Mobile User Experience

For our May meetup, we're delighted to be back at the fabulous Accurx offices. We have two amazing talks lined up and the agenda will be: * 6:30pm - arrive, drinks, networking * 7:00pm - Welcome & Housekeeping * 7:15pm - **Talk** **1: "A practical guide to inner sourcing your IDP"** Bridging the gap between developers and platform teams is hard. Scattered documentation, fragmented language and hidden knowledge leave developers frustrated, while platform teams struggle to understand what devs really need. Treating platforms as products is a start, but treating them like open source projects unlocks real collaboration, allowing developers to contribute and maintain features. In her roles as Developer Advocate and platform engineer, Lian has years of experience working with highly bureaucratic organisations helping to improve developer experience and adoption. In this talk, she’ll share concrete steps to identify contribution opportunities, set up maintainable processes, and measure engagement. You’ll leave inspired with ideas to boost adoption, reduce friction, and turn your platform into a collaborative, thriving ecosystem. **Speaker:** Lian Li, Cloud Native Human *Lian always wanted to save the world. After leaving law school, she decided to work with computers instead. While in Web Dev, she started attending tech events, and soon fell in love with the community. In her roles as Consultant and DevRel, Lian combined technical knowledge with a focus on the human side.* *Currently, Lian works as freelance Platform Engineer in Amsterdam and is the Chief Karaoke Officer for Kuberoke, the first and only Kubernetes Karaoke Community. She also enjoys performing in musical improvisation theatre and standup comedy shows.* * 7.45pm - food, more drinks & networking * 8.00pm - **Talk** **2: "The Humans Behind the Platform: Structuring Teams for Culture and Capability**" It’s easy to focus on the tech when building a Platform team, and that’s tremendously important, but it’s often the people and how they work together that determine success. Over the past couple of years, Claire has led a Platform Engineering Team through different formations, migrations, and tooling adoptions. Whatever shape the team has taken, whatever they're working on, the constants have been a need for clear purpose and a culture where people can thrive, this takes work, and has sometimes been tricky to get right. In this talk, she’ll share what she's learned from shaping and supporting platform teams: what’s worked (and what hasn’t) when it comes to team composition, balancing seniority, and supporting career growth. Collaboration is central to how to operate, so she’ll talk about how her team works with and supports internal customers, and what’s helped to navigate complex, knotty migration projects. She’ll also cover how they built a culture that gives engineers space to lead. We want engineers at every level to feel confident taking ownership, and that takes deliberate effort. If you’re figuring out how to shape your platform teams to enable others as well as deliver, this talk will offer practical ideas, and maybe a few things to rethink. **Speaker:** Claire Reckless, Engineering Manager *Claire is an Engineering Manager and leads a Platform Engineering Team. With a background spanning Tech Support, Testing, and QA across sectors like Finance and Security, she brings a deep appreciation for resilient systems and collaborative teams. Claire is passionate about learning and development, and she’s especially proud of her past work coordinating an apprentice programme, an initiative that’s helped build a more diverse and sustainable pipeline of engineering talent. She’s energised by helping engineers at all levels grow their confidence, take ownership, and shape the future of their teams.* * 8.30pm onwards - drinks and networking. So, please come and join us, we look forward to seeing you there. The LOPUG team. * Food and drinks provided * Good time will be had by all

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/34051 **Game Description:** Please be aware that our sessions are also on our own mobile app. Therefore, the number of participants you currently see may not reflect the total number of participants. Elevate your volleyball skills at our adult coaching sessions! Led by expert coaches, our sessions cater to all levels, from beginners to experienced players. Develop your technique, agility, and teamwork through drills and gameplay. Join our vibrant community and unleash your full potential on the court. Let's play, learn, and excel together. **Rules** By booking this session, you acknowledge and agree to comply with our terms and conditions, privacy policies, and cancellation policy, which can be found below. **Terms & Conditions at:** https://www.littlegiantsvc.com/terms-and-conditions **Privacy Policy at:** https://www.littlegiantsvc.com/privacy-policy

