Modeling Resources

Welcome to our new home at the historic Tivoli Theater! Please check our details for access to the space on [our website](https://www.hacdc.org/visit/). Join the discord for questions / help getting in (use channel #let-me-in) [https://discord.gg/dNjuNhNmeT](https://discord.gg/dNjuNhNmeT)

Join us for another session of our study group as we cover the book Build a Reasoning Model (from Scatch). In this session, we will cover Chapter 3 titled "Evaluating Reasoning Models", where we learn how to build methods for evaluating the responses of an LLM. This isn't just a lecture! Come ready to ask questions, share insights, and code along. Whether you're a beginner or have some experience, this is the perfect opportunity to continue to learn together. If you plan to work with the code on your own laptop during the session, try and download the code from it's GitHub repository at https://github.com/rasbt/reasoning-from-scratch ahead of time.

Let's branch out to a suggested location, this time in Virginia. The Central Library is a 10 minute walk from the Virginia Square-GMU metro stop. We'll be in the Wilson Room. I've never been here before, it'll be an adventure for all of us. Bring your cross stitch, knitting, crochet, or other portable craft.

**THE POWER OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS OVER YOU** You are welcome to arrive 15 minutes early for refreshments! At the lecture "The Power of the Subconscious", the speaker will clearly and understandably explain topics such as: What is the exact definition of the Subconscious Mind? How does it inflict unwanted feelings and anxiety in you? What determines how much pressure it exerts on a person? What exactly is the goal of the subconscious? This is not just a lecture where you sit quietly and listen. It's interactive and LIVE, so you can ask questions at any time. And the most important topic: **HOW DO YOU TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR SUBCOUNSCIOUS?** **Attend and find out.** This group is sponsored by the Dianetics Life Improvement Center Call 202-797-9826 with any questions and to register! You are welcome to arrive 15 minutes early for refreshments!

**When**: Tuesdays, 6:00-9:00 pm **Where**: Pyramid Atlantic's Helen Frederick Gallery (2nd Floor) Pyramid Atlantic Art Center\* 4318 Gallatin Street, Hyattsville, MD 20781 Convenient cheap parking in several nearby municipal parking lots including the lot near Franklins. Only 0.50cents/hour until 8pm; please enter through the rear doors. **What**: Each Tuesday session begins with five 5-minute warm-up poses. We then draw from a sustained pose for the remainder of the session. Please bring your own art materials, paper and portable easel (if needed). Chairs and drawing boards provided. **Cost**: $20/session or $75/5-session punch card Walk-ins and late arrivals welcome, no experience necessary! **Etc**.: Age 18+ **Contact**: Milena- hyattsvillefiguredrawing@gmail.com \*Membership to Pyramid Atlantic, though not required, is enthusiastically encouraged! [Pyramid Atlantic Membership](https://pyramidatlanticartcenter.org/support/membership/) *We are not looking for new figure models at this time, no inquiries please. Thank you.*

IGDA DC will be holding a meeting for women and gender diverse game developers to meet, network, talk about their games, and discuss unique challenges faced in the game development community. Non-binary and transgender people are welcome! The time and date is Saturday, July 11th 10am - noon The event location is: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library Conference Room 401-G

📸 Featured Model Workshop: Charisma Davis – $150 Date: July 11, 2026 Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Location: Sterling, VA (details provided after registration) Workshop Fee: $150 Reserve your seat through Meetup and complete payment to confirm your registration. Space is limited. Skill Level: Beginner to Intermediate ⭐ Exclusive 1-on-1 Sessions Available After the Workshop Private 1-on-1 sessions with Charisma are available following the workshop for attendees only. Attendance at the workshop is required to participate in the 1-on-1 sessions. Styles: Fashion and Boudoir Includes: Use of studio lighting and assistance with lighting setups. Join us for a hands-on photography workshop featuring Charisma Davis. This small-group experience is designed to help photographers improve their portrait photography while practicing lighting, posing, composition, and working with a live model. Limited 1 on 1 spots are available, so reserve early. Rate: $70 per 30-minute session paid directly to the model at event. What You'll Gain Hands-on shooting time with a professional model Tips on lighting, posing, and composition Personalized feedback in a small-group setting Portfolio-worthy images to add to your collection What to Bring DSLR or mirrorless camera Charged batteries and memory cards Notebook (optional) 1-on-1 Session Schedule 12:30 – 1:00 — Kris Z. 1:00 – 1:30 — Kris Z. 1:30 – 2:00 — 2:00 – 2:30 — 2:30 – 3:00 — Andy W. 3:00 – 3:30 — Andy W. 3:30 – 4:00 — Samantha M. Cancellation Policy Refunds will only be issued if the workshop is canceled by the host. Questions? Email us at info@studio151photo.com.

