Presentations

## Details *We are a welcoming place and space to develop your public & virtual speaking, presentation and leadership skills*. **Meeting Agendas** *include*: • Reading of Our Mission statement • Guest Introductions • Introduce a Word Of The Day • Table Topics impromptu speaking opportunities (if you're comfortable!) • Toastmaster Toast on a chosen Theme for the meeting • Speakers • Speech Evaluations and more... We look forward to meeting you soon! **This event is not hosted by or sponsored by the Toronto Public Library**

## 🎲 Toronto Backgammon Association **"Roll the dice, Join the fun!"** Looking for the perfect blend of strategy and social vibes? Welcome to the **Toronto Backgammon Association**! Whether you’re a beginner just learning the "doubling cube" or a seasoned shark looking for your next challenge, we have a seat for you at the board. We are a diverse community of all ages and skill levels meeting weekly in Toronto (and sometimes online) to keep the dice tumbling. Come for the strategic deep-dives, stay for the great conversations and friendly competition. *** ### 🏆 Weekly Tournaments & Meetups Ready to test your skills? We host regular tournaments where you can compete for more than just bragging rights. * **Cafe Entry Fee:** **$15** (Provides access to the venue and casual play). * **Tournament Entry:** **$20** (Optional for those seeking a challenge). * **Big Payouts:** We believe in rewarding our players—**90%** of all tournament entry fees are awarded directly as prizes to the winners! *** ### 💡 Why Join Us? * **All Skill Levels Welcome:** Our experienced players are always happy to share tips and tricks to help you advance your gameplay. * **A Welcoming Environment:** We pride ourselves on being a friendly, inclusive space for everyone from 18 to 80. * **Strategy Nights:** Sharpen your tactical thinking and learn the math behind the moves in a fun, low-pressure setting. Don't just play—belong. Grab a drink, find a board, and get ready for a memorable backgammon experience in the heart of Toronto. **Let’s see those doubles!**

SPEAK WITH CONFIDENCE! If you’re interested in improving your public speaking and leadership skills at an entertaining, educational and inspirational meeting, please visit us … it’s free! We meet weekly on Wednesday evenings. The location or link will be sent to those who confirm attendance. Brainwave Speakers Toastmasters club is a place where strangers become friends, where new ideas and experiences are shared. With a wide variety of ages, backgrounds and experiences, our members are an interesting and diverse group. Regardless of whether you are a professional, student, stay at home parent, job seeker or a retiree, you will find something of value at Brainwave Speakers Toastmasters club. Please feel welcome to visit us! Contact our Vice President of Membership at karen.goodyear333@gmail.com for details.

### **What to Expect** This is a welcoming senior boxing and fitness meetup group designed to support strength, balance, coordination, and overall well-being. Sessions include gentle boxing movements, light cardio, and functional exercises, all adapted to individual comfort levels. No boxing or fitness experience is required, and participants are encouraged to move at their own pace in a supportive environment. ### **Our Group** This meetup group is friendly, inclusive, and focused on connection as much as movement. Many members are new to boxing, and everyone is welcome. Sessions are led by a qualified coach who is also a fellow senior, creating a relatable, understanding, and encouraging atmosphere. ### **What to Bring** * Indoor shoes * Water bottle * Boxing gloves (if you have them — gloves are available to borrow if needed) ### **Arrival & Payment** Please sign in and pay at the front desk upon arrival.

### **Build Your First Streaming AI Personal Assistant** **2-Hour Hands-On In-Person Workshop** #### **Details** * 📅 **Date:** Wednesday, May 27, 2026 * 🕕 **Time:** 06:00 PM – 08:00 PM * 📍 **Location:** B-213, Davis Campus OR Virtual * 🔒 **Sheridan College students only** * 🎟️ **Free \| Limited spots — RSVP now\! AWS Cloud Club swag included\! 🚀** Ready to build modern, real-time streaming generative AI applications on AWS? In this fast-paced, hands-on session you'll: * Spin up a **Next.js frontend interface** * Write Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using the **AWS CDK** * Deploy an **AWS Lambda Function URL** configured for live HTTP response streaming * Connect **Amazon Bedrock with Amazon Nova 2 Lite**—AWS's newest model, auto-enabled out of the box with zero form approval wait times! * Get a live, public HTTPS URL of your running AI Assistant Bring your laptop - we'll provide the starter GitHub repo at the start. See you there - let's build and deploy!

