Girl Nerds

Our next meet-up is scheduled for March 18th....and we promise it will be a blast! ​Join us for a no-fluff, practitioner-led deep dive into two critical LLM challenges with focus on quantization and cheat-proof evaluations . ​This time we will handle a pannel discussion with two experts in the area - David Kоchoanov and Yordan Darakchiev. ​Pannel 1: Smarter AI at lower cost: How quantization makes LLMs more efficient? ​What can you expect? ​LLMs guzzle RAM and GPU like crazy. Quick rundown: inference modes, bottlenecks, the math behind it. ​Hands-on: when to use each and how to benchmark properly. ​The talk will provide a quick review of LLM inference modes, current bottlenecks, and numerics. The main goal is to explain post-training quantization methods that are most commonly supported by modern software and hardware, and give practical recommendations for their use and model benchmarking. We'll also provide a brief summary of the academic literature and discuss quantization-aware training and distillation. ​Who will present? ​David Kochanov has over 10 years of experience in computer vision research and development. In his current role at CARIAD (Volkswagen Group), he works on autonomous driving and driver assistance systems, with a focus on model deployment for real-time inference, including quantization and architectural optimizations. ​Pannel 2: Everybody Lies: How Language Models (and People) Cheat ​What can you expect? ​Teaching computers and people have the same temptations - students game grades, LLMs game benchmarks. We grade LLMs like exams: bad criteria reward test-taking tricks, not truth. The talk will present specially built for the pannel small BI-style benchmark (SQL, data summaries, and insight generation) with multiple LLM "judges" grade multiple models. With only couple of stress tests on the judges with small changes to the grading scheme all were broken - creating pure chaos! ​Rankings flip depending on who grades, response length beats correctness, and judges favour familiar model "accents". ​We'll end with an "academic integrity" toolkit for LLM evaluation: ensembles, invariance checks, length controls, and lightweight human calibration to make our LLM metrics harder to cheat on, and easier to trust. ​Who will present? ​Yordan Darakchiev is a data scientst and technical trainer. He has helped various teams turn data and ML into modern, measureable, production systems. His specialty are vision and language models, with a sharp focus on evaluation - fairness, privacy, trustworthiness, and robustness. He also teaches math and machine learning and has helped kickstart the career of more than 1000 data and ML professionals. ​Our next meet-up is scheduled for March 18th....and we promise it will be a blast! ​Join us for a no-fluff, practitioner-led deep dive into two critical LLM challenges with focus on quantization and cheat-proof evaluations . ​This time we will handle a pannel discussion with two experts in the area - David Kоchoanov and Yordan Darakchiev. ​Pannel 1: Smarter AI at lower cost: How quantization makes LLMs more efficient? ​What can you expect? ​LLMs guzzle RAM and GPU like crazy. Quick rundown: inference modes, bottlenecks, the math behind it. ​Hands-on: when to use each and how to benchmark properly. ​The talk will provide a quick review of LLM inference modes, current bottlenecks, and numerics. The main goal is to explain post-training quantization methods that are most commonly supported by modern software and hardware, and give practical recommendations for their use and model benchmarking. We'll also provide a brief summary of the academic literature and discuss quantization-aware training and distillation. ​Who will present? ​David Kochanov has over 10 years of experience in computer vision research and development. In his current role at CARIAD (Volkswagen Group), he works on autonomous driving and driver assistance systems, with a focus on model deployment for real-time inference, including quantization and architectural optimizations. ​Pannel 2: Everybody Lies: How Language Models (and People) Cheat ​What can you expect? ​Teaching computers and people have the same temptations - students game grades, LLMs game benchmarks. We grade LLMs like exams: bad criteria reward test-taking tricks, not truth. The talk will present specially built for the pannel small BI-style benchmark (SQL, data summaries, and insight generation) with multiple LLM "judges" grade multiple models. With only couple of stress tests on the judges with small changes to the grading scheme all were broken - creating pure chaos! ​Rankings flip depending on who grades, response length beats correctness, and judges favour familiar model "accents". ​We'll end with an "academic integrity" toolkit for LLM evaluation: ensembles, invariance checks, length controls, and lightweight human calibration to make our LLM metrics harder to cheat on, and easier to trust. ​Who will present? ​Yordan Darakchiev is a data scientst and technical trainer. He has helped various teams turn data and ML into modern, measureable, production systems. His specialty are vision and language models, with a sharp focus on evaluation - fairness, privacy, trustworthiness, and robustness. He also teaches math and machine learning and has helped kickstart the career of more than 1000 data and ML professionals. Agenda: 18:30-19:00 - Welcome drinks 19:00-20:00 - Pannel 1 & Pannel 2 20:00-20:30 - Q&A 20:30-21:30 - Networking ​Note: Event will be handled in English. ​Event is free but registration is mandatory: https://luma.com/8bbbxx1t

