Community

## **What IdeaVerse is about** **We meet usually once a month to discuss some of the current challenges as well and perhaps come up with new ideas on how to overcome them. The format of the meeting includes an initial sharing of viewpoints by each participant without judgment, and in the second half we will discuss our ideas and try to find things to learn from each other.** **In this next meeting we'll be discussing...** the future of work in the age of AI. I know, people are talking too much about this already in tech meetups where they just praise it to Kingdom Come. We're tired of it. But whether we like that it exists or not, we are confronted with a choice that I'd like us to discuss: **Do I lean into AI like I'm told I HAVE TO, or choose a different path, one more into physical labor or working with people? Or do I just say goodbye to work and start my own business?** We hear thhat AI is going to replace a large number of jobs, starting with call centers, Uber drivers, writers, graphic designers, translators, etc. That a senior expert will replace 4 others in his team using AI. That the only jobs that will remain are those which require human touch like holding meetings, talking face to face with customers, jobs that require empathy or jobs that require dexterity like plumbing. **But the path forward seems so unclear:** 1\. Who should learn AI: young people who want to compete with seniors\, or seniors because juniors don't know enough to spot errors? 2\. Should I double down on AI courses and certificates or jump a sinking ship and learn a craft or improve my social work skills? Or start my own business to escape irrelevance at work? 3\. Do we go with the flow and adapt to this rapid overwhelming change\, or demand from policy makers that they do not let companies do as they please if that means lower wages and unemployment at scale? **Some suggested reading/watching:** * [If AI Takes All Of Our Jobs... Who's Going To Buy Everything?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYB0SVTGRj4) (the answer may shock you! :) - a 12 minute video) - good summary of the most likely future scenarios for automation and economics. Does not answer our questions but sets the scene for it. * [AI Experts: These Are The Only 5 Jobs That Will Remain in 2030!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCjmK66x_Yk) (15 minute video) - a collage of various human and AI experts discussing options for work in the future (mostly from the famous DOAC). * [The Future of Jobs Report 2025](https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/in-full/3-skills-outlook/) (40 minute read) - lots of data, may need skimming but highly useful insight into projections for which jobs will be useful in the future. **The meeting is free to attend, but please buy a drink or two at our patron's place, to make them happy. They also have food in case you find the meeting too early (see [menu](https://altangrebovka.choiceqr.com/section:kavarna---jidelni-listek)).**

The owner of Green Table invited me to check out their Florentinum Summer Party this Thursday, so let’s welcome the summer season in style! ☀️🍹 They’re turning the inner garden courtyard into **an open-air party with a live DJ**, a singer, drink specials, and great tapas. 📸 IG reel from last year's event: https://www.instagram.com/p/DOBmVviDAD_/?hl=ne The plan is simple: **We’ll drop in, grab some drinks, and see how the vibe is.** If it’s killer, we stay and hang out in the garden. If we want to switch gears—or catch the Czech vs. South Africa football match later—we’ll migrate to a spot nearby. ⚽🍹 📍**Piazzetta Florentinum / Green Table**: [https://maps.app.goo.gl/osLWzEDVuSDYvRMs6](https://maps.app.goo.gl/osLWzEDVuSDYvRMs6) **🕒 THE PLAN:** * **16:00 \| Summer Party Starts**: Feel free to drop in whenever you finish work. * **18:00 \| Vibe Check**! We'll decide as a group whether we stay in the garden or move out to watch the game. **🎟️ FREE ENTRY**

