Groovy

Looking to brush up on your BSL skills or connect with other learners? Sacred Grounds is hosting a weekly Sign Club every Tuesday from 5-7pm. This casual and informal meetup is perfect for anyone learning BSL, whether you're just starting out or looking to keep your skills sharp. Come along to practice signing, connect with others in the community, and even try ordering your coffee in BSL! There’s no fee to join - all we ask is that if you're able to, you support the coffee shop by purchasing a drink or snack while you're here (please note that outside food and drinks are not permitted). Sacred Grounds is all about creating a warm and inclusive space, so don’t be shy - come sign with us! We look forward to welcoming you.

**Details 🚀** This meetup is a **social coding jam** where we use AI to quickly turn fun ideas into functional prototypes. Whether you’re an experienced developer or have never written a line of code, you’ll fit right in. You can use any AI tools you like: **Google AI Studio, ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Replit**, whatever! And see what you can build together before the last orders 🍻 **Format 🛠️** We’ll be teaming up in small groups (2–3 people). Everyone gets the same open-ended challenge (or a choice between two), and then it’s heads-down building with your teammates. The goal is to **vibe, learn from each other, and see where the collaboration takes us.** **New to vibe coding? ✨** No worries! We begin with a simple starter guide with example prompts and tips so even total beginners can dive in without stress. *** **Schedule 🕒** *(Doors open early so we can settle in — aim to arrive by 6:50 PM so we can kick off on time)* * **7:00** – Presentation * **7:25** – Assignment + team formation 🤝 * **7:30** – **Round 1:** Build together 💻 * **8:15** – Break (grab a drink, swap ideas, hang out) 🍺 * **8:30** – **Round 2:** Keep building 🏗️ * **9:00** – Optional demos 📺 * **9:15** – Hang out, network, make friends ✌️ *** **Who is it for?** **Anyone!** Curious coders, tinkerers, designers, artists, entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants to explore AI-powered creativity in a fun, social pub setting. **What to bring:** * **Laptop!** 💻 * **Vibes** ⚡ 👉 **No pressure, no gatekeeping.** Just good people, fun ideas, and some fast-paced collaborative building.

Join us for discussions about what’s happening in the world of XP, UX and software engineering in general. **What to expect:** Lively discussion amongst a diverse group of members within a friendly and safe space. New members welcome, the only thing we ask is that you care about software engineering and are happy to offer an opinion or two. **When and where:** Expect people to start arriving from 5.30pm UK. The meetup will officially run until \~8.30pm UK (but you won't be kicked out!) The venue will be the City Pride in Farringdon. **Agenda:** 5.30pm Soft start - everyone mingling 6.00pm 15 mins for lightning talks 6.15pm Topic Proposals 6.25pm Voting on topics 6.30pm First session - break out into groups, discussions happen 7.00pm Come back together, summarise any a-has 7.15pm Second session - break out into groups, discuss more 7.45pm Come back together again, share a-has 8.00pm Wrap up, then either farewell, or carry on talking Please do show the venue your appreciation by buying drinks & food at the bar, and leaving a nice Google / Tripadvisor / etc. review. About XTC The eXtreme Tuesday Club (XTC) is London's oldest agile meetup, and has been meeting since 1999. Initially the meetup was focused on discussing Extreme Programming (XP), but it has expanded to include anything XP, agile, lean, or the larger context in which we do software development activities. We welcome all software development newbies, practitioners, and experts to discuss topics of interest over drinks. Follow @extremetuesday (https://twitter.com/extremetuesday) on Twitter for announcements and updates, or use the hashtag #XTCLondon (https://twitter.com/hashtag/XTCLondon) to find and share insights.

