MySQL

**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.

**🏸 Tuesday Badminton Session: 8-10 PM at QMSC Victoria** 📍 **Queen Mother Sports Centre (Everyone Active), Victoria, SW1** Hi Everyone, **RSVP Required:** Everyone attending the session must RSVP in advance, whether you’re a member, returning player, or joining us for the first time. Members can also confirm attendance by email or text if preferred. ----- ## 💰 SESSION FEE: £14 **💡 Why Pay More? Join as a Member Instead!** **Annual Membership: £450** = just **£8.65/session** (Save £278 per year vs pay-as-you-go!) **3-Month Trial: £155** – test the waters before committing **Student/U25/Unemployed: 20% OFF** all memberships 👉 **[View Full Membership Benefits & Join](https://www.sidsbadmintonclub.org.uk/membership.php)** **What You Get as a Member:** ✓ Premium feather shuttles included ✓ Priority access to both venues (Victoria & Richmond) ✓ League team eligibility ✓ Member WhatsApp group & social events ✓ This is a **membership-first club** – join the community! ----- ## 🏸 SESSION DETAILS **Venue:** Queen Mother Sports Centre (Everyone Active) 223 Vauxhall Bridge Road, Victoria, SW1V 1EL *(5-minute walk from Victoria Station)* **Skill Level:** Lower Intermediate Ladies (C+) | Intermediate Men (B) and above *(No beginners or improvers at Tuesday sessions)* **What’s Included:** • Premium feather shuttles provided (Yonex, Yehlex, Victor) • MatchMaking App grades your skill level based on wins/losses – see how you rank! • 5 courts available for play • Players grouped by skill level • Last 30 mins (when scheduled): grade-based competitive groups on allocated courts ----- ## 💳 PAYMENT **Cash preferred** – pay organisers **at the beginning of session** (correct change appreciated) **Bank transfer available** (**NOT for first-timers**) **First-timers:** You must pay at the start of the session and register on our MatchMaking App ----- ## 📋 IMPORTANT INFORMATION **Cancellation Policy:** Cancel **24 hours before** or you’ll be charged the full £14 session fee. Outstanding fees **must be cleared** before attending your next session. This helps us run sessions efficiently. **Parking:** Free from 6:30 PM (single yellow lines) and 7:00 PM (single red lines) on Tuesdays. Please check local signage before parking. **Not Sure About Your Level?** Attend your first session – we’ll help assess if it’s the right fit for you! **Liability:** Sid’s Badminton Club is not responsible for personal property loss or injury. ----- **Questions?** 💬 Text us on Meetup 📧 Email: info@sidsbadmintonclub.org.uk 📝 Or use our [Contact Form](https://www.sidsbadmintonclub.org.uk/contact.php) 🌐 Visit: [www.sidsbadmintonclub.org.uk](https://www.sidsbadmintonclub.org.uk/) **Looking forward to seeing you on court!** *Sid’s Badminton Club – Competitive play since 1981* !​​​​​​​​​

**Do you enjoy discussing life's big questions?** Then this group is for you! Open for three weeks only. **Christianity explored** is an informal and relaxed three-week discussion group. We will read a short book (21 pages) from the famous book, the Bible and have discussions. It's for anyone who wants to think about the meaning of life. **If you are open-minded and want to discuss life questions from a new perspective, then come join us!** Come ready to listen, ask, laugh and enjoy socialising and chatting in a relaxed environment at our beautiful venue free of charge. No knowledge of Christianity or the bible is required to attend. **You can ask any questions**, or simply sit and listen. You will not be asked to read, pray or speak. Join us if you would like to meet others and be part of this three-week reading group. Dates: Every Tuesday for three weeks Venue: Inspire St James Church, EC1R 0EA \*\*FREE DINNER provided from the lovely Noodle Brat restaurant \*\* Look forward to see you!

