Domain Driven Design

Observability is supposed to help us understand our systems but for many teams it has quietly become one of the most expensive and least flexible parts of the stack. Plenty of organizations take polished SaaS platforms like Datadog to get real value quickly early on, only to hit the same wall later: runaway costs, pricing tied to architectural decisions, and vendor lock-in so strong it makes Rogers and Bell both blush. In this talk, I’ll walk through a real-world case study of a JVM-based production system that migrated away from a Datadog-centric observability setup to an open-source, OpenTelemetry-based platform. We’ll dig into the why behind the move, the architectural decisions that mattered, the mistakes along the way, and how the team ended up with pragmatic visibility into latency, errors, and resource usage at a fraction of the cost. The second half of the talk is practical and forward-looking. I’ll show how OpenTelemetry unlocks real choice by acting as a neutral data plane for your telemetry. From there, we’ll look at modern, off-the-shelf observability backends you can plug in within minutes without rewriting applications or installing new agents. Want to dual-write, swap vendors, or route data somewhere new? This is how you do it without a big-bang rewrite or another long-term commitment with a new vendor. This session is for engineers and CEOs who are feeling the observability cost squeeze, want leverage back from vendors, and are looking for realistic ways to modernize monitoring without lighting their entire stack on fire each time they decide to change their tools of choice. **About the venue** Free Times Cafe has bistro-style seating and a full food and drink menu. Please consider helping to support the venue by planning to have supper during the talk. **Speaker Bio** Alexei Zenin is a Platform Engineering Consultant based out of Toronto, Canada. Over the course of his career he has worked across the Healthcare, Marketing, Video Games, and Banking industries. He loves to tackle hard problems in the distributed systems space with a focus on scaling platforms both from a technical and process perspective. He is a strong advocate for highly maintainable and well tested code while at the same time pragmatically delivering value to the end user. He has contributed to the broader tech community, namely to Confluent’s blogs on Apache Kafka, spoken at Current 2022 in Austin, Texas, and spoken at XP Game Summit 2025 in Toronto, Canada. During his 5 years at Uken Games he contributed to several games like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Jeopardy. One title of note he saw from inception to completion was a game for Tim Hortons built right into the official app, Tim’s Word Challenge. Millions of Canadians have played it along with their morning coffee. He also got to work with Netflix on several unannounced games during his time at the studio. Currently, Alexei is working with various clients, both large and small to modernize and streamline their platforms with the most appropriate tools and practices. Outside of his professional life, he gives back to his community by volunteering at UofT. He also enjoys paddleboarding and attending live rock concerts to reset after long coding sessions.

**Attention attendees!** **To register, use** [Luma](https://luma.com/w9xt30te) Warning: The meetup is not a platform for RSVP registration; for this, you need to follow [thisLink ](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tech-business-networking-toronto-tickets-1291770433139?aff=oddtdtcreator)to purchase a registration ticket. The meetup is one of the platforms through which we offer participation in our events. **Startup Valley — Toronto** A curated pitch night for startup founders, operators, angels and VC partners. We design these sessions to help founders sharpen their thinking through direct, candid feedback — and to give strong investors access to serious teams. **What happens:** • 4-8 startups pitch live and receive feedback from angels and VC partners • Feedback focuses on real decisions and next steps — not surface-level opinions • Investors stay in the room before and after pitches • The format leaves space for real conversations, not rushed networking • Attendance is limited to keep the room focused Designed for clear thinking, not noise. **Who you’ll meet:** * Startup founders * Angel investors and VC partners * Operators in marketing, sales, and tech * AI engineers * Local and international founders * AI Experts * Founders from Europe, Asia, and the United Kingdom **Practical details** **For investors:** We invite angel investors and VC partners to participate as judges and contributors. **To become a judge,** and get early access to our startups database, please fill out th[ the form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc8CVqvhQJu-AcclIF6PCuwjL4YpQt4w0FchGSoutRkt58v4g/viewform). Join the judge table, meet other investors, and see what teams are building early. Founders need your experienced view. **For pitching startups:** Startups selected to pitch will present live on stage and receive feedback from investors. **After purchasing a ticket:** Please[ submit your pitch deck](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchcZr9gCNJh0RLiKBgbdbDBKEOc-92LNySkzHf8qGPHg5Wpg/viewform) and ensure it is open for viewers. **Agenda** **19:00 – 19:30** **Registration** Guests register, receive badges, and event programs. This is an opportunity for casual networking, making first connections, and preparing for the event. **19:30 – 20:30** **Event Kickoff & Interactive Networking** Official welcome from the organizers with a brief overview of the event goals and schedule. Interactive networking helps participants set their objectives and connect with key contacts. **20:40 – 21:20** **Startup Pitch Session** Startups present their projects to investors and experts. Each team has 5 minutes to pitch, covering the project's core idea, business model, and target market. **21:20 – 22:00** **Chill & Networking** Participants enjoy casual conversations with investors, discuss collaborations, and exchange ideas over refreshments.

