Freedom of Information

Monthly meeting for the Victorian Division of the Secular Party of Australia. We welcome anybody who is interested in a secular Australia. (The meeting officially starts at 7:30, with dinner prior from 6:30). http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/f/3/c/600_306312092.jpeg

**Gain The Confidence to Be Unstoppable! Free Class.** How to Achieve Self Confidence! Without question, self confidence is the key to success. It determines how many of your goals you achieve in life and has an enormous impact on your happiness. It affects how people perceive you, your career achievements, your ability to take risks or try new endeavours, as well as your overall attitude toward yourself and others. Self Confidence is something most people would like to have more of, but aren't sure how to get. Did you ever feel more certain of yourself in the past? Would you like to raise your self confidence ? To increase self confidence, you have to understand what reduces it. If you know why this happens you can reverse the situation and rebuild your self esteem. Self Confidence is self-determinism. One's belief in one's ability to determine his own course. As long as one has that, he's go the universe in his pocket. - L. Ron Hubbard. This day you are able to Learn a few things about: • The true source of security in life. • How self-confidence, self respect and self trust interrelate, and what you can do to rehabilitate them. • The exact steps to become more competent in whatever you do. Today's free class will put you into a good position to help you achieve a new level of self-confidence, accomplish more and progress towards a higher level of personal survival. Free parking, Free entree *** Todays free class is open to all people of goodwill and is held at the Life Improvement Centre located at Scientology. Our meetup classes contain universal knowledge that is applicable to all of us and can and is used by anyone of any faith as well as by those with no faith. Our meetups contain TOOLS for better living and they will assist you greatly in achieving your goals! These practical tools can be used straight away!

# **Special Edition Trivia starts 7PM \| Free Entry \| Prizes & The Force Awaits** Gather your troops, light those sabers, and hyperspace jump into our Tavern for **May the 4th Trivia** — a one-night special event where your knowledge will be tested. Hosted in the heart of our bustling Fortress Tavern, this isn’t your average pub trivia. Expect an night filled with themed music, special drinks**,** and like-minded fans battling you for the top prize! 🎁 **Epic Prizes** 🍹 **Themed Cocktails** 🎲 **Star Wars Lore & Curveball Rounds** 🧙‍♂️ **Immersive Vibes. Cosplay Highly Encouraged** Whether you’re Han Soloing or gathering your Stormtroopers, this night is a must for any fan. Entry is free, but tables fill fast, **book your spot** **now!** **You there we hope to see! <(-_-)>**

**🎤 Elevate Your Communication & Leadership at Mighty Docklands Toastmasters!** Ready to level up your confidence, leadership skills, and public speaking prowess? Welcome to Mighty Docklands Toastmasters, where your journey to self-improvement begins! 🌟 What to Expect: * **Expert Toastmasters Guidance**: Our sessions follow the proven Toastmasters framework, ensuring you receive the best possible support and mentorship. * **Warm and Welcoming Atmosphere:** Immerse yourself in a friendly and vibrant environment, surrounded by like-minded individuals on their own journey of self-improvement. * **Diverse community:** Connect with 15-20 like-minded people at every meeting. Come and experience it for yourself! We welcome guests and newcomers alike, eager to meet anyone interested in advancing their public speaking and leadership abilities. 📅 **We meet every 1st, 3rd & 5th Monday of each month from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.** ***Please come by 6:15 pm, for a prompt 6:30 pm start. Visitors will not be allowed in after 6:30 pm due to access-controlled doors.*** ✉️ Please email **docklandstoastmasters@gmail.com** for more information. Attending any Toastmasters meeting as a guest is free, however membership to Toastmasters International is a paid activity, details of membership fee etc will be shared over email post attendance. 📍**Find us at the Community Hub:** The Community Hub at the Dock is the building **next** to the Library. There will be a signage at the access contolled front door. Head down towards the library and then head past the park on the left. Entrance is from the street side. [Front of building](https://imgur.com/a/ugh5ay3)