Do you ever feel like being gay or queer has seemingly been reduced to hook-up apps, partying and superficiality? Does spending time at gay clubs, bars and saunas leave you feeling unfulfilled or even empty? Does your inner voice tell you that there must be a more meaningful way to connect with your queer brothers? Well, there is, now. 𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙈𝙚𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩: 𝙂𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘿𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙧 is an event for men seeking to connect and build community through yoga, mindfulness, and deep & honest conversations. A phone-free, alcohol & substance-free space where you can be your authentic self, connect with like-minded men and learn tools for rebalancing your body, mind & spirit. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚…. We invite you to a Two-hour evening of: ✨𝙔𝙤𝙜𝙖 ✨𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝘾𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙡𝙚 ✨𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 ✨𝘿𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 How did we arrive here? The idea was born from a simple conversation between two strangers. Two Czech guys, Martin & Pavel, who tried to find a similar space in the Czech Republic after returning from overseas. After experiencing gay retreats focused on yoga, meditation, tantric practice, Reiki, sweat lodges, and embodiment work in Spain, Belgium, Australia, and New Zealand, it was time for the Czech Republic to shine. About your hosts: Martin is a Yoga Alliance-Certified Yoga Teacher with 200-hour training received in Belgium. He is passionate about yoga, mindfulness, and his vision is to create a healthy gay community and help reverse the ‘gay men loneliness’ epidemic. Martin pioneers DEI initiatives as Partnership Manager in his corporate role. “The inspiration came from communities I experienced during a retreat in Spain and while living in Belgium, where I saw how powerful it can be to have spaces centred around openness, authenticity, connection, and well-being. I also know similar communities exist in cities like Berlin, and I would love to help create something like that here in Prague.” Pavel has been an avid meditator for years, with experience in mindfulness, tantric meditation, Reiki, and shamanic ceremonies from his life in New Zealand and Australia. Living more consciously, connected with universal energy, while honouring the elements, the ancestors, and Pacha Mama, has been instrumental in Pavel’s growth. He continued his learning by completing Level 1 & Level 2 Reiki training earlier this year. The call to return home was answered, and now it’s time to open a space for queer men in the Czech Republic. “I received my first ‘activation’ from a Meditation Master in Vietnam in 2007, but corporate life & chasing ‘status’ got in the way. I returned to regular practice in 2021, and slowly incorporated different practices into my daily life. I credit conscious living to healing my traumas and to the success of my ongoing sobriety.” WHEN: 18 June at 8pm WHERE: Zen Den Yoga, Vinohrady, Prague 320 CZK / person Secure your spot by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/SwNW4pwHB4HLhApy6 Our first event is limited to 15 men only. No prior experience in yoga, mindfulness, or conscious living is required.

Free Event/Vstup Zdarma Pro češtinu, podívejte se níže EN Hello, people of Prague!! We bring you a forum to trade your language skills and learn something more. If not interested in language, you could have a general conversation. The goal is to create a chill environment for social networking with a focus on learning the language of your choice. So grab some beverages at the bar/cafe and get on with it every Thursday. **NEW** Venue: Tequila Tales Bar **NEW** Location: Ujezd 409/19, 11800 Malá Strana Timing: 1900-2200 (Every Thursday) \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- CZ Ahoj Pražáci!! Přinášíme vám fórum, kde můžete vyměnit své jazykové znalosti a dozvědět se něco víc. Cílem je vytvořit pohodové prostředí pro sociální sítě se zaměřením na výuku jazyka dle vašeho výběru. Takže si vezměte nějaké nápoje v baru/kavárně a pusťte se do toho každý čtvrtek. **NOVE** Místo: Tequila Tales Bar, Ujezd 409/19, 11800 Malá Strana Čas: 1900-2200 (každý čtvrtek)

🍹Meet new people in Prague Welcome to Social Lounge, a cozy meetup for everyone who wants to enjoy an evening of good conversations, drinks and great people. Whether you are a Local, Expat or Traveller you'll be at the right place. Expect a warm atmosphere, fun icebreakers, a group activity, and a crowd that makes everyone feel included. Come solo or bring friends - either way, you’ll feel home from the moment you arrive. 📍Tequila Tales Prague, Ujezd 409/19 🗓Every Thursday 7pm