**Hello. I'm [Bruce Hunt](www.brucehunt.ca)** your **Confidence and Communication Coach** in downtown Toronto. I host a variety of inspiring and growth provoking experiences all designed to help you learn to express yourself more confidently and effectively. **All my events are aimed at helping you...** * Build speaking confidence. * Learn speaking skills. * Gain speaking experience. * Hear some inspiring stories and perspectives. * Meet friendly people. **What is Community Breakthrough Night?** This is an event for anyone who wants to learn and practice speaking skills with other friendly, supportive people. Anyone is welcome to participate and no experience is necessary, This experience is meant to have everyone participate but you're welcome to watch if that makes you feel more comfortable right now. Check out one of my other more intensive communication training experiences or my [1:1 Coaching Programs](https://brucehunt.ca/coaching) if you need intensive personalized help. **You** **would defend benefit from this event if...** * You're socially anxious and want to be coaxed out of your shell. * You experience speaking anxiety or fear and want some gentle, supportive exposure therapy * You are a confident speaker and want to practice and learn new skills with a dynamic and inspiring community. **Is there a fee to attend?** **Yes. A** **$25 drop in fee** is in effect or bring a friend and pay **$40** for the two of you. You can pay via e-transfer to bruce@brucehunt.ca. Just add a message in the transfer which event you're planning to attend. **What to expect?** 1. Bruce opens the event with a friendly welcome and warm up for everyone and introduces the speaking theme for the night. 2. You'll get some tips for how to build your 2 Minute Talk and be reminded of some skills you can practice. 3. Everyone gets 2 Minute Speaking opportunities until everyone has had at least one, but often two opportunities to speak. **Do you need to prepare anything?** No. There is a unique speaking theme for each event that is based on a personal growth theme of some kind. They are always easy to talk about and designed to get you sharing your unique perspectives and experience not give a prepared presentation. If you have any questions please feel free to ask! Cheers! Bruce

Join the Toronto Founders Hub every other Saturday at 3:30pm for our regular meetup at 5 Elements Espresso Bar. Sit down with other entrepreneurs to network and discuss business ideas or strategies. \- Broaden your network \- Get critical feedback \- Socialize in low pressure setting I look forward to seeing you!

**DevOps Toronto is officially back, and we’re kicking off 2026 with an in-person meetup!** After a pause, we’re excited to bring the community together again for an evening of learning, connection, and great conversations 🤝 This is a great chance to reconnect and meet fellow DevOps, cloud, and platform engineering professionals in Toronto. **What to expect:** 🎤 **2 technical sessions** 1. Crawl, Walk, Scale: Building Maturity into your internal development platform by Jeferson pereira 2. Bring Your Own AI: Running LLM Models in Your Lab by Alexander Kharkevich 🤝 **Dedicated networking time** with the community 💡 Real-world insights, hands-on learnings, and meaningful discussions **📅 Event Details:** 📅 **Date:** 28th May 2026 ⏰ **Time:** 5:00 to 7:30 PM EST 📍 **Venue: 7th Floor, AWS Office,** **18 York St, Toronto, ON M5J 0B2, Canada** **🎤 Interested in speaking?** We’re actively looking for speakers to take the stage and share their experiences with the community. 👉 **Submit your talk here:** [https://sessionize.com/devops-toronto-2026/](https://sessionize.com/devops-toronto-2026/) ✨ Let’s bring the DevOps Toronto community back stronger than ever. 🔒 **Note:** This is a **community-driven event**. We respect your privacy and **will never share attendee information for any monetary or promotional purposes**.

🚨📢 **Please register using this link:** 👉 https://usergroups.snowflake.com/e/mwgfby/ **Bring your laptop fully charged. No prior CoCo experience needed.** Join the Snowflake Toronto User Group for **CoCo Labs** — a hands-on evening dedicated to **Cortex Code (CoCo)**, Snowflake's AI coding agent that takes data teams from natural language to production-ready code. ​You'll get a live demo from Snowflake SMEs, guided hands-on lab time, and the chance to build real things: fix a data pipeline and create your first Cortex Agent — all through conversation with CoCo. Wrap up the night by showcasing what you built (only for the brave!), then stick around for networking and happy hour. A light meal and refreshments will be served. **Agenda 🗓️** ​5:00 – 5:15pm - Arrival and check-in ​5:15 – 5:30pm - Welcome + Cortex Code Overview ​5:30 – 5:45pm - Account sign-up and set up of Cortex Code ​5:45 – 6:30pm - Cortex Code Workshop * ​Diagnose a stale pipeline, fix it, and onboard new sources * ​Build your first agent: enable business users to ask natural language questions on our data ​6:30 – 7:00pm - Explore Cortex Code on your own ​7:00 - 7:20pm - Brave Soul Showcase ​7:20 - 8:00pm - Networking & Happy Hour

