Ceroc

Join us for an exciting deep dive into the future of Kafka architecture and the intersection of AI with data streaming! Learn how diskless Kafka is revolutionising cloud-native deployments and discover how to interact with your Kafka data using natural language. **Date and Time: 🗓️** Wednesday 4th February, ⏰ 18:00 - 20:30 PM 🕘 **Venue:** Lacon House, London WC1X 8NL, United Kingdom **Attending Brands**: OSO, Aiven, Lenses **Schedule:** 18:00: Doors Open 18:00 - 18:30: Food, drinks, networking 18:30 - 19:00: "Diskless Kafka" - Hugh Evans, Aiven 19:00 \- 19:30: “How Lenses MCP Brings AI to Kafka \| Talk to Your Data with Claude & MCP" \- Tun Shew\, Lenses\.io 19:30- 20:30pm: Additional Q&A, Networking **🎙️ \~Talk 1\~** **Talk Title:** Diskless Kafka **Summary:** Summary: Deep dive into KIP-1150 and the future of diskless Kafka, why diskless matters in cloud-native deployments, rerouting replication to object storage, and how diskless and traditional topics can coexist in one cluster. This talk explores the fundamental architectural shift that allows Kafka to leverage cloud object storage for data persistence, reducing operational complexity and costs while maintaining the performance characteristics that make Kafka the backbone of modern data infrastructure. **🗣️ Speaker 1:** Hugh Evans is at Aiven **🎙️ \~Talk 2\~** **Talk Title:** Go Faster on Kafka with AI-Assisted Engineering (Without Summoning Consumer Lag Demons) **Summary:** Are you spending more time wrestling with Kafka configurations and debugging consumer lag than shipping real-time products? The era of AI-assisted engineering is here to change that. This talk takes you on a journey through the evolution of developer tools, moving from the editor wars of the past to a seamless AI-integrated future. We will demonstrate how next-generation tools like Cursor and Claude Code, paired with the Lenses MCP server, allow you to explore, manage and debug your Kafka environment simply using natural language. Through practical demos, you will see how to design robust topic strategies, apply governance best practices and deploy streaming data pipelines using any framework of your choice in seconds. We'll explore the best ways to shift your mindset towards leveraging an AI copilot and you'll leave with a list of actionable tips to enhance your daily routine and increase your productivity with AI today. **🗣️ Speaker 1:** Tun Shwe, Lenses.io

**Applied to 1,000+ jobs but still waiting for an interview call?** It’s exhausting to see "Application Viewed" but never hear back. Every influencer on social media is shouting a different strategy: one says "just network," another says "build more projects," and another says "it’s all about referrals." The noise makes it impossible to know what actually works. We aren't influencers; we are **Data Specialists** working in the heart of London. We know exactly why the system is rejecting you and, more importantly, how to fix it. This is your no-nonsense blueprint for landing **Data Analyst, Product Analyst, Insights, or BI Consultant** roles in the UK. ### **What We Are Covering** * **The CV Blueprint:** Stop making the top 5 mistakes that lead to automatic rejection. We’ll show you how to transform your experience into the quantifiable achievements that UK hiring managers actually want to see. * **AI Job Agent (Live Demo):** Stop wasting hours customizing every cover letter. We will show you how to build your own free AI-powered agent that analyzes job descriptions and customizes your applications in seconds. * **Interview Mastery:** Learn the technical and behavioral frameworks (STAR method) we used to crack interviews at top-tier firms. * **The Job-Search Accelerator:** At the end, we’ll share a custom-built extension to automate the tedious parts of your search so you can apply faster and smarter. ### **The Evening Plan** * **6:00 PM – 7:00 PM:** Arrival & Networking * **7:00 PM:** **CV Strategy & Breaking the Rejection Cycle** \| *Abhishek Gadve* * **7:30 PM – 7:45 PM:** Break * **7:45 PM – 8:15 PM:** **Live Demo: Building Your AI Job Agent** \| *Nitish Galat* * **8:15 PM:** **The Extension Reveal & Closing Q&A** *** ### **The Specialists** **[Abhishek Gadve – Senior Product Analyst](https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhishek-gadve-8010a2119/)** Senior Product Analyst at Tripledot Studios with over 5 years of experience at firms like ZS Associates. Abhishek has managed $12M+ in budgets and specializes in translating complex data into business stories that win over stakeholders. **[Nitish Galat – BI Analyst & Gen AI Specialist](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitish-galat/)** Currently a BI Analyst at PredictX in London and formerly of Google, Nitish is an expert in leveraging Agentic AI to automate data workflows. Beyond his corporate role, Nitish is a dedicated educator who teaches Data Science to aspiring professionals. He is a recognized thought leader on LinkedIn and shares technical deep-dives on his YouTube channel, helping thousands build real-world AI and ML skills. **Please Also register on luma and get your ticket below **👉 [Register on Luma Here:](https://luma.com/4f9ll2mp)**