We are a group of writers of all kinds of work - novels, short stories, academic work, scripts, poetry, flash fiction, and more. We meet once a week, on Tuesday evenings, predominantly in order to write but also to talk about what we are working on. The standard format of the group is heads-down writing until around 1940, then whatever else anyone wants to do or talk about. Everyone is welcome, regardless of what you are writing. [The Brownswood](https://thebrownswood.co.uk) is a fantastic local pub, located close to Clissold Park/Highbury/Stoke Newington/Finsbury Park. It has a large - and quiet - upstairs area. Please grab something to drink/eat from the bar, and join us upstairs at 1800. [271 Green Lanes, London, N4 2EX](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/The+Brownswood/@51.5639546,-0.0948438,608m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m9!3m8!1s0x48761c7893476fc5:0x9ba8e21a1cf2fee9!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d51.5639546!4d-0.0926551!16s%2Fg%2F119x6mkyr?entry=ttu). * Tube: [Manor House](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Manor+House+Station,+Green+Lanes,+London/The+Brownswood,+271+Green+Lanes,+Finsbury+Park,+London+N4+2EX/@51.5675099,-0.099653,1216m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761b89bd91cc59:0x392f2396b4532b!2m2!1d-0.0965018!2d51.5711189!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761c7893476fc5:0x9ba8e21a1cf2fee9!2m2!1d-0.092655!2d51.5639516!3e2?entry=ttu) (Piccadilly line), [Finsbury Park](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Finsbury+Park+Station,+Station+Pl,+Finsbury+Park,+London+N4+2DH/The+Brownswood,+271+Green+Lanes,+Finsbury+Park,+London+N4+2EX/@51.5635898,-0.1044051,1216m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761b9b2b4d19dd:0xc061583facc2ae39!2m2!1d-0.1058553!2d51.5646425!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761c7893476fc5:0x9ba8e21a1cf2fee9!2m2!1d-0.092655!2d51.5639516!3e2?entry=ttu) (Piccadilly and Victoria lines) * Overground: [Canonbury](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Canonbury,+Wallace+Rd,+London+N1+2PG/The+Brownswood,+271+Green+Lanes,+Finsbury+Park,+London+N4+2EX/@51.5563195,-0.1017644,2433m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761c82f2cf823d:0x79587280293ef16!2m2!1d-0.0920922!2d51.5486853!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761c7893476fc5:0x9ba8e21a1cf2fee9!2m2!1d-0.092655!2d51.5639516!3e2?entry=ttu), [Harringay Green Lanes](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Harringay+Green+Lanes,+London/The+Brownswood,+271+Green+Lanes,+Finsbury+Park,+London+N4+2EX/@51.5705266,-0.1058508,2432m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761b8b3971e23f:0xef5cf25ed3f59caa!2m2!1d-0.0979994!2d51.5771902!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761c7893476fc5:0x9ba8e21a1cf2fee9!2m2!1d-0.092655!2d51.5639516!3e2?entry=ttu), [Stoke Newington](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Stoke+Newington+railway+station,+London/The+Brownswood,+271+Green+Lanes,+Finsbury+Park,+London+N4+2EX/@51.5640471,-0.0930668,2432m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761c67a8c80565:0xd116f4b1ef01e4e5!2m2!1d-0.07286!2d51.56523!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761c7893476fc5:0x9ba8e21a1cf2fee9!2m2!1d-0.092655!2d51.5639516!3e2?entry=ttu) * National Rail: [Finsbury Park](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Finsbury+Park+Station,+Station+Pl,+Finsbury+Park,+London+N4+2DH/The+Brownswood,+271+Green+Lanes,+Finsbury+Park,+London+N4+2EX/@51.5635898,-0.1044051,1216m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761b9b2b4d19dd:0xc061583facc2ae39!2m2!1d-0.1058553!2d51.5646425!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761c7893476fc5:0x9ba8e21a1cf2fee9!2m2!1d-0.092655!2d51.5639516!3e2?entry=ttu) * Bus routes: [106](https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/106/), [141](https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/141/), [341](https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/341/?direction=inbound) * On-street cycle racks are located outside the pub. If you've any queries, you can message me through MeetUp - please don't contact the pub directly. I hope to see you soon, Adam.

