Deep Reinforcement Learning

This time, we explore **how the growth of AI is shaping a new SDLC and which evolution strategy to choose for your team**. We will focus on which metrics truly help manage delivery, and which ones only create an illusion of progress and AI adoption. Hands-on practice in small groups and a live battle of different views and approaches — everything that you love in EM Katas. ❗❗❗ **Register here** ➡️ https://luma.com/aug0ujkl ⬅️ ❗❗❗ **❓ What is an EM Kata?** EM Kata is a playground where Engineering Managers\* can practice their skills and receive immediate feedback. **\* - 👨‍🔬 / 👩‍🔬EM Kata is also beneficial for** * **Senior Leaders:** Head of Engineering, Engineering Directors, VPs, CTOs - to practice and enhance mentoring and coaching skills. * **Tech/Team Leads:** To acquire essential skills for a successful transition to an EM role. * **Senior Software Engineers:** To gain insight into EM responsibilities and explore if a leadership career path interests them. * **Agile Coaches:** To better understand the challenges faced by EMs and the skills they require, enabling better support for them at work. Each small group works on identifying the root causes of the challenges by analysing them from different perspectives, determining the most efficient strategy to solve them, developing a detailed plan, and necessary team constellation changes & architecture. **🕑 Event Schedule** 18:00 – Doors open for snacks, drinks, and networking 18:30 – Introduction 18:50 – EM Kata: working and forecasting in small groups 20:00 – Senior Leadership round: challenging assumptions, shaping the future From 21:00 to 21:30 — Networking and discussions. **📍 Venue** **Contentful** Max-Urich-Straße 3, 13355 Berlin **📣 Spread the Word** **Love our meetups?** Help us grow the community! Share your experience on LinkedIn—whether it’s what you’ve learned, key takeaways, or why you enjoy EM Kata. By spreading the word, you’ll help more engineering managers and aspiring tech leaders find a safe environment to practice and enhance their skills. We believe it’s much more fun to have fun with friends, so come join us and bring your friends along! Tag us **#EMKata #Meetup by #SEML about #TechLeadership**. **🤝 Sponsored by Contentful** A big shout-out to Contentful for sponsoring our event and supporting our mission to foster a tight-knit community of engineering leaders. **👍 Code of Conduct** We adhere to the [Berlin Code of Conduct](https://berlincodeofconduct.org/) to ensure a welcoming and respectful environment for all participants.

Meet us for talks with EBCONT on January 20, 2026! Doors open at 18.00, first talk starts at 18.20. We wrap up at 20.30. Please make sure you sign up with your full name. 📅**Date and Time:** Tuesday, January 20, from 6:00-8:30 PM 📍**Location:** [Beyond Office, Heidestrasse 34, 10557 Berlin](https://maps.app.goo.gl/QJTtLBsyWdBXo9iA6) We will need your full name to allow your entrance at the building. 📝 **Agenda:** * **18:00 - Doors Open** * **18:20 - Talk #1** **\- Elastic Agent: Ingesting log files\, how hard can it be?** **[Denis Rechkunov](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rdner/)**, Principal Software Engineer at Elastic **Abstract:** Logs are the foundation of any observability solution, but to make them useful, they need to be ingested into a search index. One of the features provided by our Elastic Agent offering is to ingest log files into Elasticsearch so our customers can quickly navigate events in their systems. Reading files and sending data to Elasticsearch sounds simple, right? Not quite. In this talk we're going to dive deep into challenges associated with reading log files and sending them to Elasticsearch. * **18:50 - Talk #2 Flexible Chatbots with Elasticsearch - Integrating Elasticsearch, Confluence, and LLMs** **[Christoph Eder](https://www.linkedin.com/in/christoph-eder-0ab776194/)**, Senior IT Consultant at **[EBCONT](https://www.ebcont.com/en)** **Abstract:** In this talk, we'll show how we developed a flexible enterprise search solution using Elasticsearch — one that not only works in the cloud and with LLMs, but can also run on-premises and be easily combined with different LLMs. * **19:20 - Pizza, drinks and networking** * **20:30 - Wrap up** Invite your friends and join our meetup. Special thanks to our partner **[EBCONT](https://www.ebcont.com/en).** Want to speak at our next meetup? Submit your talk on **[this link](https://sessionize.com/elastic-meetups/)** and we will get in touch with you as soon as possible.