Join us for some fun, competitive, but friendly games at our 4-court sports hall. We use Hybrid Kawasaki Kong 500's during the 3-hour session. **PAYMENT** * **Session Fee: £12** * We are cashless, kindly pay the session fee **by midnight** on the night before the session. You are welcome to pay early! You can even pay when you book! See our About page for the full process. * If no payment is received, you will be removed and may even be liable for a late cancellation fee if your spot is not taken. * Please use **“your meetup name + date of event”** as payment reference * **Account name:** Thomas Lam * **Sort code:** 04-00-03 * **Account number:** 7478 8608 **LATE CANCELLATION OR NO-SHOW** * **All** **no-shows or late cancellations** (24 hrs or less) will be charged if your spot is not taken by someone else - you will have a title next to your name with the amount and date owed. * Members with 2 no shows/late cancellations will be removed from the group unless outstanding payment is received * **The late cancellation policy** is set up to discourage last-minute cancellations and therefore applies with or without the presence of a waitlist * **Note:** If you are on the Waitlist and a spot becomes available, you will automatically be bumped onto the On list provided the event has not yet started. It is your responsibility to **remove yourself from the waitlist** if you can no longer make it to avoid being charged a no-show if someone cancels late. **PLAYING** * Please wait to be marked off before entering the hall. * Sessions are to finish promptly on the hour by school requests. * If you finish a match with 5 minutes to go, please start packing up instead of starting a new game. **RACKET HIRE** * Please note that we won't be hiring out rackets, so kindly bring your own racket. **PARKING** * There is parking available, but it is now paid parking. Parking is opposite the entrance. Please check the signs for parking payment instructions. **TRACK & TRACE** * We will collect your phone number on-site. Your phone number will also be used in case of fire to contact you if you have not made it to the fire evacuation areas. You can see maps at the venue. We are excited to see you guys on the court! Team LSBC

