Data Engineering

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is the gold standard for grounding LLMs in proprietary enterprise data. However, the journey from a flashy proof-of-concept to a reliable, secure production system is fraught with complexity. This talk bridges the gap between rapid prototyping and rigorous engineering. We will begin by exploring the actual merit of “vibe-coding”—using AI-assisted, rapid prototyping to build compelling demo apps that secure client buy-in and validate use cases. Once the demo is sold, the real work begins. We will navigate the architectural decision matrix, comparing the trade-offs of off-the-shelf products, cloud-managed services, and fully custom-built RAG solutions. Diving into the technical pipeline, we will cover modern ingestion strategies like agentic chunking and sophisticated retrieval methods, including re-ranking and GraphRAG, to overcome the limitations of simple vector search. We will detail the essential role of telemetry and LLM-as-a-Judge evaluation frameworks in ensuring sustained performance, faithfulness, and relevancy. Join us to learn how to transition from impressive demos to robust solutions that deliver measurable business value. Our Speaker, **[Dr. Enrico Fonda](https://www.linkedin.com/in/enricofonda/)** is a data scientist with a background in physics. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Maryland and New York University, where he studied quantum fluids and applied deep learning to turbulence. In 2019, Enrico moved to London and transitioned his skills to the industry. He has since worked across the MarTech, Telco, and Tech sectors, focusing on machine learning modeling, generative AI applications, and code generation. Today, as a Solution Consultant at Sahaj Software, he continues to solve complex problems in data science and AI. 🗓️ **Save the Date:** 26th March, 2026 📍 **Location:** Sahaj Software, 1 Quality Court, London, WC2A 1HR 🕕 **Time:** 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM (BST) The evening will feature: 🎤 **One engaging talk** with Q&A 🤝 **Plenty of time for networking** over free pizza and non-alcoholic drinks Don’t miss this chance to learn, connect, and share with fellow tech enthusiasts. 👉 Please click the link below to register. https://sahaj.ai/events/the-rag-reality-check-from-vibe-coding-to-production/

Please join us for our next Bioinformatics London meetup, where we welcome **Francisco Azuaje**, Director of Bioinformatics and AI at **Genomics England**, for a talk on what it really takes to turn powerful models and rich datasets into safe, trustworthy impact in the clinic. **Francisco Azuaje** is Director of Bioinformatics at **Genomics England**, where he leads applied ML and GenAI across national-scale genomic and clinical datasets. With 25+ years across academia, public sector and pharma (including UCB and the Luxembourg Institute of Health), his work focuses on what actually works in AI for bioinformatics: moving from proof-of-concept to robust, governed systems that clinicians and patients can trust. In this talk, he will discuss real-world lessons from deploying AI in genomics pipelines and health data platforms, touching on verification, safety, organisational friction, and why the hard problems now are as much social and operational as they are technical. Approximate schedule: * 18:30 – Doors open * 18:45 – Chitchat, announcements * 19:00 – Talk and Q&A * 19:45 – End, then adjourn to a nearby pub for informal discussion Please **RSVP at least the day before** so we can provide an attendee list to reception. Make sure your Meetup name looks like a real name (e.g. “J Smith” or “Jane Jones”, not “weaselstabber”) so University of Westminster reception can identify you. We look forward to seeing you there for an honest discussion about what it takes to make AI and genomics work *for* real patients, not just in demos.

Hey everyone, Join us for our **next AI Security meetup on March 26th**, once again at the Snyk offices in central London, featuring 2 new talks. And as always, there’ll be drinks, pizzas, and a great crowd — so expect a fun evening as well. **Don't forget to RSVP now!** **Talk 1 - Securing AI with AI: Building a Security Gate for Production Agents** In production, any input could be malicious. This talk covers how my team built a security validation layer for an AI agent at Snyk. I’ll walk through the attack categories we defend against (prompt injection, system manipulation, data exfiltration, role-play bypasses), and the unexpected challenges that come with securing an agent that's purpose-built for security workflows. Speaker: Jada Ross - AI Systems Engineer at Snyk. Jada is an AI Systems Engineer at Snyk, building production AI systems that help teams move faster and smarter. She's shipped RAG pipelines, LangGraph agents, and knowledge systems, embedded her work across engineering, go-to-market, support, and strategy teams at Snyk. **Talk 2 - From Bias to Trust: A Day in the Life of a Responsible AI Product** Building "Responsible AI" is often seen as a compliance hurdle, but for a business to scale, it must be the foundation of the architecture. In this session, we follow the end-to-end journey of a single AI use case—from the boardroom to the server room. We will explore how different roles—Business Owners, Data Scientists, Architects, and Delivery Leads—can identify and mitigate ethical risks at every stage of the lifecycle. You’ll walk away with a practical "Day 1" checklist to ensure your AI is not just powerful, but trustworthy. Speaker: Gayatri Pandey is a Strategic Product Manager with over 13 years of experience in the technology sector. She specializes in bridging the gap between deep technical engineering and high-level business strategy. Gayatri’s expertise is backed by the **AI for Business Leaders program at MIT**, the **Artificial Intelligence program at Oxford**, and a **12-week intensive Applied Data Science bootcamp**. With a foundational background as a **Data Engineer**—where she personally deployed ML models to servers—she brings a unique, "full-stack" perspective to the challenges of scaling responsible and ethical AI systems.