Cuban salsa classes every Tuesday. Join us, improve your skills, save lives and make friends! **Classes:** 19:00 - Improvers 2 (New routine starting every month) **Price: (Card payment only)** 1 class - 7€ 10 class pass - 49€ or 42€ reduced* (To use within 11 weeks. Valid for all our classes. It can only be used by one person per class. No refund possible) * Reduced price for students, Schüler, Azubis, H4-Empfänger, and pensioners/retired folks. A valid proof is needed. **Why should you learn Salsa, and why with us?** - It's great fun! - You get to know loads of new people. - No fix starting date - you can start any week. - No dress code - come in whatever you feel comfortable in. Note:No outside shoes in the room: socks or a pair of clean shoes will be required - No partner needed - we change regularly during the classes (bring all your friends though!) - You can help us make a difference! **What is Salsa4Water?** Simple! We teach Salsa and donate all our profits to the NGO Welthungerhilfe, which uses these funds for their local projects in Malawi. Welthungerhilfe fights for equal access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene in nearly 40 countries world wide. This gives you the chance to save lives while dancing!

The Test Tribe 11th Berlin Meetup – Making QA Work Smarter with Generative AI Generative AI is no longer a future concept-it’s already reshaping how QA engineers design tests, debug failures, write documentation, and even collaborate with development teams. But beyond the buzzwords, many testers are still asking the same questions: How do I actually use AI in my day-to-day work? What makes a good prompt? And where does agentic AI really fit? At the 11th Berlin Meetup, we’ll cut through the hype and focus on practical, QA-first applications of Generative AI, showing how testers can work smarter today and prepare for an agent-driven tomorrow. **Event Details** Date: 20th January 2026 Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM CET Venue: SumUp (Entrance via Lange Straße) Koppenstraße 8, 10243 Berlin, Germany Session: Making QA Work Smarter with Generative AI - From Prompts to Agentic AI Speaker: Vignesh Srinivasa Raghavan **Introduction** Generative AI is rapidly reshaping how Quality Assurance engineers approach their daily work-from test design and automation to debugging, documentation, and reporting (yes, even writing Jira tickets 😄). This session is a practical, QA-focused introduction to Generative AI, designed to help testers move beyond curiosity and into real, day-to-day usage. Rather than abstract theory, the focus is on how QA engineers can use AI to work faster, think better, and reduce repetitive effort-without losing control or judgment. You’ll learn how prompt engineering dramatically impacts the quality of AI outputs and get a glimpse into Agentic AI, where autonomous AI agents can assist testers across workflows in the near future. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas they can immediately apply in their QA roles. **Key Takeaways** * Understand what Generative AI is and how it applies specifically to QA workflows * Learn practical prompt engineering techniques to get better results from AI tools * Discover different prompt types for testing, automation, and documentation * Get an introduction to Agentic AI and how it can amplify tester productivity **About the Speaker** Vignesh Srinivasa Raghavan is a Lead SDET with 11+ years of experience in Software Automation Testing, specializing in Web, Mobile, API, and Performance Testing. He is also an experienced trainer with 9+ years of teaching experience, having trained 7,000+ students globally. Vignesh is a top-rated Udemy instructor and regularly conducts corporate training sessions, both online and offline. Expertise & Tools * AI: Generative AI for QA, Agentic AI for QA * Web Automation: Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, WebdriverIO * Mobile Automation: Appium, Espresso, XCUITest * API Automation: RestAssured, Postman, Karate, Katalon * Performance Testing: Gatling, JMeter * Languages: Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Kotlin, Scala Vignesh is deeply passionate about helping QA engineers embrace modern tools and future-ready practices while staying grounded in strong testing fundamentals. Why You Should Attend * Learn how QA engineers can practically use Generative AI today * Improve productivity without compromising quality or ownership * Understand prompt engineering through a tester’s lens * Get early insights into Agentic AI and its impact on QA * Connect with Berlin’s growing QA and testing community * Be part of The Test Tribe’s 11th Berlin Meetup About The Test Tribe The Test Tribe is the world’s largest software testing community, empowering testers globally since 2018. With 700+ events and 150K+ members across 130+ countries, we bring testers together to learn, grow, and connect through meetups, conferences, cohorts, masterclasses, and more. By RSVPing, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy and consent to be contacted by The Test Tribe and our event partners.

