Internet of Things

We are very excited to announce another Search Tech Berlin Meetup. The meetup will be hosted and sponsored by Zalando (thank you!). **Agenda** 18:15 - Doors open 18:45 - Introduction 19:00 - **Talk: Samay Kapadia: Multi-Modal Embedding Search with modern VLMs** 19:40 - Networking, food & drinks 20:00 - **Talk: David Fennesey: Automating the tedium of golden sets with agentic flows** 20:40 - Let’s socialize and grab some drinks 21:00 - Doors closing **Talks** **1) Multi-Modal Embedding Search with modern VLMs** Samay Kapadia, Principal ML Engineer, Zalando Creating a state-of-the-art search embedding model for products, that supports both text and visual inputs. Since there are no open-weight multimodal embedding models, we will convert VLMs like Qwen3 and Ministral 3 into embedding models using LoRA (Low Rank Adapters). **2) David Fennesey: Automating the tedium of golden sets with agentic flows** David Fennesey, Principal Engineer, Flink Search relevancy optimization, such as taxonomies, labeling, and query classification, is expensive to build and painful to maintain. Modern reasoning LLMs, with a small agentic framework around them are easily capable of exploring, evaluating, and iterating through your data. This talk builds that workflow from scratch: tool calls for strategic exploration and guardrails to keep it in check. See you at the event René & Roman

[*Registration form required below*] **Interested in Japanese sword fighting or Japanese culture? Come join a trial and experience the traditional Samurai art at Katori Shintō-ryū in Schöneberg.** **Trial Fee**: **25€**/ session (2hr). Classes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 19:00 to 21:00. **!!SIGN UP HERE**: [Katori Shinto-ryū Berlin Sign-up (google.com)](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeBt4A13VgnEcgQQ2PDaruthmYMRWineG4KtUCKsuC9KBsCUQ/viewform) Registration is required before your participation so that we can prepare enough training equipment. **Address**: Belziger Str. 25, 10823 Berlin. **No previous experience required!** The classes are in English and German. **Our website**: [Kenjutsu Berlin - Official school of Katori Shinto-ryu in Berlin (katoriberlin.org)](https://katoriberlin.org/) **Katori Shintō-ryū** is one of the oldest Japanese sword fighting traditions (koryū) still practised today and is recognized by the Japanese government as a cultural intangeable asset. The school was founded in the middle of the 15th century by Iizasa Chōisai Ienao at the Katori Shrine (Katori jingū) and has become the origin of numerous other martial arts schools over the course of its almost 600-year history. The training consists of the continuous repetition of fixed sequences of movements (kata) and includes the use of classic Japanese weapons such as the sword (iai-jutsu, battō-jutsu, ken-jutsu, ryōtō-jutsu, kodachi-jutsu), the long staff (bō-jutsu), the lance (naginata-jutsu) and the spear (sō-jutsu), as well as unarmed disciplines, tactics and spiritual aspects. **The Katori Berlin dojo** is the only official shibu of Otake Nobutoshi-shihan’s dojo Shinbukan in Germany and fully dedicated to the transmission and study of one martial tradition: Tenshinshō-den Katori Shintō-ryū. Through these efforts we aim to contribute to the cultural preservation of this martial tradition. The dojo has one officially appointed shidosha. **Our sensei**: Sebastian Graetz has been active in martial arts since 1997. After almost 15 years of taekwondo in Berlin, he started with Katori Shintō-ryū in Asia in 2014. Since then, he has studied in Japan with Ōtake Risuke-shihan and Ōtake Nobutoshi-shihan, and in Vietnam with Malte Stokhof-shihandai. In 2023, he received his Menkyo license and permission to set up a training group in Berlin the following year.