Talk 1 **Title: The Platform Is the People: SLAs, DORA and Trust at Billions of Requests a Month** By: Harry Bouras Role / LinkedIn: AI & Cloud Engineering leader, formerly heading the API organisation of a leading, extremely global and multicultural corporation. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-bouras/ Abstract: Most "platform" talks are about tools. This one isn't. Heading the API organisation of a leading, extremely global and multicultural corporation, interconnecting decades of legacy systems while serving billions of requests a month and scaling across both Azure and Google Cloud, taught me a contrarian lesson the hard way: at that volume, platforms don't fail on technology, and cloud bills don't explode because of bad Terraform. They fail, or succeed, on how the organisation is set up to own, deliver and grow the thing. The org chart is the real architecture. I'll walk through the levers that actually moved the needle, each anchored in real moments from that scale. How SLAs, framed as clarity rather than punishment, change engineer behaviour more than any dashboard. Why extending trust and time to a team up front - the most uncomfortable thing a leader can do, is precisely what raises build quality and cuts the rework you can't afford at billions of requests. What genuinely changed when we dragged a waterfall-shaped organisation toward iterative, Scrum-based delivery, and why that was about shortening feedback loops, not adding ceremonies. And how DORA metrics became our objective answer to a question every team argues about: what actually makes a successful Senior Software Engineer and what a DevOps engineer? Then the human core, told honestly, which means told as comedy. What makes a good manager in this world, narrated through the things I was certain about and was completely wrong about. The running joke is also the real point: nearly every instinct that made me a good engineer made me a mediocre manager until I unlearned it. Finally, a look at what we're all about to get wrong together: AI is forcing DevOps to grow up into DevSecOps - and the teams that handle it well will be the ones that already have the ownership, trust and growth culture this talk is really about. Talk 2 **Postmortem Culture: Turning Failures into Learning, Not Blame** By: Dani Yelovitch Most engineering teams treat incidents as embarrassments to bury — a quick fix, a vague Slack message, and everyone moves on. This talk argues for a different approach: treating every failure as a gift. The core idea is blameless postmortems — a practice pioneered at Google and Netflix where the goal isn't to find a scapegoat, but to understand how the system (people, tools, processes) allowed a failure to happen in the first place. If a human made a mistake, the real question is: why did the system make that mistake easy to make? The talk would cover: What a good postmortem looks like (and the common ways they go wrong) How to run a blameless review without it becoming a blame-by-committee session Turning action items into actual change, not a graveyard doc nobody reads Building psychological safety so engineers report problems early instead of hiding them The key takeaway: teams that learn from failure faster than their competitors ship better software with fewer catastrophic incidents — not because they have better engineers, but because they've built better feedback loops. **Talk 3:** Title: From Service Organization to Self-Service: Platform Engineering in Action By Pavel Bureš from Sky Modern engineering organisations accumulate platform silos faster than they can pay them down — each team picking its own way to provision workloads, databases, queues and caches, each with subtly different security, observability and cost profiles. In this talk we share how we are tackling that problem at scale through a Platform Engineering practice built on the principle of a unified, abstracted interface for application-centric configuration — an approach that shifts platform teams from "ticket-driven plumbing" to product thinking: stable contracts, golden paths, and self-service by default. In the second half we zoom in on PEaaS (Persistence Engineering as a Service), our concrete implementation of these principles for stateful workloads. We will walk through the architecture — Crossplane 2.0 composition functions on EKS, application-centric Kubernetes claims (XRs), and a tenant-onboarding model that automates IAM, VPC endpoints, OIDC and S3 provisioning — and how it abstracts heterogeneous backends (Keyspaces, Aurora DSQL, Redis Cloud, and Kafka on EKS) behind one consistent interface. Attendees will leave with: A practical pattern for designing engineering platforms in their own organisations. A reference architecture for persistence-as-a-service on Crossplane. Honest lessons on standardisation, tenant onboarding and platform adoption.