🎉 Come along to the London Scala Talks! 🎉 In this event you'll hear from Caroline Morton and Katrina Petrevice. **Agenda** 6:00pm - 🥤 Doors open. Come along and grab a drink! 6:35pm - 🗣️ Introduction 6:40pm - 🗣️ Katrina Petrevice: Caching in Scala using Ref 7:20pm - 🍕 Intermission: Join us for some free food and drinks! Vegan and vegetarian options are provided. Let us know if you'd like something special - we'd be happy to accommodate. 7:50pm - 🗣️ Caroline Morton: Accidental Functional Programming in Rust (From an Epidemiologist's Perspective) 8:30pm - 🥤 Socialising: Grab a drink and let's discuss the talks. 9:00pm - 🍻 Join us in a pub to discuss the talks! 🌐 **This event may have a live stream** Watch this space for more details. **🗣️ Katrina Petrevice: Caching in Scala using Ref** Caching in memory is often one of the first strategies used to improve system performances. However, implementing caching in a purely functional way introduces unique challenges, specifically around state management and testability. In this talk, we will look at how to utilise functional programming principles with [Ref](https://typelevel.org/cats-effect/docs/std/ref), while maintaining clarity and composability. We will also deep dive into some common pitfalls and look into practical ways to test Ref effectively. ⭐ Katrina Petrevice ⭐ Katrina comes from a non–computer science background and was first introduced to Scala while working at JPMorgan. She credits much of her Scala knowledge to hands-on experience within her team, where she works on building and maintaining data pipelines and managing data systems. Since then, she has developed a strong interest in functional programming and now co-leads the Functional Programming Group at JPMorgan, where she helps share knowledge and foster a community around these ideas. **🗣️ Caroline Morton: Accidental Functional Programming in Rust (From an Epidemiologist's Perspective)** I don't have a background in functional programming - and I never set out to write it. But somewhere between writing trait-based epidemiological pipelines, composing data transformations, and leaning hard on Result, enums, and pattern matching, I started hearing from others: “That's pretty functional.” In this talk, I'll explore what it means to write “functional-ish” Rust as someone solving real-world scientific problems. I'll walk through the patterns I reach for - like chaining iterators, avoiding shared state, and embracing expressive types - and reflect on which functional programming ideas emerge naturally in Rust, even if you're not trying. I'll also share how designing for epidemiologists - most of whom are used to chaining functions in Python (like Pandas) or R - has pushed me toward creating ergonomic Rust APIs with Python and R bindings. These tools aim to feel familiar to scientists while leveraging Rust's power and safety under the hood. This is a talk for functional programmers curious about Rust, and for Rustaceans wondering if they've been functional all along. No formal theory required - just real code, real use cases, and a pragmatic perspective from someone building public health tools in Rust. ⭐ Caroline Morton ⭐ Dr. Caroline Morton is a medical doctor, epidemiologist, software engineer, and PhD candidate specialising in synthetic data, epidemiology, and Rust. With 60 peer-reviewed papers and two books on software, she combines deep technical expertise with a commitment to improving scientific workflows. Caroline co-founded the first [Women in Rust](https://www.meetup.com/women-in-rust/) group, fostering diversity and encouraging more women to explore opportunities in systems programming. She leads an open-source project improving codelist management in epidemiology using Rust, creating efficient, reliable tools for health data research. Her PhD focuses on synthetic data methods for epidemiology, particularly using Rust to generate large, realistic datasets. A strong advocate for open science and reproducibility, she contributes extensively to improving software practices through publications, workshops, and open-source projects. ———————————————————— 🗣️ Would you like to present, but are not sure how to start? Give a talk with us and you'll receive mentorship from a trained toastmaster! Get in touch through [this form](https://forms.gle/zv5i9eeto1BsnSwe8) and we'll get you started 🏡 Interested in hosting or supporting us? Please get in touch through [this form](https://forms.gle/3SX3Bm6zHqVodBaMA) and we can discuss how you can get involved. 📜 All London Scala User Group events operate under the [Scala Community Code of Conduct](https://www.scala-lang.org/conduct/). We encourage each of you to report the breach of the conduct, either anonymously through [this form](https://forms.gle/9PMMorUWgBnbk1mm6) or by contacting one of our team members. We guarantee privacy and confidentiality, as well as that we will take your report seriously and react quickly.

