Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT)

As we move into 2026, we invite you to join us in renewing a form of political participation that has come to seem almost quaint: practicing citizenship by making strong connections and strengthening our communities. Over the past few decades, we’ve allowed our communities to shrink, our outlooks to sour and our politics to become toxic. We’re guessing you are reading this now because you want something different and better for yourselves, your families and your communities. Braver Angels provides the infrastructure and tactics and tools to convene and collaborate across the political spectrum. With our sister Alliances in the “DMV” area, the Fairfax County Alliance is creating a schedule of events for the coming year, some of which will relate to our nation’s birthday. **We’ll kick off 2026 with a simple discussion of a complex topic: What does patriotism mean to you? And what about our 250th year as a nation will you contemplate and celebrate?** Join us on January 13th at 7 PM at the [McLean Governmental Center](https://braverangels.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eb070968609f8aecc37a46472&id=1181632331&e=500efeae3d); doors open at 6:30 PM. We will have light refreshments. We have pulled together [various resources](https://braverangels.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eb070968609f8aecc37a46472&id=51517eb8d2&e=500efeae3d) to get your brains moving in different directions. Some of these are ‘newsy’, some informative, some lean right or left and some are just opinions. It is not a comprehensive list by any means but merely designed to start your thinking about your perspective and other’s. We look forward to hearing about your own points of reference. Comparing different eras is instructive; the meaning of patriotism changes depending on time and place. Have your views changed over time and place? How do you envision at the future of the United States? How do we embrace the whole of our history? John Woods, Braver Angels’ National Ambassador, has captured these thoughts well in [his latest message](https://braverangels.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eb070968609f8aecc37a46472&id=3b2e9511c9&e=500efeae3d). *Scroll down John Wood’s email for a range of online events you can join.* Our future is shaped by imagining what can be and putting aside our presumptions of each other. We look forward to seeing you! \* \* \* \* \* **Braver Angels holds workshops, debates, and public presentations designed to bridge the political divide we are experiencing in our country.** Our events help conservatives, liberals, and independents get past stereotypes and have civil conversations about current issues, helping open the way to productive problem-solving, mutual respect and understanding. Meetings and events are free and require no commitments. Just bring your willingness to listen, learn, and participate with civility, without judgment. Please read more about The Braver Angels Way [here](https://braverangels.org/our-mission/).

How Blockchain Responsibly Contributes to Secure, Transparent, and Trustworthy Elections GBA Emerging GovTech Livestream Series - Kicking Off 2026 with Critical Conversation on using Blockchain in Voting & Elections Government Blockchain Association Voting Working Group Tue, Jan 13, 2026, 12:00 Noon - 1:00 PM (New York Time) Event link https://youtube.com/@GBAorg/streams Registration https://lnkd.in/e5F2HBrC GBA Emerging GovTech Livestream will discuss... Ensuring every vote is counted and verified Technical and procedural standards needed to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse Responsibly integrate blockchain - not as a replacement, but as a trusted security layer within existing election systems Provide auditability & legal integrity - real-time transparency for observers, without compromising ballot secrecy Provide identity & access management, spanning both physical and digital security Handle hybrid & provisional voting models, including inclusive access (e.g., multilingual closed captions) Provide clear governance: focusing on who is eligible to vote - and eligibility verification Develop standard protocols for blockchain solutions across jurisdictions Panelists Amelia Powers Gardner’s, Government Innovation Leader - Disruptive Technology Advocate - Public Official - Consultant - Speaker - Technology Implementation Expert - Mother - Entrepreneur - Mentor for High Performance Women Eugene Morozov, CPA, MS - CEO, DeVote & author of 2026 Public DLT and Blockchain Governance & Implementation Playbook, WEB3 Evangelist • Domain Expert • Investor • Entrepreneur Passionate about driving innovation in blockchain, digital assets, decentralized applications (dApps), and governance systems (DAO). Linda Hutchinson Director of Quality Assurance & Certification, Voatz Moderated by Felisha Stevenson Business Developer & Investor GBA Voting Working Group.. How Blockchain Responsibly Contributes to Secure, Transparent, and Trustworthy Elections Event link https://youtube.com/@GBAorg/streams Registration https://lnkd.in/e5F2HBrC GBA Emerging GovTech Livestream Series - Sponsored by CESS Network CESS Network supports open scalable and decentralized infrastructure that empowers next-generation public-sector innovation. About GBA The Government Blockchain Association (GBA) is a nonprofit (501c6) organization committed to advancing blockchain technology standards, facilitating industry education, and ensuring a trusted, secure ecosystem for blockchain solutions. For more information, visit https://gbaglobal.org/. For more information contact Bob Miko, bmiko@pacificdialogue.com 203 378 2803. Bob Miko GBA Director of Public Relations Editor in Chief/Producer Pacific Dialogue 203 378 2803 bmiko@pacificdialogue.com

