Reporting

**Women’s sports** are no longer a niche — they are one of the **fastest-growing and most exciting areas of the global sports industry**. *The Power of Women’s Sports* brings together **industry leaders** to explore what’s driving this **growth**, where the real **opportunities** lie, and what’s needed to sustain long-term **momentum**. This panel is for anyone working in **sports, media, data, business, partnerships, or technology** — and for everyone who believes women’s sports deserve **equal attention, investment, and ambition**. \*\*\* ** What We'll Discuss:** * The growth and professionalization of women’s sports * Attendance, investment, and commercial interest * Fan engagement and media demand * Why sustained investment matters * How data, organizations, and platforms can support long-term momentum ** Meet our Panelists:** * **Louise Beltrame-Bawden**, Director of Women's Sport Strategy, **Stats Perform (Opta)** * **Gustavo Arellano**, Head of Commercial Development, **FIBA** * **Marta Bihar**, Head of Business Development, **Sofascore** * **Moderator: Damjan Rudež,** Senior Advisor for Global Partnerships, **Sofascore** & Director of the **Sunset Sports Festival** Beyond the numbers, the message is clear: **women’s sports are a growing force in the global sports business**. For the first time in Croatia, we’re bringing industry leaders together to explore what comes next. ** When: Thursday, February 26, 6 PM** ** Where: Sofascore, Vrbani 4, Zagreb** ** [REGISTER HERE TO ATTEND THE EVENT](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXl-KbaAuVt4d-xEBF970w5By6h_oZl0zCOlrzPxp33Jn67g/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=106376026473209544294) ** **AGENDA** **5:45 - 6:00 PM** \- Arrival **6:00 - 7:00 PM** \- Panel **7:00 - 7:15 PM** \- Q&A **7:15 - 8:30 PM** \- Networking \*\*\* **More about our panelists:** **[Louise Beltrame-Bawden](https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-beltrame-bawden-06190530/), Director of Women's Sport Strategy, Stats Perform (Opta)** Louise is the Director of Women’s Sports Strategy at Stats Perform, where she leads the company’s global efforts to accelerate the growth, visibility, and commercial value of women’s sport through data, AI, and storytelling. With a background in sports journalism and international content leadership, Louise brings a media-first perspective to the data revolution reshaping sport. She has worked closely with leagues, federations, broadcasters, and digital platforms to deliver live coverage at scale, giving her firsthand insight into how data quality influences coverage, fan engagement, and commercial opportunity. Louise now focuses on building go-to-market frameworks and partnership strategies that help the industry unlock long-term commercial growth in women’s sport. **[Gustavo Arellano](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gustavo-arellano-jorge/), Head of Commercial Development, The International Basketball Federation (FIBA)** Gustavo combines a background in engineering, business, and sports management with more than 20 years of international commercial experience. At FIBA, he built the federation’s market intelligence function, supported the rollout of a new global competition system, and shaped the multi-event sponsorship strategy for major tournaments. Today, he leads strategic initiatives across the FIBA ecosystem, with a strong focus on the commercialization of media rights and digital assets, esports, licensing, sponsorship, digital transformation, and the FIBA Academy. Beyond his executive role, Gustavo contributes as a guest lecturer in leading sports management programmes and is co-founder of a Lausanne-based sports think tank. **[Marta Bihar](https://www.linkedin.com/in/martacuculic/), Head of Business Development, Sofascore** Marta is Head of Business Development at Sofascore, with a strong background in sales and business development. Over the past few years, she has established herself as a driven leader, bringing innovative ideas and a clear strategic vision to the team. Marta has played a key role in the development of Torneo, contributing to the digitalization and democratization of sport, while actively pushing for greater visibility and equality of women’s sports within the Sofascore app. **[Damjan Rudež](https://www.linkedin.com/in/damjan-rude%C5%BE-b1456b235/), Senior Advisor for Global Partnerships, Sofascore** Damjan is a former professional basketball player with a rich international career spanning 13 teams across seven countries, including NBA stints with the Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Orlando Magic. He represented Croatia at major international competitions such as the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the 2015 FIBA World Cup. After retiring from professional sport, he moved into sports business and media. He is the Director of the Sunset Sports Festival and Senior Advisor for Global Partnerships at Sofascore.