Something's shifted. The people who've spent years deep in data - the analysts, the engineers, the consultants - are building with AI agents now. **And it's the most exciting thing in a decade.** New tools. New workflows. Whole new ways of thinking about what data work even means. Everyone's experimenting. Everyone's learning. **Nobody's done this before.** We couldn't find a community in the UK for people doing this work. So we're starting one. In pubs, with laptops, sharing what's actually working. No slides. No pitches. No lanyard energy. Just people who build things, showing each other what they've built. **Bring your terminal. Bring your questions. Bring the thing that's half-working and you can't figure out why.** More at [swarm.org.uk](https://swarm.org.uk/)

We're delighted to announce an exciting LSCC event on Wednesday 13th May, in partnership with our friends at Zopa Bank! Join us at the Zopa Canary Wharf office in London for this session and get the chance to flex your architectural design muscles! "So how are we supposed to get great architects, if they only get the chance to architect fewer than a half-dozen times in their career?" — Ted Neward. This quote highlights the need for practice, which is what our LSCC architecture katas provide: a safe, repeatable way to hone your software architecture design skills by simulating architectural challenges. **What's the format?** You'll be split into groups and have a business problem to solve. You'll be tasked with designing a technical architecture to meet that problem context. As with real-life you'll have to manage various trade-offs in your design and interact with a Product Owner to clarify your questions. At the end of the task each team will showcase their architecture and technology choices back to the wider group as part of a group discussion. Whether you're a seasoned coder, software architect or new to the scene, you're invited to share insights, discuss best practices, and learn from fellow participants. No prior session attendance or architecture knowledge is required – just bring your enthusiasm. No laptop is required for this session, we'll provide each group with paper, pens and sticky notes to support the activity. Thank you to the Codurance team that will run the event at Zopa Bank's office. Find out more at https://www.codurance.com/ Food and drinks will be provided with vegetarian, vegan and non-alcoholic options available - thanks to Zopa Bank for sponsoring refreshments and hosting in their great office. **About Zopa** Founded in 2020 with a full banking licence and backed by some of Silicon Valley’s most iconic investors, digital bank Zopa is building the Home of Money. This is a place where financial products deliver good value and managing money is made effortless; deep and long-lasting relationships mean customers are left confident about their choices. One of the UK’s highest rated and most celebrated financial brands, Zopa has been recognised with over 10 British Bank Awards, holds a Trustpilot rating of 4.6/5, and has one of the highest customer satisfaction scores in the industry. Zopa Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. https://www.zopa.com/ We look forward to seeing you soon!

***[We're leaving Meetup! Going forward, tickets on Meetup will be limited. We encourage you to register via our Luma calendar instead, where the full number of tickets will be available.](https://luma.com/ck2etymg)*** **Agenda** 06:00pm - Doors open 06:30pm - Welcome 06:35pm - [Mariia Borysova](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/), Senior Product Designer at Amazon, "Storytelling in AI" 07:00pm - Break 07:15pm - [Celeste Horgan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/celeste-horgan/), Senior OSS Developer Advocate at Snowflake, "Apache Spark Pipelines: Adventures in Raccoon detection" ​07:45pm - Lightning Talk: [Sneha Kalaivanan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/snehakalai/), Senior Product Manager at Tesco, TBD **Please note you will be unable to enter the venue before 6.00pm.** RSVPs will close 24 hours before the event, you may be unable to register after this time but you can still watch online. If you can't join us in person you can watch remotely via [our YouTube channel](https://youtube.com/@ai-signals-community). **Our hosts may require that we provide a list of all attendees, please ensure that you register with a name that matches your government issued ID or bank card: if you do not we cannot guarantee you entry to the building.** Please RSVP for the event well in advance if you plan to attend in person and unRSVP if you can no longer attend as limited spaces are available.

