Prototyping
Meet other local people interested in Prototyping: share experiences, inspire and encourage each other! Join a Prototyping group.
6,657
members
2
groups
Largest Prototyping groups
Newest Prototyping groups
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Check out prototyping events happening today here. These are in-person gatherings where you can meet fellow enthusiasts and participate in activities right now.
Discover all the prototyping events taking place this week here. Plan ahead and join exciting meetups throughout the week.
Absolutely! Find prototyping events near your location here. Connect with your local community and discover events within your area.
Prototyping Events Today
Join in-person Prototyping events happening right now
London 2-player Playtests
Welcome to London 2-player Playtests, a friendly meetup open to everyone interested in playing 2-player or solo games.
You don't need to bring a game - we always love to have new playtesters!
For designers: Whether your game is for TWO PLAYERS, a SOLO experience, or a larger game you’d like to test with fewer players, this event is for you! Please comment with the game length, whether you need 1 or 2 playtesters, and a brief description.
The event is free and will take place at the National Theatre: https://maps.app.goo.gl/74QGHXWPs5KZH6MC9
We'll meet around 6:15 pm, and playtesting sessions will begin at 6:30 pm. If you'll be joining at a later time, please let us know in the comments! If you're a designer arriving late, please be aware that your game may not get playtested.
Join us for an evening of engaging playtests and creative feedback!
Cloud Native London, July 2026
Hi folks!
Welcome to our July Cloud Native London meetup! Join us to hear from our two speakers and network with your fellow techies over pizza and drinks, or alternatively chat and following along on Youtube or LinkedIn!
6:00 Pizza and drinks
6:30 Welcome
6:45 Architecting Safe Autonomy: High-Stakes Autonomous Agents Need Deterministic Checkpoints for Safety (Hossein Kakavand, Luther Systems)
7:15 Putting Open GitOps to the test (Steve Fenton, Octopus Deploy)
7:45 Wrap up
See you there!
Cheryl (@oicheryl)
**Putting Open GitOps to the test (Steve Fenton, Octopus Deploy)**
The Open GitOps principles sound plausible, but the world is full of surprising realities. Join Steve Fenton and explore the GitOps research to see whether GitOps delivers on its promises, based on an analysis of over 600 perspectives from roles like DevOps engineers, developers, platform engineers, and cloud infrastructure engineers.
*Steve Fenton researches the socio-technical systems behind software delivery; how organizations, people, and technology actually work together (or don’t). At Octopus Deploy, he explores GitOps, Platform Engineering, Continuous Delivery, and compliance through a lens shaped by punk history, psychology, and the kind of genre fiction that asks uncomfortable questions about systems and society.*
*He’s an eight-time Microsoft MVP (DevOps), a DORA Community Guide, a CD Foundation Governing Board member, and a contributor to the CNCF Platform Engineering Community Group. He’s written books on TypeScript, Octopus Deploy, and Web Operations Monitoring, and occasionally writes horror fiction.*
*https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevefenton/*
*https://mastodon.social/@stevefenton*
*https://bsky.app/profile/stevefenton.co.uk*
**Architecting Safe Autonomy: High-Stakes Autonomous Agents Need Deterministic Checkpoints for Safety (Hossein Kakavand, Luther Systems)**
The more freedom we give an autonomous agent, the more it drifts into hallucinations or policy violations, yet clamping it down with prompts kills the reasoning we want. Think Brownian Motion versus a Brownian Bridge: a random walk wanders anywhere, but pin it at fixed points and it moves freely between them while always landing where it must. Deterministic checkpoints are those pins.
InsideOut applies this to infrastructure. It works with the user to shape a feature set, stack, config, Terraform and cost estimates, then deploys and manages the infrastructure in real time for monitoring, alerts and changes. Each stage must produce a structured artifact validated against fixed rules, and if a check fails only that stage repeats, catching errors before they propagate. High-stakes actions stay locked down by design: the agent can request a deploy by presenting a button, but never holds the cloud keys itself. The result is an agent that is more productive precisely because it is safely unconstrained.