Important - Please Read ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Welcome to London's Highest Rated International Languages Exchange group, with over 1400 reviews rated 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🇬🇧🇪🇸🇫🇷🇯🇵🇮🇹🇩🇪🇮🇳🇧🇷🇰🇷🇨🇳🇪🇬🇭🇰🇺🇦🇺🇸🇹🇷🇹🇼🇷🇺🇵🇱 To learn more about us and our community visit [www.languages.london](https://www.languages.london/) WHEN & WHERE Join us on Tuesday for our global language exchange and social at **our newest venue The Clement Attlee pub in Limehouse** from 7pm. The venue is a beautiful and really friendly pub with a great selection of drinks (especially beers!) including non-alcoholic options, fantastic food and good access to public transport. https://maps.app.goo.gl/RaLA7Jejt2g1tPme8 HOW WE DO IT It's simple .... \~ When you arrive please collect your personalised language badge from us, **BEFORE** you order your drinks. We'll be waiting to give you a warm welcome 😃 \~ Please wear your badge during the event and return it before you leave. \~ Start meeting the community and having fun, lots of fun! Confirm your place to attend. This event is FREE to attend Please buy something from the bar to support the venue, who kindly offer us a dedicated space. 🇲🇽🇻🇳🇧🇬🇵🇸🇸🇪🇮🇱🇦🇺🇨🇦🇳🇱🇨🇴🇭🇺🇿🇦🇹🇭🇵🇪🇧🇴🇳🇬🇪🇬🇳🇿🇨🇭 **WHO** Languages in London events are organised for our community - being social, making new friends, building cultural bridges and always very relaxed. We have the largest number of languages and countries represented in our weekly language exchange and social events. This is **not** a dating event. Our events are open to Internationals, Locals, Expats, Students, Travellers..... Everyone! This is the event for a truly global community and for citizens from around the World 🌎 Is this the Intercambio you've been looking for? Want to practice your ingles, espanol , francais, italiano, Deutsch, portugues or other European languages? Asian languages ? Or maybe prefer to only speak English, that's just fine. **All languages and all fluency levels are welcome** Spread the love, bring your family, friends and colleagues 💙 The creator and organiser of **Languages in London - Girish**, will always be visible at the event and there to support you and help with introductions, if you prefer. These are real events with real people. We aren't one of those groups that fill our events with fictitious attendees👻. We want to remain the **BEST** language events group in London, being the biggest isn't our focus. **No-shows at our events are removed from the group.** **Inactive members are also regularly removed from our group.** **LANGUAGES** Here's a selection of some of the languages that our community speak or have been practicing English, Spanish (incl Latin American), French, Italian, Portuguese (incl Brazilian), German, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese), Russian, Korean, Hindi, Turkish, Arabic, Ukrainian, Polish, Hebrew, Swedish, Bulgarian, Vietnamese, Hungarian, Bengali, Dutch, Catalan, Farsi, Greek, Urdu, Welsh, Romanian, Norwegian, Czech, Slovakian, Estonian, Danish, Finnish, Turkmen, Latvian, Lithuanian, Nepali, Yoruba, Filipino, Thai, Albanian, Croatian, Serbian, Ebo, Gaelic, Icelandic, Afrikaans, Tamazight, Tagalog, Creole, Malagasy, Mongolian, Tok Pisin and more... you get the idea! 🇷🇴🇬🇹🇨🇿🇳🇴🇩🇰🇫🇮🇨🇾🇺🇾🇪🇬🇧🇬🇦🇷🇰🇪🇱🇰🇲🇦🇹🇳🇩🇿🇸🇬🇲🇾 **SUSTAINABLE** 🌎🌳 Like you, we really care about our planet. We don't like single use paper name tags, stickers or wristbands as they can't be reused or recycled and can even damage your clothing ☹️ The Solution? Our personalised and completely reusable Languages in London badges! 🏆👍 So, please make sure you return your badge to us, before you leave the event. We'll sanitise it (anti bacterial & disinfectant cleaners) and use it again & again & again. Thanks for helping us do the right thing and keep our costs down🙏 **SAFE SPACE FOR EVERYONE** 👮‍♂️ We don't tolerate prejudice or harassment of any kind, at any time. Be polite and respectful to everyone else and they will reciprocate. Let's keep the space safe, welcoming for everyone and free of any political agendas. Please report any concerns to the Organiser immediately. Please look after your belongings, the venue is a public place. We may take photos or video at the event for future promotional use. Let us if know you'd rather not be included, we respect your choice 📸 **SPREAD THE WORD** 🗣️💬 If you enjoy our events, please tell your friends and colleagues and help us grow **your** community, thank you ♥️ Join our community - [www.languages.london](https://www.languages.london/) We're looking forward to welcoming you at Languages in London 😊😃👋 🇲🇰🇳🇵🇧🇩🇵🇭🇦🇪🇦🇱🇧🇪🇮🇪🇲🇹🇰🇿🇱🇦🇯🇴🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪🇰🇭🇨🇱🇲🇳🇨🇺

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/43579 **Game Description:** Mixed nationality and gender players play volleyball in our club for 10 years every Tuesday & Thursday from 8pm-10pm in upper intermediate and advance level. **Rules** Respect each other, focused on your own play and progress, be kind and cheer your team mate.