**Founders Running Club** (FRC) brings founders, investors, tech, creative people and startup enthusiasts together for weekly easy runs and networking. We like to be comfortable when we run and finish with coffee and conversations. Choose your pace or follow a pacer—pets, friends, family, are welcome. 🗓️ Launched in San Francisco, July 16, 2022 🌍 Now in 35+ cities 📅 Running + Networking events + Community **Join the community** [http://foundersrc.com/chats](http://foundersrc.com/chats) **Stay updated**: Instagram [http://instagram.com/foundersrc/](http://instagram.com/foundersrc/) Podcast [http://podcast.foundersrc.com/](http://podcast.foundersrc.com/) LinkedIn [http://linkedin.com/company/foundersrc/](http://linkedin.com/company/foundersrc/) Strava [http://strava.com/clubs/foundersRC](http://strava.com/clubs/foundersRC) Website [http://foundersrc.com/](http://foundersrc.com/)

📣 #45 [Cyber Security Talks Bulgaria](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyber-security-talks-bulgaria/ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyber-security-talks-bulgaria/") е готов. 📣 Този път ще говорим за Cloud security, Governance, Quantum threats and something more. 🚨 Подгответе се за едно страхотно събитие в офиса на нашия домакин - KPMG Delivery Network Bulgaria. Темите на събитието: * **Using AWS native solutions for compliance checks (Security hub CSPM and AWS Config) on scale** - *Светломир Балевски* – DevSecOps architect at KPMG Delivery Network Bulgaria (*talk in bulgarian*) * **Passwords, encryption and the quantum threat -** *Alon Rotem* – Manager of Solution Architecture at KPMG Delivery Network (talk in english) * **Cloud security posture and governance -** *Иванка Кабранова* – Identity Architect at KPMG Delivery Network Bulgaria (*talk in bulgarian*) 🆓Както всеки път, входът е безплатен, но се изисква регистрация: 📅ДАТА : 17 март ⏰ЧАС: 19:00 часа 📍КЪДЕ : Офис на KPMG Delivery Network Bulgaria, Бизнес Парк София, сграда 15А, етаж 3

“**A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.**” – Oprah Winfrey ✨ And that’s the whole truth! 🥸 At the event **“The Power of Mentorship in My Career,”** Maria Saykova, VP Product Support 👩, will tell us more about the role her mentors have played in her career path 🤝, the lessons she has learned 📖, how to properly navigate the path of mentorship 🚀, and what AI mentoring is all about 🤖. The event is free, but **prior registration is required -** [https://luma.com/25egpx1d](https://luma.com/25egpx1d?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBEwWExlUkhYT3Y3SkVrVUc0SXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR7i3nm8kC9n59ctarjyMXUlPlaD7HLthTigYvnr-PDwrxWIjArB3opCy7BiXg_aem_HBLFO9T_OM8lufotC4VnCA)

📌 Let's meet in **Sofia** on **March 19th 2026** for an interactive conference and an enriching networking session! Come and discover Odoo, the all-in-one integrated software that will simplify your day-to-day business. Say goodbye to double coding, lost invoices and budgets; create your website in a few clicks... Odoo offers you a wide range of tools built for IT.🧐 🔎 **AGENDA** 🔍 18h00: Welcome! 18h15: Conference - Interactive demo & tips to digitize your company. 20h00: Networking - Snacks and drinks. ➡️ Are you convinced? You can subscribe at the following link: https://www.odoo.com/r/RfP The event is free, but registration is mandatory.❗ **Important:** 📍 Where? Sofia Grand Hotel - 1, General Gurko St str, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria 📅 Date? Thursday, March 19th , 2026 📝 Registration? https://www.odoo.com/r/RfP 💰 Price? FREE! Hope to see you soon!