Hi✋ At[ Data Tribes ](https://www.datatribes.nl/)we organise Meetups because we truly care about sharing knowledge both inside and outside the organisation. We believe that it is beneficial to us and to the market as a whole to connect, create, learn and grow together! **The agenda** // Doors open 6.00pm // Drinks and Pizza’s 6.30pm // Start presentations 7.00pm // **Meni Shmueli - Distributed Computing Unpacked** // Start networking 9.00pm // End Meetup 9.30pm Greetings, Data Tribes Inc.

**About the London Software Guild** ​The London Software Guild gathers developers, architects, and teams across London who care deeply about the craft of building great software. No fluff, no vendor pitches — just people who take the work seriously, sharing what they've learned the hard way. *** ## ​**Tonight's Speakers** ## ​**🎤 Kieran — Founding Engineer, Demand-Genius** ​Kieran is a founding engineer at Demand-Genius, working to close the gap between how humans and machines perceive your brand versus reality. Background in electrical & electronic engineering, previously working on real-time payments systems, high-scale distributed dynamic rules engines, and reverse proxies. Third Start-Up/Scale-Up (because I'm dumb and have never learnt my lesson). ​ **Talk: The Statistical (Un)Certainty That Our AI Co-Founder Ruins Everything** ​We have handed the most powerful text prediction machines ever built the keys to our codebases. They write code that is statistically likely to be correct. But "statistically likely" and "correct" are not the same thing. As we move toward autonomous multi-agent systems writing production code at machine speed, that gap becomes the central engineering problem of our time. ​Code is not text. It is a formal, deterministic, mathematical structure that happens to be serialised as text. Every tool in the agentic coding stack — retrieval, editing, version control, coordination — treats it as text. ​This talk argues that the answer isn't better frontier models. It's better systems around models. Specifically, the engineering disciplines we've used for a century to control uncertain systems — feedback loops, formal verification, dependency analysis, and control theory — are the missing layer between "AI can write code" and "AI can write code you can trust." *** ## ​**🎤 Andy Roberts — Senior Engineering Leader** ​Andy Roberts is a senior engineering leader with 25+ years of experience — the kind where you've actually written the code, run the teams, and been in the room when things went wrong at scale. Previously Head of EMEA Enterprise Solutions at Apollo GraphQL, where he helped companies like [Booking.com](https://booking.com/), PayPal, and The New York Times stop arguing about their APIs. Before that, Head of API Engineering at RS Components, wrangling 11 teams. Has strong opinions about federated architecture and isn't afraid to use them. ​ **Talk: Built for Browsers, Billed by Tokens** *Your microservices solved for latency. AI agents are solving for context. Nobody told your APIs.* ​Every era of software development has been defined by a constraint that reshaped architecture. In the database era we optimised for round trips. In the web era we obsessed over latency. Mobile forced us to think about bandwidth and battery. Each shift required new instincts, new patterns, new defaults. We're in the middle of another one. ​The AI era introduces a new constraint: context. Language models have finite working memory, and every API response your services return goes into it. The kitchen-sink response payloads that work fine for browsers are quietly making your AI agents more expensive and less capable — and the cost is almost entirely invisible in your existing dashboards. ​This talk maps the constraint transition from latency to context, shows what it means for the microservice APIs you have today, and offers five concrete things you can do about it without touching a line of existing backend code.