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/38106 **Game Description:** Please be aware that our sessions are also on our own mobile app. Therefore, the number of participants you currently see may not reflect the total number of participants. Elevate your volleyball skills at our adult coaching sessions! Led by expert coaches, our sessions cater to all levels, from beginners to experienced players. Develop your technique, agility, and teamwork through drills and gameplay. Join our vibrant community and unleash your full potential on the court. Let's play, learn, and excel together. **Rules** By booking this session, you acknowledge and agree to comply with our terms and conditions, privacy policies, and cancellation policy, which can be found below. Terms & Conditions at: https://www.littlegiantsvc.com/terms-and-conditions Privacy Policy at: https://www.littlegiantsvc.com/privacy-policy

### An Exquisite Cultural Afternoon Tea Journey at The Fan Museum, London The Fan Museum is the UK's only Museum devoted to the history of Fans. Her Majesty The Queen is the royal patron since 2008! This exquisite 2.5-hour cultural experience is thoughtfully curated to nourish both mind and spirit through two timeless elegant arts: * Traditional Chinese Tea Culture * Fan Culture (Asian Fans & British Royal Fans) Date: Saturday 16th May 2026 Time: 1:00pm - 3:30pm Ticket price: £68 Group size: Max 15. **What's included:** 1\. Guided Fan Talk \(30 minutes\) \- Asian Fans 2\. Traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony \(1\.5 hours\) Following the museum talk, transition into a serene tea experience led by tea experts from Amitabha Garden. This guided session includes: * Traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony * Taste three carefully selected premium Chinese loose leaf teas (Jasmine Dragon Well, 2020 Aged White Tea, selected minimum 5 years aged dark tea) * Taste handmade Traditional Chinese pastries (Please let us know in advance if you have any allergies) * Introduction to Gongfu brewing techniques * Mindful appreciation of aroma, flavour, and tea philosophy, history and story This session is designed to help guests slow down, restore inner calm, and engage fully with the present moment. 3\. Guided Museum Exhibition Tour Complete your experience with a guided tour through the beautiful Georgian setting of The Fan Museum for the latest exhibition - The Royal Fans! Learn more about the history and stories of royal Fans.

We have three great talks lined up, plus time to chat and meet others in the community. We can’t wait to see you there! We want NSLondon to be welcoming to everyone and support a broad range of voices. To help address existing imbalances in attendance, we’re offering a limited number of **early-access spots to women, non-binary people, and others who are currently underrepresented** in the iOS developer community. You can request one of these spaces by filling in [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfkWvVomYXUwESWHet2HDxTia4euvYcP2WKtkVQLXCzjmtbvA/viewform) before RSVPs open for general availability. (**Update:** This form is now closed.) **💬 Talks:** **Raphael Velasqua** — “Claude as Your iOS Pair Programmer” *What if your codebase could teach Claude how your team codes — not just generic Swift? A glimpse of scaffolding, writing reliable tests and more with Claude.* **Paul Shone** — “Turning Applications in to Apps: Tips on getting hired in a changing marketplace” *Join Paul Shone, Co-Founder of Pixelated People, a recruitment leader with over 15 years of experience in building world-class mobile engineering teams. Paul shares invaluable insights on how to standout and secure your dream job in this changing and competitive job market. If you are a job seeker aiming to land the perfect role this session is packed with actionable advice that will set you apart from the competition.* **Vadim Popov** — “From ARKit to Vision – How Far Can You Push the iOS Camera” *This talk explores how far you can push the iOS camera by rebuilding core camera features using AVCaptureSession, comparing real-time face and skeleton detection across ARKit, Vision, and MediaPipe, and diving into live image analysis like sharpness, brightness, and composition scoring with Vision and Accelerate. It also reflects on what users actually value in a camera app, sharing practical lessons and missteps from the journey.* **🕓 Schedule:** 6:30 PM Arrival and check-in at JustPark reception 7:00 PM Presentations start 9:00 PM Continue the conversation at the pub (TBA) * **Arrival Time:** Arrive at 6:30 PM to complete the check-in process. If you need mobility assistance, let us know at least one day in advance. * **Check-in Process:** Go to JustPark reception. Provide your full name and mention the NSLondon event to receive your badge. * **Full Names Required:** Ensure your Meetup profile has your full name or send it to us in a private message at least 48 hours before the event. * **Late Arrival:** A JustPark staff member will guide us to the event space. If you arrive late, you may need to wait. 💎 **Acknowledgments:** We'd like to thank JustPark for their generous support in hosting this event. NSLondon is a community-driven group and needs your support! Contact us for information about venues, speakers, or sponsorships. Feel free to reach out with any questions. See you there! Please read our [Code of Conduct](https://nslondon.com/coc). MC: Aled Samuel

