Network Engineering

Get ready for our biggest event so far, in partnership with Togeda and Sofia Expats! The main focus of this networking event is to bring our two vibrant communities together, sparking new friendships, valuable connections, and great conversations. **Grab your ticket here**: [https://go.sofiaexpats.com/togedasofiaexpats](https://go.sofiaexpats.com/togedasofiaexpats) **Please note:** The primary language of communication for this event will be English to accommodate our international guests. **🌟 What to expect?** To make networking as smooth and engaging as possible, the venue will be divided into 6 dedicated interest zones: Travel, Socialising, Business, Tech, Sport, and Arts. You choose your preferred zone, and the games begin! ⏱️ **Event Program & The Rules of the Game** **Game 1: The Icebreakers (30 minutes)** Start by connecting with people who share your specific interest. You will chat 1-on-1 or in small groups (up to 5 people). We will provide specially curated icebreaker questions tailored to your zone to help you kickstart meaningful conversations easily. **Game 2: The Dilemmas** Participants in each zone will gather into larger groups. Together with your like-minded peers, you will discuss and debate engaging dilemmas prepared by our team. **Game 3: Cross-Zone Bingo** Time to mingle! In this dynamic round, you will need to meet people from the other interest zones. Your goal is to discuss specific topics, find individuals with certain traits, or complete fun tasks together to fill out your Bingo card. **🎟️ The Reward:** Everyone who successfully completes their Bingo card will enter a raffle for an exclusive rewards. There will be three winners. **🥂 Networking & Party Time** After the structured games are over, the whole venue turns into a free zone. This is your time to relax and continue the conversations that intrigued you the most. 🎉 At 22:00, the venue will kick off a special party night! It’s the perfect way to elevate the mood, celebrate your new connections, and enjoy the rest of the evening on a high note. We wish you successful partnerships, new friendships, and an unforgettable night! **Location:** [Bar de Rouge](https://maps.app.goo.gl/wDJr6JfboskSxznx6?g_st=ic) You need a ticket for this event: **Grab your ticket here**: [https://go.sofiaexpats.com/togedasofiaexpats](https://go.sofiaexpats.com/togedasofiaexpats) See you there!

The event is free, but **prior registration is required -** [Mindset to Move - Growth, vulnerability, and the courage to change. · Luma](https://luma.com/4uo58izw) Growth rarely happens while staying in our comfort zone. In this inspiring session, Temenuzhka Zlateva will share her personal and professional journey from Development to VP Operations and the mindset shifts that helped her navigate change, embrace uncertainty, and continue growing along the way. ​Through real experiences and practical insights, the session will explore how growth, vulnerability, and the courage to move forward are deeply connected. From taking small steps without always knowing the full path ahead, to understanding why saying “I don’t know” is not a weakness, this talk is about building the confidence to keep evolving. ​We’ll also dive into the power of transferable skills, visibility, curiosity, and asking questions and how the lessons we gain professionally often help us grow personally as well. ​**What to expect:** * ​Lessons from a career journey across different roles and functions * ​Why growth starts outside the comfort zone * ​The importance of visibility, curiosity, and vulnerability * ​How transferable skills shape both career and personal development * ​A practical perspective on embracing change and continuous growth ​This is a session about developing a **mindset to move -** because growth is not about having all the answers, but about having the courage to take the next step.