Join us on March 26th for an exciting **AWS User Group Toronto meetup** focused on **AI-driven development with Kiro**! The evening kicks off with a presentation and live demoes showcasing how Kiro transforms the development workflow, followed by AWS experts sharing the best practices and approaches to get most out of AI-driven development. We'll wrap up with a hands-on workshop and Q&A session — Kiro credits will be provided for participants who want to explore at their own pace. As a bonus, enjoy pizza on us and take home some exclusive Kiro-themed swag! To make the most of the workshop, please come with Kiro pre-installed on your own computer and/or AWS account ready to go. **Agenda:** 6:00-6:15: Welcome Introductions, and community update 6:15-7:00: AI-driven development with Kiro - Presentation and Demo 7:00-7:30: Lessons from field - Best practices and accelerators 7:30-8:00: Workshop set and Q&A **Details:** Address: **18 York St., 7th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5J 2T8** Date: **March 26, 2026** Time: **6:00 pm to 8:00 pm EST** **Speaker:** * **Simran Singh** \- Sr\. Solutions Architect @ AWS * **Divya Jadav** \- Solutions Architect @ AWS * **Abhijith Ramesh Chandra** \- Solutions Architect @ AWS Please plan to arrive between 05:30 PM and 06:00 PM to ensure time to check-in, before the event begins at 06:00 PM. Visitors will need to present a government-issued photo ID to verify their identity and will have their picture taken to receive a visitor badge. Please wear your badge and remember to return all visitor badges to reception at the end of the visit. Parking is available onsite. There is a parking garage located beneath the building. You can pull an access ticket at the garage entrance off 120 Bremner Boulevard or Lower Simcoe Street. If you are arriving via the Union station, the building is conveniently located next to the Union station. Please enter through the main entrance on Bremner Boulevard or via the PATH Network and proceed to the elevators.

We’re still working to get more people into these Meetups, but our goal is to give PlayYourCourt members a few social tennis outings each week in addition to your practice sessions and Challenge League matches. These Meetups are co-ed, super laid back, and all skill levels are welcome. Post your skill level and a suggested court in the comments section so we can round up as many players as we can for some tennis fun! Also, if you’re looking to meet new practice partners or play some matches and you aren’t already in the PlayYourCourt Community, you can go here to see what we’re all about and sign up: https://www.playyourcourt.com/tennis-community/toronto-ON/meetup/ If you love tennis, we’d love to have you! Be sure and watch the quick video that explains how everything works. Happy hitting! - Scott

Join us for an exciting ServiceNow Toronto Developer Meetup - Spring 2026 Edition! 📅 **Date**: Thursday, March 26th, 2026 🕕 **Time**: 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM EST 📍 **Location**: Scotland Yard, 56 The Esplanade, Toronto, ON **Agenda**: * **Networking -** Get to know your fellow ServiceNow Developers * **Knowledge Sharing** \- Share your insights and learn from others * **Additional details will be announced closer to the event!** Refreshments will be served at the event - Send us a private message to let us know if you have any allergies! **Note**: The event details are subject to change, so please stay tuned for any updates. This event is sponsored by Pentio Inc.