Capture London's most photogenic locations while mastering your iPhone camera on this guided photography walk through the city's historic and modern landmarks. Cost Cash £10 per person or (Monzo transfers fine) About this event Discover the art of mobile photography as we explore London's stunning contrasts - from the industrial grandeur of Tate Modern to the historic splendour of St Paul's Cathedral and the sleek modernity of the financial district. This hands-on experience is designed for iPhone users who want to take their photography to the next level. Whether you're shooting for Instagram, creating content, or simply want better holiday photos, you'll learn professional techniques that transform how you see and capture the city. What makes this walk special: Small groups (max 12) for personalized attention Carefully curated route hitting London's most unique photogenic spots Practical, hands-on learning at each location Both photography AND videography techniques Immediate feedback and group photo reviews Tips for editing and sharing your work Our Route: Tate Modern → Millennium Bridge → St Paul's Cathedral → Bloomberg Arcade → Bank Junction → Debrief at local café You'll Master: 📸 iPhone camera settings & hidden features 📸 Composition, lighting & framing 📸 Portrait mode, HDR & long exposure effects 📸 Architectural & street photography 📸 Reflections and creative perspectives 📸 Cinematic mode, time-lapse & reels 📸 Quick editing workflow for social media Perfect for: Content creators wanting better phone photography Beginners eager to learn their iPhone camera Tourists wanting to capture London beautifully Anyone who wants to see the city through a creative lens No experience necessary - just bring your iPhone, curiosity, and comfortable shoes! Included: 2.5 hour guided walk with professional photographers Photography tips Small group atmosphere (max 12 people) Café debrief session with group photo review Meeting Point: Tate Modern main entrance (exact location shared upon booking) What to Bring: Charged iPhone, portable charger recommended, weather-appropriate clothing Transform your iPhone into a powerful creative tool while exploring London's most beautiful corners. Book your spot today!

MCP is changing how developers build with AI, but we're just scratching the surface. Join us for an evening of talks that go beyond retrieval to explore what's actually possible when you give agents real tools, real constraints and real APIs. **Agenda** ​6:00 PM - Doors open, registration and networking ​6:10 PM - Welcome (Upsun & Cloudflare) ​6:20 PM - MCP: Context is Everything! - Carly Richmond, Elastic ​6:45 PM - Sandboxes: how to limit agents so we can use them more - Patrick Dawkins, Upsun ​7:00 PM - Break (Food & Drinks) ​7:30 PM - Cooking with MCP in VS Code - Liam Hampton, Microsoft ​7:55 PM - Efficient tools with MCP code mode - Confidence Okoghenun, Cloudflare ​8:15 PM - Open networking and drinks ​9:00 PM - Close 🗣️ ​**Talks** ​**MCP: Context is Everything! - Carly Richmond (Developer Advocate Lead, Elastic)** ​MCP is a powerful tool for giving LLMs capabilities to not just retrieve information, but to automate key actions based on relevant data. Let’s see how it can be used for retrieving relevant context and other activities such as observability. ​**Efficient tools with MCP code mode - Confidence Okoghenun (Senior Developer Advocate, Cloudflare)** ​Traditional MCP approaches choke on context windows: Cloudflare's 2,500+ endpoint API would require 1.17 million tokens. Code Mode flips the script by having LLMs write code against typed APIs instead of making direct tool calls, achieving 99.9% token reduction. Come learn how code mode works and how to optimize your MCP tools with it. ​**Sandboxes: how to limit agents so we can use them more - Patrick Dawkins (Principal Engineer, Upsun)** ​We want our agents to run longer and use more tools, but we're hampered by constant prompts for approval. Sandboxes are the practical middle ground: isolate the agent so you can stop watching every command and let it work. This talk covers what "sandbox" means, who provides them today and the Linux primitives that let you build one yourself. ​**Cooking with MCP in VS Code - Liam Hampton (Senior Cloud Advocate, Microsoft)** ​In this session Liam will show you how VS Code is fully supporting the MCP spec, from MCP Apps to sandboxing and elicitations. 📅 **Date and Time:** Thursday, May 14, from 6:00-9:00 PM 📍 **Location:** Cloudflare Address: 6th Floor, County Hall/The, Riverside Building, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 7PB, UK 👉 You can also register here: https://luma.com/eb8j6lhu ⚠️ Please make sure you provided your full name (no nicknames or abbreviations will be allowed) and to bring your ID card as it will be mandatory to show it upon check-in to security. Entry will be first come, first served. We recommend arriving early to make sure you get in. **⚡️ Interested in giving a talk? ⚡️** Have you ever considered presenting on your Elastic use case? We welcome 5-10 minute lightning talks, 45-minute deep dives, and everything in between. If you're interested, please submit via our [CFP](https://sessionize.com/elastic-meetups/) or send us an email at [meetups@elastic.co.](http://meetups@elastic.co./)