### ***This is a closed course that can only be booked and attended as a whole.*** ***So it’s best to join one of the other sMove! trainings beforehand – either on Thursdays in the park or online on Saturdays: [www.baerbelsinger.de/smove ](www.baerbelsinger.de/smove)*** \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- ### Sensing and Expanding 🌿 sMove! invites you to expand your sensations and ways of expression through the body. The movements are simple and playful – yet they go deep: by moving with awareness, you discover qualities within yourself that are often covered by habit or tension. ### The Body as a Container 🌀 The body is more than muscles and bones – it is a container of memories, energy, and possibilities. In sMove! training, we explore this potential through rhythm, new movements, and focused attention. Each movement becomes an opportunity to sense more clearly, to shift old patterns, and to unfold new qualities – vitality, calm, presence, joy. ### Clarity through Intention 🎯 What makes sMove! special is not performance or perfection, but the direct experience of your body paired with intention, precision, and letting go. When you allow your body to guide you, space opens: your mind becomes quieter, energy can flow, aliveness grows. sMove! strengthens you inside and out – with more flexibility, strength, and ease. ### Experiencing Community 🤝 In the group, connection arises. Everyone moves in their own way – and yet we resonate with the shared rhythm. This collective presence builds trust in your own strength, encourages curiosity, and makes it easier to try something new. ### Who is sMove! for? 🌍 sMove! is open to everyone – previous experience is recommended (feel free to ask). 15 sessions * **November 2025**: 11., 18. * **Dezember 2025**: 9., 16. * **Januar 2026**: 20., 27. * **Februar 2026**: 3., 10., 17., 24. * **März 2026**: 24., 31. * **April 2026**: 7., 14., 28. 💶 Fee Early Bird: 280€ Full package: **320 €**

**Topic: How Could Low-Tech Industry Be More Data-Driven?** **What to Expect:** * A concise, 5-10 minute expert presentation introducing us to the nuances of the topic. * Engage in insightful discussions with fellow participants in breakout groups, exploring diverse experiences and practices. * Dive into prepared questions designed to challenge and expand your perspective on the topic. * A fantastic opportunity to network with like-minded professionals and enthusiasts passionate about software development and team building. *** **Broadening Our Discussions:** We explore a wide range of topics, including Extreme Programming (XP), agile management methods, lean theory, career management, programming katas, and other areas related to software development. Whether you're new to software, a seasoned practitioner, or an expert, your insights and experiences are valued here! *** **Event Details:** We'll gather from 7:00 PM, officially start the session at 7:15 PM, and take a break at 8:30 PM to decide the topic for our next session. Don't miss this chance to learn, share, and connect!

Wir treffen uns jeden Dienstag ab 16 Uhr in der Gothaer Str. 5 in 12629 Berlin im Nachbarschaftstreff Sophia. Das Angebot richtet sich sowohl an Neulinge als auch an Experten. Die ersten 15 die sich anmelden sind dabei...

Welcome to an intimate and powerful breathwork experience inspired by Holotropic principles. We create a safe, grounded and transformative environment for emotional release, clarity and deep inner connection. This circle is limited to **4 participants** to ensure personal guidance, emotional safety and comfort. *** ## **Session Structure** **1\. Welcome & Introduction \(30 min\)** * What Holotropic-inspired breathwork is * How the session works * Safety guidelines and recommendations for a free, supportive experience **2\. Active Breathwork Journey \(90 min\)** A deep breathing experience guided by a carefully curated musical sequence designed to support inner exploration. During this phase, participants may experience: * Body sensations, shaking, warmth, spontaneous movements * Emotional release (crying, laughter, sighs) * Images, memories, visions or states of expanded awareness **3\. Integration Circle \(60 min\)** A voluntary space to share and express your experience Suggestions for emotional and somatic integration Compassionate support, presence and grounding **Total duration: \~3 hours** *** ## **What to Bring** Please bring the following for comfort and immersion: * **Comfortable clothing** * **Eye mask** * **Water bottle** * **Blanket** * **Pillow / cushion** * **Yoga mat** (We have a few extra items if needed.) *** ## **Contraindications** Not recommended for people with: Cardiovascular conditions, epilepsy, pregnancy, recent major surgeries, or severe psychiatric diagnoses. If you’re unsure, feel free to message us. *** ## **Who We Are** We are **Paula & Javi**, certified breathwork facilitators and founders of **Holostar33**. To learn more about us and hear testimonials from other customers, follow us on Instagram: @holostar33 We are new in Berlin and building a conscious community centered around breathwork, embodiment and healing. We look forward to breathing with you. **Holostar33 – Transformational Breathwork & Community**