**Attention attendees!** **To register, use** [Luma](https://luma.com/w9xt30te) Warning: The meetup is not a platform for RSVP registration; for this, you need to follow [thisLink ](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ai-technology-pitch-night-toronto-tickets-1291770483289?aff=oddtdtcreator)to purchase a registration ticket. The meetup is one of the platforms through which we offer participation in our events. **Startup Valley — Toronto** A curated pitch night for startup founders, operators, angels and VC partners. We design these sessions to help founders sharpen their thinking through direct, candid feedback — and to give strong investors access to serious teams. **What happens:** • 4-8 startups pitch live and receive feedback from angels and VC partners • Feedback focuses on real decisions and next steps — not surface-level opinions • Investors stay in the room before and after pitches • The format leaves space for real conversations, not rushed networking • Attendance is limited to keep the room focused Designed for clear thinking, not noise. **Who you’ll meet:** * Startup founders * Angel investors and VC partners * Operators in marketing, sales, and tech * AI engineers * Local and international founders * AI Experts * Founders from Europe, Asia, and the United Kingdom **Practical details** **For investors:** We invite angel investors and VC partners to participate as judges and contributors. **To become a judge,** and get early access to our startups database, please fill out th[ the form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc8CVqvhQJu-AcclIF6PCuwjL4YpQt4w0FchGSoutRkt58v4g/viewform). Join the judge table, meet other investors, and see what teams are building early. Founders need your experienced view. **For pitching startups:** Startups selected to pitch will present live on stage and receive feedback from investors. **After purchasing a ticket:** Please[ submit your pitch deck](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchcZr9gCNJh0RLiKBgbdbDBKEOc-92LNySkzHf8qGPHg5Wpg/viewform) and ensure it is open for viewers. **Agenda** **19:00 – 19:30** **Registration** Guests register, receive badges, and event programs. This is an opportunity for casual networking, making first connections, and preparing for the event. **19:30 – 20:30** **Event Kickoff & Interactive Networking** Official welcome from the organizers with a brief overview of the event goals and schedule. Interactive networking helps participants set their objectives and connect with key contacts. **20:40 – 21:20** **Startup Pitch Session** Startups present their projects to investors and experts. Each team has 5 minutes to pitch, covering the project's core idea, business model, and target market. **21:20 – 22:00** **Chill & Networking** Participants enjoy casual conversations with investors, discuss collaborations, and exchange ideas over refreshments.

This is a ticketed event. Please register at [this link](https://luma.com/lpikw708). ​Ryan Faulkner explores various papers that address cooperation and safety in multi-agent LLM simulations. Some of the core topics will include: * ​Moral behaviour of agents in high-stakes, zero-sum, and morally charged social dilemmas * ​Governance and sanctioning dynamics and the ways that LLM agents often fail to cooperate and free-ride in common-pool resource game * ​Mechanism design interventions like mediation, contracts, and elected leadership are explored to steer agents toward safer outcomes. ​This research also reveals that LLMs adapt their behavior based on awareness of their conversational partner's identity. ​​​**Event Schedule** 6:00 to 6:30 - Food and introductions 6:30 to 7:30 - Presentation and Q&A 7:30 to 9:00 - Open Discussions ​​​​​​If you can't make it in person, feel free to join the live stream starting at 6:30 pm, via [this link](https://www.youtube.com/@Trajectory-Labs/live).

Step into a high-energy space designed exclusively for influencers, content creators, and entertainment professionals. This is where creativity meets opportunity, and collaborations turn into real growth. Whether you’re building your personal brand, launching a new project, looking for partnerships, or expanding your reach, this event brings together ambitious individuals who understand the power of visibility, storytelling, and influence. 🎯 Who Should Attend? 🎥 Entertainment Industry Professionals Actors, Filmmakers, Producers, Directors, Screenwriters, Talent Managers 🎵 Music & Performing Artists Musicians, Singers, Rappers, DJs, Dancers, Songwriters, Performers 📱 Influencers & Digital Creators TikTok & Instagram Content Creators and Influencers, YouTubers, Streamers, Podcasters, Bloggers 📸 Creative & Media Talent Models, Photographers, Videographers, Editors, Creative Directors, Brand Strategists 🎨 Creative Entrepreneurs Fashion Creators, Beauty Influencers, Lifestyle Creators, Media Personalities 🌟 Why Attend? -Connect with fellow influencers, content creators, and entertainers -Find collaboration partners for content, shows, and brand deals -Build authentic industry relationships Share ideas, strategies, and creative vision -Expand your network in a room full of ambitious individuals Dress Code: Creative Professional To support our partnership with the venue, we kindly ask all attendees to purchase food or drinks during the event. Thank you for your understanding and support. If you’re serious about growing your platform, building your brand, and making meaningful industry connections, this is your space. 🎟️ Limited tickets available. Secure yours now. Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube @thenetworkingevents. Stay tuned for upcoming events, giveaways, and future experiences.

[Summary] This meetup is for those who are interested in code, web development, design, cloud, or AI. All levels are welcome, so feel free to bring your laptop and discuss what you are working on or what you are learning. You can share your projects and ideas with other participants freely. There are outlets and WiFi, drinks are about $5 for tea, they take card only. [Price] Attendance is FREE. But you need to buy something from the venue. [Policies] \- We do not tolerate harassment of our members \- We remind users that that this meetup is intended for networking and hobby development\, and any attempts at using this meetup event as a dating platform will not be not be tolerated Further information: https://torontostack.exchange/

**Join us for Dinner and Stations of the Cross** Friday March 27, 2026 @ 6PM St. Patrick's Hall, 139 McCaul St $5 for Dinner Stations of the Cross to Follow in the Church **Register Now** - [https://bit.ly/Ignite-DinnerandStationsoftheCross](https://buy.stripe.com/aFa00jbu8eDy08wes7a7C0k) *All young adults are welcome!* Looking forward to seeing everyone! Spots are still open - invite a friend!

