MapReduce

The Data Science Speakers Club is a Toastmasters International club enabling the current and next generation of Data Scientists to improve their Public Speaking Skills. This is a HYBRID Meeting! So join us Online via Teams or In-Person. Joining the Data Science Speakers Club means joining a supportive environment to build your confidence in public speaking and to practice speaking in front of an audience. You will also gain the opportunity to receive feedback on your speeches in a friendly environment, including what you have done well and guidance on the areas you can improve upon. We also run a mentorship program where an experienced mentor supports you on your public speaking journey. Meeting Theme: **TBC** Tentative Schedule: 18:30 - President's welcome 18:40 - Prepared Speeches (3 prepared speeches with evaluation) 19:25 - Guest introduction 19:30 - Break 19:40 - Special Guest Workshop 20:30 - Wrap up, awards, announcements End of Meeting The theme is to do with exploring various aspects of power, including how it is distributed, challenged, and transformed in different contexts. In the first part, there will be speeches. In the second half, we will a special guest workshop. We meet on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Mondays of each month from 6:30 pm online. Each meeting is a mixture of prepared speeches by our members, speaking roles, and impromptu speaking challenges by members and guests. Our meetings are free to attend and you only have to speak if you want to. For in-person attendance, snacks will be provided. Entrepreneurs, Innovators, and Mathematical and Logical Thinkers aiming to focus on their communication and leadership development are always welcome to attend our meetings, to increase their self-confidence, become better speakers, and become better leaders. TEAMS LINK: [https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/38930743010393?p=z37xAfyfuWQYw8dLHk](https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/38930743010393?p=z37xAfyfuWQYw8dLHk "Meeting join") FACEBOOK: [https://www.facebook.com/datasciencespk/](https://www.facebook.com/datasciencespk/) LINKEDIN: [https://www.linkedin.com/company/data-science-speakers-club](https://www.linkedin.com/company/data-science-speakers-club) TWITTER: [https://twitter.com/datasciencespk](https://twitter.com/datasciencespk) INSTAGRAM: [https://www.instagram.com/datasciencespk/](https://www.instagram.com/datasciencespk/)

**Kindly note that this is a paid event and the average number of attendees for our events is 60-70 people. You can register on [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/london-business-networking-at-mayfair-hay-hill-for-directors-entrepreneurs-tickets-1980192285431?aff=meetup](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/london-business-networking-at-mayfair-hay-hill-for-directors-entrepreneurs-tickets-1980192285431?aff=meetup)** Join an in‑person business networking evening at 12 Hay Hill in Mayfair, London Join leading **entrepreneurs, investors, company directors, and business professionals** for an exclusive networking experience in Mayfair. Hosted at the prestigious Hay Hill private members club, this London Connector event brings together high-level decision-makers to build meaningful relationships, explore new opportunities, and grow their network in a premium setting. Connect with like-minded leaders, spark collaborations, and enjoy a powerful evening designed to elevate your business. ## **Our unique venue is:** Set in a stunning six-story building at **Berkeley Square, Hay Hill** is unique as it combines the luxury of a private members club with the business focus of a co-working environment, pioneering the concept of the club working, all in the heart of Mayfair. For our event, we have reserved an area of the venue with a cash bar, so that we can mix and mingle and meet old and new friends, new contacts, and, why not, new clients too! ## **Program** The format of the evening is 'mix and mingle', meet like-minded business leaders and entrepreneurs and investors in a relaxed environment. Our team is onsite to facilitate meaningful introductions. We connect at a human-to-human level, and prefer building relationships. ## **How many people are attending?** We have a **maximum capacity of 80 guests** for this venue and given the popularity of our events and the nature of the venue that hosts us, **this one is predicted to be sold out in advance also because on average for each event we run 30-40 places are booked by our members who have joined the yearly membership. Early booking is truly and highly recommended.** The reason the events we organize are so successful is that we follow a very simple, but effective formula. A couple of days before the event **we create a WhatsApp group with those attendees who wish to start getting to know each other**. This allows each participant to set up meetings with those they wish to meet during (or even before) the event. On the day of the event, you will find a relaxed environment, and a welcoming and supportive crowd. **Our team will be at the venue to introduce you to anybody specific you'd like to talk to.** Guests will have access to the part of the Club reserved for our event, but not to other private areas of Hay Hill Club. You can book a private tour though. **Dress code: business casual (no trainers, no jeans)** **Refund policy. Tickets bought in advance are generally cheaper than those bought on the day of the event and for this reason cannot be refunded. They can be reassigned to another person of your choice.** **Event Disclaimer** Please note that photos and videos may be taken during this event. These may be used on our social media channels and promotional materials to showcase our events. If you prefer not to appear in any photos or videos, please inform the event host upon arrival, and we will ensure your preference is respected. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.#Business #Businessevent #businessnetworking #Businessprofessional #Londonevent #Networking * [United Kingdom Events](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom/events/) * [Greater London Events](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--greater-london/events/) * [Things to do in London](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/ttd/united-kingdom--london/) * [London Networking](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/networking/) * [London Business Networking](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/business--networking/) * [#business](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/%23business/) * [#networking](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/%23networking/) * [#investment](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/%23investment/) * [#startup](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/%23startup/) * [#networkingevent](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/%23networkingevent/) * [#london](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/%23london/) * [#businessnetworking](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/%23businessnetworking/) * [#january](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/%23january/) * [#networkingmeeting](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/%23networkingmeeting/) * [#business_professional](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/%23business_professional/)