**📅 Week 1 Focus: Kickoff & New Shared Project Theme** We’re starting a new **7-week cycle** with a clear theme: **building one data science project together from start to finish.** 👩‍💻 No experience required Each 7-week cycle focuses on a **small, well-defined part of a larger system**—and over time, these cycles build toward a complete, real-world project (covering data engineering, data science, and deployment). You’re welcome to work on your own project if you prefer, but the shared project gives everyone a common foundation and learning rhythm. 🧠 2026 First Project This cycle’s shared project is an **image-based knowledge extraction system**., including: * Taking photos of book pages or documents * Extracting and cleaning text from images * Structuring that information into something useful (e.g. flashcards, notes, summaries) 📌 By the End of a Full Cycle, You should Have 🎯 A working project in your own GitHub repo 🎯 A small but real portfolio piece you can demo or write about 🎯 Experience going from messy inputs → concrete outcomes Perfection isn’t the goal—finishing something real is. ✨ Who’s Hosting? I’m Lindsey, a senior data scientist working on AI, causal inference, and data products. I’ve built models for fraud detection, uplift modeling, and LLM-based systems—and I care a lot about learning through building, not hype. 📅 When: Saturday, Jan 24 · 9:30–11:30 📍 Where: Torstraße 59, Forward Earth 💻 Bring: Your laptop, an idea—or just curiosity