Join us on March 17th from **6:00pm** for a Data Streaming meetup hosted by **Snowflake** and supported by **Dremio** and **Streambased!** 📍**Venue:** **Snowflake** One Crown Place, London EC2A 4EF, U.K. 5th & 6th floors · London **PLEASE bring your PHOTO ID and REGISTER with your details for security purposes.** 🗓 **Agenda:** * 6:00pm – 6:30pm: Food/Drinks and Networking * 6:30pm - 7:00pm: Celeste Horgan, Developer Advocate, Snowflake * 7:00pm - 7:30pm: Tom Scott, Founder & CEO, Streambased * 7:30pm - 8:00pm: Will Martin, EMEA Evangelist, Dremio * 8:00pm: Q&A Networking 💡**Speaker One:** Celeste Horgan, Developer Advocate, Snowflake **Title of Talk:** I have no idea what I’m doing, or: building an Apache Spark to Apache Iceberg pipeline from scratch for data ingestion **Abstract:** Transitioning to Apache Iceberg requires a shift in how we think about data storage and ingestion. Enter: Apache Spark… maybe? Exactly how is an open question. In this talk we’ll go through the trial-and-error process of ingesting data into an Apache Iceberg table using Apache Spark. We’ll learn about file formats for Apache Iceberg tables, when to partition (and what the consequences are), common integration mistakes (as made by me in the learning process), and what Apache Spark does best, and when a different tool might work better. Most importantly, we’ll learn how to learn a new piece of software fast using AI to help rather than hinder. **Bio:** Celeste Horgan is a Sr. OSS Advocate at Snowflake. She got her start in open source at the Linux Foundation, where she supported the Kubernetes project on their documentation. From there, she went on to work at Aiven on open source data platforms, and now continues that work evangelizing data systems for Snowflake. Her work on inclusive language has been featured in the New York Times, and she lives in London. 💡**Speaker Two:** Tom Scott, Founder & CEO, Streambased **Title of Talk:** Turning The Database Inside Out **Abstract:** Over a decade ago, Martin Kleppmann's Turning the Database Inside Out reshaped how we think about data systems, putting the event stream at the heart of storage and computation. That vision inspired a generation of systems built atop Kafka, Flink, and event-driven materializations. But what if we never finished what Martin started? This talk takes the next leap, reimagining not just the transaction log, but the entire database through the lens of streaming. We'll keep Kafka as our canonical source of truth, but enrich it with the missing primitives: long-term storage, indexes, and projections. To achieve this, we'll move beyond Kafka's simple produce/consume model and embrace Apache Iceberg as the new foundation for durable, queryable event data. **Bio:** Long time enthusiast of Kafka and all things data integration, Tom has more than 15yrs experience in innovative and efficient ways to store, query and move data. Tom is currently CEO at Streambased a company focused on unifying operational and analytical data estates into a single, consistent and efficient data layer. 💡**Speaker Three:** Will Martin, EMEA Evangelist, Dremio **Title of Talk:** From Stream to Table: Building Kafka-to-Iceberg Pipelines **Abstract:** While Kafka excels at streaming data, the real challenge lies in making that data analytically useful without sacrificing consistency or performance. This talk explores why Apache Iceberg has emerged as the ideal streaming destination, offering ACID transactions, schema evolution, and time travel capabilities that traditional data lakes can't match. Learn about some foundational tools that enable streaming pipelines and why they all converge on this industry standard table format. **Bio:** Will Martin is the EMEA Evangelist at Dremio. Beginning with a background of statistical analysis in particle physics, his professional journey has spanned multiple industries, including banking, shipping logistics, entertainment, healthcare, defence, and customer 360. With experience as a data engineer, solutions architect, and software developer, he has spent 15+ years collaborating with companies and organisations across EMEA and APAC, including roles at CERN, Deloitte, and Tamr. \*\*\* If you are interested in hosting/speaking at a meetup, please email community@confluent.io