*Hossein Kakavand holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University. He has been with several start up in AI, ML and Distributed Systems, with IPOs on NASDAQ and LSE. He is currently a Co-Founder of Luther Systems focused on solving the Enterprise Operations problem at scale. @HosseinKavavand*
***Check out [https://www.oicheryl.com/cloudnativelondon](https://www.oicheryl.com/cloudnativelondon) if you're interested in speaking or sponsoring.***
SalsaTrain weekly classes Salsa for beginners, improvers/improver + level
Join us at SalsaTrain for a fun-filled evening of dancing and learning the art of salsa, suitable for all levels! SalsaTrain is in its 5th year now.
All aboard! The SalsaTrain every Weds @ the Selhurst Railway Club in South London right by Selhurst Train station. Salsa classes every Weds night from 6.30-11pm.
The classes are fun & interactive with Dominic Insta(Salsa_Legend) with over 20 years salsa experience, and Trish with 10 years teaching experience. Dominic's style is Predominately L.A. on 1/ cuban fusion. He was placed 1st in the Tropicana Tropics World Open Salsa Championship (Ama Division) 2003, has performed with a team of dancers at the 2005 UK salsa congress and placed as runner up in the European Open Salsa Championships (Cab 2007). He has also performed at the Scandinavian Salsa Congress 2009 in Sweden; as part of a team at one of the New York Salsa Congresses and instructed for many salsa promoters within the UK and Internationally.
During lockdown, Dom launched his weekly music show "Sundown Salsa Live" on Mixcloud and has played regularly on OSSR radio every Friday 10am-12pm. Trish teaches the beginner class and has had experience teaching with another Salsa Group.
All lessons (45 mins long) include party. No partner necessary.
Free stop - 6.30-7pm Bachata Time (Music and Dance for 30 mins). There will be Bachata Tasters - (Beginners steps - 30 mins - Subject to change).
1st stop - 7-7.45pm Beginners & Improvers
2nd stop - 8-8.45pm Improvers plus level
3rd stop - 9-11pm - PartyTrain Social dancing
Homeward Bound 11pm
£10 for 1 class, £12.50 for 2 classes, £5 for party only. Early bird tickets for beginners Salsa class only for £8.50 & for 2 classes including party train for £10.00 inc Eventbrite fee available until 6.30pm each Tuesday - 24 hours before SalsaTrain.
Boarding from 6.30pm.
Get your tickets via [www.latindianevents.com](http://%5Bhttp://www.latindianevents.com%5D(http://www.latindianevents.com) "\[http://www.latindianevents.com\](http://www.latindianevents.com)") which leads to the following eventbrite link - [[https://salsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk/](https://salsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk/)]([https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsalsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk%2F&data=05%7C02%7CA.Kapadia%40mdx.ac.uk%7Cfdc1b99d8569432c544008de4ebfb677%7C38e37b88a3a148cf9f056537427fed24%7C0%7C0%7C639034782480290305%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bK7omfXlIt1Thr9F%2BZ4ZzCfdEWF9B27DChx7%2FsEcOIU%3D&reserved=0](https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsalsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk%2F&data=05%7C02%7CA.Kapadia%40mdx.ac.uk%7Cfdc1b99d8569432c544008de4ebfb677%7C38e37b88a3a148cf9f056537427fed24%7C0%7C0%7C639034782480290305%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bK7omfXlIt1Thr9F%2BZ4ZzCfdEWF9B27DChx7%2FsEcOIU%3D&reserved=0) "[https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsalsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk%2F&data=05%7C02%7CA.Kapadia%40mdx.ac.uk%7Cfdc1b99d8569432c544008de4ebfb677%7C38e37b88a3a148cf9f056537427fed24%7C0%7C0%7C639034782480290305%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bK7omfXlIt1Thr9F%2BZ4ZzCfdEWF9B27DChx7%2FsEcOIU%3D&reserved=0](https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsalsa-train-selhurst.eventbrite.co.uk%2F&data=05%7C02%7CA.Kapadia%40mdx.ac.uk%7Cfdc1b99d8569432c544008de4ebfb677%7C38e37b88a3a148cf9f056537427fed24%7C0%7C0%7C639034782480290305%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bK7omfXlIt1Thr9F%2BZ4ZzCfdEWF9B27DChx7%2FsEcOIU%3D&reserved=0)")
(WE ALSO ACCEPT PAYMENT BY CARD ON THE NIGHT)
You will be refunded or have your ticket transferred to another night providing you inform either of the contacts below by 7pm on the day you are coming.