THIS CLASS IS OFFERED THROUGH CAPITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CENTER **PLEASE REGISTER WITH CAPITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CENTER, NOT MEETUP!** https://capitalphotographycenter.com/classes/class/07-12-2026-smartphone-image-editing Turn your smartphone into a powerful creative studio in this hands-on class exploring the artistic possibilities of two amazing image editing apps; Snapseed and Image Blender. Learn how image blending transforms photography into a world of imagination, allowing photographers to combine multiple images into surreal, cinematic, and emotionally rich visual stories. Designed for photographers, artists, and curious creators of all levels, this hands-on class demonstrates how professional-quality edits and compelling composites can be created entirely on a smartphone. Learn to shape mood, light, and texture in Snapseed through selective tools and creative adjustments. Then move into Image Blender to combine images into layered compositions and double exposures that evoke memory, mystery, and emotion, unlocking the storytelling power of photography beyond reality. Topics include: * Navigate the core editing workspace in Snapseed * Understand non-destructive editing using Stacks and Layers * Use Masks and selective adjustments to control where edits appear * Apply filters and effects intentionally to enhance storytelling and mood * Use brushes and localized adjustments to direct viewer attention * Combine multiple images using Image Blender * Create double exposures and composite images * Export and save high-quality edited images for sharing or printing * Develop a personal editing style with these mobile tools This class is designed for users of iOS and Android mobile devices. Participants will need to bring a fully charged smartphone. (Snapseed is a free app and Image Blender is $3.99) Questions can be directed to Marie Joabar at info@capitalphotographycenter.com Class limit: 8-10 *** **THIS CLASS IS OFFERED THROUGH CAPITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CENTER** https://capitalphotographycenter.com/classes/class/07-12-2026-smartphone-image-editing

Columbus Code & Coffee is an inclusive, informal co-working session. People of all skill levels attend, and we love it that way. Many people (optionally) bring projects to work on, and many other people (optionally) socialize the entire time. It's entirely up to you! **What to Expect at the Intro Circle** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ Near the beginning of the event (1:30 pm), we do a standup: * Organizer announcements, updates, and logistics Round 1 - (7 secs max): * Your name * What you're working on * What you can help others with Round 2: * Community events you wanna plug. If none, that's cool too. Round 3: * Job opportunities you're hiring for OR announce that you are looking for one. If none, that's cool. After the introduction circle, everything is self-organized! Feel free to work alone, pair up, attend one of our workshops/presentations, or mingle!

You can sleep in on the Semiquincentennial (observed), we’re shifting to the following Friday. But join the local UX community for a chat and some biscuits to catch up. If you were in CA for Figma Config, tell us all the lines and you can tell me how I can animate an SVG without coding it by hand, and why I’d even want to. Thanks to the team at Nationwide of supporting the group.

**Don’t miss your opportunity to learn from a duo with over 16 years of experience combined. During this demonstration event, you can expect to learn how to direct and guide your creative vision through lighting and communication to your model. We guarantee you will leave this event feeling more confident to try new lighting set ups to match up with your anticipated outcome. Finding the right way to express your vision is key to getting your model to pose accordingly, so we got you there too! To take this even further, think about signing up for a tutorial spot following the demonstration.** ***Note: this is a demonstration event only, you will not shoot your own images. However, if you bring your camera we can test it for compatibility with the studio lights.*** **Following the demonstration will be a tutorial/coaching event - sign up separately if you are interested at** https://calendar.app.google/ZcHb4CQB2rrV3U7j9 **Save and book both for $199 (discounted from $215; the discount will be applied on the Tutorial invoice).**

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

Most people use LLMs by feel: ask a question, read the answer, decide whether it “seems good,” and move on. That works for casual use. It does not work when you are building software, automating workflows, writing important documents, or relying on AI for anything that needs to be repeatable. In this talk, we’ll look at how to improve and evaluate the inputs and outputs of LLMs using practical measurement techniques. We’ll cover how prompt changes affect results, how to compare outputs, how to build simple evaluation sets, and how math-based methods like similarity scoring can help you move beyond guesswork. This will be beginner-friendly, so even if you don't know anything about AI, you should get something out of it. However, this will be a little more technical than our intro talks. You do not need to be an AI researcher, but programmers and technically curious attendees will get a lot out of it. We’ll cover: * Why “it looks good” is not enough * How to improve prompts by changing the input, context, and constraints * How to compare LLM outputs more systematically * Basic evaluation techniques for accuracy, consistency, and usefulness * How embeddings, cosine similarity, and scoring can help evaluate results * Where automated evaluation works — and where humans still need to stay in the loop By the end, you’ll have a practical mental model for treating LLMs less like magic and more like systems you can test, measure, and improve. LOGISTICS AND PARKING: The talk starts at 7:00 PM. The first half hour is reserved for everyone to get set up and mingle. Free pizza and drinks! The cheapest parking option is to find street parking, which will only cost you a few bucks. Otherwise, park in the nearby veteran's museum lot for $8. It's highly recommended you avoid the nearby $15 garage parking.

Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/