Hi Architects, Welcome to our the second AWS London Well-Architected User Group Meetup!!! 🥳🥳🥳 Due to the huge demand we saw for our inaugural meetup we have gone bigger with a new venue. Dragon Hall Trust, 17 Stukeley Street, London WC2B 5LT The AWS London Well-Architected Meetup is the latest chapter in the most popular AWS Meetup group globally. At each meetup we cover off various pillars of AWS best-practice in detail including insights from industry leaders that specialise in the Well-Architected Framework. We'll be announcing more speakers and topics over the coming weeks. **Speakers** * **The Philosophy Behind Well-Architected** **Philip Fitzsimons (Fitz)** \- Ex\-AWS \- Co\-authored the AWS Well\-Architected Framework\. The Well-Architected Framework started at AWS but has since been adopted by every major cloud vendor and beyond. Why did it resonate so widely? In this session, Fitz, who led the Well-Architected initiative at AWS from the beginning, explores the philosophy behind the framework, how it was intended to shape architectural thinking, and the mistakes teams commonly make when applying it. Drawing on lessons from seeing thousands of real architectures, he will explain how to approach Well-Architected reviews in a way that actually improves systems rather than just generating checklists. * **Running your first Well-Architected Review: A Live Walkthrough** **James Harding** \- Technical CSM \- Green Custard Curious about how a Well-Architected Review works in practice? In this session we'll run a live walkthrough using the AWS Well-Architected Tool, showing how to define a workload, answer the review questions, identify High Risk Issues and move on to an actionable improvement plan. * **Building Your Infrastructure: "Self-Hosted vs. Managed"** **Mykola Boiko -** Backend Developer - Ultralytics What does it really cost to build and operate your own infrastructure? Mykola Boiko shares real-world lessons from scaling a globally distributed AI platform using self-hosted infrastructure before gradually migrating services to AWS. Through stories of building replication, caching, observability, and multi-region reliability from scratch, the session reveals the hidden operational complexity and costs behind running everything yourself. The journey highlights key principles of the AWS Well-Architected Framework including Reliability, Performance Efficiency, Operational Excellence, and Cost Optimisation and shows why managed cloud services can dramatically reduce operational burden while improving scalability and resilience. More speakers to be announced soon. So come join us at 7pm for a 7.30pm start, including drinks, snacks and friendly networking after our talks :-) \*\*\*NB: No entry to the building after 7.30pm.\*\*\*

**——————————** **Event Description:** **——————————** Welcome product enthusiasts! We're a meet-up group that hosts regular speaking events for those interested in the world of **digital products** and **doing things differently!** Each meet-up features new guests from some of the most influential product companies around the world, providing unique insights, tangible ideas, and new techniques to help drive change from the inside out. **————————** **Event Format:** **————————** This is a **hybrid** event, offering the option to come along in person or join us from anywhere in the world online! **————** **Venue:** **————** 🚨 We are at Wrap co-working Brighton, a stone's throw from the station. We're looking forward to seeing you there! 🚨 **————————** **Our Supporters:** **————————** Our March event is supported by **[MPB](https://www.mpb.com/en-uk)** the world’s leading platform for buying, selling and trading used photography and videography equipment, making kit more accessible and sustainable for creators everywhere. And as always our friends at **[Silicon Brighton](https://siliconbrighton.com/)**, whose mission is to put Brighton on the map as a technology hub, spotlighting the region for talent and investment. **————————** **Our speakers:** **————————** **Steve Down** **Steve Down is a Senior Product Manager at Channel 4, specialising in building high performing streaming apps for the biggest screen in the home.** He’s spent years shaping TV experiences at major UK broadcasters, tackling platform fragmentation, performance constraints and all the quirks that make doing product on TV Apps a whole world of its own. He regularly writes and speaks about the realities of Connected TV product development, sharing lessons from building and scaling TV apps across diverse platforms and fast changing user behaviours. His industry contributions unpack everything from platform limitations and UX challenges to experimentation gaps and the future of big screen viewing. **————————** **About the Talk:** **————————** **Behind the Streams: The untold story of TV App Product Management** Forget what you know about doing Product Management on web and mobile - TV is a whole different ball game. You’re juggling dozens of platforms & stakeholders, designing for a lean-back user experience, and working in an environment where optimal performance is everything. Add in the giants like Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube as competitors, and standing out gets tough. **In this session, Steve will pull back the curtain on:** \- What makes TV product management so different \- The skills you need to succeed in streaming \- How you can break into one of the most exciting areas in product today If you’ve ever thought about working in streaming or just want to know what happens behind the biggest screen in the house, this talk is for you. **Raff Di Meo** Senior Product Design Manager at Optimizely. Raff has spent over 10 years designing products across startups, agencies, and enterprise SaaS, including a startup acquisition. Today, he's a Senior Product Design Manager at Optimizely, where he leads a team of designers reshaping how marketing teams create content across the web. He's an active speaker in the UX community and writes Some Designers on Substack, championing inclusivity and supporting designers through a profession that won't sit still. **————————** **About the Talk:** **————————** **When too easy to use becomes a problem: from e-commerce returns to AI in design** A few years ago, Raff designed a returns flow for an e-commerce product. It was fast, frictionless, and users loved it. It also helped normalise a behaviour that cost businesses millions and generated thousands of tonnes of waste. By every metric tracked, it was a success. By every metric not tracked, it was a disaster. Today, the same pattern is playing out. Not just in the products we design, but in how we design them. Teams are reshaping their entire process around AI tools that can't even retain their own users. We're told the old ways are dead. Move faster. Ship more. Trust the tools. In this talk, Raff will share what the returns project taught him about the gap between a successful design and a responsible one, and how those lessons are shaping how his team is navigating AI right now: what they're using, what's genuinely working, and what they're deliberately protecting. You'll leave with three things you can take back to your team: why understanding the problem still comes first, how to explore with AI without losing your craft, and a dead-simple habit for catching unintended consequences before they ship. **——————————** **About your hosts:** **——————————** Product Unleashed is brought to you by your hosts **[John Griffin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-griffin-designer/)** and **[Dominic Port](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominic-port/)**. The duo have worked on the design of products of all shapes and sizes and bring their energy and enthusiasm to this unique meetup, packed with great guests and knowledge - for anyone interested in levelling up their game in the world of products.