We are hosting our next meetup in Sofia! **Address:** Barter Community Hub \| Puzl\, 47 Cherni Vrah BLVD\, Sofia\, Bulgaria https://www.barter-hub.com **Agenda:** 17.45: Doors open, join us for snacks and drinks 18:15: Building Data Products with Logstash 19.00: How Elastic Streams Simplifies Log Data Management 19.45: Networking 20.00: Close **Talks:** **Building Data Products with Logstash** This talk will demonstrate how Logstash can be used to pull data, perform cleanup and enrichment, and create a data product (e.g., asset tracking) visualized in Kibana. *Speaker: Tsvetan Paskov, Full-stack Developer, DevOps, Founder @Move2Chat* **How Elastic Streams Simplifies Log Data Management** Learn how to manage log data more efficiently using Elastic Streams. This talk covers the challenges of unstructured logs, the benefits of schema-on-ingest, and new stream processing capabilities for transforming and structuring log messages. You’ll see how to use AI-assisted Grok pattern suggestions, conditional processing, and the schema editor to map fields accurately. We also explore how to monitor data quality through degraded and failed document tracking, and how to set custom retention policies. Finally, you’ll get an overview of Wired Streams, Elastic’s unified log ingestion model that simplifies routing and stream partitioning post-ingestion. *Speakers: Boris Kirov (Observability - Senior Product Designer) and Giorgos Bamparopoulos (Senior Manager Software Engineering) @Elastic*

**Our March pick is *God of the Woods* by Liz Moore.** **This month’s novel is an award-winning literary mystery that blends family drama with psychological suspense. It explores women’s voices and relationships while delivering an exciting, eerie, and deeply suspenseful story. The book is 576 pages in print or 14 hours and 35 minutes on audiobook.** Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found. As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

This month we’ll be ready The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin. Feel free to come even if you don’t finish the bookk!

☀️ **Shake Off the Winter Chill** **\- Bowl With Us\! 20% off for NEW bowlers\!** Our 6-week spring social bowling league starts in **April** \- trade social hibernation for strikes\, beers\, and new friends\! Whether you're looking to unwind after work\, meet new people\, or just have a fun night out with pals\, this league is perfect for everyone\! Chill times\, cold drinks\, and plenty of chances to connect with others\. No matter your skill level\, this league is all about having fun and meeting new friends\. **;)** **🗓 Thursday evenings \|📍 AMF Sawmill Lanes \| 💵 $79 *(while Early Bird is active)*** **🚨NEW to the league??** Use discount code (**MU2P26**) for 20% off - $63.20 *during Early Bird* **💻 League Info & Registration**: https://bit.ly/ColumbusBowling **Why Join?** 🎉 It’s only 6 weeks - perfect for a low-commitment social plan 🍻 Great mix of people in their 20s-40s, plus post-game hangs at the bar 🎳 Zero pressure - gutter balls totally welcome! 👕 Free league shirt if you sign up early 🧠 Weekly trivia w/ prizes 💬 Super social - join solo or w/ friends! **Want in?** Join our Meetup team Gutter Dusters 👉 **Click here to join** https://tinyurl.com/23auxkaq Or start a team of your own with a few friends - we’ll all be hanging out either way! 📅 League Dates (Thursday evenings): April 16, April 23, April 30, May 7, May 14, May 21 ***(The MeetUp event date is deadline to register for the league.)*** **Cost & What’s Included:** ✔ $79 Early Bird registration - **NEW bowler?? Get 20% off with code: MU2P26** ✔ 6 weeks of bowling (1–3 games/week) ✔ Shoe rentals & full league setup ✔ Trivia, prizes, and great people 👉 **SIGN UP NOW** 💻League Info & Registration: https://bit.ly/ColumbusBowling 🤑Use promo code MU2P26 to save 20% 📸 Follow the fun on Instagram: https://bit.ly/BowlingLeague-IG 📩 Questions? Contact the league: http://bit.ly/2nKHno7 Spots are filling fast – don’t miss out on the fun times!