Internet of Things (IOT)

IMPORTANT: for this event please make sure you've RSVP'd at [https://luma.com/4usyy9d7](https://luma.com/4usyy9d7) to see the address and additional information. # Spring is Coming! ​Some winters are for hibernating, but this isn’t one of them. ​ [Station Alpha](https://stationalpha.org/) and [Founder Institute](https://fi.co/), in collaboration with Startup DC, are partnering on this public meetup celebrating fresh ideas, new beginnings, and the unstoppable energy of the startup ecosystem in the National Capital Region. With generous support from [Unstuck Labs](https://unstucklabs.com/), this event brings together founders, builders, investors, operators, and the startup-curious for an evening that feels like the first warm day after a long winter - optimistic, electric, and full of possibility. \* ​Expect great connections with people who are actually building things, not just talking about them. \* Expect lightning pitches from awesome startups moving fast and thinking big. \* Expect conversations that start casually and turn into collaborations, partnerships, or maybe even the next breakout company. ​Spring is when things grow, and startups are no different. Come meet the people shaping what’s next in the National Capital Region - and maybe plant a few seeds of your own. ## ​**Agenda** * ​5:30 – 6:45 \| Networking * ​6:45 – 7:15 \| Quick welcome\, announcements and lightning pitches * ​7:15 \- 8:30 \| More networking ## ​**​​Food&Bev** ​Food and beverages will be provided, thanks to our generous partners [Founder Institute](https://fi.co/) and [Unstuck Labs](https://www.unstucklabs.com/)! ## ​Parking and Transportation * ​Street parking is limited * ​There is a lot of garage parking nearby, e.g. 1200n N Garfield St, Arlington, VA 22201 **for <$10/day** * ​Unstuck Labs’ office is located across the street from the Clarendon Metro station on the Silver and Orange Lines (two stops from the Blue Line and three stops from DC). There is also a separate entrance to the building directly from the Metro station. ## ​About Station Alpha ​[Station Alpha](https://stationalpha.org/) is an angel group built for founders and investors who believe the best outcomes are engineered - together. We source standout opportunities, educate our members, and convene in-person to help great companies become inevitable. ​We are global and industry agnostic — evaluating every opportunity on its own merits. We back differentiated companies with defensible advantages and a credible path to scale. ## ​**About Founder Institute** ​The **[Founder Institute](https://fi.co/)** is the world’s most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses. Since 2009, our structured accelerator programs have helped over 8,900 entrepreneurs raise over 2BN in funding. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 100 countries, our mission is to empower communities of talented and motivated people to build impactful technology companies worldwide. ## ​**​Huge thanks to our sponsors, partners, and organizers!** * ​[Unstuck Labs](https://www.unstucklabs.com/)! * ​[Station Alpha](https://stationalpha.org/) * ​[Founder Institute](https://fi.co/) * ​[Craftus](https://craftus.com/)

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)

[Profs and Pints DC](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Terrors of Irish Fairylore,”** an introduction to Ireland’s strange and unsettling folkloric “Good People,” with Brittany Warman, former instructor at Ohio State University, co-founder of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, and co-author of the new book *Fairylore: A Compendium of the Fae Folk.* [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at[ https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-irish-fairlylore]( https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-irish-fairlylore) .] Today it is common to think of fairies as small, childlike, sparkly creatures with glittering wings and dresses made from flower petals. But the fae of traditional Irish folklore were no such things. Amoral, capricious, even malicious when they chose to be, the too-frequently forgotten fairies of times long past would, more often than not, haunt nightmares. Join Brittany Warman, a folklorist who has earned a devoted following among Profs and Pints fans, as she explores the darker side of Irish fairylore. The figures she'll discuss include: The Leanan-Sidhe, a vampiric fairy who gives artistic inspiration in exchange for your mortal spirit. The Dullahan, a fairy with a human spine for a whip and a habit of hurtling across fields in a death coach made from human skin. The Banshee, a mournful fairy whose cry signals a death in the family to which she's attached herself. Dr. Warman also will examine the surprising impact of fairy folklore on two classics of Irish Gothic literature, Oscar Wilde's *The Picture of Dorian Gray* and Bram Stoker's *Dracula.* It’s a talk that will remind you that the relationship between the Irish and the spooky stretches well beyond Halloween. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: “The Banshee Appears,” an 1862 illustration by Robert Prowse (Wicklow Heritage / Public domain).