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/46630 **Game Description:** 🎯 LEVEL UP YOUR VOLLEYBALL GAME 🎯 Ready to sharpen your skills and take your performance to the next level? The Level Up Series is built for players who want to grow their game through high-quality, personalised coaching in a competitive environment. 👊 Each session includes: ✅ 1 hour of focused coaching tailored to the group’s needs ✅ 1 hour of game scenarios to apply what you’ve learned in real time ✅ Individual feedback to help you progress faster 🏐 Led by Coach Chester – a dedicated libero and rising leader in the UK volleyball scene, focused on athlete development: • 🏐 Coach for 2 LVA Pantheon Division 3 teams • 💼 Former President, Treasurer & Social Secretary, King’s College London Volleyball • 👑 Founder & CEO, Pantheon Volleyball • 🤝 Key Connector for up-and-coming athletes and programmes 👨‍🏫 Chester also brings his coaching and leadership to: • Pantheon Volleyball initiatives and talent development • KCL Mixed Premier Team in LUSL League • Volleyball England as a Level 1 Qualified Assistant Coach With a unique blend of on-court experience, organisational leadership, and entrepreneurial drive, Chester is deeply committed to helping players unlock their potential and supporting the next generation of volleyball talent. **Rules** 1\. Players should be respectful and follow the coach’s instructions when given 2\. Remain kind and courteous to players around you regardless of their skill level 3\. Enjoy yourself and remember to ask the coach if you have any questions \(hint: there are no stupid ones\) Photos and videos may be taken during the sessions and used as promotional material for the Pantheon Volleyball Club. By signing up, you give your consent to be filmed and to be used for the purposes as mentioned above. If you would like to opt out of this, please send a message to the pantheon volleyball page.

This event is designed for people who want to create better content with their phone. Whether you’re a beginner or already posting regularly, you’ll leave with practical skills you can use immediately, not theory, not complicated techniques. Real tips that work. **Tickets Must Be Booked in Advance here:** https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/london-content-walk-tickets-1989222325524 The price is £19.99 During the walk through Mayfair, I’ll guide you through: • How to film smooth, cinematic short videos for any platform • How to find the best angles, light and details in any location • How to think like a content creator, not just a tourist with a phone • How to use London’s streets to create content that actually looks premium This is not just a meetup. This is a guided content session led by a London photographer and content creator with over 10 years of professional experience working with brands, venues, and influencers. Small group only - maximum 4 people, so everyone gets personal attention. You will leave with fresh content ready to post and a completely different way of seeing your phone as a creative tool. Limited spots. Book in advance.