This group is for badminton enthusiasts who are passionate about exploring the connections between metabolism, energy, and exercise. We are welcome beginner plus, intermediate and advance level players looking to improve your skill or a seasoned player seeking to optimize your performance on the court, this group is for you! Join us for friendly games. This badminton session is a weekly event and it is followed with dinner together but it is optional. Birdies: Please bring one birdie with you. However, if you are intermediate plus or advanced level, bring two birdies with you. Court fee: It will be informed at the comment section by 4pm. Cost per person is either $216 (for 4 courts), $162 (for 3 courts) or $108 (for 2 courts) divided by the number of players attended. My email address for etransfer is: lingseilau@yahoo.com

Join Toronto’s leading founders, builders, investors, and creatives for a refined post-conference experience during Tech Week. Whether you’re a professional in a STEM field, an entrepreneur, or simply a music lover eager to connect with like-minded people, this is your night. Enjoy a blend of networking and nightlife as we dance and mingle at one of Downtown Toronto’s newest standout venues, Story Toronto. Come for the great vibes, stay for the even better connections. ​**What to expect:** * ​House music * ​Immersive lighting + elevated venue vibe * ​Bar + late-night atmosphere * ​Real conversations that turn into real opportunities ​Because the best deals aren’t made in conference rooms. ​For any questions or concerns, message Radian on: ​LUMA ​IG: radiancethis ​Email: [radian.khn@gmail.com](mailto:radian.khn@gmail.com) ​Co-hosted with [contact@torontotechweek.com](mailto:contact@torontotechweek.com)

**Join [TILE.]** at the **most popular Saturday Language Learning Social Event & Party in Toronto! 🍁** **[TILE.] = Toronto International Language Exchange [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/tilelearning/)** **[TILE.]** now has a **2-for-1 special event,** which includes: **1.** From **[6:30 - 7:15 PM](https://www.meetup.com/english-class-with-certified-award-winning-teacher):** An optional new $5 small group 45-minute **[English language class](https://www.meetup.com/english-class-with-certified-award-winning-teacher)**[ ](https://www.meetup.com/english-class-with-certified-award-winning-teacher)led by a certified language teacher **2.** From **[7:15 - 11 PM](https://www.meetup.com/biggest-language-party-event-social-in-toronto):** Our usual huge group **[BIGGEST LANGUAGE EXCHANGE SOCIAL EVENT AND PARTY IN TORONTO](https://www.meetup.com/biggest-language-party-event-social-in-toronto)** (Cost: *$5, unless you already paid for the same day 6:30 English class right before, in which which case the 7:15 social is FREE)* Both events happen Saturday on the 2nd floor of the Madison Pub (14 Madison Avenue). ***Attend either or both events for $5!*** Meet Toronto locals and international friends. Talk to language teachers and speakers to learn English, French, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and much more! Join us for board games, conversation, dancing, singing, and more! Make sure to get a nametag from one of our helpers. *You **must** read the full event description below before attending. By attending, you agree to all the terms listed.* **[TILE.] Toronto International Language Exchange** event details: * We are on the 2nd floor of the Madison pub on the patio with all the international flags! *The dance floor opens around 10 PM, and the live piano bar singer start around 10:30 on the 1st floor.* **PAY** **$5** right at the event by **CASH, CREDIT, or DEBIT**, or **SEND $5 E-TRANSFERS** to: **TILETORONTO1@GMAIL.COM**. You can also support the bar by buying a drink or appetizer. \-\-\-\-\-\- **IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER – Meetup Group** By attending any TILE events, including these ones, you acknowledge and agree to the following: * *The organizers and hosts of TILE events are are not liable for any loss, injury, damage, or other unforeseen outcomes that may occur before, during, or after any event.* * *Participation in TILE events is entirely voluntary and at your own risk. You are solely responsible for your own safety, personal belongings, transportation, behavior, and well-being. It is your responsibility to assess the risks involved in any activity or location and to act accordingly.* * *TILE and its organizers do not provide insurance and cannot guarantee the safety, accuracy of information, or quality of venues, third-party services, or other attendees.* * *By attending, you release TILE, its organizers, and affiliates from any and all claims or liability, and you agree to conduct yourself respectfully and in accordance with local laws and venue rules.* * ***If you do not agree with this disclaimer, please do not attend TILE events.***