Hello everyone! We're excited to invite you to our next meetup! This month, we'll be gathering at **Infinum**, where we have two engaging talks lined up, followed by some refreshments and time to connect. A big thank you to **Infinum** for hosting and sponsoring the event - we appreciate the support and the opportunity to bring the community together. Join us on **Thursday, 26th February at 6:00 PM**, at **Infinum offices, Strojarska 22**. \*\*\* **What 80+ AI transcripts taught us about how developers actually work with AI** by Ariel Buchwald-Kearney You asked for a toast component. The agent built a notification framework with debouncing, keyboard shortcuts, and suggestion popovers. You asked it to fix a bug. It guessed, applied the fix, and moved on without checking. Sound familiar? We ran workshops where developers built real features with coding agents, then analysed over 80 transcripts to find out what's actually going wrong, and what those who get good results do differently. This talk covers what we found, with concrete examples you can try in your next session. **Controlled Chaos: How vibe coding wins in production** by Boris Martinović Vibe coding gets a bad rap. Half the dev world swears by it and the other half thinks you're seconds away from doomsday. However, here's what nobody talks about: the best code in production often comes from a place of flow, not formality. This talk challenges the myth that vibe coding is reckless by exploring what "controlled chaos" actually means, and when it thrives in professional environments. We'll walk through real projects where embracing the vibe made all the difference, as well as show cases where it turned into an AI slop. Not to sound too cliche, but...spolier alert: it's way more contextual than anyone admits. Looking forward to seeing you there! Marcela

We're organizing another drinkup this month - join us at the usual place - Fakin Craft Bar!

Pozdrav Gopheri Novi meetup ! Tema ovog druženja je: * **Cirkus vatre i pepela** Kako živimo i umiremo u svijetu izrade softvera kontrolirani vlastitim zabludama Lokacija: Sportska Dvorana Martinovka dvorana M-Lab1 https://maps.app.goo.gl/fNnp9YWzCkK6nXeYA \- kod FER\-a \- okupljanje pred ulazom dvorane Martinovka Kao i uvijek, pozivamo vas da nam se javite s temom za predavanje. Dobrodošle su i teme za manje iskusne. Također vas pozivamo da nam se pridružite na Gophers slack kanalu: #croatia https://invite.slack.golangbridge.org/ Hello Gophers, New meetup! Talk: * **Circus of fire and ash** On how we live and die in software engineering controlled by our own fallacies Location: Sportska Dvorana Martinovka hall M-Lab1 https://maps.app.goo.gl/fNnp9YWzCkK6nXeYA \- near FER

**Offer one. Choose one - exchange of practical competence** At [SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/) we regularly exchange languages, cultures and perspectives. This time, we’re swapping something just as valuable: skills. For one hour, we’ll host a small Discovery Table inside the regular meetup. Each person brings: • One skill they’re happy to share • One skill they’d genuinely like to learn That’s it. No pitching. No awkward self-promotion. Just reciprocity, curiosity and mutual growth. **Why?** Because every room is full of hidden competence. Someone knows the thing you’ve been trying to figure out. You probably know something they’ve been looking for. This is about making that visible and letting connections form naturally afterwards, on your own terms. **How it flows** 60 minutes Focused gathering Short intro round Organic matching The rest of [SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/) continues around us, relaxed, social, international as always. Think of it as a tiny modern salon inside [The Beertija](https://beertija.com/). Community over competition. Reciprocity over hierarchy. Skills circulating, not just business cards. Curious? Take a seat. Let’s ditch the screen, grab a drink, and meet the world! See you soon, **SFIZ.FUN Crew** P.S. Spread the word https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb **How to Spot Us** New here? Best trick is to swing by right at the start, that’s when it’s easiest to find the crew and jump straight in, or ask the bar staff about the event ✨ Need quick updates or can’t see us straight away? No worries, our [WhatsApp group](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/faq/sfiz-whatsapp-guide-keeping-it-fun-and-respectful) is where you can ask quick questions. #ZagrebGlobalMingle