​Join us for the 25th London PyTorch Meetup! 🔥 ​We have our first speaker confirmed: **Peter Romov** – Open Source Contributor, 2. PyTorch/Opacus Autoresearch for Discovering State-of-the-Art LLM Adversarial Attacks ​More speakers to be announced.

Special event for our PyTorch Friends. ## **ABOUT Agents and Robots 26 HACKXELERATOR™** * ​**Purpose:** A comprehensive HackXelerator focused on agents and robotics, spanning pre-event networking to final showcase in Berlin. * ​**Themes:** Digital agents, autonomous systems, human-robot interaction, and AI ethics. * ​**Duration:** 20 days of collaborative creation and mentoring. * ​**Agents and Robotics 26 Schedule:** * ​**March 12th \| Virtual Pre\-Event Briefing:** HackXelerator overview, rules, prizes, categories, sign-up, team formation, and Q&A * ​**March 27th \| AR26 In\-Person Kick\-off:** Inspiring keynotes on agents and robotics, expert panels across all streams, networking with sponsors and recruiters, plus yummy food and drinks. * ​**Mar 27th– Apr 17th \| Main HackXelerator:** intensive development period with mentoring, collaboration, and project creation. * ​**April 17th \| Showcase & Awards In\-Person Finale:** Project presentations, awards ceremony, and celebration party under the disco ball. ## ​HOW TO JOIN AR 26 1. ​[Sign in or sign up](https://www.kxsb.org/ar26#) to **KXSB** 2. ​Join the Discord server with the invite from the KXSB platform 3. ​Attend the pre-event virtual briefing [Agents and Robotics HackXelerator Pre-event · Luma](https://luma.com/tdi2pf5t)

**Be part of the next Londroid event on Thursday, 26th March 2026, hosted by Checkatrade.** Join us for an evening of Android talks, conversation and community. Expect engaging sessions, the chance to meet others working in Android, and time to catch up with familiar faces. After the event, we’ll head to **The Red Lion** for post-event drinks and further conversation. **Tickets:** We have 110 tickets available. Don’t miss out. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for updates. **Schedule:** 18:00 – Doors open & registration 18:30 – Welcome from Londroid and Checkatrade 18:45 – Bilal Haider – *How AI Agents Saved My (Developmental) Life* 19:30 – Fanny Demey – *Mobile accessibility: Small screen, big difference!* 20:15 – Q&A and socialising 20:30 – Drinks at The Red Lion - Red Lion, 1 Eldon St, London EC2M 7LS **Our Hosts and Sponsors** **Checkatrade** Checkatrade is a leading UK platform that connects consumers with vetted and reviewed tradespeople, helping homeowners find trusted professionals for jobs of all sizes. **Novoda** Novoda is a digital product agency dedicated to building high-quality software. Their team of engineers helps companies scale, modernise and improve their development practices to deliver exceptional digital experiences. Join us for an evening of learning, collaboration and community. See you there.