Join us for another evening with the Product Management Society Berlin! We’re bringing together product designers, product managers, founders, and engineers for a relaxed night of networking. This time, we're introducing a light activity designed to connect beginners and more experienced product people. Using a question deck, we’ll open up discussions, listen to refreshing perspectives and learn from each other. No pressure, no panels. Grab your tea and join in! If you're in the product world or want to be, come connect with your community. Anyone interested in Product Design or Product Management is welcome - especially if you work between fields, are switching roles, or are simply curious about how others approach their work. As always, the event follows a relaxed format at a casual, after-work venue, giving participants plenty of time to meet fellow product people and exchange ideas. See you there! ☕️

Would you like to support and engage in building a social club for newcomers in Berlin? Every year, thousands of people move to this city knowing almost no one. The Social Butterfly Club exists to help newcomers find connection, belonging, and an active social life — and The Meadow is the weekly organizing circle where this work happens. **The Meadow** is a calm, recurring meetup for people who want to help shape and sustain the club together. It’s a practical working circle for those who enjoy showing up regularly, taking responsibility, and contributing to something that grows over time. No prior experience needed — just reliability, curiosity, and a willingness to engage. About The Social Butterfly Club 🦋 is a Berlin-based community that has been bringing people together for over three years. Each gathering is part of a larger framework designed to help friendships grow through shared experiences in the city — with a long-term vision of turning Berlin itself into a shared, playful experience. Curious to learn more about the Social Butterfly Club? You can explore the bigger picture and stay connected here: [https://social-butterfly-berlin.kit.com/join](https://social-butterfly-berlin.kit.com/join) Join our Telegram Group: [https://t.me/+OnASVWZ7emhjYzEy](https://t.me/+OnASVWZ7emhjYzEy) Questions? Check our FAQs: [https://socialbutterfly.berlin/meetup-faq/](https://socialbutterfly.berlin/meetup-faq/) Meet your host I’m Julia — a Berlin local who loves bringing people together. My path went from growing up in a dance school to studying philosophy to working in IT support, and somehow all of that led me here: hosting meetups and creating spaces where people can show up, relax, and connect. Insta [https://www.instagram.com/juwaberlin/](https://www.instagram.com/juwaberlin/) LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-waehnert/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-waehnert/)

🌟 Join us for **"Don't Eat Alone"** – an event designed to transform your lunch break into a social feast! **Tired of solitary meals in front of the computer?** **Thriving to meet some new people and curious what it may bring to your life?** Just come, check and enjoy a delicious meal with friendly faces. Connect with like-minded individuals, engage in conversations, and make your lunchtime a memorable social experience. Mark your calendar, bring your appetite, and let's build connections, one meal at a time! 🍽️🤝✨ PAYMENTS: the meetup is free, but everyone pays for their meals. Here you can pay by card easily.

Reserve a seat [HERE](https://www.epiccomedyberlin.com/weekly-shows?utm_source=meetup&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=saying-the-wrong-thing-meetup-berlin-sales&utm_content=listing-main-v1&target=weekly-shows&show=saying-the-wrong-thing&city=berlin) We take Berlin's most EXPERIENCED comedians and let them do whatever their twisted mind thinks of! Welcome to stand up the way it should be. ★★★ DOORS OPEN 8:00 PM SHOW STARTS 8:30 PM★★★ ★★★COMEDY IN ENGLISH★★★ ★★★TAKING PLACE AT THE WALL COMEDY CLUB★★★ Saying the Wrong Thing is a Berlin comedy in English event designed to give comedians exactly what they need to create great comedy: The freedom to be creative! At Saying the Wrong Thing, experienced comics will aim to speak their mind and going straight for the funniest thing they can think of! We believe comedy works best when authenticity meets creative freedom. This show aims to foster that vibe, and we’d love for you to come down and be a part of it too. Pay What You Want – Seat Reservation Required. Reserve your seat for just €2, and at the end of the show, you decide what it was worth (suggested contribution: €10-15). Reservations are held until 10 minutes before the show starts. This is a paid show—you just get to choose how much to pay. Book now!