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/44235 **Game Description:** Come and play Tuesday evenings Lower-Intermediate volleyball session in Poplar 🔥 Picturesque court with plenty of serving space and also space to stay warm on the side when your team is off waiting for the next game 🙌 **Rules** 3 teams of 6 Games to 15 points

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/44229 **Game Description:** Come and play in a casual​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​,​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ friendly & social badminton session. The session is for mixed ability players (mainly beginners & intermediate players). So please be respectful and kind towards less experienced players - we all have to start somewhere 🧡 🌱 We use YONEX MAVIS 300 Nylon Shuttlecocks. 🏸 We have a few spare rackets if needed. Format: We play doubles for the whole time and keep rotating opponents/partners across courts so everyone plays each other. Venue: 🚪Entrance to the sports hall is on the corner of Celebration Avenue and Temple Mills Ln 🧼There are showers, changing rooms & a water fountain at the venue 🚶‍♂️5 minute walk from Stratford International DLR Station 🚗 Paid car parking is available on site **Rules** Classic doubles rules - can be explained at the start of the session if you’re new to badminton or need a reminder 🤝

**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!

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

2nd Sunday of every month, join us for a relaxed and fun language exchange, where meaningful conversations flow as freely as delicious coffee and tea! This isn't just practice; it's **accelerated progress** in a supportive setting, designed to quickly boost your **Mandarin, Cantonese and English** skills. **How We Make It Effective & Enjoyable:** * **Perfect Groupings:** We carefully match you with native speakers and learners at a similar level, ensuring comfortable and productive conversation practice. * **Forget awkward silences!** We provide fun, engaging discussion topics to spark lively chats and keep the conversation flowing. * **Maximise Your Practice:** Rotate between groups if you wish to connect with more people and strengthen your conversation skills! * **Expert Support:** Our experienced tutor is always on hand to help. 👌 **All levels welcome!** Native speakers and learners alike. 💛 Please support the cafe by buying a drink or snack while you are here - they've kindly let us use the space. We can't wait to welcome you! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **Take your Mandarin beyond the exchange.** 🤝 If you’re looking for a bit more structure to go along with your conversation practice, let’s chat! We're offering **complimentary 1-on-1 advice sessions** to help you find the perfect learning path. Get a professional assessment of your level so you can study with confidence. **No commitment** required. [Book your Free Session](https://eu.bigin.online/org20070515371/bookings/course-advice) \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **China Unbound** is the best place to learn practical Chinese for adults. While most schools prioritise grammar and writing, China Unbound empowers you to confidently communicate in Chinese in real-world situations. Join us and discover a fun, fast, and personalised way to master Chinese! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **🤘 FAQs:** **I'm learning Chinese, are the sessions suitable for beginners?** Yes! Come and speak as much or as little as you like, or just come and listen! There is no pressure! **Are there any discounts for Chinese lessons for members?** Yes, you can use code MEETUP10 for your exclusive £10 discount on our [Chinese courses](https://china-unbound.co.uk/personal/) site-wide! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- 每个月的第二个星期天，来加入我们，享受一场轻松又有趣的语言交流体验！在茶香与咖啡的陪伴下，开启一场自然流畅、充满收获的双语对话。 这不仅仅是练习，而是一种更快提升你英语水平的高效方式。我们为你打造一个轻松友好、真正有用的语言环境，让你的口语交流能力飞速进步！ **我们如何让语言交换高效又好玩：** * **精准匹配，聊天不尴尬**：我们用心将你和母语者或相近水平的学习者配对，确保每一次对话都轻松自在又高效实用。 * **话题有趣，轻松破冰**：拒绝冷场！我们提前准备了有趣又实用的聊天话题，让你一开口就停不下来，交流自然顺畅。 * **灵活轮换，提升更全面**：想多练一点？欢迎自由选择是否换组，认识更多人、接触不同语言风格，快速提升真实沟通能力。 * **专业老师现场支持**：我们的资深语言导师会在现场提供实时帮助，确保你在交流中不断进步、有信心开口！ **活动详情：** 🗓️ **时间**：每月第二个星期日 ⏰ **时段**：下午 2:30 - 4:30 💰 **费用**：免费参加 不只是练语言，这里还有文化的碰撞、朋友的陪伴和成长的喜悦。现在就来加入我们，开启你的高效交流之旅吧！ **🤘 常见问题解答：** **我最后会不会一直说中文而一无所获？** -不会，因为我们的“快速聊天”模式鼓励大家用中/英文交换来交流。 **会员有折扣吗？** 有，欢迎你跟你学中文的朋友分享代码**Meetup10**，他们会获得10镑的独家折扣！