London girlies… we’re doing it 🇬🇧✨ I’ll be in London **May 14–18**, and I’m hosting the **first-ever [Girlies in Tech dinner](https://luma.com/girliesintechdinner) in London**. If you’re a **designer, engineer, PM, founder, student, intern, or just generally a woman working in tech**, I’d love to meet you. These dinners are meant to be small, relaxed, and actually social — the goal is to meet new people and hopefully leave with a few new friends in tech. 📍 Dinner will be at **Agrodolce London**, a cozy Italian spot in **Fitzrovia** right in the **West End**. Think a little **West End girl energy.** It’s super easy to get to — just a short walk from **Goodge Street Station** on the Northern Line, and there are also tons of buses nearby. If you’re a student at University of London, senior level techie, live around the West End, or just want to come into town for dinner, you’re very welcome. A few quick details: 🍝 **Small dinner (11 seats total)** 🗓 **May 16, 2026** 💸 **Pay your own meal** (RSVP is free) These dinners have been a **hot commodity in the U.S.** — they’ve sold out quickly in **New York City**, **Chicago**, and **Washington, D.C.** — so I’m excited to finally bring one to London. Seats are limited, but if you’re interested, RSVP and come join us for a cozy Italian dinner with other women in tech. And if this one fills up quickly… I’ll definitely plan another London meetup in the future. If you have any questions, feel free to [reach out](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrdnhrrsn/) 💛

**Building a great product is one thing—building momentum behind it is another.** Join **Senior Product Manager Adam Solaiman** and **User Experience Manager Tyson Smith** for a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to turn complex ideas into scalable products inside large organizations. In this session, they’ll share how teams move from ambiguity to execution—navigating organizational complexity, aligning stakeholders, and continuously evolving products after launch. You’ll walk away with insights on how to: * Build and sustain momentum across teams * Adapt to changing priorities without losing direction * Scale products thoughtfully in complex environments Whether you're driving a new initiative or growing an existing product, this conversation will give you practical strategies to keep things moving forward. Come connect, learn, and swap stories with fellow product professionals. \-\-\- Food and drinks will be provided by Switchbox, our generous host. Free parking will be available at the front and back sides of the Switchbox Office.

Customer identity resolution becomes increasingly complex as organizations scale across multiple systems, regions, and data formats. Traditional rule-based approaches often fail to keep up with data variability, require constant manual tuning, and struggle with real-time processing needs. This session presents a practical approach to building a scalable identity resolution pipeline using AWS services and modern AI techniques. The architecture combines data ingestion through Amazon S3 and AWS Glue, transformation pipelines using Spark on EMR, and machine learning models deployed via SageMaker for entity matching and standardization. Graph-based relationship modeling is implemented using Amazon Neptune to improve resolution accuracy by incorporating household and shared attribute context. We will walk through how machine learning models can be used for name and address normalization, how intelligent blocking strategies improve matching efficiency, and how feedback loops can be introduced to continuously improve accuracy. The session also highlights how serverless components such as AWS Lambda can be used for orchestration and real-time processing. **SPEAKER BIO** Mosaic Syed is a Senior Data Engineering and Cloud Solutions Architect with over 20 years of experience designing and delivering scalable, secure, and high-performance data solutions across global enterprise environments. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosaic-basha-syed-92300856 **CALL FOR SPEAKERS** Learn more: [https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/](https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/) **THANK YOU** *VEEAM* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Veeam*, please visit their website: [https://www.veeam.com/](https://www.veeam.com/) **DIRECTIONS** 8800 Lyra Dr #450 · Columbus, OH go to 4th floor. **Want to sponsor the pizza and/or bar tab?** Please contact me if you would like to sponsor this meetup's pizza and/or bar tab: angelo@mandato.com