Welcome to the PyData Berlin January meetup! We would like to welcome you all starting from 18:30. There will be food and drinks. The talks begin around 19.15 and the doors will close at 18:45. **Make sure to arrive on time!** Please provide your first and last name for the registration because this is required for the venue's entry policy. If you cannot attend, please cancel your spot so others are able to join as the space is limited. **Host**: **Spiced Academy** is excited to welcome you to this month's version of PyData. \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* The Lineup for the evening **Talk 1: From Grape Stomping to Gorilla Trekking: AI-Driven Discovery of Novel Interests at GetYourGuide** **Abstract**: UX research shows that discovering new, unexpected and unique things to do in a destination is among the most important needs for travelers. However, surfacing these “hidden gems” at scale is a major challenge for any dynamic marketplace. At GetYourGuide, we tackled this by combining large language models, semantic vector embeddings, and a robust human-in-the-loop process to automatically identify and categorize novel customer interests. Join me as I dive into how we created this AI-driven solution and how we achieved scalable, granular and relevant categorization of our activities. **Description:** How do you help a traveler find something they never knew they wanted? In this talk, I will explore the exciting journey of developing an AI-driven solution to identify novel customer interests at GetYourGuide. With thousands of new activities onboarded weekly, manual categorization became impractical, prompting the need for automation. This talk will walk you through our end-to-end solution: * The problem: the challenges travelers face in discovering relevant and unique experiences, the organizational complexity of this on our platform and its business impact * The AI journey: From raw LLM-based extraction to vector embeddings, clustering, all the way to a robust human-in-the-loop pipeline. I’ll share how we iterated from noisy prototypes to an impactful system, launching 300+ new interests and driving significant engagement and net revenue uplifts * What we learned: The realities of working with LLMs in production-like settings, more specifically hallucinations and issues with relevance, granularity and semantic deduplication. We found out that the line between useful innovation and unwanted noise can be surprisingly fine when using LLM’s. I’ll share practical examples of these challenges and how we addressed them. * Impact and future directions: How we achieved a 10x increase in manual acceptance of AI-suggested interests in just two iterations, and what’s next for AI-driven discovery at GetYourGuide **Bio**: **Morena Bastiaansen** holds a master’s degree in Econometrics from the University of Amsterdam and currently works as a Data Scientist at GetYourGuide in Berlin. She combines her passions for machine learning, language, and travel to build impactful systems for travelers worldwide, with a current focus on personalization in email marketing. Morena is also actively involved in the local tech and ML community. **Talk 2: Deep dive into data streaming security** **Abstract**: Data streaming is powering everything from fraud detection and real-time analytics to patient monitoring and order fulfillment. But as the role of streaming grows, so does the risk - because many streaming platforms, like Apache Kafka, aren't secure by default. In this talk, we’ll take a practical look at data streaming security through the lens of Kafka, one of the most widely adopted streaming platforms in the world. We'll walk through what can go wrong - real examples of exposing 14M patient-doctor messages, or years of real-time delivery info to the internet - and what it takes to do it right. We'll cover the key pillars of securing a streaming system: encryption in transit and at rest, access control, monitoring, and key management. Along the way, we’ll look at the trade-offs like disk encryption vs. end-to-end encryption, what is behind field-level and envelope encryption, and the realities of using customer-managed keys in regulated industries. We'll also explore how streaming security has evolved, how real vulnerabilities (like CVE-2019-12399) highlight the need for patching and monitoring, and what successful multi-layered security looks like in production - from financial institutions to healthcare platforms. If you're building, running, or scaling streaming systems, this talk will help you see the security blind spots and give you concrete steps to protect the data flowing through your pipelines. **Bio**: Olena Kutsenko is a Staff Developer Advocate at Confluent and a recognized expert in data streaming and analytics. With two decades of experience in software engineering, she has built mission-critical applications, led high-performing teams, and driven large-scale technology adoption at industry leaders like Nokia, HERE Technologies, AWS, and Aiven. A passionate advocate for real-time data processing and AI-driven applications, Olena empowers developers and organizations to use the power of streaming data. She is an AWS Community Builder, a dedicated mentor, and a volunteer instructor at a nonprofit tech school, helping to shape the next generation of engineers. As an international speaker and thought leader, Olena regularly presents at top global conferences, sharing deep technical insights and hands-on expertise. Whether through her talks, workshops, or content, she is committed to making complex technologies accessible and inspiring innovation in the developer community. **Lightning talks** There will be slots for 2-3 Lightning Talks (3-5 Minutes for each) between the two main talks. Kindly let us know if you would like to present something :) \*\*\* NumFOCUS **Code of Conduct** THE SHORT VERSION Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down others. Behave professionally. Remember that harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate for NumFOCUS. All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. NumFOCUS is dedicated to providing a harassment-free community for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of community members in any form. Thank you for helping make this a welcoming, friendly community for all. If you haven't yet, please read the detailed version here: https://numfocus.org/code-of-conduct \*\*\*

Grow & Meet: Oyster Mushrooms from Coffee Grounds Join us for a relaxed, social workshop where you can meet new people in Berlin — whether you’ve just moved here or you’ve been around for years. Winter days are short and cold, so this is the perfect moment to break out of the seasonal slump and do something meaningful together. We’ll be learning how to grow delicious and healthy oyster mushrooms using coffee grounds that would normally be thrown away. No need to bring anything — all materials are provided. Everyone will leave with their own small pot that will soon grow fresh mushrooms, and maybe you’ll leave with a few new connections as well. This event is all about learning something useful and doing something social with others. Let’s team up against the winter blues! Cost: 10€ (materials + workshop) Sign-up: Send an email to vitag@posteo.de The exact location and all details will be shared via email after registration.

🍕 **Data & AI Lunch Meetup – Pizza & Exciting Conversations** 🍕 The very first **DVC Data & AI Lunch Meetup Berlin** is coming up! We’ll gather for a **shared lunch** and discuss everything around **Data & AI**. **When:** January 22, 2026, 12:30 PM **Where:** Monte Mente, Das Center am Potsdamer Platz **Cost:** Self-pay **Topic:** Exchange on Data & AI Join us for a great time of pizza and discussion on the latest developments in the **data world**! Looking forward to an exciting exchange with you! 🍕🤝 [#Data](https://www.datavaluecreation.com/search/posts?query=%23#Data) [#AI](https://www.datavaluecreation.com/search/posts?query=%23#AI) [#Meetup](https://www.datavaluecreation.com/search/posts?query=%23#Meetup) [#Networking](https://www.datavaluecreation.com/search/posts?query=%23#Networking) [#Innovation](https://www.datavaluecreation.com/search/posts?query=%23#Innovation) [#DataStrategy](https://www.datavaluecreation.com/search/posts?query=%23#DataStrategy)

Join us for an upcoming in-person Lean Coffee meetup. Lean Coffee is a lightly-structured meeting format where the attendees create the agenda. Bring your management challenges; whether you're managing people, products, processes or beyond, and solve them together with peers from a diverse set of backgrounds. This event is great for anybody trying to create better ways of working and wants to share with + learn from others trying to do the same.