Who can attend this meetup: The tour is an introduction to Prague and is mainly for expats and visitors to our city but everybody who would like to join is invited. ***Important***, please also fill in the booking form on our [website](https://freewalkingtourprague.eu/en/schedule) if you are planning to come (otherwise we will not expect you). Description: Meet us by the Powder Tower, the historical gate to the Old Town and starting point of the Royal Route. Then have an educative walk through the narrow and picturesque streets of the historical center of Prague. Enjoy the unique diversity of architectural styles from Gothic to Art Nouveau. See some of the most interesting sites and get to know fascinating facts and legends of the 1000-year old capital of Bohemia. End the tour at the riverside 5 minutes away from the Charles Bridge, from which you can continue the tour on your own (or again with us) towards Malá Strana or Prague Castle. ====== Meeting point: We will be standing by the Powder Tower at the side of the Namestí Republiky square with a green umbrella in hand :) Map: https://goo.gl/maps/tzqKpZ2945S2 Price: there is no fixed price, you will be able to decide yourself how much you value the tour. If you don't know how much is best (and can afford it) we recommend 200Kč, but it really depends on you how much you contribute. Join us also on our [Facebook profile](https://www.facebook.com/freewalkingtoursprague/) :) and if you are travelling to other cities check out our friends at the [Free Tour Community website](https://freetourcommunity.com/). For any questions, please contact us at info@freewalkingtourprague.eu. Unfortunately, the meetup application does not always send us phone notifications. Reminder - only people who booked on our [official free walking tour website](https://freewalkingtourprague.eu/en/schedule) can join the tour and if the tour shows fully booked on the website it means there are no free spots. The meetup list doesn't count in this case. We look forward to meeting you, Michal, Amanda, Lana, Iva & Chris

**The most enjoyable way to meet new people without going clubbing! ✨** This is an OPEN-AIR event! 🌤️ We jump straight into simple group dances so everyone is moving and laughing together right from the start. Later, we spend 15 minutes learning a few easy steps—mixing European classics, modern folklore, and chill Latin vibes. There are no rules to follow or pressure to perform. It’s just a relaxed evening to enjoy great music, move your body, and make new friends. **✅ No experience needed** → As long as you can sway to the basic rhythm, you belong. **✅ No partner needed** → We use fun group mixers and rotate constantly. 📍 **Vítkov**: https://maps.app.goo.gl/k2mkwRY2b133NQJx8 **🕒 SCHEDULE:** 18:50 - Arrival **19:00 - The Music Starts! 🎶** 19:45 - 15 minute class 21:00 - Wrapping up + Socializing (Bistro Vítkov) After we wrap up we go to a restaurant/bar close by for chill socializing. 🎟️ Cost: FREE - If you love the vibe, hit us with a 5-star review. No words needed. 👟 Wear comfy sneakers or go completely barefoot. Pack a water bottle to stay hydrated and a hoodie when the sun goes down. Tančírna (pronounced tahn-cheer-nah) comes from the Czech word "tančit" (to dance) and literally means "a place for dancing". If you love to move and want to make new friends, simply show up on Friday and let’s dance!! 💃

Looking to meet new people and enjoy a relaxed day full of board games? Join us at Palmovka for a cozy board-gaming meet-up open to everyone — beginners, casual players, and experienced gamers! We have a big selection of games, from easy social titles to strategic favourites. You can come alone or with friends — our community is super friendly, and we always make sure nobody sits alone. Don’t worry if you don’t know the rules — we’ll happily explain everything. ✔ Friendly atmosphere ✔ Lots of games to choose from ✔ Perfect for meeting new people ✔ Come anytime during the day ✔ No registration needed entry fee 50czk (no hour limit) if you do not order anything at bar it is 100czk. Whether you want to laugh, think, or just relax after a long day, this is the perfect place to unwind and connect with others. See you at Palmovka – let’s play!

We are besties of over 10 years and the creators of **Yoginky**, a community built on movement, laughter, and genuine connection. For us, yoga goes beyond the poses, it’s about bringing people together. **Our next event:** Join our community partner yoga class and bring your favorite human: a friend, partner, sibling, parent, or anyone you’d love to share the afternoon with. Coming solo? We’ll happily pair you up! 📍 **Where:** Ladronka (near the kids’ playground) 🗓️ **When**: June 21 \| 4:00 PM 💰 Price: Donation-based Bring your yoga mat, a good mood, and stay for a shared picnic after class! Everyone is welcome to bring their favorite snacks or drinks to share. **Instagram**: @Yoginky_