Important - Please Read Welcome to London's Highest Rated International Languages Exchange group, with over 1500 reviews rated 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🇬🇧🇪🇸🇫🇷🇯🇵🇮🇹🇩🇪🇮🇳🇧🇷🇰🇷🇨🇳🇪🇬🇭🇰🇺🇦🇺🇸🇹🇷🇹🇼🇷🇺🇵🇱 To learn more about us and our community visit [www.languages.london](https://www.languages.london/) WHEN & WHERE Join us on Tuesday for our global language exchange and social at **The Clement Attlee** pub in Limehouse from 7pm. The venue is a cosy and really friendly pub with a great selection of drinks (especially beers!) including non-alcoholic options, fantastic food and good access to public transport. https://maps.app.goo.gl/RaLA7Jejt2g1tPme8 HOW WE DO IT It's simple .... \~ When you arrive please collect your personalised language badge from us, **BEFORE** you order your drinks. We'll be waiting to give you a warm welcome 😃 \~ Please wear your badge during the event and return it before you leave. \~ Start meeting the community and having fun, lots of fun! **Confirm your place to attend.** There's a small fee of £2 to attend this event, which you can pay when you arrive. Please remember to buy something from the bar to support the venue, who kindly offer us a dedicated space. 🇲🇽🇻🇳🇧🇬🇵🇸🇸🇪🇮🇱🇦🇺🇨🇦🇳🇱🇨🇴🇭🇺🇿🇦🇹🇭🇵🇪🇧🇴🇳🇬🇪🇬🇳🇿🇨🇭 **WHO** Languages in London events are organised for our community - being social, making new friends, building cultural bridges and always very relaxed. We have the largest number of languages and countries represented in our weekly language exchange and social events. This is **not** a dating event. Our events are open to Internationals, Locals, Expats, Students, Travellers..... Everyone! This is the event for a truly global community and for citizens from around the World 🌎 Is this the Intercambio you've been looking for? Want to practice your ingles, espanol , francais, italiano, Deutsch, portugues or other European languages? Asian languages ? Or maybe prefer to only speak English, that's just fine. **All languages and all fluency levels are welcome** Spread the love, bring your family, friends and colleagues 💙 The creator and organiser of **Languages in London - Girish**, will always be visible at the event and there to support you and help with introductions, if you prefer. These are real events with real people. We aren't one of those groups that fill our events with fictitious attendees👻. We want to remain the **BEST** language events group in London, being the biggest isn't our focus. **No-shows at our events are removed from the group.** **Inactive members are also regularly removed from our group.** **LANGUAGES** Here's a selection of some of the languages that our community speak or have been practicing English, Spanish (incl Latin American), French, Italian, Portuguese (incl Brazilian), German, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese), Russian, Korean, Hindi, Turkish, Arabic, Ukrainian, Polish, Hebrew, Swedish, Bulgarian, Vietnamese, Hungarian, Bengali, Dutch, Catalan, Farsi, Greek, Urdu, Welsh, Romanian, Norwegian, Czech, Slovak, Estonian, Danish, Finnish, Turkmen, Latvian, Lithuanian, Nepali, Yoruba, Filipino, Thai, Albanian, Croatian, Serbian, Ebo, Gaelic, Icelandic, Afrikaans, Tamazight, Tagalog, Creole, Malagasy, Mongolian, Tok Pisin and more... you get the idea! 🇷🇴🇬🇹🇨🇿🇳🇴🇩🇰🇫🇮🇨🇾🇺🇾🇪🇬🇧🇬🇦🇷🇰🇪🇱🇰🇲🇦🇹🇳🇩🇿🇸🇬🇲🇾 **SUSTAINABLE** 🌎🌳 Like you, we really care about our planet. We don't like single use paper name tags, stickers or wristbands as they can't be reused or recycled and can even damage your clothing ☹️ The Solution? Our personalised and completely reusable Languages in London badges! ♻️ So, please make sure you return your badge to us, before you leave the event. We'll sanitise it (anti bacterial & disinfectant cleaners) and use it again & again & again. Thanks for helping us do the right thing and keep our costs down🙏 **SAFE SPACE FOR EVERYONE** 👮‍♂️ We don't tolerate prejudice or harassment of any kind, at any time. Be polite and respectful to everyone else and they will reciprocate. Let's keep the space safe, welcoming for everyone and free of any political agendas. Please report any concerns to the Organiser immediately. Please look after your belongings, the venue is a public place. We may take photos or video at the event for future promotional use. Let us know if you'd rather not be included, we respect your choice 📸 **SPREAD THE WORD** 🗣️💬 If you enjoy our events, please tell your friends and colleagues and help us grow **your** community, thank you ♥️ Join our community - [www.languages.london](https://www.languages.london/) We're looking forward to welcoming you at Languages in London 😊👋 🇲🇰🇳🇵🇧🇩🇵🇭🇦🇪🇦🇱🇧🇪🇮🇪🇲🇹🇰🇿🇱🇦🇯🇴🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪🇰🇭🇨🇱🇲🇳🇨🇺

**The spiritual party everyone is talking about, with loud sacred mantra music, wild dancing and a mouth-watering VEGAN/VEGGIE FEAST 🌱** Enjoy mantra music, a vibrant social scene and the best vegan cuisine from around the globe. Connect with like-minded people and jam to groovy mantra music that stirs the heart. The evening begins with some mantra music meditation, also known as kirtan, at 5PM, Followed by a talk on yoga **wisdom** and spirituality. Then we move into another kirtan. As the kirtan increases in intensity, we will open the **dance floor**. From rocking beats to vegan treats! It's time to indulge in a luxurious **all you can eat** VEGAN/VEGGIE feast. **Ticket Price** 🎟 (includes Dinner): Door price: General £17 \| *Student £14* Online \(Eventbrite\): General £14 \| *Student £10* **Where** 📍: 57 Theobalds Road, Holborn, WC1X 8SP **When** 📆: Every Sunday at 5pm (Doors open at 4.45pm) [Book online](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/studio-108-34126014551) or pay at the door🚪 [@studio108_ldn](https://www.instagram.com/studio108_ldn/) to stay up to date and find out more.