More info please contact Abs 07507634241 or Dom 07939587944
Venue details and information.
Selhurst Railway Club is a stones throw from Selhurst train station - well connected by London Victoria, Clapham Junction and East Croydon. Upon arrival please press the buzzer and wait to be let in. You will need to show your pre paid ticket on your phone & asked to give your details to the club management.
You will then be escorted into the room to board the SalsaTrain.
The venue has a fully stocked bar at extremely reasonable prices & crisps, nuts. It is a very spacious venue and has a very comfortable feel with great wooden floor for dancing.
All aboard!!!!
🔥🚀 Microservice Development with AI-Node.js - (Vibe Coding) - In Class
This session is designed for **juniors**, **new graduates**, and **non-tech attendees** who want to understand how **AI** can help in building microservices. You’ll learn the best practices for building microservices from scratch, including **writing acceptance criteria** and **creating REST APIs**. We’ll also demonstrate how **AI tools** like ChatGPT can help you write better code, catch errors early, and automate common tasks, making development easier and faster.
By the end of this session, you’ll have a solid understanding of how to design and build microservices, all while using AI tools to optimize your workflow.
🧪 **What You’ll Learn:**
* **Microservice Architecture Best Practices**: Learn core principles like **decoupling services** and **scalability**.
* **Writing Acceptance Criteria**: How to define clear requirements that ensure your microservice works as expected.
* **Creating REST APIs**: Learn how to design secure, scalable APIs for communication between microservices.
* **AI in Microservice Development**: How AI tools like ChatGPT can assist with code writing, error-checking, and test generation.
💡 **Why It Matters:**
* **Scalable Services**: Microservices break down large systems into smaller, manageable parts that are easier to maintain and scale.
* **AI Assistance**: Tools like ChatGPT help you automate parts of the development process, speeding up coding and reducing errors.
* **Real-World Applications**: These practices are in high demand, and mastering them will equip you with valuable skills for modern software development.
👨💻 **Who Should Attend:**
* **Juniors** and **new graduates** looking to learn microservices and AI in development.
* **Non-tech people** interested in how AI can assist in coding and building software.
* Anyone looking to understand **modern development practices** and how AI can improve workflows.
🕓 **Schedule**
* 18:15 - Networking
* 18:40 - Program starts
* 19:20 - Q&A - networking
* 19:30 - End
Drama & Improv Club
Behind every put-together facade we know there’s a weirdo waiting to go unfiltered. Join our sessions, step out of your comfort zone just a little and have lots of fun.
We will always start with warm up games and fun ice-breakers, making sure everyone feels welcomed and relaxed.
During this section we do a short 5-rhythms movement meditation practice to release tension in the body. Our next section is the drama games and improv. We ease into this section starting from shorter, straightforward improv games and activities to slightly longer and more dynamic once.
Who attends our sessions?
The simple answer: everyone (above 18+) :D
We’ve welcomed people from every walk of life — from actors and artists to consultants, tech innovators, IT specialists, designers, entrepreneurs, students, job-seekers, and retirees. No matter your background or experience, come try the class and see if it’s a good fit for you!
Ready to join the fun and unleash your creative side?
Unreal Engine Workshop: FREE Game Design Meetup | GameCamp
***Enter the live meeting room here: [https://discord.gg/5wgxtr4c2u](https://discord.gg/5wgxtr4c2u)***
***Download the engine here: [https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/download](https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/download)***
Welcome to the **Unreal Engine Workshop!** In each session we'll tackle essential game design discussions, then transition into hands-on project creation. Participants will build and expand their skills continuously as we explore every aspect of game development. From basic blueprints and interactive mechanics, to advanced rigging, animation, environment design, and lighting, we'll work our way up to creating small complete games. We encourage experimentation and peer teaching, so whether you're a beginner or experienced developer looking to deepen your expertise, our sessions provide a supportive environment to learn, create, and innovate together in Unreal Engine 5.
Drama & Improv Club 18+
Behind every put-together facade we know there’s a weirdo waiting to go unfiltered. Join our sessions, step out of your comfort zone just a little and have lots of fun.
We will always start with warm up games and fun ice-breakers, making sure everyone feels welcomed and relaxed.