Ready to build wholesome, deeper, more fulfilling relationships? Join us for a practical relationship skills where we learn essential connection skills through hands-on group practice. Leave theory at the door — this is a skills-building adventure for real life! ✨ This event's focus: **The Art of Saying No** 🎯 a part of the Wholesome Relationships series — that help you build a complete relationship toolkit. **See below** **Why should you sign up?** ✅ Practical toolkit you can use immediately ✅ Small group practice ✅ Private, quiet venue for focus ✅ Standalone session - Previous parts help, but not required **What is Wholesome Relationships?** Practical relationship skills for everyday life — helping you connect deeper, communicate clearer, and show up more fully in love, friendship, and beyond. You'll learn through pair work, small groups, and real practice spread across **different sessions:** 1. **Attachment Theory to Skills** — Feeling safe in love 2. **Being Heard & Understood** — Listening and expressing needs 3. **The Art of Saying No** — Setting and holding boundaries 4. **Opening Up Safely** — Building trust and healthy vulnerability 5. **Fighting Better Together** — Conflict that connects (not destroys) 6. **Picking the Right Person** — Choosing partners wisely Each session works standalone — attend one, some, or all. ***Want to join all?*** Speak to the facilitator about discounted pricing for the full series ✅ **Who is it for?** * You want deeper, more meaningful relationships * You keep repeating patterns and want to understand why * You struggle to communicate what you actually need ️ * You find it hard to set boundaries without guilt * You want to learn through practice, not just reading about it No relationship experience required — just show up ready to practice. **What's in it for you?** * Understand your relationship patterns and where they come from * Communicate needs without blame or mind-reading expectations * Set boundaries that stick (without becoming a wall) * Navigate conflict without destroying connection * Show up as a whole person, not half of one ✨ * Connect with others doing the same growth work **How does it work?** * Facilitated practice session (2 hours) with structured exercises ⏱ * Small group discussions (4-6 people) * Pair work for hands-on practice * Individual reflection moments * Whole group sharing (optional, not required) Everything is timed and guided — you'll know exactly what to do at each stage **What to expect** Collaborative discovery, without competitive learning. Practicing together, without performing for each other. What happens in the room stays in the room. * **Depth**: Beyond small talk, but it's not therapy — we're developing relationship skills * **Safety**: Wholesome Agreement principles apply — respect, curiosity, no judgment * **Practical**: You'll leave with tools, not just concepts — things you can actually use the next day ️ * **Participation**: These are practice sessions — your active participation creates the learning environment **Ready to upgrade your thinking skills?** Join us for a Wholesome Relationships practice session and walk away with real tools for deeper connection — it's for anyone who wants to love better, communicate clearer, and show up more fully. We really hope to see you there! **About Deeper Connections** We have a mission at Deeper Connections to improve the quality of people's lives through conversation. All our events are centred around the concept of connecting deeply, because we believe we all deserve to be seen, felt and understood for who we really are. To have the 'deeper conversation' approach when relating with others can change our lives and can change the world. **Our Values** * **Respect:** Treat everyone with kindness and consideration. ❤️ * **Open-mindedness:** Be open to different perspectives and ideas. * **Active Participation:** Share your thoughts and engage in meaningful discussions. ️ **Staying in touch** Interested in finding out about all the events sooner than on Meetup or staying in touch beyond the events, you can join our WhatsApp channel and community using [Deeper Connections WhatsApp Channel](https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb6CBAdIN9ijrEYdv33z) [Deeper Connections WhatsApp Community](https://chat.whatsapp.com/EqGsmF3021RKTwBpGcuR80)

**Important note: [Please sign up on Luma](https://luma.com/pynrnh6d); otherwise, your name won't be on the guest list** **About the event** Research increasingly shows citations influence which sources LLMs surface. However, not all citations drive the outcomes you need. ​ For Women’s History Month, we’re hosting a special Sip & Search event to unpack what’s changing in AI search and how to stay visible. ​**Here's what we'll discuss:** * ​What makes certain sites and sources more “citable” in LLMs * ​How to earn higher-quality citations that improve visibility and preference * ​What to track in answer engines and how to turn it into performance gains and ROI **Panelists** * ​[Liv Day](https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-day-seo/), SEO Lead at Digitaloft * ​[Charlie Marchant](https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliemarchant/), CEO at Exposure Ninja * ​[Rejoice Ojiaku](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rejoiceojiaku/), Senior Content Specialist at Wise **Besides the panel, you’ll enjoy an evening of:** * ​Fun karaoke vibes * ​Networking with SEO and digital marketing leaders in a laid-back setting * ​Great food and free drinks * ​Q&A time with experts shaping AI search and LLM visibility​ **Curious about the vibes at Sip & Search?** ​Here’s[ a 1-minute video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIbfZGAG-VE) from our last event to get you excited. We'd like to thank our sponsors for making this event possible * [Moz](moz.com) * [Profound](tryprofound.com) **Important note:** [Please sign up on Luma](https://luma.com/pynrnh6d); otherwise, your name won't be on the guest list