Get outside and join us for a day of planting trees and shrubs on a beautiful property in the Yarra Valley. Come and help to protect waterways, improve ecosystems and create habitat for wildlife. Share the day with a fun bunch of outdoorsy folk who like doing good! No experience required - we will train you on the day. Morning tea and lunch are provided for free. [YOU MUST REGISTER VIA THIS LINK!](https://events.humanitix.com/help-plant-native-seedlings-at-healesville-1-xdbfvpp8) This link tells you everything you need to know - what to bring, where to go, FAQs - and you MUST register on this page! You'll meet friendly, like-minded people, and return home knowing that you've done something meaningful. You'll need your own transport, approximately one hour's drive from Melbourne CBD. TreeProject is an award-winning, not-for-profit organisation that has been growing and planting native seedlings for farmers and Landcare groups for over 30 years. We have grown over 2 million trees! This year alone we are growing over 150,000 trees, and helping landowners plant about 50,000 trees! Come and join us!

Calling all \*\*female-identifying, non-binary and gender diverse \*\* filmmakers, actors, and film enthusiasts! Join us at **5pm** **Monday May 4 (the first Monday of every month)** in the Emporium food court (located behind Grill’d Burger Restaurant) for a chance to build relationships in the film community. **From 7pm onwards, we will continue the evening with drinks and/or a meal at The Lions Hotel - Melbourne Central.** This event is an expansion of the very successful **Movie Mutuals Wednesday Night Networking group** which has grown remarkably, with a weekly turnout of over 50 participants, blending newcomers with regulars to create a vibrant, diverse community. Whether you’re a writer, actor, animator, or independent filmmaker, come share your experiences, discuss current projects, or chat about favourite films. This event fosters connections among like-minded women, non-binary and gender diverse people, encourages friendships, and opens doors for collaboration. **RSVP** to help us gauge attendance. You will become part of a growing network of film professionals and enthusiasts. **What to Expect:** *There’s no set theme, workshop, or speaker. It’s a relaxed gathering where filmmakers, actors, and creatives can connect, discuss projects, share needs, and learn from each other. Beyond this networking event, we also host weekly Wednesday night meetups, exclusive events such as table reads, cinematography workshops with Panasonic, member screenings, and more.* \*Note: Our community emphasizes collaboration, friendship, and goodwill rather than promotional activities. If you wish to promote a workshop, course, screening, or similar event, please contact the organizers first. Promotional privileges are generally reserved for trusted, long-standing members.

We are excited to host Pavel for our next Melb.NET event where we discuss PR Reviews and how we can reduce the bottleneck effect they have on our development velocity! **Agenda:** * 5:30pm arrival - Food and drinks provided in-person * 6pm kickoff - Welcome & Introduction and few words from our Sponsors - 10 min * 6:10pm - Session 1 **Session 1:** Breaking the PR Review Bottleneck by [Pavel Oborin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/poborin/) Pull request reviews are often the biggest bottleneck in software delivery, especially for distributed teams. What takes minutes to write can sit for days waiting for review, killing development velocity. The open source world has solved this at scale. Major projects like Kubernetes, Rust, and React coordinate thousands of contributors with sophisticated review strategies that go far beyond traditional approaches. This session explores proven techniques from leading OSS projects and how to adapt them for your teams: early design alignment, automated reviewer assignment, merge automation, cultural process shifts, velocity metrics, and modern workflow patterns. You'll leave with practical strategies to eliminate review bottlenecks and measurably improve your team's delivery speed. **Hosts:** * [William Liebenberg](https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-liebenberg/) \- Microsoft \.NET MVP \| Consultant at Arinco * [Bron Thulke](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronthulke/) \- Microsoft \.NET MVP \| CTO / Co\-Founder at YouLi * [Bill Chesnut](https://www.linkedin.com/in/billchesnut/) \- Microsoft Azure MVP \| Consultant at SixPivot * [Tama Waddell](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tama-waddell/) \- Consultant at Arinco **Sponsors:** We have some amazing sponsors that help make this event possible: * [Arinco](https://arinco.com.au/) \- Venue\, Food and Drinks **Location:** In-Person at Arinco Melbourne. Level 6 / 440 Collins Street, Melbourne CBD 🗣 Apply to speak now: [https://bit.ly/melb-dotnet-cfp](https://bit.ly/melb-dotnet-cfp)