Hi folks! Welcome to our February Cloud Native London meetup! Join us to hear from our three great speakers and network with your fellow techies over pizza and drinks, or alternatively chat and following along on Youtube! 6:00 Pizza and drinks 6:30 Welcome 6:45 Stop Running Mystery Meat in Production (Jeroen van Erp, SUSE) 7:15 Platform Wars: The Battle Between Golden Paths and Spaghetti Pipelines (Prithvi Raj, Mirantis) 7:45 Break 8:00 Beyond Chatbots: How AI Agents and Humanoids Are Shaping a New Era (Akshya Prakkash, Urban Care Community) 8:30 Wrap up Sponsors: TechShack, Cloudsmith, SUSE See you there! Cheryl (@oicheryl) **Stop Running Mystery Meat in Production (Jeroen van Erp, SUSE)** We have all been there. You need a database or a quick node environment, so you throw FROM node:latest into your Dockerfile and deploy. It works, but you have just introduced a black box into your Kubernetes cluster. For the Developer, it’s a quick fix. For the Platform Engineer, it’s a nightmare. Most upstream images from public registries are a roll of the dice. They come pre-packed with critical vulnerabilities, unknown binaries, and bloated libraries that you didn’t ask for and definitely don’t want running in your secure environment. In a world of Zero Trust, why are we trusting random upstream maintainers with the keys to our infrastructure? *Jeroen van Erp is a technology evangelist at SUSE, specializing in the observability platform. With a rich background spanning engineering, architecture and product management, Jeroen brings over a decade of experience in the DevOps space. Before joining SUSE, he played a pivotal role as technical slliance director at StackState, where he helped shape the future of observability. As a trainer and speaker, Jeroen is known for his ability to distill complex technical concepts into actionable insights. He is passionate about solving challenging technical problems, whether through mentoring or hands-on involvement. An active contributor to the open source community, Jeroen maintains several highly starred repositories. When he’s not diving into the latest technology trends, Jeroen enjoys spending time on his mini-farm, where he cares for his sheep and shares his love for rural life.* *https://www.linkedin.com/in/jvanerp/* **Platform Wars: The Battle Between Golden Paths and Spaghetti Pipelines (Prithvi Raj, Mirantis)** Internal developer platforms promised golden paths: streamlined, reliable routes for delivering software. Yet too often, they lead platform engineers into a tangled web of YAML, Bash scripts, and tool sprawl. The true crisis today isn't implementing the idea of platform engineering but navigating through platform democracy challenges. The true Darth Vader moments in platform engineering appear when good intentions turn dark: developer experience suffers, and open-source tools quietly become villains to velocity. This session aims to dive deeper into the open-source tooling and cloud-native strategies that mitigate the platform crisis. We’ll examine how to maintain the Jedi discipline of paved paths or fall into spaghetti-pipeline chaos while chasing the perfect delivery workflow. Through real-world stories and anti-patterns, we’ll explore the light and dark sides of OSS-powered platform engineering and help you uncover who the true Darth Vader of your stack might be. *Prithvi Raj is a Community Manager & Developer Advocate at Mirantis working with the Open Source Program Office team. He is a CNCF Ambassador with 5+ years of experience who helped scale a CNCF incubating project in LitmusChaos and runs the Platform & Resilience Engineering Meetup group. He is an active member of SIG Project Reviews and currently leads community efforts for the k0s project, k0rdent, OpenSDN, and other OSS initiatives Mirantis contributes to.* *He is a co-organizer for KCD Bengaluru and previously organized Chaos Carnival, LitmusChaosCon and KCD Chennai. He was previously at Harness, ChaosNative, and MayaData.* **Beyond Chatbots: How AI Agents and Humanoids Are Shaping a New Era (Akshya Prakkash, Urban Care Community)** Chatbots introduced the world to AI, but they are only the starting point. A new wave of systems - AI agents and humanoid technologies is shifting AI from conversation to action. This talk explores how AI is evolving beyond text-based interaction into systems that can perceive environments, make decisions and operate in the real world. Drawing from hands-on experience with agent-based AI projects and robotic platforms in community and care settings, we’ll examine what makes these systems different, the challenges of trust and why this shift represents a new era for human-AI interaction. Join this session to see how AI is beginning to act, not just respond. *BSc Computer Science Hons @ UOW & Software Developer at UCC* *LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshya-pv/* *Check out [https://www.oicheryl.com/cloudnativelondon](https://www.oicheryl.com/cloudnativelondon) if you're interested in speaking or sponsoring.*

Hi Everyone, Our next EuroClub French- English conversation evening will be on Thursday 5 February from 7pm at Blooms cafe, Royal National Hotel , Woburn Place. Blooms cafe can be approached from the courtyard of the London Pub, at 39 Woburn Pl, London WC1H 0LW, close to Russell Square underground station. We will be inside the cafe , probably at the far side. We will speak French for the first hour, then English until 9pm. Come along for an enjoyable , friendly evening. It is free to join in but you must buy a drink . Stephen will host this meeting. If you cannot find the group on the day you can call 07498 73346. New people very welcome, especially any french native speakers. You will need a reasonable conversational level in french to join in these meetings **These exchanges are normally every 2 weeks. If you are visiting London you would be very welcome to come along.** **We also have an online French-English exchange , using Zoom, every 2 weeks on Wednesdays which is open for those living outside the UK.** **If you are a french native speaker, eg outside the UK , you would be very welcome to join in the online exchange.** This is a FREE event organised by Euroclub London . Best wishes, David⁸