⚠️ **Please read any of the books voted below** 🙏🏽, and avoid last minute AI summaries. This is a **book club** after all! 😊 **How Emotions Are Made** by Lisa Feldman Barrett **The Better Angels of Our Nature** by Steven Pinker Join us for Deeper Discussions, where we dive into thought-provoking non-fiction books that challenge perspectives, inspire growth, and spark meaningful conversations. Whether you're an avid reader or just curious about exploring new ideas, this is a space to reflect, share, and gain new insights into the world around us. 🌍💡 **How does it work?** * The above books have already been voted on for reading * We will split into groups based on the book you've read 💬 * Everyone shares summary / thoughts 🧠 * Focused Discussion on a specific chapter or topic / theme from the book for 30 minutes 📚 * Open Q&A regarding the book and any related topics ❓ **What to Expect?** 🔍 **Deep Discussions**: We’ll explore key themes, insights, and arguments from this month’s two books 💬📚 💡 **Critical Thinking & Reflection**: Engage in conversations that go beyond surface-level takeaways. Challenge perspectives, question assumptions, and discover new ways of thinking. 🤔✨ 🌿 **Personal & Collective Growth**: Non-fiction books have the power to transform our understanding of society, relationships, and ourselves 🧠🚀 **How to get the most out of this event?** 📝 **Read the Book:** While reading the full book is ideal, even if complete significant amount can help you engage in the discussion. 📖✨ 🗣 **Respect & Openness:** Every perspective matters. This is a space for discussion, not debate. Stay curious, listen actively, and engage with an open mind. 🙏🌱 🤝 **Be Ready to Share & Learn:** What resonated with you? What challenged you? Personal reflections make the discussion richer and more meaningful. 💡🌍 📌 **Why a Non-Fiction Book Club?** 📖 **Expand Your Perspective:** Learn from diverse ideas, and real-world experiences. 🌏✨ 🧠 **Foster Growth:** Engage in stimulating conversations that challenge and refine your thinking. 💭🔄 💬 **Deepen Connections:** Connect with like-minded individuals who value insightful discussions and continuous learning. 🤝📚 **Who is this event for?** * You love exploring ideas that shape the world. 🌎 * You enjoy thought-provoking discussions. 🗣 * You want to engage in meaningful conversations beyond small talk. 💡 * You’re open to challenging your assumptions and learning from others. 🔄 **What's in it for you?** * 💡 **A Space for Reflection:** Step back and think critically about important ideas. * 📚 **New Perspectives:** Gain insights from both the book and fellow participants. * 🤝 **Deep Connections:** Meet others who share a love for learning and growth. **Ready to dive into big ideas?** 🌊 Join us for an evening of engaging, insightful discussions on a book that **challenges**, **inspires**, and **expands** the way we think. 🌟 We really hope to see you there! 👋 **About Deeper Connections** We have a mission at Deeper Connections to improve the quality of people's lives through conversation. All our events are centred around the concept of connecting deeply, because we believe we all deserve to be seen, felt and understood for who we really are. To have the 'deeper conversation' approach when relating with others can change our lives and can change the world. **Our Values** * **Respect:** Treat everyone with kindness and consideration. ❤️ * **Open-mindedness:** Be open to different perspectives and ideas. 🧠💡 * **Active Participation:** Share your thoughts and engage in meaningful discussions. 🗣️💬 **Staying in touch** Interested in finding out about all the events sooner than on Meetup or staying in touch beyond the events, you can join our WhatsApp channel and community using 👉🏽 [Deeper Connections WhatsApp Channel](https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb6CBAdIN9ijrEYdv33z) 👉🏽 [Deeper Connections WhatsApp Community](https://chat.whatsapp.com/EqGsmF3021RKTwBpGcuR80) **Keep This Event Free 💝** If this event brings you something meaningful, you can help others access the same transformational experience. Whether it's £5 or £15, every contribution keeps these events accessible to everyone in our community. You'll find a QR code on your conversation sheet during the event, or you can contribute here #SupportYourCommunity 👉🏽 [Ko-Fi](https://ko-fi.com/deeperconnections) 👉🏽 [Buy Me A Coffee](https://buymeacoffee.com/deeperconnections) 👉🏽 [PayPal](https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/DDSNCCFCYUEB2)