🦞 Cogito Ergo Creo 🦞 Third gathering of OpenClaw Bulgaria. This time — Demo Day. Less talk, more show. We're opening the floor to the community: bring what you've built, plug in, and walk us through it. Agents, local LLM setups, side projects, half-broken experiments — all welcome. The point isn't polish. The point is to see what people are actually making. 🎤 Demos — 5–10 minutes each. Show the thing, tell us what's working, what isn't, what you'd build next. 💬 Q&A — Real questions from a room of builders. 🔥 Open floor — Stick around, swap notes, find collaborators. Want to demo? Please register your presentation at https://openclaw.bg/events/ — or ping us on Discord so we can sketch out a running order. Who is this for? Developers, makers, entrepreneurs, and the simply curious. Whether you're shipping in production or just got something running for the first time — if you're building, you belong here. Language: English + Bulgarian — whatever flows naturally. 📍 Location: SOHO — HOLISTIC Room, 4 Iskar Street, Sofia 1000 (near Serdika metro) 🕐 Start: 17:00 🌐 www.openclaw.bg 💬 discord.gg/qu4gusnZd3 Recurring meetup — every first Thursday of the month (moved this month). Come once, come always. Hosted by Alex Alexiew & Aria 🤖 ——— 🇧🇬 Български Cogito ergo creo. Трета среща на OpenClaw Bulgaria. Този път — Demo Day. По-малко приказки, повече показване. Отваряме сцената за общността: донесете това, което сте направили, включете го и ни го разкажете. Агенти, локални LLM, странични проекти, полусчупени експерименти — всичко е добре дошло. Целта не е лъскавост. Целта е да видим какво всъщност прави хората. 🎤 Demos — 5–10 минути на човек. Покажете нещото, кажете какво работи, какво не, какво следва. 💬 Q&A — Истински въпроси от стая пълна с builders. 🔥 Open floor — Останете, обменете идеи, намерете съмишленици. Искаш да демонстрираш? Моля, регистрирай презентацията си на https://openclaw.bg/events/ — или пиши в Discord, за да направим програма. 📍 Локация: SOHO — зала HOLISTIC, ул. „Искър" 4, София 1000 (до метростанция Сердика) 🕐 Начало: 17:00 🌐 www.openclaw.bg 💬 discord.gg/qu4gusnZd3 Срещаме се всеки първи четвъртък от месеца. Елате веднъж, останете завинаги.

**Founders Running Club** (FRC) brings founders, investors, tech, creative people and startup enthusiasts together for weekly easy runs and networking. We like to be comfortable when we run and finish with coffee and conversations. Choose your pace or follow a pacer—pets, friends, family, are welcome. 🗓️ Launched in San Francisco, July 16, 2022 🌍 Now in 35+ cities 📅 Running + Networking events + Community **Join the community** [http://foundersrc.com/chats](http://foundersrc.com/chats) **Stay updated**: Instagram [http://instagram.com/foundersrc/](http://instagram.com/foundersrc/) Podcast [http://podcast.foundersrc.com/](http://podcast.foundersrc.com/) LinkedIn [http://linkedin.com/company/foundersrc/](http://linkedin.com/company/foundersrc/) Strava [http://strava.com/clubs/foundersRC](http://strava.com/clubs/foundersRC) Website [http://foundersrc.com/](http://foundersrc.com/)

Most people still use AI like a search box: type one question, get one answer, repeat. But the next step is AI agents: systems that can take a goal, break it into steps, use tools, remember context, and produce useful work for a human to review. In this beginner-friendly session, we’ll demystify what AI agents actually are — without hype or jargon. We’ll walk through practical examples of how agents can help with research, planning, writing, coding, operations, and personal productivity. We’ll cover: * What makes an AI “agent” instead of just a chatbot * How agents break tasks into steps * Where agents are genuinely useful today * Where they fail, hallucinate, or need human review * How to design simple AI workflows for your own work * A live demo of an AI agent-style workflow from start to finish No coding experience required. This is for anyone who wants to understand where AI tools are going and how to use them more effectively right now. 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.

QA or the Highway is a one-day, affordable, regional, professional conference featuring real-world experience and thought leadership in the QA and testing industry. This is a ticketed event please register here: https://www.qaorthehwy.com/ Featured Keynote Speakers: **Matthew-Hope Eland** **(Wizard at Leading EDJE)** \- An AI Specialist and Wizard at Leading EDJE who is known to teach software engineering\, AI\, and data science concepts in the most ridiculous ways possible\. Matt has used machine learning to settle debates over whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie\, reinforcement learning to drive the behavior of digital squirrels\, data analytics to suggest improvements to his favorite TV show\, and AI agents to play board games and create an AI agent with the personality of a dog\. Matt is the author of "Data Science in \.NET with Polyglot Notebooks" and "Refactoring with C\#" as well as several LinkedIn Learning courses\. Matt helps organize the Central Ohio \.NET Developer Group\, runs several blogs and a YouTube channel\, has a Master’s of Science in Data Analytics\, and is a current Microsoft MVP in AI and \.NET\. **Tatyana Arbouzova** **(CEO at Innovate QA)** \- Tatyana Arbouzova is an engineering and business leader with a strong background in Quality Engineering across multiple industries\, including Big Tech\, Healthcare\, and Entertainment\. She has held leadership roles at world\-class companies such as Microsoft\, VMware\, Disney\, and The Pokémon Company International\, where she focused on building quality\-driven cultures and scaling teams to deliver high\-impact products\. With decades of experience\, Tatyana has helped organizations transform their quality practices so teams can deliver software efficiently\, confidently\, and with measurable business outcomes\. Today\, Tatyana advises software companies on adopting AI to optimize quality practices and improve how software is delivered at scale\. She is also a passionate community builder and the founder of Innovate QA\, a thriving Seattle\-based community and conference for quality professionals\.