During this section we do a short 5-rhythms movement meditation practice to release tension in the body. Our next section is the drama games and improv. We ease into this section starting from shorter, straightforward improv games and activities to slightly longer and more dynamic once.
Who attends our sessions?
The simple answer: everyone (above 18+) :D
We’ve welcomed people from every walk of life — from actors and artists to consultants, tech innovators, IT specialists, designers, entrepreneurs, students, job-seekers, and retirees. No matter your background or experience, come try the class and see if it’s a good fit for you!
Ready to join the fun and unleash your creative side?
Prototyping Events This Week
Discover what is happening in the next few days
Whitley Bay Playtest Day
Playtesting comes to Bay Games, Whitley Bay's game cafe. A full afternoon of demoing, with Playtest UK volunteers on hand to connect gamers with games.
Bay Games has been supporting game designers since first opening its doors, and we're thrilled be joining them for this event. This page is intended for designers to register interest. If you are interested in demoing - and you have not already messaged me - please comment here BEFORE Monday 29th June. You can bring as many different prototypes as you want but the event is not intended for promotion - any posters, flyers etc must be no larger than A4 size. Any questions feel free to comment!
London daytime testing at Waterloo
We playtest all sorts of tabletop games - strategic, silly, creative, or whatever (but not video games). Some games are almost done. Some are very early ideas. We test anything that will fit into 90 minutes.
You don't need to bring a game - we always love to have new playtesters!
Please let us know in the comments when you plan to arrive/leave and whether you are bringing a game or not. This helps us to plan the day better.
The schedule is:
10am onwards - gathering, chatting
11am sharp - playing for 90 min ('slot 1')
12:30ish - break for food/chat
1pm sharp - playing for 90 min ('slot 2')
2:30ish - break for food/chat
3pm sharp - playing for 90 min ('slot 3')
4:30ish - finish up
Often, we might hang around afterwards, to play some already-published games.
We are strict on timings, so please try to arrive a few minutes before the session to limit disruption.
You can just come for part of the day if you wish. The reason we have fixed timings for the 3 'slots' is to make it easier for folk to do so.
Designers of all levels of experience are welcome! But if it's your first time, we ask that you don't bring a game and just spend some time learning how the group works.
The group works based on reciprocation. If you expect to test your own game, make sure stay for long enough to play other games. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect to play one of your own games every third 90-minute session. So if you stay a whole day (3 sessions), you can expect to have one session to play your game(s). A good rule of thumb is that if you come all day, you will have one 90 minute session with two other playtesters in which to test your own games. It is sometimes possible to test games with more players. If your game requires 4 or more, please note that as standard you will be allocated half of a session (45 minutes).
Pre-covid, we were getting unmanageable. As a result, we may have to limit attendees. This is a free-to-use venue, and we have to be mindful that other folk want to use the same space.
Please note: This is an adults only event.
We look forward to seeing you!
Harness Engineering in Practice: From Requirements to Implementation
AI assistants are getting more capable. The question is how we build effective workflows around them.
At DevDay London, [Lucy Joyce](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-joyce-597485166/), [Ash Shakrani](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ash-shakrani/) and [Arun Kurian](https://www.linkedin.com/in/arun-mathew-kurian-39b8aa5a/) will explore harness engineering through the lens of a payment integration.
From requirements and design through to implementation, they’ll demonstrate why context alone isn’t enough for successful AI-assisted development. Drawing on real-world experience, they’ll show how engineering harnesses, reusable context, standards, and validation workflows help teams move beyond experimentation and build reliable, scalable AI-assisted development practices.
**This session will unpack:**
🎯 Why “more context” isn’t the answer on its own
🎯 What engineering harnesses are and how they create reliable feedback loops
🎯 How standards, workflows, and validation reduce AI-generated rework and technical debt
🎯 Practical techniques teams can adopt immediately to improve AI outcomes
🗓️ **Save the Date:** 2nd July, 2026
📍 **Location:** Sahaj Software, 1 Quality Court, London, WC2A 1HR
🕕 **Time:** 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM (BST)
The evening will feature:
🎤 **One engaging talk** with Q&A
🤝 **Plenty of time for networking** over free pizza and non-alcoholic drinks
Don’t miss this chance to learn, connect, and share with fellow tech enthusiasts.