Hi JavaScript London, We're thrilled to host the 1st meet-up of 2026!! We are kicking off the year with Omnea hosting at Wave Talent's offices in Shoreditch. We have some fantastic tech talks lined up, there will be plenty of pizzas 🍕, and of course drinks 🍻, plus plenty of networking with fellow tech enthusiasts. Don't miss out on a night of great conversations and new connections! **Address:** 14 Bonhill Street London, EC2A 4BX **Registration -** You know the drill by now!! Please register via Meetup and also via the website as we need to give a list of attendees on the night. [https://www.javascriptlondon.com/](https://www.javascriptlondon.com/) **Talks:** **1st Talk:** [Tynan Byrne](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tynanbyrne/) \- Software Engineer at Omnea\. **Topic: "Stop Guessing: How to Actually Know Your AI Feature Isn't Useless"**" You tweaked your AI prompt. Your teammate suggested adding markdown. Your manager wants to try Claude instead of GPT-4. Is it better now? Worse? Nobody actually knows. In this talk, I'll show you how to use an eval loop to iterate on AI features with confidence. We'll take a simple AI tool and improve it live - changing prompts, running tests, and watching scores update in real-time. You'll see which changes actually help and which just look different. Then, I'll show you how we do this at scale at Omnea: hundreds of test cases, continuous experimentation, big AI features used by the likes of Monzo and Spotify. You'll leave knowing how to judge your AI features with data, not just vibes." **2nd Talk:** [N. Nain](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nnain/) \- Lead Engineer at Indie Gaming **Topic:** **"Introducing TypeScript into a codebase owned by hardcore C++ / Rust engineers (and the politics involved)"** When I joined an indie gaming studio as Lead Engineer to build a new Web Engineering team, I assumed my biggest challenges would be technical - porting and integrating with an existing Rust and C++ codebase. I was only half right - as it turned out the real challenge wasn’t the code, but the developers behind it! Tonight, I’m not just gonna talk about the two languages I personally love, but the people - and the artificial tribes that formed around them. The technical challenges and misconceptions. The arguments. The (occasional) shouting. And the stranger-than-fiction lengths people went to, just to prove a point. Funny, tragic, and over the top - but everything works out in the end? Welcome to modern software development at work. **Full agenda:** 6:00 PM: Doors Open. Grab a pizza slice, sip a beer, and start chatting with other attendees. 6:30 PM: Welcome remarks by Sam, Richard and Justin 6:35 PM: First talk 7:05 PM: Toilet break 7:15 PM: Second talk 8:00 PM: Closing remarks and an optional pub visit! **Directions to WaveTalent:** The closest train station: Moorgate or Old Street **Sponsor**: **Omnea:** Omnea is a London-based AI-native procurement technology company that builds a platform to streamline how organisations buy goods and services, manage suppliers, and control spend through automated workflows and embedded governance. Founded in 2022 by Ben Freeman and Ben Allen, Omnea replaces slow, manual procurement processes with an intelligent system that lets employees make requests conversationally while routing approvals across finance, legal, IT, and security teams. Since its launch, Omnea has experienced rapid growth, driven by strong enterprise demand for AI-powered procurement solutions. Over the past year the company has grown revenue 5× and more than tripled its headcount, adding high-profile customers across North America and Europe, including Spotify, Albertsons, Wise, Adecco, and MongoDB. Omnea’s growth has been supported by significant venture funding, including a $20 million Series A round led by Accel in 2024 and a $50 million Series B round in September 2025 co-led by Insight Partners and Khosla Ventures, with participation from Accel, Point Nine, First Round Capital and Prosus —bringing total funding to over $75 million to accelerate its vision for AI-powered Supplier Relationship Management (AI-SRM) and expand hiring across the US and UK. Backed by world-class investors and trusted by leaders across tech and enterprise, Omnea is positioned as a fast-growing innovator in the procurement and supplier management space, transforming an often-fragmented business function into a strategic advantage.