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/44654 **Game Description:** 🧡Come and join us for a casual friendly & social badminton session in Archway. This venue consists of 4 courts in total. 🚨Directions🚨 📍Enter via Thornbury Square road and walk all the way downhill. (Note: you won’t be able to enter through the school!) 🚶‍♂️10 minute walk from Archway or Highgate tube stations (Northern Line) 🚗 Free car parking on site 🚿 Showers, changing rooms, water fountain & toilets are available in **Rules** 🏸The session is for mixed ability players so please be positive and encouraging to all players. We highly encourage you to read the rules for classic doubles prior to the session so we can run the games smoothly. 👯‍♀️We play doubles for the whole time and keep rotating courts so everyone gets to play with each other. We use Yonex Mavis 300 Nylon Shuttle cocks. We also have a few spare rackets.

Bring your little ones (and not so little) for a couple of hours of supervision, giving you a chance to focus on work or enjoy a moment of rest. **What is offered:** * A table for work, ( four power sockets available, or bring your own battery or power bank) * Free play on trampolines and games with adult supervision, * Soft play for little ones (supervision is in place, but maybe we can arrange a childminder to help?) * Café with drinks and food, * Wi-Fi internet (8MB Down, 7MB upload) * If we book as a group in the future, discounts are available!!! \*\*\* The cost of the jump time is extra, buy your kids jump or soft play time here: [https://oxygenactiveplay.co.uk/activity-parks/the-o2/openplay/](https://oxygenactiveplay.co.uk/activity-parks/the-o2/openplay/) , £29.50 for two hours of jumping per child for open active play, this includes the cost of the needed socks. \*\*\* **Action Steps Needed:** **1,** RSVP to show your interest. **2,** Fill in our basic info form at [https://form.typeform.com/to/z37tCjtL](https://form.typeform.com/to/z37tCjtL). **3,** Comment in the conversation to let the others know how many you are! **Age:** 4 years and older **Childminder Cost:** Older kids included, younger to be advised. **Location:** Oxygen Active Play at The O2, [More pictures here](https://www.meetup.com/london-home-education/photos/35712844/) **Time:** Monday at 12:30 am (bring lunch) **Important Note:** This "Childminder and Work Time" event is currently providing a Childminder via the venue staff. If you wish to put our own Home Education child minder in place, please ask. **Possible Alternative Childminder and Work Ideas are:** Adventure Playgrounds, free play, Soft play, garden time, task-based play, Wall or rock climbing, Natural trust-based transition from parent to child playing with a childminder, parent drop off, Parent present at play group, splash pad, forest play time, River Picnic... What would work well for you?

We're fed up of boring, monotonous exercise - let's play ourselves fit! **TO BOOK**: It's essential that you book onto sessions via our website, using the link below; due to restrictions on games and preparation times we cannot accept walk-ins, or late arrivals. [https://joinrabble.com/locations/london/](https://joinrabble.com/locations/london/) Use the code **FREEPLAY** to get your first game free! *** Rabble is a fitness club with a difference: * Every 1 hour session is a mixture of team games, such as Capture the Flag, Frisbee or Kickball - no two sessions are alike! * We are SUPER friendly and often host socials after the game * All abilities are welcomed * Our aim is to have **FUN**, make **FRIENDS**, and get **FIT** without even noticing * Bring your friends along! Please come in comfortable sports clothing and bring a bottle of water and hand sanitizer. Trail shoes or studs (weather dependent) are recommended, or a good pair of trainers. Please arrive 5-10 minutes before the session to allow us to start on time. We play every: * Monday in Highbury & Islington (19:00 - 20:00) * Tuesday in Shoreditch / Haggerston (19:00 - 20:00) * Wednesday in Elephant & Castle (19:00-20:00) * Saturday in Southwark Park (10:30 - 11:30) * Saturday in Finsbury Park (11:00 - 12:00) * Sunday in Clapham Common (12:00-13:00) We hope to see you playing soon! PS. We have a group of dedicated regulars, so numbers are usually much higher than Meetup might suggest. Book your place here: [https://joinrabble.com/locations/london/](https://joinrabble.com/locations/london/) **Love Rabble**