👉 Please click the link below to register.
https://sahaj.ai/events/harness-engineering-in-practice-from-requirements-to-implementation/
Self-Improv-Ment, Improv Drop-In; personal growth meets spontaneity!
**🎭 Friendly Group Improv in Clerkenwell, London 🎭**
Come and join a relaxed, playful **group improvisation session** in the heart of London!
We’ll dive into **theatre games**, **acting warm-ups**, and **icebreakers**, followed by short, light-hearted scenes — spontaneous fun! 💥
🎯 **Our aims**:
* Build **self-confidence** in social settings
* Make **new connections** 👋
* Push your **comfort zone** 💪
* Explore **self-expression** 🎨
* Release **social inhibitions**
* Sharpen **communication skills** 🗣️
All through **fun, interactive, and communal play!** 🧩
Whether you're looking to **laugh**, **connect**, or **unleash your creativity & inner child**, you’re welcome here! 😄✨
**Pay on Eventbrite here:** [Improv-eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/improv-for-well-being-confidence-and-fun-tickets-1982624895433?aff=oddtdtcreator) \*with discount code JU6F for the amount of £12.65 **or in-person when you arrive.**
🍽️ **Stick around after?**
Feel free to join us for a **drink or dinner** afterwards — we do this occasionally depending on end time and interest 🥂🍕
***
📍 **Location:**
Peel Institute Three Corners Centre, Northampton Rd EC1R
www.thepeel.org
\* This venue is wheelchair accessible
🚪 **Finding the Peel:**
The Peel is situated on the corner of Northampton Road and Corporation Row. Please note; Northampton Road is a sort of U shape so if you find yourself at the other end of the U, and are confused you probably need to walk to the other end - just a few mins.
🚇 **Tube:** Farringdon or Angel
***
💷 **Payment:**
**£12.65 pay when you arrive and RSVP now.**
Pay by **Card**, **Cash**, or **Contactless** on arrival.
Or via eventbrite [here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/improv-for-well-being-confidence-and-fun-tickets-1982624895433?aff=oddtdtcreator)
📞 If you get lost, call **07841 456974** – but note: my phone will be **off once the session starts**, so try to arrive **on time or a little early!**
✅ **Please RSVP** — or you may be refused entry, thanks!
👕 **What to wear:**
Anything you like! There’ll be some movement, so **looser/comfy clothing** is ideal — but there’s **no dress code**.
***
🕗 **Schedule (approx.):**
🕣 19:00 – 19:15 \| Arrivals & Payments
🔥 19:15 – 20:00 \| Warm\-ups & Games
🧘 20:00 – 20:05 \| Short Comfort Break \(if needed\)
🎬 20:05 – 21:00 \| Scene Games\!
I’ll arrive after **18:40** – please aim to be on time for **19:00**, thank you!
***
📢 This group is also listed on **Eventbrite** – so we’ll have friendly faces from there too! 😊
V&A Photography Exhibition & Street Project
Taking inspiration from the exhibition at the V&A Photography Centre we will embark on a street and environmental photography workshop.
Photographers currently on display are Elliott Erwitt, Robert Mapplethorpe, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston and the controversial Sally Mann amongst other giants.
Come and learn a little history of the photographers and be surprised at who shot some well known music album covers!
Afterwards we will head out and shoot street and environmental photography around South Kensington.
EQUIPMENT
* Any camera
* Any lens
* An open mind and fun attitude!
TRANSPORT
As usual check the TFL website for any disruptions that may delay your journey on the day.
CONTACT
Alex 07956 264049
**UPCOMING EVENTS**
**VENICE PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKEND - Oct 2026**
**[https://www.meetup.com/londonphotographicopa/events/313109095](https://www.meetup.com/londonphotographicopa/events/313109095)**
**MONTHLY EVENTS**
**[www.meetup.com/londonphotographicopa/events](https://www.meetup.com/londonphotographicopa/events)**
Cover photo ©Elliott Erwitt
Game Developer Meetup
A focused Unreal Engine coworking meetup for developers, designers, and artists to build projects, solve problems, share feedback, and collaborate in person — no talks or panels, just real hands-on game development.