Spice up your Wednesday night with a **FREE Salsa class** at **600 Little Collins St, Melbourne**! No experience or partner needed — just show up, and we’ll teach you everything from the first step to your first spin. You’ll laugh, move, and meet a great mix of new people who are all starting just like you. ✨ **Here’s what you’ll get:** * Step-by-step basics that anyone can learn * Fun, relaxed environment with great music * Meet new friends and feel amazing doing it! 📍 **Location:** The Salsa Foundation — 600 Little Collins St, Melbourne 🕕 **Time:** Wednesday 6 PM (arrive 5–10 mins early to check in) 🎟️ **Cost:** FREE — bookings are essential (spots fill fast!)

Your ability to work and live with others is crucial to your survival. To survive well one needs ability. Today meetup topic: Creating and Improving Ability And if you think you already have all the ability one needs to survive well then it is important for you to learn how to KEEP IT FROM GOING AWAY. Attend our Free Meetup! Definition for Ability: One's power to observe, to make decisions and to act. A man is as free, as well-off, as he is able. A family is as happy as it has ability. A business is as well-off as it has able people in it. A country is as well-off as it has able workers, foremen and executives. At today's meetup learn what constitutes ability and more importantly how to develop and improve it so that it does not go away. Fact's are that one's ability is never the same. It either goes up or it will go down. Your natural as well as learned abilities are constantly subject to many of life's pressures. One can therefore simply not rest on one's laurels regarding your current abilities and simply assume they will always be available for use. The time to protect and enhance ability is when you are still able. Any loss of ability will result in less confidence followed by problems resulting in unhappiness. This is called the dwindling spiral. Not just for you, it will impact all others you associate with as well. Today's topic applies to all aspects of life but will focus on how your abilities or lack of abilities or a sudden or gradual lowering of ability relates to work and family life. On your arrival you will be asked to complete a Oxford Personality Test. From this you will learn what ability it is that needs attention and improving. Whilst at our meetup you will also learn about some of the different technologies are that you find here which actively create, protect or enhance ability in key areas of life. The world cries out for better people (More Able People) that will lead happier life's with better better jobs, stronger families as well as community and businesses groups. Get The Know-How for life, attend our meetup or ask me for a time that is better suited to your schedule.

Meditation on Twin Hearts is a great way to clear your mind and has been designed by Master Choa Kok Sui to flush out negative thoughts and emotions. This guided meditation is practiced in over 120 countries with proven testimonials of positive transformations on life. It has many proven scientific benefits that include: · Reduction of stress and anxiety · Improved brain waves and enhanced focus, cognitive behaviour and clarity · Improved health and wellbeing At the end of the meditation, you may stay for the free Pranic Healing Clinic. Everyone over the age of 16 years is welcome and is suitable for experienced and new meditators alike. Find us: Calma Spa & Skin Clinic 1100 High St Armadale VIC 3143 For more information visit: [www.phwn.com.au](www.phwn.com.au) Like and subscribe to our socials: **[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/pranichealingwithnatalie/)** **[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_O8il6Ivcdljc8797OS9iQ/videos)** **[TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@pranichealingwithnatalie)** For any inquiries contact: info@phwn.com.au or call: 0478973107 We look forward to welcoming you. Namaste, Natalie

The team at Etta humbly describe it as ‘a little neighbourhood restaurant with a big heart’ but with various accolades, including previously winning Gourmet Traveller’s Restaurant of the Year (Vic) and a Chef’s Hat, Etta is more than just a quiet local spot in Brunswick East. The food is fresh and seasonal, and brings people together over shared plates. I booked the Chef’s High Table for 8 Fine Diners to enjoy the ‘leave it to us’ 4-course menu at $115 per person for dinner from 6.45pm on Friday 8 May. There is the option to add matching wines on the night for $85. 
Join the waitlist to express interest. Once I have names in the waitlist, I’ll send you a ‘Meetup Message’ to confirm you have a spot and how to pay. You’ll need to send me $50 to secure your place (equivalent to the cancellation fee - this will be deducted from your bill when we settle up). Once paid I’ll move you from the waitlist to going. Please check that you don’t have your settings blocking messages; if I can’t contact you I’ll have to move on to the next person. Also if you don’t respond to my message within 3 days, I’ll let you know that I’m offering the seat to the next person on the waitlist. 
Thanks and I’m looking forward to sharing some delicious food at Etta with you!