**Spanish Course – Level B2** Improve your Spanish with a **B2-level course** designed to help you gain confidence and fluency. All **learning materials are provided**. 🗓 **Day:** Mondays ⏰ **Time:** 7:30–8:30 PM 💷 **Price:** £11 per hour To arrange a **level test** and complete your **registration**, please email: 📧 **irene@aprendeahoraconirene.co.uk** Places are limited—get in touch to secure yours!

**Tokia Square** is a food hall on the first floor of the Grants entertainment complex with several different brands supplying food from all across Asia - China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, India and more are represented with a wide variety of dishes. For more information about the venue please see the [Tokia Square website](https://tokiasquare.co.uk/), and reviews can be found on [Google Maps](https://maps.app.goo.gl/xKjL8fYkNnC7mDQa8). They had a rotating 50% discount deal at the end of last year (one or two different counters would have the offer on each day of the week) that has been [extended to the 13th February](https://www.facebook.com/reel/26451502174439807) so for our Monday trip this will be for [Rasa Nanyang](https://tokiasquare.co.uk/rasa-nanyang/) (Claypot Rice & Roast Meats) and [iDimSum](https://tokiasquare.co.uk/idimsum/) (Cantonese Dim sum).

**Venue:** Riverbank House, 2 Swan Ln, London EC4R 3AD **Please note:** 1\. 🚨🚨🚨 A valid photo ID is required by building security\. 🚨🚨🚨 2\. This event follows the [NumFOCUS Code of Conduct](https://numfocus.org/code-of-conduct). Please familiarise yourself with it before attending. If your RSVP status says "You're going" you will be able to get in. No need to show your RSVP confirmation when signing in. If you can no longer make it, please unRSVP as soon as possible. **Code of Conduct:** This event follows the NumFOCUS Code of Conduct. Please get in touch with the organisers with any questions or concerns. As always, there will be free food and drinks, generously provided by our host, Man Group. **Main Talks** 1. **SVD-ROM: Reduced Order Modeling of huge arrays using the Singular Value Decomposition** - **David Salvador-Jasin** We present SVD-ROM, an open source Python package to perform Reduced Order Modeling (ROM) of very large arrays using the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). Despite the high dimensionality of datasets typically encountered in real-world scenarios such as fluid dynamics or weather & climate, these are typically low-rank: there are a few dominant patterns that explain the high dimensionality. The SVD is a useful dimensionality reduction technique for such systems, and has the advantages of being explainable and computationally efficient. SVD-ROM enables the application of SVD-based machine learning methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) or Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) on massive datasets. We employ Dask for parallel and out-of-core computation, Xarray for labelled N-dimensional arrays, and data formats such as Zarr and NetCDF for chunked storage of large arrays. We have developed SVD-ROM keeping user-friendliness in mind, exposing a Python API that enables the straightforward application of methods such as pre-processing, model fitting, reconstruction and forecasting. Additionally, Dask makes code portability across laptop, HPC clusters or cloud straightforward, enabling the user to run SVD-ROM on different computational environments with minimal changes. The development of SVD-ROM has also resulted in multiple contributions to PyDMD, the most popular open source Python package for the application of DMD. In this talk we show how we can fit a DMD model to a global weather dataset tens of GB in size and produce an accurate sub-seasonal forecast (6 weeks ahead) on a laptop in just a few minutes. 2. **From Zero to HyperPod: Cutting Infrastructure Complexity for Distributed Model Training on AWS** - [Anton Nazaruk](anton.e.nazaruk@gmail.com) Training state‑of‑the‑art models often stalls on two pain points: GPU availability and infrastructure complexity. In this 40‑minute, practitioner‑level session, I will demystify the fastest, most cost‑effective routes to dedicated NVIDIA H100 and B200 clusters on AWS. We will compare EC2 On‑Demand, Spot, Savings Plans, EC2 Capacity Blocks, and the new SageMaker Training Plans with HyperPod, showing where each shines for research, production training, and massive fine‑tunes. A live demo will provision a 256‑GPU HyperPod, walk through distributed‑training set‑up with Deep Speed + PyTorch, and showcase built‑in checkpointing and automatic node recovery. Attendees will leave with: 1) a decision framework for picking the right reservation model, 2) reference Terraform and CDK snippets to launch clusters in minutes, and 3) cost‑optimisation tips that have saved our clients up to 35% versus unmanaged fleets. Biggest focus on practical architectures, benchmarks, and war stories you can apply the next day. **Lightning Talks** 1. **Agentic, Agentic AI for Personalized Care — Lessons and Challenges from Holisticare.io - Mojtaba Kargar** 2. **Mapping the International PyData Community featuring Web Scraping and Data Wrangling - [Hugh Evans](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugh-evans-dev/)** \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **Logistics** Doors open at **6.30 pm** (get there early as you'll need to sign in with building security). Talks start at **7:00 pm**, with drinks afterwards from **9:00 pm** at The Banker (EC4). We have reduced capacity for this event, but there will be plenty of people to discuss data science questions with. Please unRSVP in good time if you realise you can't make it. We're limited by building security on the number of attendees, so please free up your place for your fellow community members. If you want me to trim lightning talks down to two or shorten any abstracts, say which ones.