**\*\*\* NEW LOCATION! \*\*\*** Join us for a relaxed, social evening exploring the basics of vibe coding. This time with a focus on automation workflows using **n8n** (n8n.io). This time at the awesome **Electric** **Social** Bar, with good vibes, good music, and great drinks. This event is for everyone. Especially beginners and anyone curious about AI and the latest tech. No prior experience needed. Just bring a laptop or tablet and an open mind. **Hosted by:** * **[Marcel Claus-Ahrens](https://www.linkedin.com/in/geckse/): n8n Ambassador and Leading Automation Expert** * **[Ridvan Sibic](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ridvan-sibic-300b5512a/): AI Engineer and Founder** **Who Is This For?** * Complete beginners and the coding-curious * Anyone wanting to learn something new in a relaxed group setting * Students, creatives, hobbyists, and professionals * Anyone with a cool app idea * If you ever wanted to know how to automate a process * People who enjoy learning with others **What to Bring:** * A laptop or tablet (as this is a hands-on event) * A curious mind * Good vibes **Schedule (19:00–21:00 + Open Session)** * **19:00 – Arrival & Drinks** * **19:15 – Vibe Coding Introduction by** **[Ridvan Sibic](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ridvan-sibic-300b5512a/)** * **19:20 – n8n Introduction by** **[Marcel Claus-Ahrens](https://www.linkedin.com/in/geckse/)** * **19:30 – Hands-on Kickoff** * **20:00 – Break & Social Time** * **20:10 – Working Session** * **20:40 – Lightning Presentations** * **21:00 – Wrap-Up & Open Session** Stay for drinks, conversations, and freestyle exploration for as long as you like. **Where:** At the Electric Social - Grunerstraße 13, 10179 Berlin **Price:** It's for free.

Join us for the **first Berlin meetup of the year** as we bring together **Kong × Kafka × Grafana** for an evening focused on **real-time data, streaming, and observability** 🚀 This meetup is all about learning from practitioners, sharing experiences, and kicking off 2026 with the local data & platform community. As always, expect **high-quality technical talks**, **great conversations**, and **good vibes** — plus **pizza 🍕 and cold drinks** to keep things flowing. *** **🔐 Important** For security reasons, please provide your **Full name and surname** during registration. Our volunteers will verify your registration at the entrance — this is **mandatory** to access the venue. Your information will be used **only** for this purpose. *** **🗓️ Event Details** **📅 Date:** 29.01.26 *** **🕐 Agenda** **18:00 — Welcome & Snacks** Doors open! Grab a slice, meet fellow community members, and get settled. **18:30 — Opening Remarks** A warm welcome from the **Berlin community** and event partners. **18:45 — Tech Talks Begin** 📚 **Talk Details** ### **Talk 01: Keeping data private in real-time pipelines By Olena Kutsenko** **Abstract** We all love real-time data — clicks, payments, rides, messages — but most of it comes with a catch: it often includes personal information we’re not allowed to leak, such as names, emails, locations, or subtle clues that can identify someone. So how do we keep streaming data **useful** and **safe** at the same time? In this talk, we’ll explore practical approaches to protecting privacy in streaming systems using **Apache Kafka**, Apache Flink, and Apache Iceberg. We’ll cover: * Simple techniques like **masking and tokenizing PII** * Why “anonymous” data often **isn’t really anonymous** (the re-identification problem) * Privacy-preserving approaches such as **bucketing, k-anonymity, and adding noise** * How to **balance privacy and data utility** (because over-hiding can make data useless) *** ### **Talk 02: Blackbox Monitoring is Hard! (And Why That’s the Best Part) By Goutham Veeramachaneni** I’ve been experimenting with [Beyla](https://grafana.com/oss/beyla-ebpf/) and [eBPF-based monitoring](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation) since its inception. While it’s an incredible tool for getting started with zero-code instrumentation, making it work reliably at scale presents a unique set of hurdles. In this session, we’ll introduce Beyla’s architecture and show how it can kickstart your observability journey.But the real story lies in what happens next. Navigating the scaling challenges has been an absolute blast, and we’ve tackled each bottleneck unfazed—sometimes by leaning into the tech, and other times by resorting to white box native instrumentation to gain the granular insights we need.What you’ll learn: * • **The "How":** A technical deep dive into how Beyla works under the hood. * • **The "Real-World":** The specific challenges we faced when moving beyond the initial phase. * • **The "Trade-offs":** A transparent look at the limitations of different approaches, from pure blackbox eBPF to native instrumentation. * • T**he "Product":** Insight into the intricacies of building a new product in a rapidly evolving ecosystem. Whether you are an observability veteran or just starting with eBPF, you’ll walk away with a better understanding of your monitoring stack and the confidence to handle the limitations of the tools you use. ### **Talk 03: Securing and governing both external and internal traffic By Sven Walther** Modern enterprises must secure and govern APIs, event-driven systems, and internal services—without fragmenting control across multiple platforms. This talk shows how a unified management plane brings consistency, visibility, and security across the entire application landscape using Kong Konnect. The session will cover three key areas: * **External connectivity & event exposure** Securely connect partners and customers to your event-driven systems without exposing internal infrastructure directly. * **Internal service governance with Service Mesh** Apply security, traffic control, and observability across your internal network using a service mesh. * **Fine-grained Kafka governance** Enforce policies and security down to the individual message level for internal event streams. *** ### **🤝🏻 21:00 — Networking & Q&A** Connect with fellow developers, data engineers, platform teams, and observability enthusiasts. Share ideas, experiences, and maybe even exchange a LinkedIn connection or two. **21:30 — Event Wrap-Up** *** **📷 Photo Notice** By attending this event, you consent to being photographed. These photos may be used for future community and event promotions. Don’t forget to smile 😄 *** We’re excited to kick off 2026 with the Berlin community and can’t wait to see you there! If you have any questions or are interested in **speaking at future meetups**, feel free to reach out.