After hosting successful events, I always think that we could have done better and relate it to our day to day life and make it educational. In this connection, I wanted to show off my investment and trade hat and organize series of Happy Hours around Investment & Trade. We will have speakers from different sectors and industries, at each Happy Hour. At this particular event, the speaker will discusses Smart Strategies for Maximizing Social Security . Topics will include: 1. Today’s retirement challenges 2. Keys to help you understand the basics of Social Security, including when you should start taking benefits 3. Qualifications for retirement benefits and survivor benefits 4. Sources of income in retirement 5. Building an income plan. The address will be sent to members, who RSVPed, before the Event. Enjoy!

We’re excited to continue building AI in Practice with our monthly social! 🎉 Each month, we’ll host an informal happy hour and dinner at Upside on Moore in Rosslyn. Come join fellow AI builders, professionals, and curious minds for a relaxed evening of conversation, connection, and community. Whether you’re working on AI systems, advising on responsible adoption, or just interested in how AI is shaping law, compliance, finance, healthcare, defense, software, mission-driven organizations, or public service — this is a chance to meet like-minded people and help shape what this community becomes. 🍸 Drinks and food are available for purchase at the venue. 🤝 No formal agenda — just introductions, networking, and sharing what excites us about AI in practice. We’re so grateful for the early enthusiasm, and we look forward to seeing you each month as this community grows! **Date, Time & Location** 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM Thursday 23 October 2025 Upside on Moore 1831 Moore Street Arlington, VA 22209

Welcome to our new home at the historic Tivoli Theater! Please check our details for access to the space on [our website](https://www.hacdc.org/visit/). Join the discord for questions / help getting in (use channel #let-me-in) [https://discord.gg/dNjuNhNmeT](https://discord.gg/dNjuNhNmeT)

Agenda\* **6:15pm - Welcome!** Networking, food, & drinks **6:30pm -** **Presentation #1: Learnings from Sitecore Symposium** **Speaker:** Naveed Ahmad, Group Manager @Avanade **7:00pm -** **Presentation #2: Building for SitecoreAI with the new Content SDK** **Speaker:** Steve Hamilton, CTO @AgencyQ **7:30pm - 5min Break** **7:35pm -** **Presentation #3: Sitecore Unified Data Layer: The Foundation of a True Customer 360** **Speaker:** Boris Brodsky, Head of Data and Applied AI @Zont **8:00pm - Wrap Up, Future Speakers & After Event Networking** This meeting's Food & Beverage Sponsor: AgencyQ \*Agenda subject to change depending on speakers & topics. **Logistics:** The meeting address is AgencyQ's (www.agencyq.com) office, follow signs from the lobby area to the theater and kitchen area on the 2nd floor. Starting at 6pm, there is FREE parking directly across the street at Waverly Garage. Also, the location is only 1 block from the Bethesda Subway Station. If you have any questions, feel free to message me on Meetup or on Sitecore Slack Community. Thanks, Naveed Ahmad *Note: This event is the same as published on Baltimore Sitecore User Group page.*

