Research Triangle Park
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Parliamo in Italiano. An evening with amici Italiani.
Ciao a tutti. Io mi chiamo Simona e sono nata a Ivrea nel Piemonte. I miei sono stati in Italia fino alla fine e io non parlo piu tanto ma con mia sorella in Sardegna. E per questo che ho cominciato questo gruppo. Sto perdendo la mia lingua e mi piacetebbe conoscere qualcuno che si possa parlare insieme.
Ci incontriamo a La Madeleine in Kingstowne VA alle 630 fino alle 8.
se avete domanda scrivetemi al il mio email simonasara12@gmail.com.
A presto!
Urban Line Dancing
Let your creativity loose on the dance floor! Learn all the latest dances suitable for beginners and seasoned line dancers. Enjoy this great way to exercise, socialize, and energize yourself. Level: All.
Ages 13 & up
Fitness in the Parks is a FREE program that brings a variety of fitness opportunities to parks and natural areas across Prince George’s County, MD! We invite you to find the class that best suits your fitness goals and to come discover the benefits of exercising in nature. Ages 13 & up. Register at pgparksdirect.com. No classes on federal holidays (5/25).
Classes may be canceled due to inclement weather or wet grounds. Call 301-927-0822 for weather-related cancellations.
[Register at: pgparksdirect.com](https://mdpgparksweb.myvscloud.com/webtrac/web/iteminfo.html?Module=AR&FMID=532319807)
Activity Code: 17681-279A
For fastest response to any questions, or for more information, please contact Health and Wellness directly via email wellness@pgparks.com
**Tucker Road Athletic Complex (located on the basketball court)**
**1770 Tucker Road**
**Fort Washington 20744**
Guest Cube at Your Hobby Place - Old Town Alexandria
This week's guest cube is Michael's Creepy Cube!
List here: [https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/de98a70c-665d-4d8f-b77c-39f83a827a77](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/de98a70c-665d-4d8f-b77c-39f83a827a77)
**NEW UPDATE:** Additional members of the cubing community have reached out to me and we all agree, the more cubing the better! I have removed the 12 person limit and we are adding an overflow cube for those also interested in non vintage type cubes! These guest cubes may consist of the following:
\- Alex's Enchantment Cube: [Enchanted to Meet You](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/enchantedCube)!
\- Matthew's Avatar cube: [Avatar: The Last Airbender Power(ful) Cube](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/avatarTLA)
Priority will still fall to firing the vintage cube but what this means is if we reach 12 members we can offer the option to fire both cubes at 6 and 6 or just the vintage cube at 2 pods each. If we reach over 12 we will divide up the players between the two cubes with earlier RSVPs getting priority on their choice.
If you have a cube that you are interested in having as a spill over cube please reach out to me and we can coordinate. Thank you!
Come join and casually draft cube! No cost to enter and no cards needed! The store provides promo booster packs and I usually throw in a pack of the most recent standard set to award to the people with the best records at the end of the night. [What is Cube?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNDBTRG6keM)
What: Cube Draft
When: 6:00pm
Where: Your Hobby Place in Old Town Alexandria (Your Hobby Place, 700 N Washington St, Alexandria, VA 22314)
We aim to start drafting shortly after 6:00pm as the store's register closes at 9:00pm. The store owner is kind enough to keep the space open for us to finish rounds. In previous events we've usually wrapped up around 9:45. All skill levels are welcome and all cards, lands, tokens needed are provided so you only need to bring yourself and potentially some dice and playmat if you prefer.
The list can be seen here: [https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/proxybacon](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/proxybacon)
Join Your Hobby Place's Discord and grab the Cube Role in the mtg-chat channel for the most up to date information on cube at their location: [https://discord.gg/9je3G8vzXh](https://discord.gg/9je3G8vzXh)
**Important Notice:**
I have seen an increased number of signups and no shows amongst brand new accounts. In an effort to make sure we have room for everyone if this is your first time joining and you have just created a meetup account please reach out to me via Meetup or discord.