## Details This course is designed for beginners who have completed an A1 course or are familiar with the present tense and the *pretérito perfecto* tense. **Class information** * **Wednesday 7th January 2026 - 15th April 2026.** * **13:00 PM - 14:00 PM** * **15 hours over 15 weeks** * For this course we'll use the book **Aula Plus 2 ( Editorial Difusión)** * All our Online Spanish language lessons take place via **Zoom**. This tool allows the teacher and the students to share screens, cover grammar points on the white board, complete listening tasks, share files and practice conversation with classmates in break-out rooms. * **Price: £200** (Payment method is bank transfer. Once you enrol we’ll send you an invoice). * Please email irene@aprendeahoraconirene.co.uk to enrol or if you need more information. **Communication Goals** * Talking about habits * Talking about time duration * Talking about difficulty * Making suggestions * Describing feelings * Talking about a person’s life (biography) * Talking about past experiences * Describing people * Expressing preferences * Describing a house * Comparing, locating and describing objects **Grammar Points** * Present tense: regular and irregular verbs * Reflexive verbs * *Desde/desde hace* * Talking about the past using the *pretérito indefinido* tense (regular and some irregular forms) * Past time markers: *hace un año, la semana pasada,* etc. * Prepositions of time: desde, hasta, durante… * Prepositions of place : *debajo de, encima de, detrás de, delante de*, etc. * *Este, ese, aquel* * *El/la/los/las + que + verb* * Talking about relationships: *llevarse bien/mal con* and *caer bien/ mal* * Comparatives * Possessive pronouns : *el mío/la mía*, etc. * The verbs *ser* and *estar* * The verbs *gustar, encantar* and *preferir* * The verbs *costar* and *sentirse* * The verbs *ir* and *irse* * The verbs *ser, tener, parecerse* and *llevar* * *Empezar and empezar a + infinitive* **Vocabulary** * Adjectives to express feelings: *ridículo/a, seguro/a, inseguro/a, frustrado/a, bien/mal...* * Biographical details * Cinema * Adjectives to describe physical appearance * Nouns denoting personal relationships * Types of houses * Parts of the house * Furniture and objects