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

Our guest speaker is Alexander (Sandy) Walker, SPE Distinguished Lecturer, who will deliver his talk, Ten Secrets of Production Optimization Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Production optimization lends itself nicely to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) because computers are very good at monitoring surveillance data, spotting changes in operating parameters, and carrying out boring, repetitive tasks. By combining real-time data, production tests, and nodal analysis with artificial intelligence, it is possible for computers to perform powerful well surveillance to identify problems and opportunities automatically. By capitalizing on AI, engineers can boost well production 6–8%. The use of AI allows engineers to manage many more wells effectively. Case studies will be presented to show how AI has been used to perform simple tasks and even advanced pattern recognition to identify specific well problems. This lecture will provide ten secrets of how to be successful in using AI to optimize your producing wells. **Speaker Bio** Alexander “Sandy” Williams has worked in the petroleum industry for 34 years. He founded Artificial Lift Performance Ltd. (ALP), which is now a part of ChampionX. ALP developed a software application to help operators monitor, analyze, and optimize wells using artificial lift. This software has empowered engineers to make decisions quickly to maximize production of more than 6,000 wells. Sandy began his career at Amoco, then worked at Phoenix Schlumberger Artificial Lift before becoming a consultant focused on artificial lift and production optimization. He has worked and lived in the USA, Oman, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Colombia, so he is fluent in Spanish. He has taught over 200 courses related to production optimization and artificial lift and has authored 15 technical papers on those subjects. **In-person Attendance** Cost $25.00 Members with Reservation/ $35.00 Non-Members/No RSVP **[RSVP For In-Person Attendance](https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2F4cdpq9hbb.cc.rs6.net%2Ftn.jsp%3Ff%3D001ulZaNxfZuL_6GaFN0pdK_Fasr8wMG9oTn_KLJs8M6Rn_-cyV0SC3jBm_gTO-PTX3Y--YFs0Wsj-QXJwGk15_Qq688lYJp3JwEGS5HKR0fVpDEVzSX34xdspwgvnLx4DJO2SNCW8Z1fW8Hdm9sCCrb9vHMScTys-mlQBOukwULRlFWFEg-OPFPqRCLMZJ_D1jp7mGfPBe4X14XvW1fgUj3F8OGB46v6DH%26c%3D1cjcv1_ysUO55_fCcMs4yaWtNMruy697W-fTUltKychmzLVmWcCfRg%3D%3D%26ch%3D2xOVpFSRsvOZ9AXcdioMkgzIR_F2KQcqkG1tFPj4lSxfW_ePCX2Ygw%3D%3D&data=05%7C02%7Cryan.kellogg%40blackknightllc.com%7C820088e0342140cf3af208de47c5cc00%7C2af271cb4333422fb7eb54bc5cd404f0%7C0%7C0%7C639027113520905897%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C80000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=3oIKLPdWhuCKno5c2QQ6pM81rzgC9PL428wYf8godyI%3D&reserved=0)**

Step into the New Year with intention, style, and possibility at an exclusive singles mixer hosted at Philippe Chow, the iconic upscale Chinese restaurant now debuting in the vibrant DC Wharf Waterfront district. This stunning new venue sets the tone for an evening where tradition meets modern elegance, creating the perfect backdrop for meaningful conversations and unforgettable first impressions. As the city lights shimmer along the waterfront, guests will gather in an atmosphere designed for connection. Philippe Chow’s elevated ambiance, refined décor, and celebrated culinary influence invite you to relax, mingle, and let the energy of a fresh year inspire something new. Every detail of the evening is curated to encourage effortless interaction and genuine chemistry. This mixer is all about starting the year with openness and optimism. Whether you’re seeking new friendships, romantic sparks, or simply a memorable night out with like-minded singles, the experience is crafted to make introductions feel natural and exciting. The New Year brings a sense of renewal, and this is your moment to lean into it. Conversations flow easily in a space that feels both intimate and lively, where shared laughter and unexpected connections can turn into something more. With a crowd of dynamic singles and the warmth of a beautifully designed setting, the night promises moments that feel both fun and meaningful. Join us for an evening that celebrates fresh starts at one of DC’s most anticipated new destinations. Ring in the New Year surrounded by new faces, new energy, and the possibility of something truly special beginning along the Wharf. **Can't make this event? Sign up for FREE on our website to get updates on future events:** [www.Intelligent.Events](https://www.intelligent.events/ "https://www.Intelligent.Events")

We're starting off this year nice and easy with a Power BI DC User Group social! Please save the evening of January 15th in your calendars as we ring in the new year together with our trademark mix of camaraderie and general nerdiness. We're working on nailing down the specific location but will ensure that it is metro accessible. See you then!