**NEW UPDATE:** Additional members of the cubing community have reached out to me and we all agree, the more cubing the better! I have removed the 12 person limit and we are adding an overflow cube for those also interested in non vintage type cubes! For the foreseeable future this guest cube will be Alex's Enchantment Cube [Enchanted to Meet You](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/enchantedCube)! Priority will still fall to firing the vintage cube but what this means is if we reach 12 members we can offer the option to fire both cubes at 6 and 6 or just the vintage cube at 2 pods each. If we reach over 12 we will divide up the players between the two cubes with earlier RSVPs getting priority on their choice. If you have a cube that you are interested in having as a spill over cube please reach out to me and we can coordinate. Thank you! Come join and casually draft a vintage cube that is open to everyone. No cost to enter! The store provides promo booster packs and I usually throw in a pack of the most recent standard set to award to the people with the best records at the end of the night. [What is Cube?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNDBTRG6keM) What: Vintage Cube Draft When: 6:00pm Where: Your Hobby Place in Old Town Alexandria (Your Hobby Place, 700 N Washington St, Alexandria, VA 22314) We aim to start drafting shortly after 6:00pm as the store's register closes at 9:00pm. The store owner is kind enough to keep the space open for us to finish rounds. In previous events we've usually wrapped up around 9:45. All skill levels are welcome and all cards, lands, tokens needed are provided so you only need to bring yourself and potentially some dice and playmat if you prefer. The list can be seen here: [https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/proxybacon](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/proxybacon) Join Your Hobby Place's Discord and grab the Cube Role in the mtg-chat channel for the most up to date information on cube at their location: [https://discord.gg/9je3G8vzXh](https://discord.gg/9je3G8vzXh) **Important Notice:** I have seen an increased number of signups and no shows amongst brand new accounts. In an effort to make sure we have room for everyone if this is your first time joining and you have just created a meetup account please reach out to me via Meetup or discord. **Late Policy:** RSVPing will hold your spot for up to 10 minutes after 6. If you expect you may be running late please reach out to me via the store's discord. My username is iluvbacon610.

Tally Ho Toastmasters meets regularly on the 1st and 3rd Monday each month. Our friendly club offers great opportunities to improve communication and leadership skills while providing excellent evaluations by the members. Learn more on our website at http://tallyho.toastmastersclubs.org/. Please, do not get discouraged by the number of members signed up on this MeetUp. Most of our active members do not use MeetUp to RSVP. We usually have around 10-15 members attending our meetings. Come check it out yourself!

\*\* Tickets are $71.50 ($65 + tax) and can be purchased [here.](https://www.exploretock.com/barcelona-wine-bar-14th-street/event/594770/terroir-uncorked) \*\* UNCORKED is a walk-around tasting where we open 30 different bottles from our list—a chance to try the cellar of our award-winning wine program. The wines are paired with seasonal paella and passed tapas. Each time we host, we dive into a different theme. This time, we’re uncorking terroir. Terroir is a French term that refers to the natural environment in which a wine is made. This includes everything– but most often focuses on soil, topography and climate, ultimately producing a bottled sense of place. Our 400+ bottle program deeply focuses on terroir, becoming a collection of places that can be experienced through a pour. For this UNCORKED, we’re opening 30 wines that we think are some of the clearest expressions of place out there. We can’t wait to share these truly transportive bottles with you.

Join the Midnight Blockchain Group - DC/MD/VA for an engaging meetup diving into the Cardano and Midnight ecosystems. Whether you're a seasoned blockchain enthusiast or just curious about decentralized tech, this casual gathering is your chance to connect, learn, and network in the heart of DC. What to Expect: Kick off with a brief overview of Cardano, a proof-of-stake blockchain known for its research-driven approach, sustainability, and scalability, and Midnight Network, its privacy focused partner chain! **How to Find the Group:** * Head to Treehouse at 411 New York Avenue NE – it's easy to spot in the Ivy City neighborhood. * Look for our group in the main lounge area * Parking is available nearby, and it's Metro-accessible via the NoMa-Gallaudet U station (Red Line). This meetup is free and open to all, stop by to learn more about how Cardano and Midnight are revolutionizing Governance, privacy and utility in Web3. See you there! 🚀