Join us for an exciting deep dive into the future of Kafka architecture and the intersection of AI with data streaming! Learn how diskless Kafka is revolutionising cloud-native deployments and discover how to interact with your Kafka data using natural language. **Date and Time: 🗓️** Wednesday 4th February, ⏰ 18:00 - 20:30 PM 🕘 **Venue:** Lacon House, London WC1X 8NL, United Kingdom **Attending Brands**: OSO, Aiven, Lenses **Schedule:** 18:00: Doors Open 18:00 - 18:30: Food, drinks, networking 18:30 - 19:00: "Diskless Kafka" - Hugh Evans, Aiven 19:00 \- 19:30: “How Lenses MCP Brings AI to Kafka \| Talk to Your Data with Claude & MCP" \- Tun Shew\, Lenses\.io 19:30- 20:30pm: Additional Q&A, Networking **🎙️ \~Talk 1\~** **Talk Title:** Diskless Kafka **Summary:** Summary: Deep dive into KIP-1150 and the future of diskless Kafka, why diskless matters in cloud-native deployments, rerouting replication to object storage, and how diskless and traditional topics can coexist in one cluster. This talk explores the fundamental architectural shift that allows Kafka to leverage cloud object storage for data persistence, reducing operational complexity and costs while maintaining the performance characteristics that make Kafka the backbone of modern data infrastructure. **🗣️ Speaker 1:** Hugh Evans is at Aiven **🎙️ \~Talk 2\~** **Talk Title:** Go Faster on Kafka with AI-Assisted Engineering (Without Summoning Consumer Lag Demons) **Summary:** Are you spending more time wrestling with Kafka configurations and debugging consumer lag than shipping real-time products? The era of AI-assisted engineering is here to change that. This talk takes you on a journey through the evolution of developer tools, moving from the editor wars of the past to a seamless AI-integrated future. We will demonstrate how next-generation tools like Cursor and Claude Code, paired with the Lenses MCP server, allow you to explore, manage and debug your Kafka environment simply using natural language. Through practical demos, you will see how to design robust topic strategies, apply governance best practices and deploy streaming data pipelines using any framework of your choice in seconds. We'll explore the best ways to shift your mindset towards leveraging an AI copilot and you'll leave with a list of actionable tips to enhance your daily routine and increase your productivity with AI today. **🗣️ Speaker 1:** Tun Shwe, Lenses.io

Connect with startup founders, tech entrepreneurs, and professionals in business, finance & tech. **💼 Note re contactless cards:** Free RSVP gives entry only - GMax Card card is not included. For the card, book a paid ticket when available. 👔 **Dress Code:** Smart casual. Please avoid hoodies and sportswear, as this is a business networking event rather than a fully informal gathering. **📅 Agenda** 18:30 – 21:30 When you arrive, please ask the receptionist or bar staff about the networking event. They will point you in the direction of our event area. Enjoy informal business networking in Shoreditch, London. On arrival, ask reception about the networking event - hosts can introduce you to others, then mix and mingle freely. **✅ Event Highlights** • 3 hours of quality networking
 • Ages 18+
 • In-person
 • 40 spots only **🔹 About the Event** Want to grow your network with London’s innovators? Join us in Shoreditch, London’s startup and design district, for an informal evening where real business connections happen. **Meet and Connect with:** • Startup founders & entrepreneurs
 • IT, tech & product professionals
 • Business owners & consultants
 • Finance, banking & investment specialists
 • International professionals based in London Co-Hosted by tech startup [GMax Card - get a FREE digital business card to share all your your socials and contact details instantly via one card.](www.gmaxcard.com) **📍 Venue: The Light Bar** Once a Shoreditch power station from London’s industrial era, The Light Bar is now a spacious venue where the city’s industrial heritage meets modern design. **🎯 Why Attend?** • Meet founders, entrepreneurs, tech pros and investors
 • Build valuable business and startup connections
 • Discover new ideas and opportunities
 • Network in a mid-sized group where real conversations happen **🤝 Co-organised by tech startups:** • [GMax Card – Digital & contactless business cards](www.gmaxcard.com) • [Ciitab - AI automation tool for LinkedIn outreach](www.ciitab.com) • [Getshop Today – Build an eCommerce site in minutes](www.getshop.today) **Important Details:** 🔞 Age & ID: 18+. ID may be required for alcohol purchases. 📸 Photos & Video: Filming and photography by [CineEye - video production and commercial photography in London](www.cineeye.co.uk). Images may be used for promotion - inform organisers on arrival if you do not consent. 👔 Dress Code: Smart casual. Please see above for more info. ⚠️ Liability: Attendance is at your own risk. Organisers and venue accept no responsibility for loss, injury, or damage to you or your property. **✅ Register Early - Only 40 Spots!** Join an evening of valuable networking with the tech, finance, and startup community in central London. We’re excited to meet you - register now and don't forget to join this Meetup group.

**Never tried Grafana before? This workshop is for you!** APIs are the backbone of modern software development. They power everything from mobile apps to internal tools, but let’s be honest, reading through raw JSON or API responses isn’t the most exciting way to work with data. What if you could turn that data into clean, interactive graphs without writing a ton of custom code or spinning up a backend server? That’s where Grafana comes in! **Grafana** is an open-source data visualisation and observability platform that lets you create interactive, real-time dashboards from various data sources. It’s best known for visualising metrics from systems like Prometheus or InfluxDB, but thanks to its plugin ecosystem, it can do much more. **In this fun, beginner-friendly workshop, we’ll:** * Explore what Grafana is all about * Connect to an API using the Grafana Infinity plugin * Configure a simple query and pull the data into Grafana * Turn that data into a beautiful dashboard with different panel types **No prior knowledge of Grafana** is required as this session is beginner-friendly, but bring your **(well charged) laptops** as this will be a hands-on session!