Join us at Preston Library and boost your public speaking skills! ## Speak with Confidence at Northern Exposure Toastmasters Join us in person at Preston Library for a fun and friendly Toastmasters meeting! Whether you're looking to sharpen your public speaking skills or just want to meet like-minded folks, this is the place to be. Share your stories, get useful feedback, and boost your confidence in a supportive atmosphere. ### **Set Your 2026 Challenge** Maybe this is the year you want to: * Improve your public speaking and presentation skills * Build confidence in meetings or high-pressure situations * Become a more influential leader * Sharpen your thinking on your feet * Strengthen your communication for career advancement * Expand your personal and professional network Whatever your 2026 challenge looks like, Toastmasters meets you where you are, and helps you grow from there. There is so much to learn from presenting speeches to become a Leader in the Club. * 1\. Personal & professional development * 2\. Improved communication & listening skills * 3\. Increased confidence * 4\. Develop & enhance leadership skills * 5\. Affiliation with an internationally renowned organisation Don't miss out on this chance to speak up and stand out!

Practical AI for Power BI Developers A year ago, “agentic AI” was mostly hype for Power BI teams. Today, it deserves your undivided attention. For Power BI pros, there is now a real opportunity to reduce repetitive development work, accelerate delivery, and help developers do more, but only when strong DataOps practices are in place to make AI workflows effective. This session is a no-nonsense introduction to effective AI patterns for Power BI and Fabric development. Along the way, we will make sense of the growing pile of terminology, including skills, plugins, hooks, and MCP. You will see examples of how modern AI tooling can help with development tasks across Power BI and Fabric, along with the prerequisites, guardrails, and DataOps principles needed to use it responsibly. Whether you're burned out on AI hype or already using Copilot CLI daily, this session will show you the foundations that are finally making AI-assisted development genuinely useful.

Private Group. Closed to the Public Knowing ourselves and understanding our abilities is the first step toward wielding our gifts with control and accuracy. In subsequent classes we will verify and hone our talents with activities and discussion. These are hands-on workshops and participation is expected. The goal of our series will be to develop expertise in areas of particular interest such as mediumship, channeling, divination, healing and, etc.. Our ultimate directions will be determined by class members as we evolve. I look forward to sharing and discovering with you. - Cynthia

Join us as we get together to get together to help those in need at this CMG Gives Back event! We have a great little community of Movie Group friends so rather than see a movie this time, we’ll help “create a better world” by helping serve those in need. Here are complete details and our plan for this event: FAITH MISSION – GRANT KITCHEN: The Faith Mission kitchen and dining room serves residents 3 meals a day, every day of the year. For this event, our group will help prepare food, serve meals, assist residents in the dining room, wash dishes, and clean surfaces. PLAN: We will be preparing / serving / cleaning for BRUNCH from 10:30am to 12:30pm and have space for a total of 7 volunteers. Please arrive at 10:20am and wear closed-toe shoes and long pants. LOCATION: Faith Mission – Grant Kitchen is located at 245 N. Grant Ave. Enter the kitchen at Dock 1 (in the back of the building), indicated in the attached map. On-site parking in the adjacent lot and street parking is available in the surrounding area. Below are some links / attachments with additional info/details: IMPORTANT REMINDER: Our group will be providing all of the volunteers on this day so a firm RSVP count is essential. Please only sign up if you are certain you’ll be able to attend. If something unavoidable comes up, please try to update your RSVP no later than one week prior to the event. With few exceptions, no shows or cancelations within 1 week of the event will not be eligible for future CMG Gives Back events. I appreciate your understanding as we try to ensure the agencies have the volunteers needed to provide the essential services they provide to the vulnerable population they serve. Our Partner Agency for this event is Lutheran Social Services! A huge THANK YOU to all of YOU for volunteering at this (and any of our previous) CMG Gives Back events! Should be another good/fun/meaningful time together, Dan