**The ABSOLUTE BEST place to be on a Saturday night in Prague! 🤩🍹** Every Saturday, we take over a stunning venue right in the city center and give you **total freedom to mingle at your own pace**. There’s no hand-holding, name tags, or stiff corporate icebreakers here—just a room full of great people skipping the small talk and **sparking real connections**. ✨ During peak hours, the room gets **TOTALLY MAGNETIC** and sometimes even beautifully chaotic. And to be honest, we love it exactly like this! Bar Nomads is all about pure social flow! ⚡🔥 If that’s your vibe, drop the city masks and dive headfirst into our lovely Hoffa madness. You’ll leave feeling energized, deeply connected, and a little bit more like **a true Praguer.** 😎🤙

**The friendliest human pretzel making on a Sunday morning 🥨🥰** We gather at 10:00 AM for a quick warmup (everyone on their own) and then start the timer with 5-minute rounds and 30-60s rests. About 90% of people roll No-Gi. If you want to bring your Gi, make sure to reach out to someone to coordinate before you arrive. ✅ **No experience needed** → Ask someone to show you around. It is up to them if they will (this is not a formal class, but the vibe is always friendly!) 🥋 ✅ **No structure** → Roll every round, drill techniques, or just sit out and watch. 🤼 ✅ **No partner needed** → We rotate! Feel free to ask anyone taking a break. 👋 ✅ **Mat etiquette** → Clean gear, short nails, and flip-flops off the mat.🧼🩴 Wear a mouthguard (or do not complain afterwards!). 🛡️ ✅ **BONUS gym access** → Your entry includes access to the adjacent weight room if you want to pump some iron! 🦾 ✅ **Tickets** → Buy one entry to the GYM (150 CZK or a Multisport card) at the reception. **ASK for the RECEIPT** and have it ready to show before stepping onto the mat. 🎟️ *If you want to make new friends and have some good wrestles, grab your gear and let's make some Sunday pretzels!! 🥨🤼‍♂️🔥* **Pro-tip:** Bring a water bottle! 💧 Note that there is no big hangout afterwards—we warm up, roll, thank everybody, and then go home to enjoy the rest of our Sunday. ✌️

⚠️ **IMPORTANT: You must sign up and buy a ticket here to attend:** [https://groupvibe.com/](https://groupvibe.com/) **This is a curated, small-group meetup make new friends in Prague.** Each meetup brings together 4–6 like-minded people for casual conversations over brunch. We use the Groupvibe platform to organize and ensure everyone’s a good fit. 👉 **To attend, you’ll need to complete registration via this link:** [https://groupvibe.com](https://groupvibe.com) Once you register, and **buy a ticket or become a Groupvibe member**, we’ll share the exact location and match you with your group. **Why this works:** \* Smaller groups make real conversations easier \* Matching helps avoid awkward dynamics **Note:** RSVPs here on Meetup don’t reflect total attendance. Many attendees register directly via our website. This meetup is organized by **Groupvibe**, a small team passionate about helping people form meaningful friendships offline.

Some people go to pubs. Some people conquer galaxies, build empires, trade spices, or outsmart dragons. Nerdy Fridays are our open board game nights for anyone who prefers strategy over small talk and dice over disco lights. Come solo or bring your crew. We’ll help you find a table, explain the rules, and match you with a game that fits your vibe. From light party games to deep strategic battles, the shelves are open. Entry fee: 50 CZK if you drink something, 100 CZK if not (includes access to games and rule explanation) Friday nights don’t have to be loud. They can be legendary. 🎲✨