Hi JavaScript London, We're thrilled to host the 1st meet-up of 2026!! We are kicking off the year with Omnea hosting at Wave Talent's offices in Shoreditch. We have some fantastic tech talks lined up, there will be plenty of pizzas 🍕, and of course drinks 🍻, plus plenty of networking with fellow tech enthusiasts. Don't miss out on a night of great conversations and new connections! **Address:** 14 Bonhill Street London, EC2A 4BX **Registration -** You know the drill by now!! Please register via Meetup and also via the website as we need to give a list of attendees on the night. [https://www.javascriptlondon.com/](https://www.javascriptlondon.com/) **Talks:** **1st Talk:** [Tynan Byrne](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tynanbyrne/) \- Software Engineer at Omnea\. **Topic: "Stop Guessing: How to Actually Know Your AI Feature Isn't Useless"**" You tweaked your AI prompt. Your teammate suggested adding markdown. Your manager wants to try Claude instead of GPT-4. Is it better now? Worse? Nobody actually knows. In this talk, I'll show you how to use an eval loop to iterate on AI features with confidence. We'll take a simple AI tool and improve it live - changing prompts, running tests, and watching scores update in real-time. You'll see which changes actually help and which just look different. Then, I'll show you how we do this at scale at Omnea: hundreds of test cases, continuous experimentation, big AI features used by the likes of Monzo and Spotify. You'll leave knowing how to judge your AI features with data, not just vibes." **2nd Talk:** [N. Nain](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nnain/) \- Lead Engineer at Indie Gaming **Topic:** **"Introducing TypeScript into a codebase owned by hardcore C++ / Rust engineers (and the politics involved)"** When I joined an indie gaming studio as Lead Engineer to build a new Web Engineering team, I assumed my biggest challenges would be technical - porting and integrating with an existing Rust and C++ codebase. I was only half right - as it turned out the real challenge wasn’t the code, but the developers behind it! Tonight, I’m not just gonna talk about the two languages I personally love, but the people - and the artificial tribes that formed around them. The technical challenges and misconceptions. The arguments. The (occasional) shouting. And the stranger-than-fiction lengths people went to, just to prove a point. Funny, tragic, and over the top - but everything works out in the end? Welcome to modern software development at work. **Full agenda:** 6:00 PM: Doors Open. Grab a pizza slice, sip a beer, and start chatting with other attendees. 6:30 PM: Welcome remarks by Sam, Richard and Justin 6:35 PM: First talk 7:05 PM: Toilet break 7:15 PM: Second talk 8:00 PM: Closing remarks and an optional pub visit! **Directions to WaveTalent:** The closest train station: Moorgate or Old Street **Sponsor**: **Omnea:** Omnea is a London-based AI-native procurement technology company that builds a platform to streamline how organisations buy goods and services, manage suppliers, and control spend through automated workflows and embedded governance. Founded in 2022 by Ben Freeman and Ben Allen, Omnea replaces slow, manual procurement processes with an intelligent system that lets employees make requests conversationally while routing approvals across finance, legal, IT, and security teams. Since its launch, Omnea has experienced rapid growth, driven by strong enterprise demand for AI-powered procurement solutions. Over the past year the company has grown revenue 5× and more than tripled its headcount, adding high-profile customers across North America and Europe, including Spotify, Albertsons, Wise, Adecco, and MongoDB. Omnea’s growth has been supported by significant venture funding, including a $20 million Series A round led by Accel in 2024 and a $50 million Series B round in September 2025 co-led by Insight Partners and Khosla Ventures, with participation from Accel, Point Nine, First Round Capital and Prosus —bringing total funding to over $75 million to accelerate its vision for AI-powered Supplier Relationship Management (AI-SRM) and expand hiring across the US and UK. Backed by world-class investors and trusted by leaders across tech and enterprise, Omnea is positioned as a fast-growing innovator in the procurement and supplier management space, transforming an often-fragmented business function into a strategic advantage.

Stork is a modern Pan-African restaurant in the heart of Mayfair. They celebrate the bold, diverse flavours of Africa through innovative Afro-fusion cuisine—where authentic ingredients meet refined European techniques. Set in stylish surroundings, Stork offers more than a meal; it’s a cultural journey. From vibrant dishes and curated cocktails to soulful music, every detail is crafted to transport you across continents. Join us for their 3 course Lunch Set Menu for £45 https://storkrestaurant.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/STORK-LUNCH-MENU-16.12.25.pdf RSVP Fee is Non-Refundable unless cancelled by organiser

Join us for a deliciously fun time at our Cheese Club! Each meeting is all about discovering new cheeses, exploring creative pairings, and enjoying great conversations. Parents, take a break and unwind in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Our Cheese Club is designed for families or parents to connect, learn about the world of cheese, and bond with other families. Every Saturday, 11.00am-12.00pm Silas: +44 7719 733103

Have you ever been to a public speaking class where they expect to go up and speak for 2 minutes with no prior experience ? I think this is too hard for many people and just overwhelms the nervous system. This workshop is designed for people who want a gradual and easier approach.