Where locals, expats & travellers turn Thursday into Small Friday. Hey everyone! Whether you’ve just landed in Zagreb, been here a while, or live right around the corner, **Small Friday International Zagreb** (**[SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb)**) is your go-to for winter evenings, language swapping, and good times with great people. **Where?** The Beertija, Pavla Hatza 16 **When?** Thursdays, every other week from 8PM ✨ Free to join, just grab a drink and support the bar’s rockin’ vibe ✨ Open to all, all ages, all vibes, all language levels welcome **What to expect?** ️ **Language Exchange:** English, Croatian, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Ukrainian, Russian… you name it **Cultural Vibes:** Locals, expats, travellers, Erasmus students . . . sharing tips, stories & laughs ✨ **New Connections:** Real convos, real mates, winter evenings to remember **Weekend Planners:** From concerts, winter sports, partying to fests and day trips, let’s plot our winter adventures ❄️️ **Why now?** Winter is when Zagreb slows. The days are cold and sometimes snowy, the city quieter, more reflective. It’s the season for winter walks, museums and cinemas, snow-dusted hikes on Sljeme, and simple pleasures like warm food and long conversations indoors. Zagreb is unusual in that winter can mean a mini ski break close to home. Sljeme offers easy slopes for beginners and casual skiers, without crowds or queues. Ice skating adds to the rhythm, outdoors at Šalata or indoors at Velesajam and the Admiral Ice Dome. ⛸️ And the best way to share it? At **[SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb)**. Our meetups are where plans get made, tips get swapped, and crews form to explore Zagreb together. **Why The Beertija?** Because it’s that place everyone ends up wishing they’d gone to ✨ Warm beer cellar vibes , cosy living-room energy ️☕, non-smoking inside (happy clothes, happy lungs ), plus a covered outdoor patio for quick smoke breaks . Skip it, and you’ll hear about it later Top tip: Turn up early, smile, catch someone’s eye, and dive into conversation, that’s how the magic starts No pressure, just rock up and join the crew. Let’s ditch the screen, grab a drink, and meet the world! See you soon, **SFIZ Crew** P.S. Spread the word https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb **How to Spot Us** New here? Best trick is to swing by right at the start, that’s when it’s easiest to find the crew and jump straight in, or ask the bar staff about the event ✨ Need quick updates or can’t see us straight away? No worries, our [WhatsApp group](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/faq/sfiz-whatsapp-guide-keeping-it-fun-and-respectful) is where you can ask quick questions. #ZagrebGlobalMingle

Dear all, we’re back with the PyData meetups, focused as always on sharing best practice, methodologies, analysis, machine learning systems, .., with the open-source projects of the [NumFOCUS](https://numfocus.org/sponsored-projects) program — but not only! We’ll meet **#InPresence on Thursday, February 26 at 7:00 PM**. We’ll be hosted by [Anda Venice Hostel](https://www.andavenice.com/) in the Medusa Room and, for those who cannot join us, it will also be on YouTube in **#streaming**. We’ll have two interesting sessions in English : [Alejo Nahuel Rossia](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alejo-rossia-2a1881225/) will present SMEFiT, a fully **#BayesianAnalysis** package for high-dimensional inference. The talk will cover its physical motivation, technical architecture, and efficient sampling via **#NestedSampling** and **#JAX** parallelization. [Mario De Nisi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mario-de-nisi/) will present **#Trading** Lab, a **#DataDriven** system for real-time **#portfolio** simulation using predictive models and multi-timeframe features. The talk will explore how implicit definitions of **#risk** and return can be derived directly from data, reducing heuristic assumptions in **#DecisionMaking**. And afterwards\, for those who want\, we’ll stay there for \( \| \) & \( \| \) and **#networking** until late ‼️ And if you’d like to share ideas, projects, topics, or propose yourself as the next speaker, here’s the usual [Google form](https://forms.gle/rVMWxFnodHaNb9ab9) or [Sessionize](https://sessionize.com/pydata-venice-2025-12-18) !

