Democratized Learning

**Advance ticket sales have ended but plenty of additional tickets remain available at the door.** [Profs and Pints DC](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Trump, Your Rights, and Resistance,”** an overview of the legal landscape in the District of Columbia just over one year into Donald Trump’s second administration, with Scott Michelman, legal director of the ACLU of D.C. and lecturer on law and Shikes Fellow in Civil Liberties and Civil Rights at Harvard Law School. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-trump-rights-resistance](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-trump-rights-resistance) ] Our nation looks a lot different just over a year after President Trump took office in January 2025. What has actually happened—and what does it mean for our rights? Get an informed breakdown on the civil rights and civil liberties issues that have defined the period since Trump's second inauguration with Scott Michelman, a legal scholar who last January gave an excellent talk on the legal guardrails potentially checking Trump’s actions. He’ll discuss what has been happening with immigration policy, criminal justice reform, domestic military deployment, discrimination, and threats to free speech. He’ll identify troubling patterns, explain where advocates have successfully pushed back in the courts, and outline the unresolved concerns ahead. The talk will also explore what individuals can do next, from understanding their rights to participating in elections that will shape the future of this administration and our country. (Door: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: The October 18, 2025 “No Kings Day” protest in Washington D.C. (Photo by Geoff Livingston / Wikimedia Commons.)

This meetup is for people that want to play table games: board games, strategy games, episodic RPGs, eurogames, card games and co-operative games. NOT A GAMER BUT WANT TO LEARN? We teach them all... We are open minded on all games. Games we plan to teach and play include Ascension, Azul, Azul Summer Pavillion, Splendor, Magic The Gathering, Melee/Wizard, Backgammon, Castallan, Chess Variants, Compounded, Dead of Winters: Crossroads, Dixit, Dominion, Exploding Kittens, Flux, GravWell, Ghost Stories, Hanabi, Heroquest RPG, Hive, House Divided, House on the Hill, Illuminati, Ingenious, King of Tokyo, Lost Cities, Machi Koro, Munchkin, Pandemic, Pirate Dice, Ogre/GEV, Qwirkle, Race for the Galaxy, Roll Through The Ages, Ricochet Robot, RoboRally, Settlers of Catan, Sagrada, Sentinels of the Multiverse, Splendor, Spot-It, Sushi-To-Go, Takenoko, Ticket to Ride, Tsuro, Up Front, Yahtzee, Advanced Wizards Card Game, etc.

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/6/3/f/8/event_160705592.jpeg (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ZA8SWMLWS7WHA) NOTES 1. The conversation course is continuing education, designed to excel students' Amharic conversation skill. 2. The course runs for 12 weeks. 3. We don't give placement test. The students place themselves and they can switch to a level up or down, after they examine themselves. 4. Class cancelled due to 'Force Majeure', will be recovered at the end of the course. 5. Arriving by Metro: The closest metro stations are Farragut West and Farragut North. 6. Meter parking is also an option. It is about $ 0.25 for 8 minutes. 7. The payment for each class is $ 15.00 per person per hour. It will be $ 20.00 per person per hour for walk-ins. However, it is depending on availability. 8. Students can bring friends and pay $ 20 for 2 persons per hour. But it has to be an advance payment.

Please join us every week for power networking! Our Chapter Passed $1,666,736 USD in the past 12 months! BNI members, on average, increase their business 20% the first year. Our chapter is a dynamic, committed group of business people who know how to refer business to each other. Come for our meeting -- stay for the referrals!!! We have open categories for individuals who will bring enthusiasm and integrity to our meeting. Just one person per professional specialty is allowed in each chapter. Visit a meeting to find out more and lock out your competition! Register Here: https://bninovanorth.com/va-nova-north-bni-mclean-business-connection--n136/en-US/visitorregistration?chapterId=16988