We start in pairs and work our way up to smaller groups and slowly desensitise to being seen by a larger audience.The Speeches are are also short, from 10 seconds to 1 minute. You are under no pressure to do anything, all exercises are voluntary, no one will ever be put on the spot. I want people to view this class in the same light as a weight lifting class, if there was a weight to heavy for you , you would just say "I can't lift that yet" and there would be no shame nor embarrassment around it, so If something is abit to outside of your comfort zone, just sit it out and don't feel that you have to be embarrassed or have to explain yourself. We'll be in studio 12 , at the theatre deli which is 107 Leadenhall street, it can be a bit confusing as is look a bit life and office building but it's actually studio and rehearsal spaces. I hope to see you there, if youre still worried feel free to send me a message and hopefully I can put your mind at ease 
Take care 
James. 
Gentle speaking

Join members of the local UX and Digital Design community for a casual monthly breakfast. There _might_ be a little snow, but there _will_ be effectively infinite serve-yourself coffee, so it evens out if you ask me. Just a reminder, while the other locations are great too, we’re at the Lane Ave one this time.

Bring your business cards and network in person with other business professionals! Gold Star Referral Clubs is one of the most established professional networking organizations in the country, with multiple groups in central Ohio. Join us!

Polarity Reflexology (PR) Certificate Course: (2026) February 21-22 March 21-22 April 25-26 May 30-31 June 27-28 Students must attend all 5 weekends to receive Certificate Classes run from 8:30am-5:30pm each scheduled day Information & Registration Link can be found here: [Polarity Reflexology (PR) Certificate Course](https://www.gafee.org/#/polarity-reflexology-pr/) *[Global Academy for Energetic Education (GAFEE) is Registered with the Ohio State Board of Career Colleges and Schools and is authorized to teach Diploma and Certificate Programs. (Registration #2091)](https://oh.edvera.com/directory/institutions)*

Let's grab some coffee/food and share a morning chat! The East Market has an ample parking lot and outdoor and indoor seating. Grab a cup of coffee from Winston's Coffee & Waffles or on your way to East Market and meet us on the second floor - table behind or east of the elevator. If the weather cooperates we will be meeting in the patio. Per what this group is about: "Everyone is welcome! International transplants to Columbus who want to improve language skills, Columbus residents who want to discuss international travel and culture, and anyone who enjoys getting together for good conversations."

**Web Design Decoded: Tools, Practices, and Proven Processes:** **Semantic HTML** At WebDev Columbus, we are exploring some of the most important topics of professional high-end web design and page building. Primarily focused on site building in the WordPress environment, our group explores tools, tips, and techniques for building the best WordPress sites possible. Additionally, we focus on disciplines and technologies that take website design from visually appealing to optimized spaces for delivering you and/or your client's message effectively and with a nod towards extended reach. Each session combines practical demonstrations with real-world insights, giving you actionable knowledge you can apply immediately. Whether you're a seasoned developer looking to enhance your design skills or a newcomer wanting to understand design best practices, this series offers valuable insights for every skill level. **What to expect:** * Hands-on demonstrations of popular design tools * Best practices for design-to-development workflows * Tips for creating responsive, accessible designs * Real-world problem-solving scenarios * Interactive Q&A sessions * Networking opportunities with fellow developers **Each meetup features:** 60 minutes of focused presentation 30 minutes of live demonstrations 30 minutes for questions and discussion **See you there!** Our casual, collaborative environment encourages learning from both presenters and fellow attendees. Bring your questions, share your experiences, and connect with Central Ohio's web development community! **Stay tuned for specific session topics and dates.**

Dale Gnidovec, Curator of the Orton Hall Museum of Geology at The Ohio State University, will be presenting a program he has wanted to share with us for a long time: Plate Tectonics. His description of his program: Continents on the move - Nothing in Earth history makes sense without moving continents - it tells us why mountains, volcanoes, minerals, and fossils are where they are. This talk examines the evidence for continental drift, why it was disbelieved, and explains how the more-encompassing theory of plate tectonics was developed and eventually proven. Dale is an energetic, incredibly knowledgeable, and very entertaining speaker and this will be another wonderful program by Dale. Hope to see you there! Food and drinks will be provided at the event. Feel free to show up a little bit early to hang out and talk. Going forward our meetings will be hybrid. You can meet us in-person or attend online Join Zoom Meeting [https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87836564953?pwd=4Mi57ElZkDIFlb1fnlNwOJ0NiOK4tP.1](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87836564953?pwd=4Mi57ElZkDIFlb1fnlNwOJ0NiOK4tP.1) Meeting ID: 878 3656 4953 Passcode: 760812 One tap mobile +19292056099,,87836564953#,,,,\*760812# US (New York) +13017158592,,87836564953#,,,,\*760812# US (Washington DC) The formal presentation will start at noon