**In a time of division and isolation, come be part of the community that's rebuilding the town square, one table at a time.** **This dinner in particular will be very special as we celebrate America's 250th birthday. How better to honor a semiquincentennial of democracy that spending an evening practicing it?** In BreadBreakers, we use the common space of the dining table to have conversations where neighbors can **hear, be heard, and know one another.** If you're hungry for good conversation and deeper community, join us for a Community Dinner in Reston and help blaze the trail to a healthier, more connected society and democracy. Here’s how it works: For just two hours, multiple tables of people set aside the need to "win" and instead focus on sharing, listening, and connecting. Guided by experienced table hosts, we'll tell our stories, try to understand each other, and practice being in community with those with different views or backgrounds. **At this dinner, participants will get to choose between three different topics, including some current events.** Topics range from the political, to the "slice of life", to the spiritual, to the philosophical, to the off-the-wall - but no matter which table you choose to sit at, you can be sure it'll be like no dinner conversation you've had before! You can also **suggest a topic** by emailing us at BreadBreakersInfo@gmail.com. Food will be provided for free. For those who wish to provide a donation to help fund BreadBreakers, you can [give here](https://pushpay.com/g/restorationrestonumc?fnd=pO6G-N7oO7FH7Mp1u-x6mA&fndv=Lock&r=No&lang=en&src=pcgl) or at the event. We'll have vegetarian and gluten-free options available. If you have any additional dietary restrictions (Celiac Disease, vegan, etc.) please let us know at BreadBreakersInfo@gmail.com so that we can implement the appropriate food handling procedures. **Join us, invite a friend, and be a part of the movement to mend our fractured society and normalize a better way of talking with one another.** BreadBreakers, an initiative by [Restoration United Methodist Church](https://restorationreston.org/breadbreakers) in Reston, VA, is a religiously inclusive community. We are a collaboration between people of all faiths and stripes. Our leadership, volunteer team, and community include people who attend Restoration and people who don't.

## 1 Million Cups Loudoun – Resource Presentation ### Understanding Loudoun's Commercial Real Estate Landscape: Opportunities for Small Business Growth **Presented by Vanessa Simon, Real Estate Intelligence Manager, Loudoun Economic Development** **Wednesday\, June 24 \| 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM** **Venture X Loudoun** Join us for an engaging and informative conversation with **Vanessa Simon**, Real Estate Intelligence Manager for Loudoun Economic Development, as we explore Loudoun County's evolving commercial real estate landscape and what it means for small businesses looking to grow. *** ## About the Presenter Vanessa Simon serves as the **Real Estate Intelligence Manager** for Loudoun Economic Development, where she tracks land and property data, manages the county's commercial property database, and builds relationships with developers, brokers, and industry stakeholders throughout Loudoun County. Prior to joining Loudoun Economic Development, Vanessa served as the Director of Operations for a regional residential real estate team serving Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia. Her experience includes operations management, contracts, compliance, negotiations, and market analysis. Vanessa holds a bachelor's degree in Biology and Business from Virginia Tech and began her professional career in technical sales before transitioning into real estate and economic development. *** ## About the Session Whether you're considering your first commercial location, expanding your business footprint, evaluating market opportunities, or simply trying to better understand the local business landscape, this session will provide valuable insight into one of the most important factors influencing business growth: commercial real estate. Vanessa will share current market trends, development activity, available commercial space, and economic development initiatives that are shaping the future of Loudoun County. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how real estate data and economic development resources can support strategic business decisions. *** ## What You'll Learn * Current commercial real estate trends across Loudoun County * Available space and development opportunities * Site selection considerations for growing businesses * Workforce accessibility and location planning * Economic development initiatives supporting business growth * Market insights that can help inform expansion strategies * Resources available through Loudoun Economic Development *** ## Who Should Attend This session is ideal for: * Small business owners * Entrepreneurs considering a physical location * Businesses planning expansion * Retail, restaurant, and service-based businesses * Commercial property owners and investors * Startup founders evaluating growth opportunities * Community and economic development professionals *** ## Why Attend? * Gain practical market intelligence from a county expert * Better understand Loudoun's commercial development landscape * Learn how location decisions impact business growth * Discover resources available to support your business * Ask questions directly to a leader involved in shaping Loudoun's economic future *** ## About 1 Million Cups 1 Million Cups is a national program that brings entrepreneurs and communities together to learn, connect, and grow through presentations and discussion. Loudoun’s chapter meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays each month. Join us on **June 24** for coffee, connection, and a valuable conversation about how Loudoun County's commercial real estate market can support your business growth and long-term success. We look forward to seeing you there.