The Unity of Columbus Resource Group for the Homeless is seeking compassionate volunteers who would like to help serve and uplift members of our homeless community. This group is dedicated to sharing kindness, resources, and support with individuals who may be experiencing difficult circumstances. Anyone with a heart for service is welcome to join us as we work together to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Community members are also invited to contribute by bringing helpful items for those in need. Donations of items can be contributed at the meeting and will be distributed to assist members of the homeless community. Please consider joining us and sharing this opportunity with friends, family, or associates who may also wish to help. Learn more about Unity of Columbus at www.unityofcolumbus.org or call (614) 267-4959. Together we can extend compassion, dignity, and support to our community. 💛

It’s time to take control of your mental health. How do you get rid of stress, anxiety and uncertainty? These emotions are buried deep in your reactive mind. Find out what the reactive mind is, and in the process find yourself. Have you ever suffered from a traumatic experience, a deep loss or been through a painful breakup? Has your ability to communicate suffered as a result? And after that, even though you "moved on" did you find that things were never quite the same? Have you ever looked at childhood photos, or reminisced your early life and wondered where that happiness and spark went? Are your emotions out of your own control? Have you ever felt, even if you aren’t aware of it, that possibly you are getting in your own way of your happiness and success? How does this affect your self-confidence? Find out what is at the root of all stress, anxiety, depression and self-doubt. Find out how and why you hold yourself back from achieving your goals and having the life you have dreamed of. As soon as you learn what is at the root of these unwanted conditions, you’ll see it is something you can DO something about. You will not be labeled or categorized at this MeetUp.

When judging morality, should we prioritize **intentions/duty** or **outcomes/results**? It introduces two influential philosophers as representatives of these approaches. * **Immanuel Kant (deontology):** An action is moral when it is done from **duty** and follows rational, universal principles (the **categorical imperative**). Certain acts—like lying—are wrong regardless of the consequences; you can’t do a wrong thing for a right reason. * **John Stuart Mill (utilitarian consequentialism):** The morality of an action is determined by its **effects**, specifically how much **happiness/well-being** it produces. Mill argues that some pleasures are “higher” than others, and that good intentions don’t redeem harmful outcomes. ## Discussion Questions 1. **The lying dilemma:** A murderer comes to your door and asks if your friend is hiding inside. Kant would say you must not lie. 2. **Can good intentions rescue a bad outcome?** 3. **The organ harvest problem:** A surgeon has five patients dying of organ failure and one healthy patient in for a checkup. Killing the one to harvest organs would save five lives, and the math works out for the utilitarian. Why does this feel so deeply wrong? Is that feeling a point in Kant's favor, or just a bias we should overcome? 4. **Do rules need exceptions?** Kant insists moral rules must be universal, with no exceptions. But most of us can imagine extreme scenarios where any rule seems like it should bend. Does the need for exceptions fatally undermine deontology, or is the strength of the system precisely that it refuses to bend? 5. **Who gets to calculate the consequences?** Utilitarianism asks us to maximize good outcomes, but we're notoriously bad at predicting consequences. If we can't reliably know the results of our actions, is it practical to base our entire moral system on outcomes? Does this uncertainty push us back toward rules and principles? 6. **Everyday morality:** Think about a real moral decision you've made recently, even a small one. Did you reason more like a Kantian (what's the right thing to do in principle?) or more like a utilitarian (what will produce the best result?)? Do most people naturally lean one way? 7. **Justice vs. the greater good:** A town can prevent a deadly plague by sacrificing one innocent person. The greater good is clearly served. But is it just? Can an action be morally right and deeply unjust at the same time? 8. **The big synthesis question:** Are these two systems actually opposed, or do they often arrive at the same answers by different paths? Is it possible that we need both: rules to guide us in the moment and consequences to evaluate systems and policies over time?

This meeting will be a discussion about a proposed tour of the Ohio Theatre led by Mary Cecil, Tour Coordinator of the Ohio Theatre and Jane Ehrenfeld, Audio Describer. We will try to connect for a Conference Call option at (518) 263-8851.