Join us for an evening of cutting-edge discussion at the intersection of **AI and Python**, featuring lightning talks from leading practitioners who are building the future of intelligent systems and developer tooling. **REGISTER at the Py AI event page on Luma: [https://luma.com/w08cv6px](https://luma.com/w08cv6px)​​** **Schedule** * ​​5PM - 5:30PM: Pizza & Drinks * ​​5:30PM - 6:30PM: Talks from our speakers * ​Jeremiah Lowin - Founder & CEO, Prefect * ​Roni Kobrosly - Director of Data Science, Capital One * ​Adam Azzam - FastMCP * ​Banjo Obayomi - GenAI DC * ​​6:30PM - 8:00PM: Networking & Social Hour ​​Following the talks, stay for open discussion and networking with fellow Python and AI engineers. Whether you’re building AI-driven applications, exploring new frameworks, or working on developer productivity tools, this meetup offers practical insight from the teams defining the modern AI ecosystem. **REGISTER at the Py AI event page on Luma: [https://luma.com/w08cv6px](https://luma.com/w08cv6px)​​**

Want to mess with some electronics? Or perhaps contribute to HacDC's main group project? HacDC's latest event brings hardware projects to the community. We will focus primarily on the main project (Space Blimp!) but please feel free to bring some of your own projects to show off and work on!

Join us for an evening of cutting-edge discussion at the intersection of **AI and Python**, featuring lightning talks from leading practitioners who are building the future of intelligent systems and developer tooling. **REGISTER at the Py AI event page on Luma: https://luma.com/w08cv6px​​** **Schedule** * ​​5PM - 5:30PM: Pizza & Drinks * ​​5:30PM - 6:30PM: Talks from our speakers * ​Jeremiah Lowin - Founder & CEO, Prefect * ​Roni Kobrosly - Director of Data Science, Capital One * ​Adam Azzam - FastMCP * ​Banjo Obayomi - Sr. Solutions Architect GenAI, AWS * ​...and more! * ​​6:30PM - 8:00PM: Networking & Social Hour ​​Following the talks, stay for open discussion and networking with fellow Python and AI engineers. Whether you’re building AI-driven applications, exploring new frameworks, or working on developer productivity tools, this meetup offers practical insight from the teams defining the modern AI ecosystem. **REGISTER at the Py AI event page on Luma: https://luma.com/w08cv6px​​**

**Happy New Year, GeoDC! We’re kicking off 2026 on Wednesday, January 14th, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Sudhouse DC (1340 U St NW).** **The program begins at 7:00 PM, but you’ll want to arrive early—our sponsor for the evening, Earth Genome, is providing limited appetizers and drinks for the community! Sudhouse also runs its regular happy hour until 8:00 PM. Please RSVP on the GeoDC Meetup page to help us coordinate the catering.** **This Month's Sponsor: Earth Genome** **A huge thank you to Earth Genome for making this month possible. Earth Genome is a nonprofit at the intersection of AI and environmental data, building the tools needed to monitor our planet’s health in real-time. We are excited to have their team on the ground to show us exactly how they are turning satellite pixels into climate action.** **Speaker Lineup** **Ben Strong, Earth Genome Talk: Earth Index and the New Frontier of GenAI Mikel will lead a live demo of the Earth Index platform, a "search engine for the planet" that uses geospatial foundation models to find environmental patterns globally. He’ll also be giving us a first look at some very beta GenAI features that allow users to query the planet using natural language.** **Dan McCarey, Earth Genome Talk: Visualizing the Invisible: Building Climate TRACE Plumes Dan will walk us through the build process of the Climate TRACE plumes visualization. This tool maps the real-time flow of air pollution from over 9,000 industrial sources into urban areas. He’ll discuss the technical architecture behind the project—combining atmospheric modeling with facility-level emissions data—and how it serves as a call to action for environmental justice.** **We’ll have our usual rapid-fire community updates before the demos. If you're hiring or looking for work in the DMV geospatial scene, this is your chance to grab the mic!** **See you all next Wednesday!** **The GeoDC Organizing Committee** **Chad, Tom, Dan, Puneet**