**This is a face-to-face event only.** **If you would like to attend in person at Birkbeck University in Central London, please register here:** [https://luma.com/aeqqdo33](https://luma.com/aeqqdo33) ​This event is made possible through the support and sponsorship of Lovable. **​Who is this for?** ​AI-powered software creation is transforming how modern apps are built, from MVPs and internal tools to full production-ready platforms. Tools like Lovable allow anyone to build functional apps in minutes using natural language, without needing a traditional engineering background. ​This workshop is for students, founders, product designers, developers, and anyone interested in learning how to build real applications using AI, whether for prototyping, automation or startup ideas. **​Who is leading the session?** ​The session is led by Dr. Stelios Sotiriadis, CEO of Warestack, Associate Professor and MSc Programme Director at Birkbeck, University of London. His expertise includes cloud computing, distributed systems, data engineering, and AI engineering. ​​Stelios holds a PhD from the University of Derby, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto, and has worked with Huawei, IBM, Autodesk, and several startups. Since 2018 he has taught at Birkbeck, Boston University and Notre Dame University and in 2021, co-founded Warestack. **​What we’ll cover?** ​This workshop is proudly sponsored by Lovable, whose support provides participants with credits for hands-on access to the Lovable platform, enabling them to build, experiment, and deploy AI-powered applications during the session. ​A hands-on introduction to building fully functional applications using GenAI tools. ​You will learn: * ​How AI-assisted app development works * Turning a prompt into a complete web application * Designing user interfaces with AI * Auto-generating databases, APIs, and authentication * ​Editing and improving app functionality using conversational updates * Adding forms, dashboards, data tables, workflows, and logic * ​Deploying and sharing your app instantly * Best practices for iterating and refining with AI ​By the end of the session, you will have built your own AI-generated application. **​Requirements** ​A laptop with Python (Windows, macOS, or Linux). ​A free Lovable account ​Optional: GitHub account (for exporting your app) ​If you don’t have a suitable laptop, you may use the lab computers. **​Why Lovable?** ​Lovable is one of the fastest-growing AI development platforms, used by founders, agencies, and teams to build software dramatically faster than traditional coding. ​ **​Format** ​A 2-hour live session including: * ​Interactive theory * Hands-on app-building exercises * Real-time app creation * Step-by-step guidance as you build your own full application **​Prerequisites** ​No prior coding experience is required. Basic familiarity with web apps (forms, pages, buttons) is helpful but not necessary.