Share, learn and network with fellow Product People at **The Product Group London** on **Thu 5th February**! **Topic of the Night: Customer Research** Customers are at the heart of product management, so on the night we’ll get into how do you learn about and stay up to date with your customer’s needs? Which tools and techniques do you use to understand customer problems? How do you convert customer insights into product features? What’s the best way for product manages and product designers to work together? How is AI reshaping customer research? And much more. **Featured Guest: Rose Tighe, Product & Innovation Leader** Rose Tighe is a long-time product and innovation leader. She’s worked at Sky, Amazon, LOVEFilLM and Trustpilot, and has consulted for a number of household names, startups, and scale-ups. A founding member of Sky’s Innovation Lab, she’s no stranger to navigating the messy middle between bold ideas and business reality. Today, Rose works with exec teams, founders, and incubators to unlock growth through product innovation, AI and no-code — and co-chairs Brighton AI, a grassroots community exploring how we all benefit from this tech shift. She’s an AI mentor for companies looking to meaningfully leverage the technology. And, runs “No Code + Brews” to help people get hands-on with AI, and is mildly obsessed with making tech more equitable, playful and less intimidating. **About The Product Group London** The Product Group London is a monthly meetup designed to bring product people of all levels together for topical discussions, as a group and with our guest speakers. With attendees from startups to large enterprises, there is no shortage of opportunities to network and make new connections. And whilst the focus is on product management, we welcome product designers and engineers to join for some friendly and lively discussions. **A word about our sponsor and host, Balderton** [Balderton Capital](https://www.balderton.com/) is a multistage venture firm with more than 25 years of experience supporting Europe’s best founders from Seed to IPO. We have both early and growth funds and invest across the technology sector, with a proven track record backing AI, fintech, B2B SaaS, digital health, mobility, gaming and marketplace companies. Balderton’s current portfolio includes: Aircall, Contentful, Cleo, Fuse, GoCardless, Lendable, Matillion, Photoroom, Primer, Proxima Fusion, Quantum Systems, Revolut, The Exploration Company, Tibber, Wayve, Writer and ZOE.

**How can AI help incident responders?** AI is transforming industries at pace, and Incident Response is no exception. We’ll explore how AI is reshaping skill requirements and the roles of engineers and incident managers during live incident response The first OOPS of 2026, this meetup is all about incident response, designed to foster a community where we can discuss challenges, share insights, and offer practical recommendations to improve organisational response strategies. Expect a mix of war stories, real-world examples, and actionable takeaways you can bring back to your own organisation. The event will be split into 3 parts: **Part 1: Arrivals & Networking** Grab a slice and a drink and connect with others interested in incident response and operations. This is an informal space to swap stories, share experiences, and get to know the local community. **Part 2: Panel Session** Our panellists will explore the role of AI in incident response - expect candid discussion, practical examples and lessons learned, including a Q&A session. The panellists include: * Andrew White (Technology Director, checkout.com) * Suraj Singh Dadwal (Team Lead, Incident & Problem Management at IG) * James Pickles (Senior Solutions Consultant, PagerDuty) * Sarah Wells (Independent Consultant, former Technology Director at FT) & moderated by Hamed Silatani, CEO of Uptime Labs. **Part 3: Networking & Close** Continue the conversation with fellow attendees and panellists over refreshments. **Agenda** 5-6pm: Arrivals & networking 6-7pm: Panel Session 7-8pm: Networking & Close You can register for this event on Luma at: [https://luma.com/8aqe13r4](https://luma.com/8aqe13r4)

**People Analytics 101: Making Sense of Compensation Data** Compensation data is one of the most widely used and widely misunderstood forms of people analytics. The session will cover where compensation data comes from, including market pricing data, internal payroll data, and benchmarking sources, and how companies think about structuring and analyzing that information. We will explore how compensation data is leveraged to set salary ranges, manage internal equity, support hiring and retention, and align pay with business strategy. A portion of the session will address common data challenges and limitations, such as market noise, inconsistent job matching, and incomplete datasets, while keeping the primary focus on practical use rather than technical depth. The session will also look ahead at where the space is going, including the growing impact of pay transparency laws, expanding pay equity requirements, and emerging regulations in the US and Europe that require organizations to report on gender and pay gaps. The goal is to give attendees a clear mental model for how compensation analytics works today and why getting it right is becoming increasingly critical. (note: we are back at Rev1 this month!) **About Our Speaker** [Alex Moore](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexscottmoore/) is the founder of [Moore Cooperative](https://moorecooperative.com/), where he advises organizations on compensation strategy, pay equity, and people analytics. His work focuses on helping organizations like the Ohio Supreme Court design, analyze, and communicate compensation systems that are data-informed, defensible, and aligned with organizational goals. Alex lives in Granville, Ohio and has three little kiddos. More info at [cbusdaw.com](https://cbusdaw.com)