Bring your Raspberry Pi, Arduino, microcontroller, or any other electronic project and join fellow electronics makers for a night of creativity and collaboration! This session is open forum to share your current projects—whether complete or in progress, it’s all interesting! Whether you’re deep into embedded systems, exploring new ideas, or just getting started, you’ll find a welcoming space to collaborate, share, and get inspired. I've been hardware hacking a See N Say to make it say whatever I want - while the project is in progress still, it should be working by this meetup! I'll bring it for demo. [See N Say Project](https://github.com/cdeever/esp32-see-n-say) While we continue to pursue a more permanent venue for this Meetup, we’ll be using public library facilities based on availability. This session will be at the Worthington Park Library in the Olentangy Meeting Room.

**PLEASE BUY TICKETS THROUGH EVENTBRITE. RSVP THROUGH MEETUP IS NOT A TICKET PURCHASE CONFIRMATION.** Strive welcomes you to 'General Business Networking', Columbus' hottest networking event! We are set in the perfect central location in Downtown for all to join. Are you interested in business? Want to elevate your career? Meet Consultants, Analysts of all types, Bankers, Software Engineers, Entrepreneurs, and more who are active in the space or are eager to get started. **\*\*This will be a multi-vertical event\*\*** **There will be professionals with backgrounds in the arts, finance, tech, real estate, healthcare, and more. Come with an open mind, and leave with connections that wouldn't be possible otherwise!** Pack some business cards and come with an open mind! Meet your future business partners, employers, coworkers, investors, and friends. You don't want to miss this opportunity to expand your network and create a brighter future. We will have a space for our event to check-in. The event will go from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (feel free to come at any point in this timeframe). Name tags will be provided. Business casual dress code. Job fair attire. **Remember, it's not who you know, it's who you meet tomorrow!** We look forward to meeting you at the event! Sincerely, Strive Networking Team *Refund requests are permitted up to 24 hours after purchase, so long as we are not within 48 hours before the event start time. Refunds will be made in full and repaid to your method of payment. Note that we are unable to reimburse PayPal fees.* *Disclaimer: By attending Strive Networking events you agree to photos/videos taken during the event being used to promote future events.*

**Doing KPIs Right: a KEY to Analytics (and AI!) Impact!** On the one hand, KPIs are such a Business 101 concept that it may seem a little silly to dedicate an entire session to the topic. On the other hand, KPIs get handled so poorly so often that a case could be made that this meetup could just be one of the most impactful sessions of the entire year! We’re starting off the year at a new location: [COhatch Upper Arlington](https://www.cohatch.com/locations/columbus/upper-arlington/) but with a familiar speaker, Tim Wilson! We’ll be back at Rev1 in February, when the speaker will presumably not be Tim. Tim will make the case that effectively measuring performance of projects, campaigns, and initiatives (and even meetups!) should be a foundation for any data analytics program. Topics covered will include: the “two magic questions” of performance measurement, how to help business partners distinguish between outcomes and outputs, and effective tactics for collaboratively establishing KPI targets. He will also stick his neck out by demonstrating some of these techniques in real-time by measuring whether his talk lives up to the promise of this description! All CBUSDAW events are free thanks to our 2026 Sponsors: Clarivoy, Conductrics, What Box Consulting Group, and Piwik PRO. Check out [cbusdaw.com](https://cbusdaw.com) for more information.

Come check us out! You will have a wonderful time! The music and friendships are life-changing!

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

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

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