Join Sober Supper Club DC for an intimate group dinner at Summer House Santa Monica in North Bethesda, a sun-drenched, California-inspired restaurant tucked into the Pike & Rose neighborhood. Summer House brings a little bit of the West Coast to the DMV — bright, airy, and built around the feeling of a perfect summer day. The menu is fresh, seasonal, and made for sharing: wood-grilled fish and meats, market-driven salads, hand-rolled pastas, and the famous Cookie Bar stocked with dozens of fresh-baked cookies to close out the night. The space itself feels like a coastal escape — whitewashed wood, abundant plants, and warm light that makes every dinner feel like a vacation. It's a beautiful setting for slowing down, eating well, and connecting around a long table. This dinner is intentionally small to keep conversation easy and the experience relaxed. Our guests typically range from 25–45, and the evening is designed for people who enjoy thoughtful conversation, beautiful food, and a communal table built for a fun sober night in the city. Seating is limited to 10 people maintain an intimate atmosphere. **WHO:** You + 9 Other People **WHAT:** Intimate Group Dinner **WHEN:** Thursday, May 21, 2026 · 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM **WHERE:** Summer House - North Bethesda **COST:** $80/person PREPAID TICKET (Includes dinner, drinks & gratuity) To purchase your ticket on our website instead, head here: [https://sobersupper.club/events/ssc-dc-summer-house-may-21](https://sobersupper.club/events/ssc-dc-summer-house-may-21)

**🪷 COST:** There is a fee for this event. Please [Register and Pay with this Link!](https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/echoes-of-the-mountain-sound-bath-and-forest-immersion-2) 🌳 **Description:** Nestled within the serene landscape of Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, this immersive experience invites you to slow down and reconnect with the rhythms of nature. ✨ We’ll begin with a gentle forest therapy walk beneath cooling tree cover, allowing the senses to awaken and the body to soften. Along the way, the soothing presence of a nearby stream will guide us into deeper stillness. Our journey concludes on sun-warmed rocks near the stream, where you’ll be held in a restorative sound bath. Let the layered tones of bowls and calming chimes blend with the natural soundscape—flowing water, rustling leaves, birdsong—offering a space for rest, reflection, and renewal. Come as you are, and allow nature and sound to carry you into ease. 💫 **Meeting point:** Meet by the main trailhead sign (near railroad tracks) at 6:20pm. We will start at 6:30pm. **Bring:** * Water * Layers of clothes based on the weather * Sturdy comfortable shoes * Hiking poles (optional) **🪷 COST:** There is a fee for this event. Please [Register and Pay with this Link!](https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/echoes-of-the-mountain-sound-bath-and-forest-immersion-2) **🌐 NEWSLETTER:** [Click Here to Sign Up](https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/newsletter-form/sign-up-for-the-imagine-well-being-newsletter) if you would like to receive Imagine Well Being's monthly newsletter highlighting events, retreats and outreach programs. **⭐️ LIABILITY RELEASE:** With my RSVP, I hereby stipulate that I am physically sound to participate in this event. I understand and agree that all events, gatherings and retreats are undertaken at my sole risk and that Imagine Well Being guides and co-directors shall not be liable for injuries or damages to my person or property arising out of or connected to any of these activities. I authorize Imagine Well Being guides and co-directors to call 911 in the event that I appear to require emergency medical care, and I assume responsibility for all associated costs. **I have carefully read this agreement and understand its contents. I agree that it is a complete release of liability for any injuries or damage that I may sustain due to Imagine events, gatherings, and retreats.**

Sexual health education and testing. Lunch will be served. Discover the Facts. Know Your Status. Did you know that 1:7 individuals are unaware of their sexual health status? The Inova Juniper Program is dedicated to fostering education, prevention, and support while working to reduce the stigma surrounding sexual health awareness. Join us for an engaging and interactive presentation. Take advantage of on-site rapid testing to learn your status! Lunch will be provided, and registration is required. RSVPing on Meetup does not register you with Prince William Public Libraries. To register, [click here](https://pwcgov.libnet.info/event/16474891).

Let's meet for coffee, tea, and pastries at Haraz Coffee House in Fairfax! This is a casual gathering for Afghan women in the DMV who would like to connect, make new friends, and enjoy a relaxing morning together.

Let's meet for coffee, tea, and pastries at Layered in Fairfax! This is a casual gathering for Afghan women in the DMV who would like to connect, make new friends, and enjoy a relaxing morning together.