Let’s do some coding together at a cafe! No more working alone in the weekend. Here, we write code together. And I mean together together. Not occupying-the-same-space-but-separate together. Here’s how it works: Jennifer brings her mobile app project, tells everyone that it is like Pinterest for recipes and she’d like to work on the nav bar. Paul and Chloe think Jennifer's project is fascinating, and they join the group. They gather around Jennifer’s laptop and work on the nav bar for 2 hours. Jennifer is the one typing out the code while Paul and Chloe research, brainstorm, and offer suggestions. If you’re feeling stuck on your own project or need a motivation boost, bring it to mob programming! Want to learn by watching how others code and solve problems? Join someone else’s project at this event! Oh and we love your half-done projects that you are a bit embarrassed to share. Absolutely bring those to the event! **Discord**: We use Discord to share screen & code snippets during the event. Also feel free to share your projects here before the event! https://discord.gg/yvAGbh4PpD **Event policy**: * We have 0 tolerance for harassment. * We don’t allow the projects that are not meant to be shared in public such as school assignments, interview tasks, or trade secrets. * The goal is to write code. We discourage you from pitching business ideas here, doing code reviews, or spending the whole event on planning what to do. * Please buy a drink, and tip the barista well.

Friends, it’s time to hang out! Let’s meet for a movie night filled with laughs, popcorn, and good vibes. Its Saturday night , lets grab some drinks after the movie 🍷 Please book your tickets as soon as available because they go out fast. And post your seat numbers. I will keep you guys updated as soon as I buy mine.  ****Time and seats we will update as and when tickets available for booking

**SUBSCRIBE TO [THE MAILING LIST](https://torontorationality.beehiiv.com/). EVENTS ARE NO LONGER POSTED HERE.** ​Arguing about important things doesn’t usually lead to people changing their mind. Double Crux is a technique for making discussions more productive and understanding the actual reasoning of those who disagree with us. Sometimes it even helps to better understand the foundations of your own beliefs. Together, we'll learn about [Double Crux](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ya59PtGeYnCG25eWn/double-crux-in-a-box), and then break into pairs with someone we disagree with to practice finding out why our views are different and what might change our minds. ## Location Enter the Mars Atrium via University Avenue entrance. We'll meet at the food court in the basement. I'll be wearing a bright neon yellow jacket. ## Detailed Directions to the Food Court Enter from University Avenue and walk east until you see escalators. Take the escalators down. The food court is to the east of the escalators. If you are lost/confused, ask a security guard to direct you to the food court. [This event is cross-posted from LessWrong.](https://www.lesswrong.com/events/wuMwSJJEKZHfccoRs/toronto-acx-meetups-everywhere-spring-2025)

We meet to learn and practice American Sign Language and to grow our familiarity with Deaf culture. Facilitated by hearing folks (with a connection to a professional interpreter) using Deaf-created content. People of all ASL skill levels are welcome! As we learn, we hope to connect more with the Deaf community in Central Ohio. Join us as you're able! Come regularly or just once - whatever you're looking for! Each meetup will explore different topics related to ASL/Deaf culture, and will feature time to practice conversation with one another. Just bring yourself and a willingness to learn!

**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** TBA

Builders, creators, architects, admins, consultants - come one, come all. This one's for you. We're bringing a little friendly competition to the Columbus ServiceNow community while highlighting the cool things people have built on the platform. Five presenters will take the stage to showcase something they've built, solved, designed, or imagined on the ServiceNow platform - and a panel of judges (plus YOU, our amazing audience) will score them live. So basically, America's Got Talent but make it ServiceNow's Got Talent. Bring a notepad if you'd like 'cause you'll definitely be learning something new. Each presenter gets 10 minutes max to wow the crowd with: • A demo • A real-world business solution • A bold idea • A UX transformation • Or a creative use of the platform Judging Criteria: 🏆 Business Value 🚀 Innovation ✨ User Experience This event is about celebrating ideas, sharing knowledge, and showing how ServiceNow can drive both business impact and meaningful user value. Come learn. Come support. Come get inspired. Refreshments and bites will be provided. And maybe next time… you’ll be on stage.

**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.

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).