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Welcome to the Highest Rated International Language Exchange group in London,🏆 with 1400+ reviews rated 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Join us on **Friday** for our weekend global language exchange and social 😊🍻🥂 TO ATTEND THIS EVENT YOU **MUST**👇👇 1. Have your Meetup confirmation visible on your phone when you arrive. 2. Collect & wear your badge as soon as you arrive and always BEFORE buying your drinks and food. 3. Pay the £2 event fee. The event starts at 7pm. **The event fee is £6 if you arrive after 8:30pm** Start meeting the community and having fun...lots of fun! www.languages.london 🇬🇧🇪🇸🇫🇷🇯🇵🇮🇹🇩🇪🇮🇳🇨🇳🇧🇷🇰🇷🇪🇬🇭🇰🇺🇸🇨🇴🇺🇦🇹🇷🇷🇺🇦🇺 WHEN & WHERE This Friday we'll be returning to The Craft Beer Co, St Mary Axe.** **Address: 29-31 Mitre Street, London, EC3A 5BU** https://maps.app.goo.gl/49HnHGap8hQMbQNWA **HOW WE DO IT** It's simple .... \~ When you arrive please collect your personalised language badge from us. We'll be waiting to give you a warm welcome 😃 \~ Please wear your badge during the event and always return it before you leave ♻️ \~ Start meeting the community and having fun...lots of fun! Please buy something from the bar to support the venue, who kindly offer us a dedicated space. 🇵🇱🇹🇼🇲🇽🇻🇳🇧🇬🇵🇸🇸🇪🇮🇱🇨🇦🇳🇱🇿🇦🇭🇺🇹🇭🇵🇪🇧🇴🇳🇬🇳🇿🇨🇭 **WHO** Languages in London events are organised for our community - being social, making new friends, building cultural bridges and always very relaxed. We have the largest number of languages and countries represented in our weekly language exchange and social events in London. This is **not** a dating event. Our events are open to Internationals, Locals, Expats, Students, Travellers..... Everyone! Are you an 18 to 24 year old? Come and explore our events. This is the event for a truly global community and for citizens from around the World. Is this the Intercambio you've been looking for? Want to practice your ingles, espanol , francais, italiano, Deutsch, portugues or other European languages? Asian languages ? Or maybe prefer to only speak English.... that's just fine. **All languages and all fluency levels are welcome** Spread the love...Bring your friends 💙 The creator and organiser of **Languages in London - Girish**, will always be visible at the event and there to support you and help with introductions, if you prefer. We want to remain the BEST language events group in London, being the biggest isn't our focus. These are real events with real people. We don't fill our events with inflated numbers and fictitious attendees 👻 **Community members that no-show at our events and inactive members are regularly removed from our group.** **LANGUAGES** Here's a selection of some of the languages that our community speak or have been practicing ... English, Spanish (incl Latin American), French, Italian, Portuguese (incl Brazilian), German, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese), Russian, Korean, Hindi, Turkish, Arabic, Ukrainian, Polish, Hebrew, Swedish, Bulgarian, Vietnamese, Hungarian, Bengali, Dutch, Catalan, Farsi, Greek, Urdu, Welsh, Romanian, Norwegian, Czech, Slovakian, Estonian, Danish, Finnish, Turkmen, Latvian, Lithuanian, Nepali, Yoruba, Filipino, Thai, Albanian, Croatian, Serbian, Ebo, Afrikaans, Tamazight, Tagalog, Creole, Malagasy, Mongolian, Tok Pisin and more... you get the idea! 🇷🇴🇬🇹🇨🇿🇳🇴🇩🇰🇫🇮🇨🇾🇺🇾🇪🇬🇧🇬🇦🇷🇰🇪🇱🇰🇲🇦🇹🇳🇩🇿🇸🇬🇲🇾 **SUSTAINABLE** 🌎🌳 Like you, we really care about our planet. We don't like single use paper name tags, stickers or wristbands as they can't be reused or recycled and can even damage your clothing ☹️ The Solution? ...Our personalised and completely reusable Languages in London badges! 🏆👍 So, please make sure you return your badge to us, before you leave the event. We'll sanitise it (anti bacterial & disinfectant cleaners) and use it again & again & again. Thanks for helping us do the right thing and keep our costs down🙏 **SAFE SPACE FOR EVERYONE** 👮‍♂️ We don't tolerate prejudice or harassment of any kind, at any time. Be polite and respectful to everyone else and they will reciprocate. Let's keep the space safe, welcoming for everyone and free of any political agendas. Please report any concerns to the Organiser immediately. Please look after your belongings, the venue is a public place. We may take photos or video at the event for future promotional use. Let us if know you'd rather not be included, we respect your choice 📸 **SPREAD THE WORD** 🗣️💬 If you enjoy our events, please tell your friends and colleagues and help us grow **your** community, thank you ♥️ Join our community - https://www.languages.london/ We're looking forward to welcoming you at Languages in London 😊😃👋 🇲🇰🇳🇵🇧🇩🇵🇭🇦🇪🇦🇱🇧🇪🇮🇪🇰🇿🇱🇦🇯🇴🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪🇰🇭🇨🇱🇲🇳🇨🇺

Our monthly PHP meetup. A virtual shindig courtesy of Zoom. Check back here for the details around 6:15 pm

Join members of the local UX and Digital Design community for a casual monthly breakfast. There _might_ be a little snow, but there _will_ be effectively infinite serve-yourself coffee, so it evens out if you ask me. Just a reminder, while the other locations are great too, we’re at the Lane Ave one this time.