The next Street Hypnosis Group meetup will be Saturday 21st March We meet at The Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre. We'll be on the 5th floor, in the 'seventy5th bar' (Blue zone). If you haven't been before or you need help finding us call this number 07742 542101. Call that number when you arrive at the information desk on the ground floor, just in case we've moved to a different area of the building or outside. Learn something, share something. Practice in safety and gain confidence. We cover all aspects of street, stage and party hypnosis. Have an idea of the suggestibility tests or something else you want to practice, as well as some Rapid Inductions. Also, think of a short 5 -10 minute 'routine' to use with people. All levels are welcome so don't be shy. We ask for a small fee of £5 on the day, this is purely to help pay our meetup fees. We could go for a coffee or beer afterwards, and get some practice in public situations. It's all good for confidence building. Our 'sister' group is the London Hypnosis Hub. That group is aimed more at general hypnosis and meets on the first Tuesday of every month. Feel free to join that as well if you haven't already done so. Find it here: [LONDON HYPNOSIS HUB](https://www.meetup.com/london-hypnosis-hub/events/302568932/?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=share-btn_savedevents_share_modal&utm_source=link) Both these groups are a great opportunity to practice and develop your skills in whichever area(s) of hypnosis you are interested in. It's also an ideal place to network and share ideas. Hope to see some of you soon.

🤖 **Most AI writing tools keep you in a chat box. This talk is about what happens when you step outside it.** Led by **[Max Clayton Clowes](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxclaytonclowes/)**, afractional product manager, we'll look at how technical writers — regardless of coding background — can use Claude Code to work in a docs-as-code environment, extend their documentation tooling, and build workflows that hold their own standards over time. We'll cover: \- Why Claude without proper context is a frustrating experience and how Skills fix that \- How Claude Code enables technical writers to work with frameworks like Docusaurus without needing to be developers \- Building and extending documentation tooling — plugins\, components\, GitHub Actions — that most teams don't have the time or skills to build from scratch \- Using Claude Code to maintain docs at scale: auditing\, keeping content in sync with a changing codebase\, and automating the checks that keep quality consistent The talk is aimed at technical writers of all levels. You don't need to be comfortable in a terminal to get value from it — we'll show a clear path from the Claude web interface through to Claude Code, and you can engage at whichever level suits you. **Want to follow along?** Pick the level that works for you and get set up before you arrive: \- Web interface: A Claude account at claude\.ai\. Free tier is fine\. \- Claude Code: Download the Claude desktop app at claude\.com/download\. Requires a paid Claude plan \(Pro or above\)\. On macOS/Linux\, run *curl \-fsSL https://claude\.ai/install\.sh \| bash* to install. Windows users can download the installer directly. No other dependencies needed. Not set up? Everything will be on screen — you can explore at your own pace afterwards. **🗒️ Agenda** **When:** Thursday 19 March, from 6.30pm **Where:** The Gallery @ [The Corner](https://maps.app.goo.gl/C1iSyEeMffB7BZjf6) (42 Adler Street, E1 1EE) **What:** **18.30 - 19.00** Arrival **19.00 - 19.10** Welcome & Housekeeping **19.10 - 19.40** Part 1 of presentation **19.40 - 20.00** Break **20.00 - 20.30** Part 2 of presentation **20.30 - 21.00** Closing and networking *All times are approximate.* **📍 How to find us:** Enter the hotel, turn right and right again past the bar to find The Gallery meeting room. Look for WTD signs and friendly organisers. **📸 Photos:** Note that the organizers will take some photos for the WTD group.