Jimmy V's Grill & Pub in Grandview Heights. You are responsible for your own meal/drinks. We usually don't have any agenda other than eat, drink and talk. :) If the weather is nice we will be on the back patio, otherwise we are in the cigar room. This group has been meeting every Tuesday evening for over a decade. Many attendees do not RSVP on meetup. Please don't let the small number here discourage you. Anyone/everyone is welcome to come. We'd love to have you join us. COTA bus #5 comes to W. 5th and Wyandotte Rd. And it's a minute walk to the restaurant. *** Did you know that there are atheists everywhere?!?! You may not know it, but we are! We're in your schools, diners, police force, military, government, and some are even still in your churches! So come and join us and meet other local atheists, along with agnostics, heathens, humanists, skeptics, and anyone else who's 'hell bound'! Vision: a Central Ohio that accepts atheism as a viable alternative in all areas of public and private life. Mission: grow, support, and provide community for atheists in Central Ohio. Social meetings held most Tuesdays at a local pub/restaurant at 7:00 PM (and often into the wee hours). Attendees call themselves agnostics, skeptics, humanists, non-theists, deists or even theists. All attendees are welcome but should support our vision. Atheists of Columbus (AoC) is part of Omnipresent Atheists (OA). AoC members are invited to join this OA meetup and/or OA Facebook group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/omnipresentatheists/ ) but are free to continue conversations on the AoC Facebook group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/columbusatheists/ ). AoC was founded in 2012 as a networking, social group for Central Ohio area humanists, skeptics, atheists, agnostics, nonbelievers, freethinkers, and the curious. It was a member of Columbus CoR and held weekly meetings, mostly on Fridays, for several years but then operated as an online only group for some time. In November 2018, Omnipresent Atheists (OA), a group that routinely meets on Tuesdays, invited AoC to merge. Omnipresent Atheists is a member of the Columbus Coalition of Reason (ColumbusCoR.org). Omnipresent Atheists is a member of the Columbus Coalition of Reason ( http://www.ColumbusCoR.org ). Omnipresent Atheists endorses the mission of the Secular Coalition for America ( http://secular.org ).

The February Ohio North Database Training user group meeting will be held on **February 3rd, 2025 at 5:00PM**. This will be a **HYBRID** event and we will be joined in person by **David Pickering**. You're welcome to come meet in-person at our meeting location, the offices of Improving at **[6000 Freedom Square Dr,](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Improving/@41.4004167,-81.6614462,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x8830e5b8255c5919:0xd8297060eb68fe04!4m6!3m5!1s0x8830dc7a0fe35dc9:0xbfc4710ecadfc5c!8m2!3d41.4004127!4d-81.6588713!16s%2Fg%2F1hm3hkqp3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQzMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D)** **[Unit 110,](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Improving/@41.4004167,-81.6614462,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x8830e5b8255c5919:0xd8297060eb68fe04!4m6!3m5!1s0x8830dc7a0fe35dc9:0xbfc4710ecadfc5c!8m2!3d41.4004127!4d-81.6588713!16s%2Fg%2F1hm3hkqp3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQzMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D)** **[Independence, OH 44131](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Improving/@41.4004167,-81.6614462,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x8830e5b8255c5919:0xd8297060eb68fe04!4m6!3m5!1s0x8830dc7a0fe35dc9:0xbfc4710ecadfc5c!8m2!3d41.4004127!4d-81.6588713!16s%2Fg%2F1hm3hkqp3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQzMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D)** [Teams Link ](https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/27861114692350?p=lHdrSV1OOELhLnCiAg)if anyone needs it after RSVP-ing for in person. If you would like to subscribe to our email list outside of Meetup, we have changed platforms recently and you will need to register [here in Kit ](https://ohio-north-data-training.kit.com/b8f036f615)instead to receive emails. Agenda: **5:00 PM EST**: Online and in-person meeting begins with a social hour. This is an unstructured hour where you can join us to catch up and meet other group members before the session starts. There will be food brought in for in-person attendees. **6:00 PM EST**: Updates and announcements, followed by our feature presentation. See below for presentation details. **7:30 PM EST**: Optionally after the main presentations, the in-person crowd may go out for snacks and drinks at a local establishment. We hope to see you there! Session Abstract **No Map Required: Geospatial Analytics Directly in Your Data Warehouse** Think geospatial analysis requires specialized GIS software? Think again. This session introduces you to shapefiles and spatial operations right inside your database—no mapping application required. We'll demystify shapefiles (what they are, how they work, and where to get them) and show you how nearly every modern database —from DuckDB to Snowflake, supports spatial operations. You'll see practical demos covering spatial joins, distance calculations, and how to determine if two shapes interact with each other. Whether you're a data engineer optimizing delivery routes, an analyst aggregating metrics by geography, or a BI developer building location-aware dashboards, this session will show you how to unlock powerful spatial capabilities already built into your database stack—no specialized tools required. \*Please note, that we will be using Microsoft Teams for the online portion of this meeting. You may want to join a few minutes early to ensure you do not have any issues. If you are attending in person, there are large TVs at the office, and you do not need to bring a laptop or use Teams.