Treat your children to GALita’s ***Séneca, ratón de biblioteca (Séneca, The Library Mouse)***, a bilingual play by Chilean playwright Jorge Díaz with original music by Iván Navas. Directed by Elena Velasco, this fun-filled play touches on the importance of reading and respecting differences, and runs March 14 through March 28, 2026. When a brainy library mouse meets a swaggering crew of street mice, sparks fly and stories take off—spilling from the shelves into a world of comic chases and big laughs. Along the way, unlikely friendships form and lessons unfold about listening, learning, and belonging. Brought to life through imaginative puppets and original music, ***Séneca, The Library Mouse*** invites young audiences to celebrate difference, delight in the joy of books, and discover confidence and pride in who they are—proving that brains, creativity, and curiosity can be just as powerful as bravado. **PERFORMANCES:** Weekdays from March 16-20 and March 23-27 at 10:30 am, and Saturday, March 14, 21, and 28 at 3 pm. This family show is about 60 minutes long and suitable for ages 5 and up! **TICKETS:** General admission tickets are $10 children and $12 adults. **[GET TICKETS HERE](https://ci.ovationtix.com/35923/production/1245619)** **CAST:** Daniela Lock as Séneca, Delbis Cardona as Rafael, Ramón, and Raúl, Máximo Cáceres as Benigno (Dog), Rachael Small as Bellaco (Cat), and H. Christian Aguilar as Ensemble/Understudy. **CREATIVE TEAM:** Scenic Design is by Gisela Estrada with Lighting Design by Luis García, and Costume Design by Rukiya Henry-Fields. Iván Navas is Composer, Angélica Huertas is Sound Designer, and Properties Design is by Isabel deCarvalho. Solis Pettitt is Stage Manager and Sherry González is Assistant Stage Manager. Ilyana Rose-Dávila is Production Manager, and Anson Stevie is Technical Director.

​A beginner-friendly workshop on superintelligence AI and how this new technology is evolving and impacting society. ​​**Free and open to the public — no technical background required** ​​What would it actually mean for machines to become smarter than humans—not just at chess or writing, but at *everything*? For decades, scientists and researchers have debated the idea of **Superintelligent AI**: systems that could outperform humans across nearly all cognitive tasks. What once sounded like distant science fiction is now increasingly discussed as a real possibility within our lifetimes. ​​This workshop is a guided, interactive introduction to the idea of superintelligence and the problem of **loss of control**—what happens if we create systems that are more capable than we are, but whose goals don’t perfectly align with human values. ​​**Over the course of the workshop, we’ll explore:** * ​​**Superintelligence:** What it means for an AI system to surpass human intelligence across domains, and how this differs from today’s AI. * ​​**Power and control:** Why advanced AI could wield enormous economic, political, and strategic influence—and why “just turning it off” may not be realistic. * ​​**Misalignment risks:** How systems pursuing the *wrong* objectives could cause harm even without malicious intent. * ​​**Societal choices:** How decisions made today—by researchers, companies, and governments—may shape whether AI becomes a tool we control or a force we struggle to contain. ​​**What you’ll get:** * ​​A clear, non-technical introduction to core ideas from AI safety and existential risk research. * ​​Live demonstrations of current AI capabilities, to ground abstract concerns in real systems. * ​​Small-group discussions and thought experiments that connect AI risks to everyday life, institutions, and incentives. * ​​A better mental model for evaluating headlines, hype, and claims about AI progress. ​​**Format & vibe:** ​​This is not a lecture it is an interactive workshop designed to help people think clearly about a topic that is increasingly important and moving very quickly. ​​Whether you’re new to AI, casually interested, or deeply unsure what to believe, you’ll leave with a clearer picture of *why* many researchers take superintelligence seriously—and *what’s actually at stake* if we get it wrong.