Agentic AI Across Cloud, Platform Engineering & Data
Hello and welcome to our special joint meetup between **Cloud Platform Engineering London**, **Cloud Platform Engineering Leaders**, **Data & AI Leaders**, **AWS AI UG**, **Azure AI UG**, and **GCP London**.
This crossover event brings together platform engineers, cloud architects, data and AI leaders, SREs, engineering managers, technology executives, and practitioners exploring how AI is reshaping modern cloud platforms, developer workflows, business transformation, and enterprise engineering.
This is a special **Community Stack ecosystem event**, bringing together several of our cloud, platform, and data-focused communities for an evening of practical talks, senior technical discussion, and cross-community networking.
A huge thank you to **[Arrows](https://www.arrowsgroup.com/)** for hosting and sponsoring this event, and for supporting the growth of the cloud, platform engineering, data, and AI community in London.
Speakers and sessions:
**Get a High Return-on-Investment from AI Business Transformation**
**Nora Balla, Founder and AI Business Transformation Lead, Add Velocity**
Nora Balla is the founder of Add Velocity, an AI-native business transformation and implementation consultancy.
Nora has gained extensive experience across investment products, business transformation, finance operations, and regulated asset and wealth management environments. Previously a freelancer, she now operates in a collaborative delivery model, helping organisations scale AI and automation solutions in complex business settings.
Her experience includes finance transformation at Harley-Davidson, reporting process improvements in commercial real estate funds, and supporting the Aladdin implementation at Royal London Asset Management.
In this session, Nora will explore how organisations can achieve a stronger return on investment from AI business transformation. The talk will cover the opportunities and high-value use cases, the real risks organisations need to manage, the skills required for the agentic era, how to define and measure success, and practical tips for improving efficiency when working with AI systems.
**Agents in the Fastlane**
**Ryan Cormack, Principal Engineer, Motorway**
**Luke Marrai, Engineering Manager, Motorway**
Motorway has used traditional AI and machine learning for years to enhance and improve its systems. But how can those years of learning be applied to build the next generation of agentic systems for users?
In this session, Ryan Cormack and Luke Marrai from Motorway will explore how they are enhancing the functionality of Motorway’s platform to provide more accurate search results for dealers looking to acquire stock through the online marketplace.
The talk will cover how Motorway is using **AWS AgentCore** to run its agentic systems, and how evals are being used to ensure the system performs as expected.
Ryan Cormack is a Principal Engineer at Motorway, the UK’s leading used car marketplace, where he leads technical strategy and drives AI-powered transformation across the engineering organisation. With over 14 years of experience building and scaling systems on AWS, Ryan specialises in turning architectural best practices into practical engineering outcomes, from cloud modernisation programmes to the adoption of agentic workflows and AI-native developer tooling.
Luke Marrai is an Engineering Manager at Motorway, supporting engineering delivery and helping teams build effective, scalable technology for one of the UK’s leading automotive technology platforms.
Agenda:
**18:00** — Arrival, refreshments and networking
**18:30** — Welcome and introduction
**18:35** — Get a High Return-on-Investment from AI Business Transformation — Nora Balla
**19:00** — Break and networking
**19:20** — Agents in the Fastlane — Ryan Cormack and Luke Marrai
**20:00** — Networking
**20:45** — Close
**Join us on June 11th:**
We are also hosting the **Cloud Native & Open Source AI Conference** on **June 11th in London**, bringing together a fantastic line-up of speakers across AI, cloud-native, open-source, platform engineering, leadership, and modern infrastructure.
You can view the full speaker line-up and event details **[here](https://www.communitystack.io/conferences/cloud-native-london)**
**About the communities:**
This event is jointly hosted across **Cloud Platform Engineering London**, **Cloud Platform Engineering Leaders**, **Data & AI Leaders**, **AWS AI UG**, **Azure AI UG**, and **GCP London**.
Together, these communities form part of the **[Community Stack ecosystem](https://www.meetup.com/pro/generative-ai-uk-community/)**, bringing together technical practitioners, leaders, partners, and organisations across cloud, platform engineering, data, AI, and open technology.
We are always keen to hear from speakers, hosts, sponsors, and community partners.
If you would like to speak, sponsor, or host a future event, please reach out to **[Ethan Sumner](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethansumner404/)** via LinkedIn.