Jimmy V's Grill & Pub in Grandview Heights. You are responsible for your own meal/drinks. We usually don't have any agenda other than eat, drink and talk. :) If the weather is nice we will be on the back patio, otherwise we are in the cigar room. This group has been meeting every Tuesday evening for over a decade. Many attendees do not RSVP on meetup. Please don't let the small number here discourage you. Anyone/everyone is welcome to come. We'd love to have you join us. COTA bus #5 comes to W. 5th and Wyandotte Rd. And it's a minute walk to the restaurant. Did you know that there are atheists everywhere?!?! You may not know it, but we are! We're in your schools, diners, police force, military, government, and some are even still in your churches! So come and join us and meet other local atheists, along with agnostics, heathens, humanists, skeptics, and anyone else who's 'hell bound'! Vision: a Central Ohio that accepts atheism as a viable alternative in all areas of public and private life. Mission: grow, support, and provide community for atheists in Central Ohio. Social meetings held most Tuesdays at a local pub/restaurant at 7:00 PM (and often into the wee hours). Attendees call themselves agnostics, skeptics, humanists, non-theists, deists or even theists. All attendees are welcome but should support our vision. Atheists of Columbus (AoC) is part of Omnipresent Atheists (OA). AoC members are invited to join this OA meetup and/or OA Facebook group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/omnipresentatheists/ ) but are free to continue conversations on the AoC Facebook group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/columbusatheists/ ). AoC was founded in 2012 as a networking, social group for Central Ohio area humanists, skeptics, atheists, agnostics, nonbelievers, freethinkers, and the curious. It was a member of Columbus CoR and held weekly meetings, mostly on Fridays, for several years but then operated as an online only group for some time. In November 2018, Omnipresent Atheists (OA), a group that routinely meets on Tuesdays, invited AoC to merge. Omnipresent Atheists is a member of the Columbus Coalition of Reason (ColumbusCoR.org). Omnipresent Atheists is a member of the Columbus Coalition of Reason ( http://www.ColumbusCoR.org ). Omnipresent Atheists endorses the mission of the Secular Coalition for America ( http://secular.org ). This group has been meeting every Tuesday evening for over a decade. Many attendees do not RSVP on meetup. Please don't let the small number here discourage you. Anyone/everyone is welcome to come. We'd love to have you join us.

### 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/)

This is a FREE, in-person workshop about mastering the science of reading people and predicting their behavior. **Stop guessing and start LEADING.** Join us for a FREE and highly interactive seminar, where you will learn to use the Emotional Tone Scale to read people, predict behavior and handle any objection with ease. The edge you'll gain: * ****Read People**:** Instantly decode human behavior. * * **Predict Actions:** Know their next move before they make it. * * **Influence Others:** Master the tools to win in work and life. * * **Build Trust:** Know exactly who to trust and how to handle them. * Attend this workshop and start developing the mindset of success! **Seats are limited. Reserve your spot today!** Hosted by: Church of Scientology of Central Ohio 1266 Dublin Rd, Columbus, OH 43215

I love my job and one of the main things I do is help customers get going with any of the data technologies at Microsoft. Right now there are a lot of my customers asking about Microsoft Fabric. It's hard to weave across all the shiny new options across the Fabric landscape, let alone figure out where it fits into your organization. In this session we'll focus on answering one question - how can I get data into Fabric? We'll talk through the "it depends" options and see some of the options in live demos.