I'm excited to announce another meetup! If you're interested in give a talk, feel free to reach out to me at marcel.drechsler@andsafe.de \-\-\- All talks will be **presented in English**, to ensure that as many people as possible can participate and engage at this event. **If you want to attend, please RSVP to secure your spot - this will make organizing easier. Thank you so much ♥️** **Location:** Spiced Academy, Ritterstrasse 12, 10969 Berlin, 2. Hof \-\-\-\-\-\- **🏠 18:00 - Arrival: Networking, Drinks & Snacks (30 min.)** Grab yourself snacks & drinks and say hello to everybody else! **📅 18:30 - So you want to observe an Event Driven System? (45 min.)** **🎙️**Speaker: Roman Boiko, Enterprise Sales Engineer @ [Datadog](https://www.datadoghq.com) Event-driven architectures offer powerful decoupling, but they often shatter traditional monitoring strategies. When a single business process jumps across multiple queues, buses, and microservices, tracing the line between cause and effect becomes a complex puzzle. This talk bridges that visibility gap by exploring practical observability strategies using OpenTelemetry. We will navigate the critical architectural decisions behind distributed tracing - specifically choosing between Span Linking and Parent-Child relationships - and master context propagation to ensure no transaction is lost in the noise. Join us to learn how to connect low-level technical data with high-level business metrics, turning asynchronous complexity into a clear, manageable system. Roman Boiko is a Senior Enterprise Sales Engineer at Datadog, where he helps developers and architects build reliable, observable, and scalable systems. With a strong background in serverless and cloud-native architectures, he’s passionate about bridging the gap between engineering and operations to help teams move faster with confidence. Roman frequently speaks at tech events, sharing practical insights on observability, distributed systems, and modern application design. He enjoys exploring how developers can simplify complexity and deliver better software through data-driven decisions. **📅 19:15 - Datadog at Zendesk - a solid foundation for scalable, reliable and cost efficient systems (30 min.)** **🎙️**Speaker: Anatoly Mikhaylov, Principal Software Engineer & Datadog Ambassador @ [Zendesk](https://www.zendesk.de/) Anatoly will share practical and valuable lessons what value Datadog brings and what role it plays at Zendesk. They customized and encorporated observability triad (APM, Logs and metrics) within a large volume of systems and applications. Zendesk made it work very well at scale and so that Datadog became a common language engineers and product teams can speak to one another. A single picture often helps to narrow down the issue, surface the problem, brings the solution and be confident remediation is applied successfully. Zendesk teams are fluent using complex Datadog tools and drive necessary changes. **📅 19:45 - Continuous Profiling with Datadog (30 min.)** **🎙️**Speaker: Felix Geisendörfer, Senior Staff Engineer @ [Datadog](https://www.datadoghq.com) Instrumenting systems with logs, metrics and traces is a great way to make them more observable. However, the resulting map is not the territory, and only allows indirect reasoning about the code it represents.Continuous profiling fills this gap by allowing software developers and operators to directly understand the CPU, Memory and Latency trends of their systems using stack traces that break down problems and opportunities in terms of files, functions and line numbers. This presentation will demonstrate the value of this capability by live-debugging an incident caused by an AI assisted refactoring using Datadog’s Continuous Profiler product. Additionally the presentation will give an overview of other capabilities as well as the work we’re doing upstream to add profiling as the fourth signal of OpenTelemetry. **🥗 20:15 - Drinks, Food & Networking** Enjoy refreshments while networking with community peers! **👋 21:00 - Goodbye, see you next time!**