Join us at Prefect to talk about Context Engineering and Data Engineering for AI! Please RSVP on luma for headcount purposes! https://luma.com/l1epj9r3 \-\-\- Data Engineers DC is a professional group that meets monthly to discuss topics including all things related to Data Engineering such as open data, data gathering, data munging, and the creation, storage and maintenance of datasets. We combine presentations with hands-on workshops, always seeking to make our data munging lives easier. \-\-\- Location: Prefect - **2112 Pennsylvania Avenue NW** **Washington, DC 20037** Note: **Bring a photo ID**, as these are required by building security. Agenda: 5:30-6:15pm: Food & Networking 6:16-6:30pm: Introductions 6:30-7:00pm \-\-\- Data Engineers DC is a program of DC2. Learn more at www.dc2.org \-\-\- Sign up to give a 5 minute micro-presentation! https://forms.gle/8YSBJr5LGsfr3qKMA Fun meetup syntax bug: Link: https://forms.gle/8YSBJr5LGsfr3qKMA Text formatted as a link: [link](https://forms.gle/8YSBJr5LGsfr3qKMA) Link formatted as a link: [https://forms.gle/8YSBJr5LGsfr3qKMA](https://forms.gle/8YSBJr5LGsfr3qKMA) (Data processing is hard. If you've found bugs like this in your pipeline, sign up using the above link to talk about it for five minutes!)

Twenty years ago, George Mason University professor Zachary Schrag published the definitive history of the Washington Metro: "The Great Society Subway". With the 50th anniversary of the system coming up at the end of March, TEDC founder Will Rice will make a presentation based on the book. Many elements and conflicts combined to create the Metrorail we now enjoy: a trust in big government projects; the battle over urban highways; the emerging D.C. home rule movement; Black-white relations; and the balance of city and suburban interests. Come learn more about it all! Also at the meeting: pick up your pre-ordered Metro 50 t-shirt (for new purchases, an order form is [here](https://transitenthusiastsdc.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/t-shirt-order-form.pdf)). And hear the latest news on how we plan to celebrate the system's golden anniversary on March 27!

Socrates Café meets on the first Saturday of each month. Though this may be considered a "philosophical" group, there are no rules as to what is discussed. Usually, the topics revolve around social concerns, morality, and the first principles of things. Prior to each meeting we vote online for the questions we will discuss. That way, we will have enough time to ruminate on them and have more in-depth conversations. If you RSVP to a meeting, you may post your question in the event comments section below. I'll send out a survey for voting a few days prior to the meetup. We discuss two questions each night. So you will get to cast two votes in the survey. When we meet, we break into smaller groups of five to seven to discuss the top two vote-getters. Each group discusses one question for around 45-50 minutes, and we then take a short break. After reconvening, each group moves on to its second question. Hope to see you there! -Brian

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Ireland’s Fight for Freedom,”** with Kevin Matthews, assistant professor of history at George Mason University and former London correspondent for Vatican Radio reporting on British and Irish news. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/northern-virginia-ireland-freedom](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/northern-virginia-ireland-freedom) .] After centuries of struggle, Irish men and women won their freedom from Great Britain after waging a war that set the pattern for all other independence struggles of the 20th century. But there was a price—the partition of their country, a split setting the stage for the Northern Ireland “Troubles” that didn’t end until 1998. Gain a deeper understanding of Ireland and its history with Professor Kevin Matthews, a historian and frequent Smithsonian Associates speaker who had served as a journalist covering the last stages of the Troubles in Ireland in the early and mid 1990s. He’ll discuss in depth how the Irish won independence in a two-year war between 1919 and 1921, covering topics as the role women played in the conflict, the life and tactics of the revolutionary leader Michael Collins, and the Irish development of “urban guerilla warfare” using small, highly mobile armed units called “flying columns.” Most important, this talk will examine how the conflict between Irish nationalists and Irish unionists led to Ireland’s division and later conflict. From the Easter Rising to the Good Friday Agreement, from Bloody Sunday to Brexit, this conflict has never quite gone away. As the Irish poet, William Butler Yeats once wrote: Now and in time to be, Wherever green is worn, Are changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born. Professor Matthews will explore how the Irish fought to a standstill what was then the mightiest empire in the world and how, more than he could have known, Yeats’ prediction still rings true today. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: Members of the Irish Republican Army’s West Connemara Flying Column in 1921. (Public Domain photo.)