This event follows the **[Community Stack Code of Conduct](https://www.communitystack.io/code-of-conduct)** and **[Privacy Policy](https://www.communitystack.io/privacy-policy)**, ensuring a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all attendees.
Prototyping Events Near You
Connect with your local Prototyping community
NFT AI ART Columbus
NFT's are here to stay folks!
This is a group for like minded people interested in understanding, leveraging, using, creating for, profiting from, trading too i suppose, NFT's.. everything around them, complexity, fear and exploits, best practices and more.
**PLUS**
This group will talk AI ART tools, techniques, artists, video, audio, prototypes and more in the AI assisted production space- ART specifically, but we can get into any aspect of some of the cooler things happening in AI in general.
IxDA Chat n Pancakes
You can sleep in on the Sesquicentennial (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.
Columbus Comedy Improv Meetup at Gresso's!
Whether you've never done improv before, or you've done it for so long you were quoted in *Truth in Comedy*, or anywhere in between, come join us! Swing by *Gresso's* for the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup**!
The idea behind improvised comedy is to create entire scenes from scratch. A suggestion is taken from the audience and laughter is built on the spot. This can be done in game form, like *Whose Line Is It Anyway, Make Some Noise,* or *Wild 'n Out*; it can also be done in a longer way, to tell a complicated story, like *TJ & Dave*.
Our meetup, which is central Ohio's longest running (and FREE!) weekly comedy event, brings the games for you to play in a safe, supportive, and compassionate environment. Afterward, many members will hang out in *Gresso's* itself and get to know each other. Not only is this a lot of fun, but you get to work on thinking faster on your feet, your public speaking, plus it's an excellent way to meet new people and build relationships that will last a lifetime, and you do that while laughing your butt off!
Ask yourself if you want to join the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup**, and say "*Yes, And*" that you'll have a blast!
Stop Guessing: How to Measure and Improve LLM Outputs
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.
Free Seminar: How to Improve Your Self Confidence & Social Life
Come attend a free in-person seminar where you will find out why you:
-Feel isolated
-Can't express yourself openly
-Get nervous or anxious in front of people
-Run out of things to say or feel tongue-tied
-Feel introverted
-Don't feel comfortable in any social setting
-Can't make more friends
-Are shy and miss opportunities to connect in a meaningful way
And we cover what you can do about any one, some or all of the above.
This seminar is the weapon against loneliness, isolation and boredom, come join us!
COME TO THIS SEMINAR AND LEARN THE SECRETS TODAY
This seminar is brought to you by the Dianetics & Scientology Life Improvement Center.
1266 Dublin Road, Columbus, Ohio 43215
Columbus Arduino Raspberry Pi Enthusiasts (CARPE) (Check Location)
Bring your Raspberry Pi, Arduino, microcontroller, or any other electronic project and join fellow electronics makers for a night of creativity and collaboration!
This session is open forum to share your current projects—whether complete or in progress, it’s all interesting! Whether you’re deep into embedded systems, exploring new ideas, or just getting started, you’ll find a welcoming space to collaborate, share, and get inspired.
**New to electronics or curious about tinkering?**
You’re absolutely welcome. If you’re a beginner and want to experiment, I’ll have a couple of starter kits available so you can try things out—whether that’s blinking your first LED, putting something on a display, or experimenting with simple sensors. No pressure and no experience required—just an interest in learning and building.
While we continue to pursue a more permanent venue for this Meetup, we’ll be using public library facilities based on availability.
Unity GameDev Hangout (Topic TBD)
*We'll update this with the specific topic(s) once they're set for the month.*
A relaxed, community-driven Unity GameDev meetup. No strict agenda — just developers getting together to talk shop, share projects, and exchange ideas.
Some topics that may come up (based on attendee interest):
* Frame Debugger & performance tooling
* Addressables & additive scene workflows
* Input System, localization, responsive UI
* AI integration approaches
* DevOps & LiveOps experiences
* Full lifecycle: idea → cross-platform publishing
* Favorite Asset Store tools and hidden gems
* Weird Unity quirks we've all run into
Nothing is locked in. Bring a project if you'd like, bring a question, bring a lesson learned — or just come hang out and meet other developers.
All skill levels welcome. Food and drinks provided.





