**Google Analytics Alternatives** Is it finally time to make the switch away from Google Analytics? Two-and-a-half years ago Jason Packer asked this question at Columbus Web Analytics Wednesday. Since then: Google’s Universal Analytics has been sunset, we’ve changed our name to Columbus Data & Analytics Wednesday, and Jason has released two editions of his book “Google Analytics Alternatives”. Fresh off the release of the 2nd edition of his book, we thought it was time to re-open this conversation. While people love to complain about it, GA’s market share has remained relatively constant (at least in the United States). Why is that? You won’t find any complaints about GA4 in this talk, but rather an overview of what’s currently available in the market and how to frame your decision-making process. We’ll also be giving out some free copies of Jason’s book! So even if you’ve got a “GA4Lyfe” tattoo (no judgement), there’s free books to go with the free pizza and beer. 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)

This meeting will be an open discussion of adjusting to vision loss guided by participant interests. Target audience for this group is persons who are visually impaired, especially those who have experienced recent loss, however, all are welcome, including family members and supports. Light refreshments will be served. You can also join the meeting by Conference Call at (518) 263-8851.

Join us and work remotely together with like-minded UX folks. This is a last minute opportunity to get out at one of our favorites, [Junto](https://thejuntohotel.com/)! Plenty of seating is available in addition to a connected coffee shop and restaurant. I will be there 10-12 for sure, maybe longer. Feel free to come and go anytime during the day, and don't forget your charger and headphones!

Join us as we get together to get together to help those in need at this CMG Gives Back event! For this event, we’ll help prepare food, serve meals, assist residents, wash dishes and clean surfaces at Fath Mission – Grant Kitchen. We have a great little community of Movie Group friends so rather than see a movie this time, we’ll help “Create a better world” by helping serve those in need. Here are complete details and our plan for this event: FAITH MISSION – GRANT KITCHEN: The Faith Mission kitchen and dining room serves residents 3 meals a day, every day of the year. Our group will help prepare food, serve meals, assist residents in the dining room, wash dishes, and clean surfaces. PLAN: We will be preparing / serving / cleaning for BRUNCH from 10:30am to 12:30pm and have space for a total of 7 volunteers. Please arrive at 10:15am and wear closed-toe shoes and long pants. LOCATION: Faith Mission – Grant Kitchen is located at 245 N. Grant Ave. Enter the kitchen at Dock 1, indicated in the attached map. On-site and street parking are available in the surrounding area. Below are some links / attachments with additional info/details: \* LSS Volunteer Guidelines: Uploaded to photos. \* Parking Map Info: Uploaded to photos. \* LSS Faith Mission Orientation Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp46_6ay6iA \* Link with Additional Details / Info: https://lss.vomo.org/opportunity/faith-mission-grant-kitchen-2025 IMPORTANT REMINDER: Our group will be providing the all of the volunteers on this day so a firm RSVP count is essential. Please only sign up if you are certain you’ll be able to attend. If something unavoidable comes up, please update your RSVP no later than one week prior to the event. With very few exceptions, no shows or cancelations within 1 week of the event will not be eligible for future CMG Gives Back events. I appreciate your understanding as we try to ensure the agencies have the volunteers needed to provide the essential services they provide to the vulnerable population they serve. THANK YOU: This CMG Gives Back event provides an opportunity for YOU to get involved in helping others! Benefits go well beyond the help we give to others. Volunteering provides a wide range of personal benefits, including positive effects on mental and physical health, reduced stress/depression/anxiety, increased happiness and improved purpose, life-satisfaction and personal well-being! Plus, the opportunity to get involved, connect with others and help those in need. PARTNER AGENCY: This event is hosted by Lutheran Social Services (LSS), which serves thousands of people in need each day in 27 Ohio counties by addressing the four core societal issues of food, shelter, safety and healing. LSS offers food through the LSS Food Pantries, housing and supportive services through LSS Faith Mission and LSS Faith Mission of Fairfield County homeless shelters, domestic violence services through LSS CHOICES for Victims of Domestic Violence, senior living and health care, affordable housing communities, and other services that uplift families and strengthen communities. Look forward to seeing you there, Dan

Let's gather for lunch at Carfagna's followed by an optional stop in Carfagna's Market to check out the tastes and smells of Italy. Carfagna's address is 1440 Gemini Pl, Columbus, OH 43240