**Late Policy:**
RSVPing will hold your spot for up to 10 minutes after 6. If you expect you may be running late please reach out to me via the store's discord. My username is iluvbacon610.
Yappy Happy Hour @ Spark Social
**NEW EVENT!!!** Please be sure to RSVP on **[Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1988717400279?aff=oddtdtcreator)** so we have an accurate guest list.
Pink Poodle Club is Spark's weekly Yappy Hour — every Monday on the back patio from 5–7pm. $1 Scooby Snacks for hoomans and $1 pup cups for the doggos.
Come join us for a fun and **dog-friendly** gathering! It’s the perfect chance to meet new people, share stories, and enjoy a relaxed atmosphere with the **LGBTQ+ community**. Whether you're looking to make friends or just hang out, everyone’s welcome. Grab your favorite drink and let’s make some great memories together!
This event is free to attend. We hope to see you there. In addition to coffee selections, the venue offers a good food and drinks [menu](https://spark-dc.com/pages/menu-2).
We encourage you to register your attendance in advance. We hope to see you there.
When you arrive with your dog, order on your own from the [menu](https://spark-dc.com/pages/menu-2). Then meet and mingle with LGBTQ+ folk and their dogs on the back patio.
**Metro Directions:** Be eco-friendly. U Street Metro (Yellow/Green line) is only a few blocks away. Take the 13th Street Exit. The venue is adjacent to Crush Bar.
This event is a safe space for everyone under the rainbow.
Please feel free to invite all your friends to join you there!
This event is hosted by **[Go Gay DC](https://www.gogaydc.com)**, Washington DC's inclusive LGBTQ+ community focused on friendship, leadership, and service.
It now reaches over 10K fabulous people and is growing fast. Visit [https://www.gogaydc.com](https://www.gogaydc.com) . Go Gay DC's founder is **[TJ Flavell](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjflavell/)**.
Go Gay DC is on social media:
Join the Facebook Group
[https://www.facebook.com/groups/GoGayDC](https://www.facebook.com/groups/GoGayDC)
Like the Facebook Page
[https://www.facebook.com/GoGayDC](https://www.facebook.com/GoGayDC)
Follow on Instagram
[https://www.instagram.com/GoGayDC](https://www.instagram.com/GoGayDC)
Follow on Threads
[https://www.threads.com/@GoGayDC](https://www.threads.com/@gogaydc)
Follow on Bluesky
[https://gogaydc.bsky.social/](https://gogaydc.bsky.social/)
Follow on X
[https://www.x.com/GoGayDC](https://www.x.com/GoGayDC)
Watch on YouTube
[https://www.youtube.com/GoGayDC](https://www.youtube.com/GoGayDC)
LinkedIn
[https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/GoGayDC](https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/GoGayDC?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExZG1DTnM0VnJybG83U3FWcnNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR765Xxf5t8wFzbCac74QNX3p0Bs2oT0drXZoOmLV63J8cURMl3ta5b8iP3ztg_aem_nSdndpxd5-hXJ8myNF2_vQ)
Search keywords: LGBT LGBTQ LGBTQI LQBTQIA Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex Straight Allies Two-Spirit
Profs & Pints DC: How AI Alters Thinking
[Profs and Pints DC](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“How AI Alters Thinking,”** on dealing with artificial intelligence’s capacity to change and undermine our thought processes, with Eli Alshanetsky, assistant professor of philosophy at Temple University, principal investigator at its Cognitive Integrity Lab, and author of an upcoming book on AI and freedom of thought.
[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-how-ai-alters-thinking](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-how-ai-alters-thinking) .]
Doctors who give bad advice can be sued for malpractice. Teachers belong to a profession with set standards. When artificial intelligence guides you, however, that guidance comes with a disclaimer: Use at your own risk.