### 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/)

**PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT NOTES:** 1. The dates listed for this series are about 95% reliable. We are completing our 2026 schedule as we speak, so minor adjustments are still occurring. 2. Each class in this series has an attendance fee, though this first offering is free on a first-come, first-served basis. 3. Each class, from BOTH a sign-up and fee perspective, is a separate entity. **Introduction:** HTML5 is the foundational technology for modern web development, serving as the standard markup language for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. Developed through a collaboration between the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG), HTML5 provides a robust system of elements (tags) that tell a browser how to display text, images, and multimedia in a clear and meaningful way. It works in concert with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for presentation and JavaScript for interactivity, forming the core technology stack for virtually all websites and many web applications today. One of the significant advancements of HTML5 is the introduction of powerful new features and elements designed to improve functionality and simplify development. Key additions include native multimedia support via the \ and \ tags, allowing developers to embed media without third-party plugins. It also offers new form controls for better user input, such as date and email types, and introduces web storage capabilities to store data offline for enhanced performance. These features streamline the process of building rich, interactive web experiences. A significant focus of HTML5 is enhanced semantics and better structural organization of content. New semantic elements like , , , , and \ provide meaningful structure to documents, which aids in search engine optimization (SEO) and improves accessibility for assistive technologies. These elements define different parts of a webpage (e.g., a header for the top, a nav for navigation links, a footer for the bottom), making the code more readable and understandable for both developers and machines. This emphasis on clear structure helps in creating more logical and maintainable websites. Developing websites in today's competitive environment requires taking advantage of every technique you can to get the maximum exposure possible. Our HTML5 class will not only show you what's new in the HTML specification, but also the best way to develop optimized web pages that get the attention your client and/or company requires. **The breakdown of the four-class series is as follows:** **Class 1: Introduction to Web Structure and Basic HTML5** This class introduces the core concepts of web development, the history of HTML, and the fundamental structure of an HTML5 document. * **Topics**: * **Web Architecture Overview**: How browsers, servers, and web pages interact. * **HTML Fundamentals**: Understanding elements, tags, and attributes. * **Basic Document Structure**: Using !DOCTYPE html, html, head, and body. * **Text Formatting**: Headings (h1 to h6), paragraphs (p), and text-level semantics (e.g., strong, em, br). * **Lists and Links**: Creating ordered (ol) and unordered (ul) lists, and linking between pages using anchor tags (a). * **Activity**: Students create a basic personal webpage containing text, a list of hobbies, and a link to an external website. **Class 2: Semantic HTML5 and Multimedia Integration** Class 2 focuses on modern HTML5 elements that provide meaning (semantics) to content, improving accessibility and search engine optimization. It also covers adding images and multimedia. * **Topics**: * **Semantic Elements**: Understanding and implementing elements like header, footer, nav, section, and article. * **Images**: Adding images using the img tag and attributes like src, alt, width, and height. * **Multimedia**: Embedding audio and video content using the audio and video tags. * **File and Folder Structure**: Best practices for organizing project files and managing file paths. * **Activity**: Students refactor their Class 1 project to use a proper semantic layout and add an image and a link to a video file. **Class 3: Forms and User Input** This session is dedicated to building interactive HTML5 forms, which are essential for capturing user data and input. * **Topics**: * **Form Basics**: Using the form element, action and method attributes. * **Input Types**: Exploring various input types (e.g., text, password, checkbox, radio, date, submit). * **Form Elements**: Utilizing label, textarea, select, option, and button. * **Client-side Validation**: Implementing HTML5 validation attributes like required, minlength, and pattern. * **Activity**: Students build a complete contact form with different input fields, radio buttons, and basic HTML5 validation. **Class 4: Introduction to CSS3 and Basic Styling** The final class introduces Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to style the HTML content and make the web pages visually appealing and accessible. * **Topics**: * **CSS Fundamentals**: The role of CSS, selectors, properties, and values. * **Integrating CSS**: Using inline, internal, and external style sheets. * **The Box Model**: Understanding margin, padding, border, and content for basic layout. * **Basic Styling**: Changing colors, fonts, and text alignment. * **Accessibility Basics**: Identifying principles of web design usability and accessibility, including ARIA labels. * **Activity**: Students apply an external CSS file to their Class 3 form project to style the layout, colors, and fonts, culminating in a well-structured and styled webpage.

**New Dojo Location!** **Draft Day Columbus** 1130 Dublin Road Columbus, OH 43215 We're going to try a new dojo location for a few weeks and see how it works Dojos are informal Python group study sessions where everyone interested in Python gathers to learn about Python, help others with Python, or just hang out. Everyone is welcome from Python beginners to experts. Bringing a laptop is encouraged (we'll have extension cords and power strips). If there's something you want to learn leave a comment on this invite so we can plan ahead. We're looking for topic suggestions and people interested in presenting at our monthly meetings. To this end we've set up a survey form at [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15eBKF1nQQ2XS5gzD4rvhVRHMBEj7lJtHuA9wXupS3Uc](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15eBKF1nQQ2XS5gzD4rvhVRHMBEj7lJtHuA9wXupS3Uc)

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.