Chitta Walks is for people whose days move fast, while the mind never fully lands. Thoughts keep looping even when nothing is urgent. The body moves, but attention is elsewhere. Over time, this disconnect drains clarity and ease. This walk is a simple reset. We meet in Berlin’s Tiergarten and walk at a gentle pace. Parts of the walk are in silence, with light guidance and a few short prompts. The walk itself is the practice, bringing body and mind back into the same moment. No apps. No performance. Just a clear space to slow down and notice what is happening. If you want to slow down without withdrawing from life, join a Chitta Walk. ✨ **What to expect (approx. 90 minutes):** * A short arrival and orientation * A guided silent walk (phones off, no conversation) * One concise science-based impulse on attention or stress * Optional reflection in pairs or small groups * A simple takeaway or experiment for daily life 🚶**Who this is for:** * Professionals, creatives, and people in transition. * People who feel mentally busy and want more clarity and balance. * Those curious about mindfulness, but grounded and practical. * Anyone comfortable with silence and gentle self observation. 🔔 **Practical notes:** * Duration: 60-90 minutes * Wear comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothing * No prior experience needed * Group size is limited to keep the space quiet and focused 🧭 **Facilitator:** My name is Partha Sarathi, you can call me PS. I have lived in Berlin for over 12 years. With a background in physics and materials science, my interest in mindfulness grew through personal experience with stress and health challenges. I facilitate the space and structure of the walk, inviting shared exploration rather than instruction. 🤔 **Why Chitta Walks?** Chitta is a Sanskrit word referring to the mind or field of awareness, used here in a practical, non-religious sense. Chitta Walks is about noticing how the mind works by slowing down and walking together. Mindful walking makes thought patterns visible in real time, while moving and sensing in the world. The name points to a simple capacity: noticing what is happening in the mind without immediately trying to fix, judge, or optimize it. 🌿 **Possible effects:** A calmer nervous system. Clearer attention. A felt sense of being more present in your body. Subtle insights into how your mind reacts under everyday conditions. A quieter, more grounded way of moving through the city. **Come as you are. Walk. Notice. Leave with a little more space inside.**

Come learn what Mom League is all about. Pregnant or recently postpartum mom/parents and kiddos welcome. We will discuss the offerings of the Mom League newborn series.

## Learn Infrastructure-as-Code (the FUN Way) — Through Minecraft 🎮☁️ **Joint Meetup: Azure CBUS × Columbus HashiCorp User Group** What if learning Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code didn’t feel like a whitepaper… but more like a game? Join us for a joint Azure CBUS and Columbus HashiCorp User Group meetup where **Mark Tinderholt** \(Principal Architect\, Microsoft Azure \| HashiCorp Ambassador \| “The Azure Terraformer”\) shows how **Minecraft** can be used as a surprisingly powerful way to understand real-world Infrastructure-as-Code concepts. In this session, Mark will demonstrate how Terraform and Azure can be used to provision, configure, and manage Minecraft servers—while teaching the same patterns you’d use for production cloud infrastructure. ### What we’ll cover * Infrastructure-as-Code fundamentals using **Terraform** * Provisioning real infrastructure on **Azure** * Applying **IaC best practices** (immutability, repeatability, versioning) * How playful environments like Minecraft make complex concepts *click* * Why learning through experimentation beats click-ops every time ### Who should attend * Developers, platform engineers, and cloud engineers * Terraform users (new or experienced) * Anyone curious about Infrastructure-as-Code but tired of boring examples * Minecraft fans who want to see it used in a totally unexpected way No prior Minecraft experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to learn infrastructure the fun way. Come for the blocks, stay for the Terraform. 🧱➡️📐 Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/cbus-hug-2026/