Every day millions of people take that risk, and usually AI seems genuinely helpful. But even if AI gives us good answers, might its use over time do bad things to how we think?
Explore the relationship between AI and our own minds with Eli Alshanetsky, whose Cognitive Integrity Lab studies how artificial intelligence changes how we think, learn, and build trust. Author of *Articulating a Thought* and the upcoming book *Freedom of Thought in the Age of AI*, he’s on the cutting edge of efforts to answer AI-related questions such as: How can we tell when work is truly our own? How can technology support rather than replace authorship and reflection? What does trust mean when AI mediates our relationships with others and with our own thoughts?
To set up his discussion of potential consequences of AI, he’ll describe how social media’s impact on society serves as a preview.
Social media didn’t just give people what they wanted to click on, it actually changed what they regarded as click-worthy. It broke attention spans and fueled radicalization across millions of very different people. It left us with people who doom-scroll for hours, who can’t focus, who don’t know what to trust anymore.
If you’d shown people this version of themselves ten years ago, would they have chosen it?
Artificial intelligence is making a similar deal with us, but the stakes are higher. It isn’t chasing clicks. It’s optimized for giving you the most satisfying response to whatever is on your mind right now.
The risk over time isn’t just that you’ll get lazy. More profoundly, even when you think hard, your sense of what counts as good thinking—as well as what sounds like you—will shift to match what AI has been feeding you.
We’ll consider what kind of person this produces and whether this is someone we want to be or want children to become. Professor Alshanetsky will lay out a practical framework, which he calls “the interaction layer,” for using AI without letting it replace the thinking it’s supposed to support. He’ll also talk about what AI-related concerns should be the focus of parents and educators. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.)
Image: Illustration by David S. Soriano / Creative Commons.
Dance Fitness – NEW
This is not your ordinary hip-hop dance class. Get moving and grooving to upbeat music while your fitness level improves. It's all fun and all good in this energetic workout. Level: All. Ages 13 & up
Fitness in the Parks is a FREE program that brings a variety of fitness opportunities to parks and natural areas across Prince George’s County, MD! We invite you to find the class that best suits your fitness goals and to come discover the benefits of exercising in nature. Ages 13 & up. Register at pgparksdirect.com. No classes on federal holidays (Memorial Day 5/25).
Classes may be canceled due to inclement weather or wet grounds. Call 301-927-0822 for weather-related cancellations.
**Register Here:** [pgparksdirect.com](https://mdpgparksweb.myvscloud.com/webtrac/web/iteminfo.html?Module=AR&FMID=532319886)
Activity Code: 17681-279B
For fastest response to any questions, or for more information, please contact Health and Wellness directly via email wellness@pgparks.com
**Westphalia Community Center (located on tennis courts)**
**8900 Westphalia Road**
**Upper Marlboro 20774**
Open Hac
Welcome to our new home at the historic Tivoli Theater!
Please check our details for access to the space on [our website](https://www.hacdc.org/visit/).
Join the discord for questions / help getting in (use channel #let-me-in) [https://discord.gg/dNjuNhNmeT](https://discord.gg/dNjuNhNmeT)
Research Triangle Park Events This Week
Discover what is happening in the next few days
Less Noise, More Signal: SBOMs + Agentic Observability
We’re excited to bring the community together for an evening of learning and connection. This time, we'll have a community member from Chainguard sharing a use case and, as usual, an Elastic employee sharing their expertise as well.
Come support your fellow developers, learn something new, and meet others who are passionate about search, observability, and security.
**Date and Time:**
Tuesday, May 19th, from 5:30-7:30 pm EDT
**Location:**
Elastic Arlington Office - 4100 Fairfax Drive, Ste 500, Arlington, VA 22203
**Agenda:**
* 5:30 pm: Doors open; say hi, grab a seat, and eat some food.