Welcome to the dbt Meetup, Toronto Tech Week 2026 Edition! dbt Meetups are networking events open to all folks working with data. Talks predominantly focus on community members' experience with dbt, however, you'll catch presentations on broader topics such as analytics engineering, AI, data stacks, data ops, modeling, testing, and team structures. **To attend, please read the Health and Safety Policy and Terms of Participation: [https://www.getdbt.com/legal/health-and-safety-policy](https://www.getdbt.com/legal/health-and-safety-policy)** Toronto Tech Week is a citywide celebration of the people building what’s next. From May 25–29, 2026, founders, investors, and builders come together for hundreds of community-led events across Toronto, connecting tens of thousands of people around Canadian tech. Torontotechweek.com. **Agenda** * 6:00 > Arrive, Eat, Drink, and be Merry (aka Socialize) * 6:30 > Speaker 1 and 2 presentations **Instructions**: * Meet at entrance and someone will escort you for check-in **Speaker Sessions:** **1st Speakers:** * [Josh Harris](https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-harris-86188983/), founder of AnswerLayer. * **Topic**: Open Semantic Interchange shipped in January 2026 with dbt Labs as one of the co-leading vendors. OSI v1.0: what it is, why it exists, and what it means for dbt users. **2nd Speaker:** * **TBD** * **Topic:** TBD Reach out if you're interested in volunteering/speaking! ➡️ Join the dbt Slack community: [https://www.getdbt.com/community/](https://www.getdbt.com/community/)🤝For the best Meetup experience, make sure to join the #local-toronto channel in dbt Slack ([https://slack.getdbt.com/](https://slack.getdbt.com/)). dbt is the standard in data transformation, used by over 40,000 organizations worldwide. Through the application of software engineering best practices like modularity, version control, testing, and documentation, dbt’s analytics engineering workflow helps teams work more efficiently to produce data the entire organization can trust. Learn more: [https://www.getdbt.com/](https://www.getdbt.com/)

Jimmy V's Grill & Pub in Grandview Heights. You are responsible for your own meal/drinks. We usually don't have any agenda other than eat, drink and talk. :) If the weather is nice we will be on the back patio, otherwise we are in the cigar room. This group has been meeting every Tuesday evening for over a decade. Many attendees do not RSVP on meetup. Please don't let the small number here discourage you. Anyone/everyone is welcome to come. We'd love to have you join us. COTA bus #5 comes to W. 5th and Wyandotte Rd. And it's a minute walk to the restaurant.

Join us as we get together to see Paul Rudd in the latest comedy-drama-musical from John Carney, POWER BALLAD! The film follows a washed-up wedding singer, a fading boy band singer and a stolen hit song. Here’s a description, trailer and plan for this event: DESCRIPTION: Rick, a washed-up wedding singer, and Danny, a fading boy band star, bond over music and a late-night jam session. When Danny turns Rick's song into a hit, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves. Power Ballad is written/directed by John Carney, the master of the modern musical and creative mind behind Once, Begin Again and Sing Street! It stars Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Peter McDonald, Marcella Plunkett, Havana Rose Liu and Jack Reynor. BUZZ & ACCLAIM: The film premiered to rave reviews at this year’s Dublin International Film Festival where critics call it “a sure-fired crowd-pleaser” that “just might be the feel-good hit of the year!” Others say, “Paul Rudd delivers a career-best performance in this charmer” that’s both “hilarious and deeply moving!” SUMMER OF ICE CREAM, VOL 2: SHAKE NO. 8! Ranked the #1 Ice Cream Shop in Columbus in 2024, this is the perfect place to kick off our Summer of Ice Cream and grab a sweet treat after the show! Their menu features an array of traditional, specialty and vegan shakes, hot cocoa, and more! You can check out their full menu here: [https://www.shakeno8.com/menu.php](https://www.shakeno8.com/menu.php) PLAN: We’ll plan for a 7pm-ish showing and will meet in the lobby area about 20 minutes before the show. Once showtime is announced, advance ticket purchase is advised! Once you have yours, please list your seat number in the Comments section of this event. We'll head to nearby Shake No. 8 immediately following the show! Should be a fun one, Dan

This is an in-person meeting. At this meeting you will get answers to depression and anxiety. Find out the source of them and how to get rid of them. Did you know that unwanted emotions like anxiety, depression, unhappiness, loneliness, hopelessness, anger, fear, or feelings of irritation don’t just fall on you for no reason. They are not random occurrences that simply happen to people's minds. They are definitely not due to a chemical imbalance in your brain from some nebulous chemical reaction "by chance". Your negative emotions are the symptoms of the painful experiences that you have which are not healed, and which are still affecting you. The effects of these painful experiences are exacerbated by the pressures or difficulties of the other problems in your life. Come to our Meetup, where we can introduce you to some of the knowledge, tools and techniques of the breakthroughs in the field of the mind that we can apply to this ever important area of life. Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there. This group is created by the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation of Central Ohio and Church of Scientology of Central Ohio.

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\.

**Presenter:** Auri Rahimzadeh, Principal Software Architect, Momentum3 **Time:** Pizza at 6:00, Presentation Starts at 6:30pm Eastern **Location:** Theoris, 9000 Keystone Crossing, Suite 230, Indianapolis Auri's been using AI a lot. Are you? Let's discuss how to be your most effective self by using AI in your development workflow. Looking forward to seeing you there!

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)