2026 may be the last year many developers write code by hand. We need coding agents to solve complex problems in production codebases, but vibe coding alone won’t get us there. Vibe coding is all gas, no brakes. It burns up the context window until the agent slips on its own slop. You can go fast at first, but the more you stuff into the context window, the more tangled its outputs get. While the industry is rapidly increasing code generation speed, we still have to understand, review, merge, and maintain what gets shipped. This talk featuring Michael Geiger will outline how coding agents (Claude Code + Gas Town) work and a framework for orchestrating them to solve complicated problems in complex codebases. It’s about steering the model: doing the research to align intent, planning the approach up front, implementing in parallel steps, and breaking early. Human judgment still matters, but it should be spent on high-leverage decisions: what to build, what to forbid, and “what is quality?”, not cleaning up slop. Attendees will leave with a checklist to identify workflow and environment gaps that hold agents back, so you and your team can ship higher-quality software starting tomorrow.

**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** GitHub Copilot is rapidly changing how developers write, understand, and maintain code. Powered by generative AI and deeply integrated into modern development environments, Copilot acts as an intelligent coding assistant, helping developers move faster while maintaining quality and focus. In this session, we’ll explore what GitHub Copilot is, how it works, and where it fits into a real-world developer workflow. We’ll break down what Copilot can (and cannot) do, where it can be used, and how licensing differs for individuals and organizations. Most importantly, this talk goes beyond theory with a live, hands-on demo showcasing Copilot inside the IDE and on GitHub, demonstrating how it can assist with code generation, refactoring, learning new APIs, and accelerating day-to-day development tasks. Designed for developers, technical leads, and engineering managers, this session provides a practical introduction to AI-assisted development, highlights best practices for getting value from Copilot, and closes with guidance on how to continue learning and evolving alongside this rapidly advancing tool. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how GitHub Copilot can enhance productivity, improve developer experience, and fit into modern software teams today, not someday. **YouTube Link** TBA