* 6:00 pm: The SBOM Pile in Your S3 Bucket: Turning Bills of Materials Into a Risk Dashboard; and Watching It Shrink with Chainguard, by Mike Barreta, Senior Manager, Engineering at Chainguard
* 6:30 pm: Q&A
* 6:40 pm: **Agentic Observability: Next-Gen Alerting and Auto-Detected Significant Events**, by Jason Rhodes,
Senior Manager, Software Engineering at Elastic
* 7:10 pm: Q&A
* 7:20-7:30 pm: Networking & refreshments
**Talk Abstracts:**
**"The SBOM Pile in Your S3 Bucket: Turning Bills of Materials Into a Risk Dashboard; and Watching It Shrink with Chainguard**"
Most organizations now generate SBOMs because someone — EO 14028, a FedRAMP auditor, an ISSM — told them to. They land in an S3 bucket, get versioned, and are almost universally never queried. This talk is about what happens when you finally do. I'll stand up a self-contained Elastic stack, pour in SBOMs (SPDX), SLSA provenance, Sigstore signatures, Grype vulnerability scans, the CISA KEV catalog, and OpenVEX adjudication for 30 container images, and show the queries that only become possible once SBOMs stop being compliance artifacts and start being telemetry: which packages I actually run right now, which CVEs are real exposures versus VEX-suppressed noise, what swapping a stock image for its Chainguard equivalent would buy me, and how much of my CVE list is just stuff I inherited from the base layer.
Then the cleanup. The same dashboards on Chainguard images show what disappears when the SBOM is small, the signatures verify, and the advisory feed is active: \~9,000 fewer CVEs and \~2.5 GB saved across 20 image pairs, KEV exposure dropping from 7 hits to 0, compliance pass rate going from 0% to 76.5% against NIST 800-218 / FedRAMP Moderate / SSDF.
**Bio:**
Mike Barretta leads Chainguard’s public sector solutions engineering team, focused on helping ensure the federal government receives its fair share of the future. Barretta has worked across civilian, defense and intel programs in a variety of roles—software developer, data scientist, solution architect—for a variety of organizations—system integrators, consulting companies, software vendors—with the common purpose of creating and championing technologies and techniques for simplifying the extraction and utilization of information from lots of data. Having witnessed the ever-increasing threats to those systems, Barretta is now focused on methods and mitigations to secure them
**Agentic Observability: Next-Gen Alerting and Auto-Detected Significant Events**
We're rebuilding Elastic's alerting engine to make alerts more flexible\, more powerful\, and more valuable as data\. Next\-gen alerting rules will run anything ES\|QL supports and capture whatever fields matter to you\, so alerts carry the context you need for real downstream analysis\. And if you'd rather not manage these rules yourself\, AI agents can help\, drafting them from natural language\, recommending tuning and configuration changes\, and reducing noise through deduplication\.
On top of this, we're also building a new Significant Events system which automatically builds a continuously updated knowledge base of your incoming data's own metadata. Using this deep understanding, our agentic tools will detect significant events from log patterns, anomalies, and predicted behavior — without you having to create a single rule.
**Bio:**
Jason Rhodes is a software engineering lead at Elastic, where he works on alerting and observability features. Based in the DC area, he has over 15 years of experience in software development and has been an active contributor to the local tech community — creating and organizing Baltimore NodeSchool and charmCityJS. When he's not writing and reviewing code, he's probably watching too many movies.
**Parking:**
* The building’s parking garage is operated by Colonial Parking and is located off N. Randolph Street
* Book a spot on[ SpotHero](https://spothero.com/search?kind=address&latitude=38.8818514&longitude=-77.1095268&search_string=4100+Fairfax+Dr+%23500%2C+Arlington%2C+VA+22203%2C+USA)
* A Metro Station is located across the street
🌟♠️🌟 3rd Wednesday Spades in DC@Nando's in Navy Yard - Posted in 10+ Groups
♠️😲♠️ W.O.W. Spades Night ♠️😲♠️
Washington on Wednesday (W.O.W.) - 3rd Wednesday Spades in DC
🌟Spades in DC!