Let's support each-other, upbuild faith, and find some like-minded friends in our community.

**IMPORTANT PLEASE RSVP:** https://www.meetup.com/grafana-and-friends-berlin/events/312736114/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events **🕐 Agenda** * **18:00 — Welcome & Snacks** * Doors open! Grab a slice, meet fellow community members, and get settled. * **18:30 — Opening Remarks** * A warm welcome from the **Berlin community** and event partners. * **18:45 — Tech Talks Begin** **Talk 01: Keeping data private in real-time pipelines** **Abstract** We all love real-time data — clicks, payments, rides, messages — but most of it comes with a catch: it often includes personal information we’re not allowed to leak, such as names, emails, locations, or subtle clues that can identify someone. So how do we keep streaming data **useful** and **safe** at the same time? In this talk, we’ll explore practical approaches to protecting privacy in streaming systems using **Apache Kafka**, Apache Flink, and Apache Iceberg. We’ll cover: * Simple techniques like **masking and tokenizing PII** * Why “anonymous” data often **isn’t really anonymous** (the re-identification problem) * Privacy-preserving approaches such as **bucketing, k-anonymity, and adding noise** * How to **balance privacy and data utility** (because over-hiding can make data useless) ### **Talk 02: TBA** Details coming soon 👀 ### **Talk 03: TBA** Stay tuned for the announcement!

Tauche ein in technische [Deep Dives ](https://www.sva-events.de/event/f080c6fc-449f-45be-a3bb-e14980e2e708/summary)rund um **Automation, Infrastructure as Code, Kubernetes, Cloud Native, DevSecOps und Plattform Engineering.** Triff Gleichgesinnte aus der Branche, diskutiere aktuelle Herausforderungen und lass dich von unseren Expertinnen und Experten inspirieren. Sei unser Gast und werde Teil der Community! Natürlich ist auch für dein leibliches Wohl bestens gesorgt. Wirf doch gerne schon mal einen Blick in die [Themen](https://www.sva-events.de/event/f080c6fc-449f-45be-a3bb-e14980e2e708/agenda) vor Ort. **Wir bitten um Anmeldung über diesen [Link](https://www.sva-events.de/event/f080c6fc-449f-45be-a3bb-e14980e2e708/regProcessStep1).**

Berlin is one of the most vibrant hubs for Ethereum builders, researchers, and advocates of privacy, decentralization, and open-source technology. We're excited to welcome you to the Berlin Ethereum Meetups in 2026 and create more engaging community experiences together this year. Join us as we explore new ideas, collaborate on projects, and grow our community! Our next meetup is open to all - from those new to Ethereum to long-standing community members and developers. 🗓️ **Agenda** 🕕 6:30 - 6:45 pm - Arrivals 🕡 6:45 - 7:00 pm - Community Updates & Ecosystem News by Martin & Eniko (EF) 🕡 7:00 - 7:30 pm - Ethereum Roadmap Updates by Francesco, Researcher at the Ethereum Foundation 🕡 7:30 - Quick Open Call for BREW - Privacy Program 🕖 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm - Open discussions and community networking Whether you’re here to learn, contribute, or simply connect, join us as we continue building the next chapter of Ethereum in Berlin. The talks will be recorded and uploaded to our [Youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@ethereumberlin). Subscribe to stay up to date. **Apply to speak at our future meetups:** [Speaker Application](https://forms.gle/5y9Y5ywZC7pSEqpV9) To learn more about Ethereum, go to [ethereum.org](http://ethereum.org/) (content available in many different languages).