Learn to manage stress and achieve self-growth through simple relaxation and Meditation. Heartfulness Meditation is a simple, modern, methodical approach to meditation. Rather than homing in on your breath or repeating a mantra, you simply focus inward, on your heart, to cultivate inner strength and serenity. Heartfulness meditation is gaining traction in recent years. It focuses on the heart, allowing individuals to connect with themselves on a deeper level, and ultimately achieve peace, relaxation, and clarity. It is a practice that encourages patience, self-compassion, and acceptance, helping cultivate a deeper appreciation for the present moment. This practice is offered with love and at no cost

To help us estimate attendance and to see the venue address, please RSVP on Luma!: https://luma.com/af0yjzz6 *A free, public workshop—no technical background needed* ​Artificial intelligence is no longer just getting better at narrow tasks—it’s beginning to look *general*. Many researchers believe we’re entering the early stages of the **AGI transition**: a period where AI systems start to match or exceed human abilities across a wide range of domains. ​This workshop explores what AGI actually means, how to think about it intuitively (without hype or jargon), and what this transition could mean for your job, your relationships, and your day-to-day life—much sooner than most people expect. ​Together, we’ll explore questions like: ​**What is AGI?** ​How do experts define artificial general intelligence, and how is it different from today’s AI tools? ​**Work & Jobs:** ​Which kinds of jobs are already being automated or transformed—and which ones experts believe are most likely to remain resilient? ​**Human Connection:** ​How is AI starting to replace or supplement roles once filled by coworkers, friends, tutors, therapists, and companions? ​**Robots & the Physical World:** ​What happens when advanced AI is paired with rapidly improving robotics—and which parts of the economy could change next? ​**What you’ll get:** * ​A clear, beginner-friendly explanation of AGI and why it matters * ​Real-world examples of how AI is already reshaping work and social life * ​Live demos that highlight both impressive capabilities and emerging risks * ​Interactive discussion and exercises to test your own intuitions about the future ​Come ready to grapple with one of the biggest transitions humanity may ever face—a shift that could redefine not just how we work, but how we relate to each other, find meaning, and navigate a world increasingly shaped by intelligent machines.

Discover the path to stress management, life's tranquility, and self-improvement through Heartfulness Meditation. Embrace relaxation, meditation, and emotional detoxification practices to unlock your best self. Join our free sessions every Sunday at 8 AM and Wednesday at 7 / 7:30 PM at various centers in MD and VA. Experience the profound benefits of these simple yet powerful practices. Commit to a few months of meditation and witness the transformative impact firsthand. We eagerly await your presence at these enlightening sessions.

• What we'll do On https://blackecon101.podbean.com/ Thursdays at 6 pm. discussing the economy....

Details Location: Crimson Whiskey Bar (Either the downstairs whiskey bar, or main floor bar, TBD) The purpose of Thinkers and Drinkers is to facilitate casual but meaningful and interesting conversations with other people in a face-to-face setting. The topics cover a wide variety of issues and are different for every meeting. While conversations may get heated at times, we ask that all members be respectful of each other and refrain from personal insults. Topic: The Gamblification of Everything Gambling is certainly not anything new. The idea of making a quick buck based on a game was just as appealing to ancient Mesopotamians as it is to estranged uncles who moved to Las Vegas. In the US, sports gambling has exploded since the Supreme Court ruling in 2018 that struck down a nationwide ban on sports betting. A [survey](https://sri.siena.edu/2025/02/18/22-of-all-americans-half-of-men-18-49-have-active-online-sports-betting-account/) released last year revealed 22% of Americans had an active sports betting account, and nearly half of men aged 18-40. This growth has mainly been associated with mobile apps like DraftKings, which thrive on allowing many small bets anytime, anywhere, on people's phones. Unsuprisingly this has led to a dramatic increase in gambling addictions for people in their 20s. It's not just sports gambling that has taken off, but other new betting markets like Polymarket that allow users to bet on anything from elections and international conflict to earthquakes and video game release dates. Meme/Joke markets like "[Whether or not Jesus will return this year](https://polymarket.com/event/will-jesus-christ-return-before-2027)" have popped up that have volume in the tens of millions of dollars. With prediction markets becoming legal in the US after a CFTC decision in October 2025, these prediction markets are set to grow more, both in terms of volume and the number of things they bet on. Questions to Consider: * Are sports gambling addictions overhyped? * Should the federal government put restrictions on sports betting and prediction markets? * How does the role of social media influence people's views on taking extraordinary risks to get rich fast? * What type of impact do prediction markets have on the things they are trying to predict? Could this provide adverse incentives for someone to influence an election just because of the bets they have taken?