****** STRICTLY NO BEGINNERS ****** Join the Broomfield Badminton Meetup Group for an exciting Badminton Club night, whether you're a seasoned player or looking to improve your skills, this event is the perfect opportunity to showcase your talent and meet other badminton enthusiasts in the area. Bring your A-game, competitive spirit, and get ready for a fun-filled day of friendly games. Don't miss out on this chance to test your abilities on the court and enjoy a day of thrilling badminton action with like-minded players. Let's smash our way to victory together! Please contact Naren on 07967 672212. ****** STRICTLY NO BEGINNERS ******

***Please note: signing up to this event does not mean you are booked onto the course. For full details and booking information, please visit [Cademy.](https://datacove.cademy.io/introduction-to-r-shiny)*** **Introducing Datacove** Datacove are a Data and Analytics Consultancy Team based in Brighton, with experience in founding many well-attended R & Python events. Plus, home of the EARL Conference! We work across multiple streams - from marketing and consumer analytics, to bespoke dashboards, process automation, and training! :) **Introduction to R in Shiny** Thursday 19th March, online 10am-12pm. £99 + VAT **Understand what Shiny is and when to use it** * What Shiny does, how it fits into the R ecosystem, and common use cases (apps, dashboards, internal tools, data products) * Differences between static R outputs (plots, reports) and interactive Shiny applications **Learn the basic structure of a Shiny application** * The roles of ui and server components * How shinyApp() brings the UI and server together * File structures for a multi-file Shiny app **Build user interfaces with Shiny layouts** * Using layout functions such as fluidPage() , sidebarLayout() , sidebarPanel() , and mainPanel() * Organising content with rows, columns, tabs, and panels * Adding titles, text, and spacing for clean, readable app design **Work with Shiny input and output elements** * Common inputs (sliders, dropdowns, text inputs, buttons, checkboxes) * Displaying outputs such as plots, tables, and text * Connecting inputs to outputs through the server logic **Introduction to Shiny’s reactive programming model** * What reactivity is and why it matters in interactive apps * How Shiny automatically updates outputs when inputs change **Create a foundation of a complete, working Shiny app** * Combining UI layouts, inputs, outputs, and reactivity into a functional application * Running and testing apps locally * Leave with a foundation app, ready to learn more advanced content to build upon. **Be ready to build your first dashboard or application** * Understanding next steps, such as theming, modules, and deployment options **How to Join** Please visit [Cademy](https://datacove.cademy.io/introduction-to-r-shiny) to book your space.

**\*\*** ***When you RSVP, please ensure your full name is included on your meetup account profile to ensure successful entry to the event, thank you. \*\**** Join the London Software Craftsmanship Community (LSCC) and a panel of speakers with a wide range of career paths from **IG Group, Bank of America, Ohme** & **Codurance** for an evening of tech career advice. **A big thank you to our sponsors for the evening, IG:** IG is a FTSE 250 FinTech company building award-winning trading platforms used by over 340,000 people worldwide. Our mobile, web, and desktop products give clients access to thousands of markets — from stocks and shares to futures, options, and crypto — across 16 global regions. We operate with high autonomy in cross-functional teams, moving fast to ship better experiences for our customers. With offices in 18 countries and ambitious growth plans ahead, we're on a journey to evolve our tech and push the boundaries of what's possible in financial trading. Come along to learn more about the engineering challenges we're tackling and the products we're building. Discover IG at [https://www.ig.com/uk](https://www.ig.com/uk) \-\-\- Panelists: * Tolga Sofuoglu - Head of Engineering, Ohme * Nathalie Gavet - Engagement Manager, Codurance * Qaiser Maher - CTO UK&IE, IG Group * Micheal Nestor, Technology Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch The panel will be facilitated by **[Ed Farrow, Principal Consultant @ Codurance](https://www.linkedin.com/in/edfarrow/)** Hear our panel discuss their personal journeys and strategies, including: * Unlocking career growth and key points to look out for * Navigating career pivots and embracing new technologies * Practical strategies to land your next promotion * Tech careers in the AI era Whether you're starting out, aiming for leadership, or a seasoned pro ready to share your wisdom, this event is for you. **Spots are limited, register now!** **Agenda:** 18:00 - 18:30 - Arrival, pizza and drinks + networking 18:30 - 20:00 - Intros and panel + Q&A 20:00 - 21:00 - Networking & exit A big thank you to our amazing sponsors IG Group who are providing the space, drinks and pizza and to [Codurance](https://www.codurance.com/) for organising the meetup.