[Tickets](https://linktr.ee/houseofcana) Ditch the apps, join Sparks & Steps, and vibe face-to-face for real connections and fun! DONE WITH SWIPING? READY FOR REAL CHEMISTRY? ## Sparks & Steps **DONE WITH SWIPING? READY FOR REAL CHEMISTRY?** London professionals — it’s time to log off and show up. **Welcoming Drink!** If you’re 28+ social, and completely over dating apps, this night is for you. No algorithms. No ghosting. No endless texting. Just real conversations, real energy, and real sparks. Check our events vibes on instagram @houseofcanaevents ### 💃 Ice Break the Right Way Forget awkward small talk. We kick things off with guided dance sessions designed to loosen you up, get you laughing, and make introductions feel natural — not forced. Movement creates chemistry. Trust us. ### ❤️ Back to Traditional Dating Remember when dating meant: * Meeting face-to-face * Making eye contact * Feeling nervous (in a good way) * Asking someone for their number * Actually planning a proper date That’s what we’re bringing back. This is traditional dating with a modern twist — respectful introductions, genuine conversation, and the chance to build real connection from the very first hello. ### 📍Barbican-City of London, Convenient Location Easy to get to after work. Close to transport links. Stylish venue. Effortless vibe. Balfour St Barts - 2 minutes walk from Farringdon station and 4 minutes walk from Barbican. ### ✨ Who’s It For? People Age 28 + who: * Are serious about meeting someone * Miss traditional dating values * Prefer presence over profiles * Want quality connections in a relaxed setting ### 🥂 What to Expect ### Welcome to Sparks & Steps — where we bring back traditional dating with elegance, confidence, and a touch of excitement. * 7 pm-7:30pm- Arrival and your evening begins with a complimentary welcome drink — the perfect way to relax and settle into the atmosphere. * 7:30pm-8:20 -Then we turn up the energy with salsa dancing and Latino vibes — fun, guided, and designed to break the ice naturally. No pressure, no awkward introductions — just movement, laughter, and connection. No experience needed, we have a dance teacher to help out. * 8:20 pm onwards-As the night unfolds, the music softens into a more relaxed rhythm, creating space for meaningful conversations. * Not sure how to start the chat? Don’t worry — we’ve placed conversation cards on each table to help spark engaging, effortless discussions. **And here’s where it gets exciting…** 🌹 If you meet someone you’d like to know better, simply pick up a rose and ask for their number. A simple, confident gesture — just like traditional dating should be. This isn’t speed dating. This isn’t a night club. [Tickets](https://linktr.ee/houseofcana) Tickets for dancing and mingling: Please arrive until 7:20 pm Tickets for mingling: Arrival after 8:30 pm Check our events vibes on Instagram @houseofcanaevents See you soon! This is dating the way it used to be — confident, intentional, and in person. **Limited spaces. Real people. Real potential.** Ready to meet someone the

**First meetup of the Columbus AI Engineering group.** We’ll kick things off with a practical, beginner-friendly discussion on: **How LLMs like ChatGPT actually work — and how to build real applications with them.** We’ll cover: * what’s actually happening under the hood (at a high level) * why LLMs behave the way they do (hallucinations, prompt sensitivity, etc.) * how people are building real systems with them today * where things break in practice This will be a **short, informal talk (\~15–20 min)** followed by open discussion and Q&A. Whether you’re an engineer, builder, or just curious about how modern AI systems work, you’re welcome to join. No slides, no fluff — just real conversation about real systems. We’ll hang out afterward and get to know each other.

The Fellowship of the Star Schema: Transforming OLTP Data for Power BI One does not simply build reports on OLTP data. Join us on an epic journey from the depths of raw, normalized tables to the shining halls of a well-modeled star schema fit for Power BI greatness. We will demystify the differences between OLTP and OLAP, walk through star schema vs snowflake (and why Power BI has a clear favorite), and show you the compression differences between normalized and columnar storage that will make you never look at an OLTP model the same way again. We will cover the different types of dimensions, when to use them, and how to handle Slowly Changing Dimensions without losing your mind. You will leave knowing exactly how to identify a bad model, how to convert OLTP data into a clean star schema, and how to forge relationships that rule them all. Whether you are a data wizard, a curious hobbit, or somewhere in between, your models will never be the same.