The Humanist Monthly Program is our longest running event and still a community favorite. In the old days it used to be called "Going to HCCO" and we still like to think of it as our flagship event. Food and drinks will be provided at the event. Feel free to show up a little bit early to hang out and talk. Our March speakers are Molly Gaines and Zack Parrish, co-organizers of the Secular Education Association: They will share their story of how a small group of Ohio parents grew into a national organization tracking released-time religious instruction and other church–state issues in public schools. The presentation will cover SEA’s early wins and hard lessons, what we’re seeing nationally right now, and how local advocates can play a meaningful role in protecting public education. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the landscape — and practical ways to get involved. 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

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.

Join other experienced and aspiring agile coaches and professionals to: * develop and practice your coaching skills in a peer-to-peer environment * share current successes and challenges in your work environment and get support from each other * learn from each other, build better relationships and experiment with new ideas

Feeling down? Sometimes depressed? Can't focus? Negativity & stress? Recent losses? Creativity in career and personal life hindered by mental blocks? Sometimes we never fully recover from traumatic experiences. Whether it was yesterday, last week or a year ago, traumatic experiences - a loss of a loved one, losing a job, a breakup - can leave you scarred. You talk about it and feel a little better, but it never goes away. After you hang up the phone, it's still there; the sadness, the cloud, the over-thinking, the worry, the guilt. You try to focus, but you're blocked. You try to look forward into new experiences, new relationships but a cloud is hanging over you, casting a shadow on what you once considered a bright, cheerful future. What happened to your courage? Your strength of character? You're 'why not' attitude? Whoever said 'time heals' must have had a special time machine, because after weeks, months, years, you're wondering - when exactly does that kick in? Sometimes it seems like drinking or drugs are the way to go. But they wear off, and now the problem is still there with added side effects from the drugs. At this free local Meetup event we will talk about: * What causes grief, anxiety and depression to become chronic. * Is it possible to regain your joy and happiness even after traumatic experiences? * How to break away from negativity and focus on the future * What are the steps to take to get control of your mind and your emotions? Learn about a safe, gentle, do-it-yourself counseling that can be done in the comfort of your own home. Let's explore safe, effective solutions for healing from traumatic experiences. Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to the event. We look forward to seeing you there. This group is sponsored by the Dianetics & Scientology Life Improvement Center.

**Google Analytics Alternatives** Is it finally time to make the switch away from Google Analytics? Two-and-a-half years ago Jason Packer asked this question at Columbus Web Analytics Wednesday. Since then: Google’s Universal Analytics has been sunset, we’ve changed our name to Columbus Data & Analytics Wednesday, and Jason has released two editions of his book “Google Analytics Alternatives”. Fresh off the release of the 2nd edition of his book, we thought it was time to re-open this conversation. While people love to complain about it, GA’s market share has remained relatively constant (at least in the United States). Why is that? You won’t find any complaints about GA4 in this talk, but rather an overview of what’s currently available in the market and how to frame your decision-making process. We’ll also be giving out some free copies of Jason’s book! So even if you’ve got a “GA4Lyfe” tattoo (no judgement), there’s free books to go with the free pizza and beer. 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)

We will be doing homemade runes with clay. It can take a bit of processing. To let them dry and paint. But I hope every one enjoys them. ^^ ## Rune Making Class **Carve Meaning. Shape Intention. Create Something That Lasts.** Runes are more than symbols. They are an ancient alphabet rooted in early Germanic and Norse traditions, historically used for writing, protection, divination, and marking objects with intention. Each rune carries layered meaning. Strength. Protection. Prosperity. Movement. Transformation. In this Rune Making Class, you will create your own handcrafted rune set while learning what each symbol represents and how it has been used across history. ### What Runes Are Used For Runes have traditionally been used for: • Divination and guidance • Protection markings on tools, weapons, and homes • Meditation and self reflection • Setting intention and personal focus • Symbolic storytelling Whether you approach them from a historical, spiritual, or symbolic perspective, runes are tools for reflection and intention. *** ## Who This Is For This class is for: • Fantasy and history enthusiasts • Writers and world builders • Spiritual practitioners • Makers who enjoy hands on craft • Anyone drawn to ancient symbolism No prior experience is required. *** Runes were once carved into clay, wood, bone, and stone to carry intention into the world. Now you will make your own with clay. Seats are limited. Reserve your place and create something timeless.

Join membersrs of the Central Ohio UX and digital design community for a casual monthly breakfast.