# **Band and caller TBA** Beginner lesson at 1:30, regular dancing begins at 2:00 pm NOTE THAT WE ARE TEMPORARILY DANCING IN THE AFTERNOON INSTEAD OF EVENING. Dance with us in the afternoon then you can still go out in the evening! **Sponsor: All Soles Contra and Square Dancing, First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Rd., Columbus OH 43214** WHAT IS CONTRA DANCING? Picture the Grand Ball scenes like you’ve seen in period films such as “Pride and Prejudice”, where the dancers are lined up in long lines, across from each other. That’s English Country Dancing, the predecessor of contra dancing. Now, add moves like “swing your partner” and “do-si-do,” like you’ve seen in square dancing. Set it to fabulous, high energy, live music with fiddles, guitars, percussion and more, alá “Riverdance.” Finally, set the whole scene down in the middle of Woodstock, with a hip, groovy atmosphere, a bit of tie-dye, and hints of counter-culture attitude. THAT’s Contra Dancing! Wear cool and comfortable clothes (you will get warm) and clean shoes that won't mark up our nice wood floor. Be sure to come for the beginner's lesson from 1:30 - 2:00, followed by dancing 2:00 - 430. All dances are taught; we will help you learn! Beginners always welcome, no need to bring a partner. Cost is $10.00 adults, $5.00 ages 12-26. Under 12 free. Free parking in church lot. Please bring your own refillable water bottle.

**New Dojo Location!** **Draft Day Columbus** 1130 Dublin Road Columbus, OH 43215 We're going to try a new dojo location for a few weeks and see how it works Dojos are informal Python group study sessions where everyone interested in Python gathers to learn about Python, help others with Python, or just hang out. Everyone is welcome from Python beginners to experts. Bringing a laptop is encouraged (we'll have extension cords and power strips). If there's something you want to learn leave a comment on this invite so we can plan ahead. We're looking for topic suggestions and people interested in presenting at our monthly meetings. To this end we've set up a survey form at [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15eBKF1nQQ2XS5gzD4rvhVRHMBEj7lJtHuA9wXupS3Uc](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15eBKF1nQQ2XS5gzD4rvhVRHMBEj7lJtHuA9wXupS3Uc)

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

Join us as we get together to see Ryan Gosling and Sandra Huller in the highly anticipated sci-fi adventure, PROJECT HAIL MARY! The film is based on the best-selling novel of The Martian and follows a man who awakens on a spacecraft before realizing his mission to save Earth. Here’s a description, trailer and plan for this event: DESCRIPTION: A science teacher wakes up on a spaceship, light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission to save the Earth. The film is directed by the filmmaking due Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (21 and 22 Jump Street, Into and Across the Spider-Verse) and is based on the 2021 novel by Andy Weir (The Martian). The film stars Ryan Gosling, Sandra Huller (Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest), Lionel Boyce, Milana Vayntrub and Ken Leung. TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VYsnngkS_U BUZZ AND REVIEWS: The buzz and reviews for PROJECT HAIL MARY are off-the-charts good! The film is earning a 95% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where critics call it an “old school blockbuster crowd-pleaser” and “a new sci-fi classic!” It’s “deeply hopeful,” well-acted,” funny,” “dramatic,” and “exceptionally rousing throughout!” Others call it “something truly magical” and one that “we’ll be talking about this one for decades to come!” And I believe Slashfilm says it best: “It will lift up and squeeze your heart, crack you up with laughter, and give you a sense of hope and wonder in a way that few movies have been able to inspire.” MOVIE PLAN: Please purchase your ticket for the 2:30pm SuperScreen DLX showing and meet in the lobby area between 2:05 and 2:15pm! Tickets already on sale and will likely move fast for this hot ticket / opening weekend showing so advance ticket purchase as soon as possible is advised! Once you have yours, please list your seat number in the Comments section of this event. As a head’s up, this is a longer movie at 2hrs 36mins. DINNER PLAN: Dinner immediately following the movie at 5:30pm at group favorite, FUGU SUSHI, located just next door! Separate RSVP required for the Dinner / Movie portions of this event. An RSVP here means you're signed up for the MOVIE! This portion will be open as long as seats remain. If you also plan to join for dinner, please also RSVP in the separate event listing for the dinner portion of this event. Should be a good one, Dan