PLEASE NOTE!!! This event will be In-Person for our very 1st Improving collab! If you know the [Columbus Unity group](https://www.meetup.com/columbus-unity-user-group/) location, we'll be at the same place. This is our 1st event and are doing a soft launch with limited attendance. 1st come 1st serve. If you want to be there and we fill up, please email me at [info@thecogg.com](mailto:info@thecogg.com) and I'll be in touch. All street parking is free on Sundays but you can also pay to park in any of the local garages. See image of [parking map here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mr9_LFIggbs-0_Zd3AJTGNqEhgMf2TzQ/view?usp=sharing). \-\-\- On the last Sunday of the month, we're having our usual end-of-the-month social gathering with our GameDev Meetup meeting. There will be announcements and presentations followed by some social networking Let's continue the conversations with good vibes and friends. All are welcomed from all ages and backgrounds to this public event. If we can, we'll be streaming or uploading the video later via our COGG YouTube channel here: [https://www.youtube.com/@TheCOGG/streams](https://www.youtube.com/@TheCOGG/streams) (Also please do subscribe if you have not done so!) No game development experience required! If you are interested in doing a 20 minute game development related presentation, please fill out our form online here: [https://goo.gl/forms/lVdTJZiNJewlPJuj1](https://goo.gl/forms/lVdTJZiNJewlPJuj1) Or e-mail us at info@thecogg.com with the following: Your Name, Company/Affiliation, Name of Your Game/Topic, Description, Tech Needs, and Your Contact. Be sure to check out our Discord for real time news updates: [https://discord.gg/NrBhuNQ](https://discord.gg/NrBhuNQ)

**Total Eclipse of the Chart: School Redistricting Dashboards** In this presentation, we will explore the utilization of maps, sets, and SQL within a Tableau dashboard to help provide “what-if” analyses generated through the use of a mapped dashboard, providing different scenarios and the potential implications of these. While in this use case we are focused on a large school district, the concepts of utilizing existing data to explore the future impacts of modifying different geographic boundaries can be useful to many industries, balancing the mix of maps with visual analytics. **About Our Speaker** Robert Kramer is the Data Systems and State Reporting Coordinator at South Western City Schools in Grove City. He has worked there for 17 years, serving previously in the roles of Data Analyst, Programmer, and Operations Coordinator. Prior to working at South Western, he worked as a Systems Engineer at Pinnacle Data Systems in Groveport. He graduated in 2005 from The University of Toledo with his Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Engineering, and a minor in Mathematics. Robert resides in Obetz with his wife, and their 15 and 12 year-old daughters. He was also just elected to his 3rd four-year term on the Obetz City Council. Thanks to our 2026 sponsors: [Clarivoy](https://www.clarivoy.com), [What Box Consulting Group](https://www.whatboxconsultinggroup.com), [Conductrics](https://www.conductrics.com), and [Piwik PRO](https://piwik.pro) More info at [cbusdaw.com](https://cbusdaw.com)

**We'll have two meetings covering AI - this second one is for Positron** We will review which AI features are linked in for Positron, and how to use them. **Source documents:** the repository is public, at: https://github.com/BarryDeCicco/AARUG_2026_04_09_AI_In_Positron You can download documents, or clone/fork the repository. **Location:** The meetup will be at SPARK's ([https://annarborusa.org/](https://annarborusa.org/)) Ann Arbor site: [SPARK HQ (Ann Arbor)](https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ann*Arbor*SPARK*Headquarters/@42.2792515,-83.7447708,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x883cae3effe193cb:0x5296a53db2a282bf!8m2!3d42.2792515!4d-83.7447708?hl=en-US__;Kysr!!HXCxUKc!3EEdBNXRJKknP6LCGkZetSuEsdtChFojQnOVitFUC5C0fyilqXEbiMstT9ajBR3Cw-55qoFkrElCjQvjMdTxUw$). There is on street parking, and parking at local structures. **This will be a hybrid meeting - the Zoom session starts at 6:30 PM.** **Time:** The doors will be open at 6:00, with pizza and beverages provided. We will have a meet-and-greet-and-pizza session, and then at 6:30 we'll have a presentation. **Zoom information:** https://us06web.zoom.us/j/6658850479?pwd=Snd1UmZTT3pjZktENlczUXh4SERwUT09&omn=89012971377 Passcode: 940392 **If you can't get in, please call me at: 734 223-3307** **The github repository is at: https://github.com/BarryDeCicco/AARUG_2026_04_09_AI_In_Positron**

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.