*GOhio!* turns 8!! 🥳 Come celebrate with us at [Pins Mechanical](https://www.pinsbar.com/locations/easton)! 😄 **Summary** Pins Mechanical Co. is a social entertainment venue that combines old-school games like duckpin bowling, pinball, and other classic arcade and table games with craft cocktails, local beers, and punch. The vintage-industrial atmosphere is designed for playful, face-to-face gatherings with friends, family, and colleagues, offering a casual and lively alternative to a typical bar. Pins' Easton location spans over 38,000 square feet, making it the largest in the United States. This massive entertainment venue features two floors, a mezzanine level with stadium seating, and three full-service bars. It offers 16 duckpin bowling lanes, two indoor bocce courts, and more than 60 classic and modern pinball and arcade games. For additional fun, the location is known for its two outdoor patios, an indoor slide, and an expanded patio pong setup. **Activities** As noted below, some machines take actual quarters. Pins has two change machines (one downstairs and one upstairs) that accept ones, fives, or tens (only), and return quarters (only). * *Duckpin Bowling* [Like Bowling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duckpin_bowling) but with smaller balls, stubby pins, and no oil on the lanes. The cost is $9 per game per person. * *Pinball* [Who](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who)'s a [wizard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball_Wizard) on these [retro machines](https://pinballmap.com/map/?by_location_id=15311)? At $1 per play, everyone! Takes quarters. * *Arcade* Play classics like Gorf, Pac-Man, Gorf, Donkey Kong, Gorf, Galaga, and Gorf! The best part is, there's Gorf! And all the arcade games are free! * *Patio Pong* The classic college party staple but bigger. Instead of tossing a ping pong ball into cups, you use a regular ball and oversized buckets. There are two of these upstairs, and they're both free! * *Ping Pong* The most popular sport in China! They have two ping pong tables downstairs and two more ping pong tables upstairs. For those of you who have studied topological spaces and set theory, you will know this means they have four total ping pong tables. They have bubble gum dispensers with ping pong balls in them for 25¢ each. The dispensers take quarters. However, they also have racks where they store the ping pong paddles, and in these racks are slots for ping pong balls. It's not uncommon to see balls already here, so there's a chance you may be able to play ping pong for free if you want to. * *Hookie* You can't put your eye out! The safe alternative to darts: Hook thrown rings on a board. Outdoors on the upstairs patio, and free! * *Bocce* Like bowling, except there’s turf and a lot more balls. You can also knock your opponent’s balls out of the way. There are two of these upstairs, and they're both free! * *Foosball* Everyone loves [foosball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_football)! 50¢ a game. Takes quarters. * *Giant Jenga* Stack massive wooden blocks into a tower, then take turns pulling out one block at a time without collapsing the tower. There are four of these sprinkled throughout the venue (two downstairs and two upstairs, with one on each patio), and they're all free! * *Skeeball* There are three skeeball machines on the first floor (near the Gorf machine!), and they're all free! * *Giant Connect Four* On the outdoor patio upstairs, and free! * *Bubble Hockey* This is upstairs. Up to four people can play at once, and it costs $1. Takes quarters. * *Cornhole* There are two cornhole lanes upstairs, and they're both free! * *Basketball* There are two basketball machines downstairs. They're tucked behind the downstairs bar, so they're not always obvious unless you go look for them. They're $2 per play, and they take quarters. * *NES and Sega Genesis video games* These are collections, downstairs (near the Gorf machine!), of video games that you can play for free! * *The Big Metal Indoor Slide* This large two-story slide is for kids, and certainly no adults would ride this. After all, it's not like it's free or anything. **Outdoor Patio** Pins at Easton actually has two outdoor patios. But for our purposes, only the upstairs one matters. See, it will be winter and likely cold. But their upstairs patio has multiple ceiling heaters and two massive gas fire pits that put out a ton of heat. Sitting out here may be a real option. As mentioned above, the upstairs outdoor patio has one of the venue's two Patio Pong setups, one of their multiple Giant Jengas, the Giant Connect Four, and Hookie. **Food** Pins doesn't serve food, but there's a [Mikey's Late Night Slice](https://www.latenightslice.com/) next door. This Mikey's is basically an extension of the Easton Pins; there's a large open doorway between both establishments. Mikey's has a fountain dispenser with Coke products. You can also get Coke and Diet Coke (but not Coke Zero, like you can at Mikey's) at the bars in Pins, but I think the quality of the soda pop from Mikey's fountain is better than that from the bar hoses Pins uses to dispense soft drinks. You are also quite allowed at Pins to either bring food in or order it in via your favorite delivery app. **Parking** I recommend parking in the [Worth Garage](https://eastontowncenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/parking-at-easton-updated-file-sept-25.pdf). It's literally right next door to Pins, and it's free as long as you park on Level 2 or above. They recently started charging people to park on Level 1, and you pay for parking on this level the same way you pay for street parking in Columbus, with the [ParkColumbus](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.parkmobile.parkcolumbus&hl=en_US&pli=1) app. I've seen them enforce this by ticketing people's cars, but I don't know how they actually compel payment. The garage is not a public street that actual cops can write you tickets for parking illegally on. If you have an actual ticket from a cop that you don't pay, they can go so far as to issue a warrant for your arrest. But all Easton has, seemingly, is, "[Please pay our ticket](https://eastonpreferredpark.com/)." Still, in my ongoing efforts to eliminate needless stress and aggravation from my life, I just park above the first Level. The actual address of the garage is [4049 Worth Ave, Columbus, OH 43219](https://www.google.com/maps/place/4049+Worth+Ave,+Columbus,+OH+43219/@40.0542293,-82.9137962,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x88388a86de3af559:0xc1dc8b4661fc834f!8m2!3d40.0542293!4d-82.9137962!16s%2Fg%2F11sgzjp4ml?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D). However, your GPS is stupid. The actual entrances to the garage are on the cross steets Brighton Rose Way and Fenlon St, not Worth Ave. Just keep this in mind once you get to the garage. **Where we'll meet** I'll post in the comments where I am. People will obviously want to explore different areas of the venue over the course of the event (and there's a lot to explore), but please just let me know (as in, come find me) once you've arrived. **Peroration** Come on out and say hi! 😄

If you enjoy knitting, crocheting, working with yarn, this is the group for you. Meet new friends, bring your projects, learn from others.
We normally meet a few times a month during the week from 6-8pm. We will occasionally meet on weekends during daytime hours.

**Topic and Speaker TBD** ***Bring your laptop and expect to write some (non-AI generated) code!*** *(title subject to change)* Food and drinks will be available. **LOCATION:** 6515 Longshore Loop, Suite 300, Dublin, OH 43017 **FREE PARKING:** 6725 Longshore Street, Dublin, OH 43017