Friday night Greenbelt International Folk Dancing has gone "virtual". As we all practice good social distancing, many in our folk dance community are feeling the absence of our usually scheduled local dances. In response, please join us for the Greenbelt Virtual Folk Dance Session. Let’s keep dancing! • Connect and dance in our own homes • Watch hosts leading familiar dances • See each other; listen and dance to our favorites How: We will be using the ZOOM video conferencing app to share music and live videos of the leaders and each other. This can be used on a desktop, laptop, or smartphone. What to Expect: Your hosts are Linda Mansdorf, Vita Hollander, Ben Hole, and John Robinson. Collectively they will play 25-30 dances, which should approximate the number of dances normally done on a Friday night in-person event. The hosts will do a quick teaching or demonstration of the steps to some of the dances that may be less familiar to you or just as a refresher, but the session is not designed as a workshop, so the majority of the evening will be spent playing dances that many of us already know and love to do. How To Join Us: Each week we will send an email with the Zoom Meeting link ID. Make sure John Robinson knows you would like to receive this email with the link. John's email address for Info: j_srobinson@verizon.net. https://www.facebook.com/GreenbeltInternationalFolkDancing/ Co-sponsored by the Folklore Society of Greater Washington

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!

Details Location: Crimson Whiskey Bar (Either the downstairs whiskey bar, or main floor bar, TBD) The purpose of Thinkers and Drinkers is to facilitate casual but meaningful and interesting conversations with other people in a face-to-face setting. The topics cover a wide variety of issues and are different for every meeting. While conversations may get heated at times, we ask that all members be respectful of each other and refrain from personal insults. Here's the updated version: *** **Topic: Reasons to Be Excited (A Technology Optimism Round)** It's easy to doom-scroll your way into thinking the world is falling apart. And honestly, some of our recent meetings haven't helped. So this time, we're flipping the script: what technology are you actually *excited* about? This isn't a request for blind techno-utopianism. Skepticism is welcome. But the goal is to spend some time on the genuine wins and promising horizons, because there are more of them than the headlines suggest. Here's a quick tour of some things worth being optimistic about: * **AI in everyday life** — Love it or hate it, AI tools are genuinely saving people hours of tedious work. From coding assistants to writing tools to writing this very event descriptin you're reading now to AI that sits inside your spreadsheets and email, the practical applications are moving faster than most people expected even two years ago. The question is less "will this be useful?" and more "who actually benefits, and when?" * **Clean energy's quiet boom** — Solar and battery storage have had a decade of jaw-dropping cost reductions. The U.S. added more renewable capacity last year than any year on record. It's not fast enough for some, but the trajectory is real. * **CRISPR and gene editing** — In late 2023, the FDA approved the first CRISPR-based treatment for sickle cell disease — a condition that has caused lifelong suffering for millions of people with very few good options. It's the first of what could be a long list of genetic diseases that are now, for the first time, actually curable rather than just manageable. * **Lab-grown meat** — Chicken and beef grown directly from animal cells, no slaughter required. It's real, it's been approved for sale in the US, and while it's still expensive and not yet on your grocery shelf, the cost curves are dropping fast. Whether you care about animal welfare, climate, or just think it's cool, this one is quietly wild. * **SpaceX and the new space economy** — Reusable rockets went from fantasy to routine. Launch costs have dropped by an order of magnitude in 15 years, opening the door to satellite internet in remote areas, new science missions, and yes, eventually humans on Mars (whether or not that excites you). * **Brain-computer interfaces** — Still early, still expensive, but Neuralink and others are giving paralyzed patients the ability to control devices with their thoughts. The sci-fi shelf life on this one is getting shorter. **Questions to Consider:** * Is there a technology you were skeptical about that has actually won you over? What changed your mind? * Which of these feels most overhyped — and which feels *under*hyped? * Are the benefits of new technology reaching people broadly, or mostly concentrating among the already-fortunate? * Is optimism about technology a luxury? Does it depend on where you live, how much money you have, or what you do for work? * What's something small and unglamorous — not AI, not space — that has genuinely made your life better recently?

Kevin Rhodus from Lucy Deep Park Northside is coming to talk to us about his extensive neighborhood Christmas light display that is open in November and December every year north of Dublin. 9 houses over 12 acres and over 120,000 individual controlled lights that sync to music which you can tune into on your radio! Quite impressive! https://ldplights.com/ We'll dive into the tech that runs the show -- should be a blast to hear about this very elaborate display! 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 Dublin Library in the Meeting Room 2

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

**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** TBD **YouTube Link** TBA

Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/cbus-hug-2026/

Let’s meet and discuss this fun but moving collection of wildly creative short stories. (Photo credit: TimesNowNews.com)

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.