**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

**The idea for this group is to build a community where men can gather together and build connections & learn and grow from each other.** How we start each meeting is by each of us checking in with our "roses and thorns" aka what are the good things and the bad things going on in your life recently? Then we will go into a topic discussion. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS** \*\*THERE WILL BE A ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY FOR NO-SHOWS. IF YOU RSVP TO A MEETING AND FAIL TO SHOW UP WITHOUT NOTICE, YOU'LL BE REMOVED FROM THE GROUP. THIS IS TO PRESERVE THE INTEGRITY OF THE GROUP\*\* 1. Confidentiality - EVERYTHING that is shared NEVER leaves this space so that this space remains safe and sacred. There is a zero tolerance policy for this. If a man is in violation of this, they will be permanently removed from the group. 2. Non-Judgement - we respect and honor every man’s truth so that we may receive the same from others. While we may not agree on everything, we commit to respecting every man’s perspectives and engaging in honorable discussion with one another. 3. Be committed - honor your commitment to this group and to yourself. If you attend a meeting, please commit yourself fully to the meeting. Also be committed to your own journey. When we fail, we own it & clean it up. 4. Speak from the heart - this is NOT a space to “look good”, have the “right” answers, and have it all together. Relax and know you are not alone. Be exactly who you are within the safety of this space. 5. Be supportive - This means always willing to provide encouragement to your fellow men, encourage action and momentum in each other’s lives.. Be willing to challenge each other. Be willing to hold each other accountable. 6. Participation - what you receive from this community will be a reflection of what you put into it. Period. We ask that you share your perspectives, reflect on others, and give/receive support when and where it’s needed.

Discover Kiro, AWS’s innovative development environment that adapts to your workflow. Whether you prefer specification-driven development or a more intuitive, vibe-based approach, Kiro empowers you to build applications your way. In this session, speakers will explore Kiro’s core functionality and its evolution through re:Invent 2025, along with demonstrations of prompts used to create APIs, hooks, and steering documents. In the latter part of the session, watch as we build a complete example from scratch, showcasing Kiro’s agentic AI workflow in action for spec-driven development and vibe coding. What You'll Learn - Core Kiro concepts and development philosophy Feature evolution: pre and post re:Invent 2025 Practical examples: API creation, hooks, and steering docs Live coding demonstration with real-time problem solving Who Should Attend - Developers, solutions architects, and technical leaders interested in modern AWS development tools and AI-assisted coding workflows. **Speakers Bio:** Matthew Jorat: Matthew Jorat is a Customer Solutions Manager at AWS with nearly three decades of expertise in AI, cloud transformation, migration, modernization, IT, technology, and business. His career spans infrastructure engineer, solutions architect, security auditor, customer success director, support and services director, and operations officer. He was an early adopter of AWS services as a customer, and his current role at AWS uniquely blends his technical and business skills as he partners with executive teams to translate strategic priorities into measurable business outcomes through cloud adoption, AI implementation, and operational excellence. Matt leads end-to-end AI initiatives for enterprise customers, identifying high-impact use cases and maintaining relentless focus on measurable ROI. He holds eight AWS certifications and serves as Adjunct Professor at Franklin University teaching cloud computing and AWS architecture. His expertise encompasses GenAI, agentic AI systems, migration, modernization, and optimization strategies that drive transformation at scale. [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattjorat/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattjorat/) Girish Bhatia: Girish Bhatia is a seasoned technology delivery leader with deep expertise in cross-domain program management. He holds multiple AWS certifications, including AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, AWS Certified Developer – Associate, and AWS Generative AI Practitioner, and is also an AWS Community Builder. Girish brings over two decades of experience in the information technology industry. Throughout his career, Girish has led major technology-driven business transformation from modernizing on-premises applications to driving large-scale cloud migrations. His work includes API-based integration platforms, data-center and mainframe modernization, and enterprise cloud adoption initiatives. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Girish works at a tech-forward fintech company. He is passionate about AWS serverless architectures, Generative AI and emerging cloud technologies. An avid learner and builder, he continues to explore and apply the latest innovations in AWS to help organizations accelerate their digital transformation. https://www.linkedin.com/in/girishbhatia/[https://www.linkedin.com/in/girishbhatia/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/girishbhatia/) **THANK YOU** *Franklin University* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Franklin University*, please visit their website: https://www.franklin.edu/ **DIRECTIONS** Franklin University Fisher Hall 300 E. Main St, Columbus, OH 43215 Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jxjBA2hUmS5qrvhq8 Parking is FREE! Please park in Lot C in front of Fisher Hall. See attached map. NOTE: Map the address only. When mapping with Google Maps it may use the Fisher Hall at OSU, which is NOT correct. **Want to sponsor the pizza and/or bar tab?** Please contact me if you would like to sponsor this meetup's pizza and/or bar tab: angelo@mandato.com