Topic to be announced. **THANK YOU** *Franklin University* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Franklin University*, please visit their website: https://www.franklin.edu/ **DIRECTIONS** Franklin University Fisher Hall 300 E. Main St, Columbus, OH 43215 Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jxjBA2hUmS5qrvhq8 Parking is FREE! Please park in Lot C in front of Fisher Hall. See attached map. NOTE: Map the address only. When mapping with Google Maps it may use the Fisher Hall at OSU, which is NOT correct. **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 BUY TICKETS THROUGH EVENTBRITE. RSVP THROUGH MEETUP IS NOT A TICKET PURCHASE CONFIRMATION.** Strive welcomes you to 'General Business Networking', Columbus' hottest networking event! We are set in the perfect central location in Downtown for all to join. Are you interested in business? Want to elevate your career? Meet Consultants, Analysts of all types, Bankers, Software Engineers, Entrepreneurs, and more who are active in the space or are eager to get started. **\*\*This will be a multi-vertical event\*\*** **There will be professionals with backgrounds in the arts, finance, tech, real estate, healthcare, and more. Come with an open mind, and leave with connections that wouldn't be possible otherwise!** Pack some business cards and come with an open mind! Meet your future business partners, employers, coworkers, investors, and friends. You don't want to miss this opportunity to expand your network and create a brighter future. We will have a space for our event to check-in. The event will go from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (feel free to come at any point in this timeframe). Name tags will be provided. Business casual dress code. Job fair attire. **Remember, it's not who you know, it's who you meet tomorrow!** We look forward to meeting you at the event! Sincerely, Strive Networking Team *Refund requests are permitted up to 24 hours after purchase, so long as we are not within 48 hours before the event start time. Refunds will be made in full and repaid to your method of payment. Note that we are unable to reimburse PayPal fees.* *Disclaimer: By attending Strive Networking events you agree to photos/videos taken during the event being used to promote future events.*

**The Behavior Gap: Where Products Win or Lose** Teams today have more data than ever, and yet many still struggle to understand why customers adopt, engage with, or abandon their products. Teams sprint, ship faster, and chase more signals… all while metrics stall and confidence drops. The missing piece isn’t more data. It’s often the behavioral insight between the metrics, explaining why the numbers move in the first place. Dashboards can tell you what customers did, but understanding why they did it (and how to influence what they do next) requires a deeper blend of insights. This session is about closing that gap. Drawing from real-world experience designing and scaling products as [ZoCo Design](https://zocodesign.com/)’s CEO, [Lacey](https://www.linkedin.com/in/laceypicazo/) will share how to cut through the noise and identify the insights that actually change behavior—moving people, and moving metrics. You’ll learn: * Why understanding customer behavior is a quant and qual challenge * How to spot the signals that actually predict behavior change * Where AI accelerates insight, and where it creates distraction * How to get meaningfully closer to customers, without adding more tools This talk reframes how to evaluate performance and identify what levers actually improve it, helping your team to make smarter bets with greater confidence. Every meaningful outcome is driven by behavior change. And when you know how to design for behavior, you stop guessing, and start building things that work. **About Our Speaker** [Lacey Picazo](https://www.linkedin.com/in/laceypicazo/) is the Founder and CEO of ZoCo, a healthcare product studio that turns complex, high-stakes ideas into products that drive real-world adoption. She partners with healthcare organizations to uncover critical care delivery insights, focus product strategy through behavior design, and build solutions that patients and providers actually use. 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 are bringing Microsoft Build sessions to Columbus Ohio! The Central Ohio Azure Meetup and Central Ohio .NET Developer's Group (CONDG) are coming together to bring some of the labs and breakouts from Microsoft Build to your backyard. In this free, 1 day event, you are going to Build stuff with us! And yes, there will be free food. Please RSVP via [Microsoft Build //localhost:columbus | Microsoft Reactor](https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/reactor/events/27247/).