fee: $0.00 Map for hike: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/virginia/reservoir-park-trail?sh=iypgzx&utm_medium=trail_share&utm_source=alltrails_virality

You must read the following NVHC Sign-in Sheet Statement/Liability Disclaimer, [https://nvhc.com/signin.pdf](https://nvhc.com/signin.pdf) and then answer the question that you will see when you RSVP with "I accept" to be permitted on the hike. We're all ready to start hiking again and next week the Weather is warming. It looks like we will have 3 days of balmy (everything is relative) temperatures to start melting/ softening the snow for the Friday hike day. This is an enjoyable hike with beautiful lakes, wooded trails and even a snack/rest room break at a Starbucks. It is about an 8 mile hike with 423 feet of elevation gain around lakes and among the woodlands of Reston. We'll meet at the Walker Nature Center at 8:45 am and hike through the Glade Stream Valley and then along Lake Audubon and Lake Thoreau. The hike route is about 60% on paved paths with the remainder on dirt trails. Restrooms are available at the Walker Nature Center. We hike at a pace of approximately 2.5 mph while moving. You must be experienced with hikes of this length and elevation gain. **Parking will be challenging on Glade Road so I am limiting the group size.** Dogs are welcome on this hike in accordance with the NVHC Dog Policy. [https://tinyurl.com/nvhcdogpolicyhttps://tinyurl.com/nvhcdogpolic](https://tinyurl.com/nvhcdogpolicy) Leader: Steve Frith cell 703-629-0174 Park Entry Fee: $0.00 Map for hike: [Lake Audubon-SteveF.jpg - Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SD2-qunELaftxCpo3uHLncNh2ODe-WBJ/view)

Bonsoir à tous! Venez nombreux pour causer autour d'un repas ou d'un verre chez La Madeleine. On n'a que deux règles: (1) qu'on y parle exclusivement le français et (2) qu'on achète quelque chose à boire ou à manger (c'est La Madeleine qui le demande). Merci et à bientôt!

You must read the following NVHC Sign-in Sheet Statement/Liability Disclaimer, [https://nvhc.com/signin.pdf](https://nvhc.com/signin.pdf) and then answer the question that you will see when you RSVP with "I accept" to be permitted on the hike. **Description:** This is a 7½ mile hike with \~200-feet of elevation gain on the Cross County Trail, from Rt 7 (near Colvin Mill Run) to the Washington and Old Dominion path and back. We will start on the Cross County Trail access road just north of route 7 near Colvin Run Mill. There are 2 stream crossings: one on rocks *(see picture above when it was uncrossable, it should be lower and crossable on Friday)* and the other on concrete pylons. **Dogs** are permitted on this hike in accordance with the NVHC Dog Policy. [https://tinyurl.com/nvhcdogpolicy](https://tinyurl.com/nvhcdogpolicy) **Leader:** Harvey Haines **Rating:** C (7¼ mi + 200 ft/400ft/mi = 7¾ equiv. mi. C-hikes range from 7-10 mi) **Trailhead Meeting Location:** on the Cross County Trail spur road off Colvin Run Road just north of route 7. Please to plan to arrive by 8:45 to sign in. We leave promptly at 9:00. *GPS coordinates: 38.9676, -77.2890* If you cannot use GPS coordinates, the Best address for navigation is 9950 Colvin Run Rd, Great Falls, VA. This will take you to the sewage pump station close to the parking area. **Maps:** A pdf map of this section of the CCT: [https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/05eVzFBePshItlpjqZzE4Q6og#cct-9-difficult-run-stream-valley_8.44.46_AM](https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/05eVzFBePshItlpjqZzE4Q6og#cct-9-difficult-run-stream-valley_8.44.46_AM) GAIA-GPS map of the trail: [https://www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=17.0/-77.2931/38.9696&pubLink=nT5xNso4Vt4cJS590reDYkXJ&trackId=da5ca300fac1600e2994ed97cc7756bb](https://www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=17.0/-77.2931/38.9696&pubLink=nT5xNso4Vt4cJS590reDYkXJ&trackId=da5ca300fac1600e2994ed97cc7756bb)

**Title**: Powering AI Through Data Modernization: Modernizing ETL with Databricks & Unity Catalog In this session, we will discuss how enterprises are modernizing their data platforms by migrating from legacy ETL tools (such as Informatica and traditional data warehouses) to Databricks Lakehouse architecture, and how Unity Catalog enables enterprise-grade governance, security, and discoverability across data and AI assets. We will start with food and drinks at 6pm and then move into the presentation at 6:30pm. The session will cover: * Why traditional ETL platforms are becoming a bottleneck for scale, cost, and AI adoption * How Databricks changes the data engineering and analytics operating mode * The role of Unity Catalog in centralized governance * How this foundation enables AI and Gene.AI use cases on trusted data * Q&A Our speaker for this event is **Hirenkumar Dholariya**. Hirenkumar Dholariya is a Senior Data Engineering Architect with 18+ years of experience modernizing enterprise data platforms for global Fortune 500 organizations, delivering up to 40% system performance improvement and 20–35% infrastructure cost reduction through large-scale migration from legacy ETL platforms to cloud-native Lakehouse architectures. He specializes in Databricks-based data engineering, Unity Catalog–driven governance, and building scalable, secure, and real-time analytics platforms. He has led multiple enterprise-wide transformations from tools such as Informatica and traditional data warehouses to Databricks, establishing governed data foundations using Unity Catalog and enabling advanced analytics and AI use cases on top of trusted data platforms. His leadership focuses on architecting durable data platforms, enabling teams to move faster with confidence, and translating data and AI investments into measurable business outcomes. *