**Free ticket only via Eventbrite** 👉 https://www.eventbrite.de/e/1979711741110 👈 \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- ### Whether you’re working on a game-changing idea and need someone to help make it happen, or you’re eager to join an exciting project, this event is your opportunity to connect with like-minded people in person. We’re bringing together founders with ideas and talented individuals looking to join startups. Share your goals, exchange ideas, and discover if there’s a spark to build something amazing together. This event is happening as part of the Thursday Gathering by Venture Café Berlin. ### **How It Works**: 1. **Register** on Eventbrite to save your spot. **Please only chose one ticket category** 2. **Complete our co-founder matching questionnaire** (powered by TribeSquare), which we will send you some days before the event, to get your personalized best matches at the event. 3. **First time visiting our Partner, Venture Café?** Please set up your Venture Café account in advance using the button below! This will help you enjoy the Venture Café experience on site and speed up the self check-in process. SETUP AN ACCOUNT: [https://community.venturecafeberlin.org/profile](https://community.venturecafeberlin.org/profile "https://community.venturecafeberlin.org/profile") 4\. At the event\, you’ll meet your matches in one\-on\-one sessions and have plenty of time to network with everyone else\. ### **What to Expect**: * **For founders**: Meet skilled professionals to bring your vision to life, whether it’s a technical expert, a marketing genius, or a startup veteran. * **For co-founders**: Discover exciting projects and passionate founders looking for your expertise. * A mix of **structured matches** and **open networking** for everyone afterwards. * A relaxed, welcoming environment to make real connections and explore potential partnerships. ### **Who Should Come**: * Founders who need a co-founder or team member. * Aspiring co-founders or professionals who want to join a startup. * People who want to connect to with the Berlin Startup ecosystem ### **Event Details**: * **When**: January 29, 2025, 16:00–19:00 * **Where**: Venture Café Berlin * **Language**: English * Snacks and drinks will be provided > **Data Privacy Disclaimer:** By registering for this event, you consent to sharing your provided information with our event partners, Venture Café and TribeSquare, for organizational purposes. Your data will be processed according to GDPR regulations and will not be used for other purposes without your explicit consent. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **Free ticket only via Eventbrite** 👉 https://www.eventbrite.de/e/1979711741110 👈

## 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. 🧱➡️📐

Connected Westerville Night of Networking flips the script on networking, with surprises and connections that'll make you say, "Who knew networking could be this much fun?!"

## 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/

### Tools in your AI's Toolbox : An introduction to MCP Servers The generative AI revolution has unlocked unprecedented capabilities, but the next frontier is agency: empowering models to interact with, query, and act upon the world. The current challenge is the “N x M integration problem,” where every AI model requires a custom, brittle integration for each external tool or data source. This approach simply doesn’t scale. How can we give an AI access to our sales leads, code repositories, or IoT devices in a standardized, secure, and reusable way? This session introduces Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open-source framework designed to solve this challenge and become the universal connector—the USB-C port—for AI. MCP standardizes how AI models discover and use external tools, moving beyond simple function-calling to a robust, client-server architecture. We will dive into how this open protocol is creating a new ecosystem for building powerful, context-aware AI agents. Join this session for a developer-focused introduction where you will learn how to: Understand the core concepts of the open-source Model Context Protocol and its architecture. Utilize pre-built, open-source MCP servers to instantly connect AI to tools like Git, Slack, and databases. Build a custom MCP server to securely expose your own proprietary data and APIs as tools for any compliant AI. Move beyond bespoke integrations and contribute to a standardized, collaborative, and open ecosystem. Stop building one-off connectors and start building intelligent agents. This session will give you the practical knowledge to leverage MCP and create the next generation of AI that doesn’t just talk, but does. Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! [https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/](https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/)

## Learn Infrastructure-as-Code (the FUN Way) — Through Minecraft 🎮☁️ **Joint Meetup: 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 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. 🧱➡️📐 Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/cbus-hug-2026/