**The Data-Driven Brand: Using Analytics to Shape Perception** Can you use analytics to improve tacos? This being CBUSDAW, we think the answer is probably “yes”, but we’re not sure how to implement or test this theory. For our April meetup we’ve got Sara Kear, CMO of Condado Tacos, to investigate this delicious question. Sara will explore how she blends quantitative data and qualitative customer feedback to shape brand positioning and drive business decisions. We all know that marketing and analytics go way beyond attribution. Sara will show how Condado uses customer insights to inform product and pricing strategy. She’ll also highlight how Condado leverages customer feedback at scale to influence operational priorities, positioning marketing as the voice of the customer across the organization. In the last 12 years Condado has gone from one location in Columbus to 52 locations across 10 states, so we’re guessing there’s more to that growth than really good guac (though the guac probably helps). Ultimately, this talk focuses on the intersection of art and science—using data to inform creativity and build a brand that resonates with customers in a measurable way. **About Our Speaker** Sara Kear is Chief Marketing Officer at Condado Tacos, where she oversees brand, restaurant design, menu and pricing strategy, off-premise including catering, and customer data strategy. Since joining in 2021, she has helped grow the brand from 19 to 52 locations while building a data-driven marketing organization focused on loyalty and customer insights. Condado has since been named to the Inc. 5000, recognized as Breakout Retailer by Chain Store Age, and consistently ranked among FastCasual’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers. Thanks to our 2026 sponsors: [Clarivoy](https://www.clarivoy.com), [What Box Consulting Group](https://www.whatboxconsultinggroup.com), [Conductrics](https://www.conductrics.com), and [Piwik PRO](https://piwik.pro) More info at [cbusdaw.com](https://cbusdaw.com)

**Important time note:** Please plan on arriving between 5:30 and 6:00 as the elevators lock after 6 and you'll need to message us and we'll need to come get you. The building address is 4450 Bridge Park The entrance is 6620 Mooney St, Suite 400 **Abstract** Web Forms gave .NET developers a powerful abstraction for building reusable UI controls long before design systems were a thing. Web Components finally bring that same idea to the browser natively. This session explores how the Web Forms mindset translates into Custom Elements, Shadow DOM, and HTML templates. We’ll examine how Web Components enable design systems that work across frameworks, how they differ from server‑driven controls, and why they’re becoming a foundational layer for modern UI. Whether you’re maintaining legacy apps or building greenfield projects, you’ll leave with a practical understanding of how to apply familiar patterns in a modern, standards‑based way. **YouTube Link** [https://youtube.com/live/fD2cYeKp_UU?feature=share](https://youtube.com/live/fD2cYeKp_UU?feature=share)

**Improving Office in Franklinton** Physical location: Improving Office 330 Rush Alley Suite #150 Columbus, OH 43215 Schedule: 6:00 p.m.: Socialize, eat, and drink. Improving will be providing pizza and beverages. 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Main meeting and presentation(s). Topic: Type Annotations with John Cassidy We meet on the last Monday of each Month. Presentations are given by members and friends of this group. If you would like to do a presentation (small or large) on a python topic, please contact Central OH Python at centralohpython@gmail.com

**New Dojo Location!** **Knotty Pine Brewing** 1765 W 3rd Ave, Columbus, OH 43212 We're going to try a new dojo location for a few weeks and see how it works Dojos are informal Python group study sessions where everyone interested in Python gathers to learn about Python, help others with Python, or just hang out. Everyone is welcome from Python beginners to experts. Bringing a laptop is encouraged (we'll have extension cords and power strips). If there's something you want to learn leave a comment on this invite so we can plan ahead. We're looking for topic suggestions and people interested in presenting at our monthly meetings. To this end we've set up a survey form at [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15eBKF1nQQ2XS5gzD4rvhVRHMBEj7lJtHuA9wXupS3Uc](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15eBKF1nQQ2XS5gzD4rvhVRHMBEj7lJtHuA9wXupS3Uc)

Central Ohio Radio Enthusiasts—CORE—is an informal community for anyone enthusiastic or curious about radio—whether you're new to radio and want to learn or you've been tinkering for years and want to share. Ham radio operators, GMRS users, Meshtastic fans, software-defined radio nerds, makers, and technical and non-technical folks are all welcome. No experience required or expected. This month we have **WiFi HaLow: Introduction and Practical Use** with **Alex Barbur**. Details are are [core.radio](https://core.radio).