😀 Hang out with a friendly and welcoming group. Meet new people and have a great time!
✅️ No partner needed! Find one onsite. All skill levels are welcome.
📌 Nando's Peri-Peri Chicken - Navy Yard
300 Tingey St SE #150,
Washington, DC 20003
❤️ **Posted in multiple groups. So, expect a nice crowd.**
🚌 One block from Navy Yard Metro Station
🚗 Street and Garage Parking available.
🍷 Alcoholic beverages are available!
🍗 Please support the business by purchasing food/drinks.
🌟 The fun starts at 5:30pm! RSVP today.
Family Zumba
Dance your way into fitness with a family Zumba® class! This class brings together all members of your family for fun and easy-to-follow dance moves to upbeat music!
Registration Required. Level: All.
Ages 6 & up
Fitness in the Parks is a FREE program that brings a variety of fitness opportunities to parks and natural areas across Prince George’s County, MD! We invite you to find the class that best suits your fitness goals and to come discover the benefits of exercising in nature. Ages 13 & up. Register at pgparksdirect.com. No classes on federal holidays (Memorial Day 5/25).
Classes may be canceled due to inclement weather or wet grounds. Call 301-927-0822 for weather-related cancellations.
**[Register Here](https://mdpgparksweb.myvscloud.com/webtrac/web/iteminfo.html?Module=AR&FMID=532320315)**
**Activity Code: 17681-279G**
For fastest response to any questions, or for more information, please contact Health and Wellness directly via email wellness@pgparks.com
**Columbia Park Community Center**
**1901 Kent Village Dr.**
**Landover, 20785**
NIH Rally to Free Marshall Animals (and End All Animal Testing)
THE TIME IS NOW.
While we celebrate the 1500 beagles getting released from Ridglan, there is still work to be done! To gather more participants and momentum, we are transitioning the rally to May 23rd to fight for the approximately 23,000 dogs trapped in Marshall BioResources in NY. We are also targeting NIH who funds institutions who buy beagles for testing.
**Attend the Rally: We will peacefully gather with signs, posters, and positive energy. Bring your friends and share widely!**
**Location: Bethesda, MD on 355 near the NIH Metro, any changes will be noted. 1 pm-3 pm**
Full Body Sculpt: Strength & Conditioning
Join us for an energetic fitness class that is designed to engage and strengthen every major muscle group. This workout program integrates body weight exercises, cardiovascular endurance and functional movements which help with the development of lean muscle, improved mobility, with the accountability and support of group training. Level: All.
Ages 13 & up
Fitness in the Parks is a FREE program that brings a variety of fitness opportunities to parks and natural areas across Prince George’s County, MD! We invite you to find the class that best suits your fitness goals and to come discover the benefits of exercising in nature. Ages 13 & up. Register at pgparksdirect.com. No classes on federal holidays (Memorial Day 5/25).
Classes may be canceled due to inclement weather or wet grounds. Call 301-927-0822 for weather-related cancellations.
**Register Here:** [pgparksdirect.com](https://mdpgparksweb.myvscloud.com/webtrac/web/iteminfo.html?Module=AR&FMID=532320225)
Activity Code: 17681-279F
For fastest response to any questions, or for more information, please contact Health and Wellness directly via email wellness@pgparks.com
**Woodmore Towne Centre Park** **(located on turf field)**
**9200 Ruby Lockhart**
Scanning Tunneling Microscope - Lab Day - Scanning Run - #10
Today we are Steve's Lab. RSVP and you'll be sent the location. It's in Silver Spring.
***Join us for an evening in an electronics lab where we will attempt to run clean scans of graphene and gold samples, and then clean up that data with post processing.*** This is a high sensitivity experiment, and we do not plan on being successful so early. But we've had promising results lately - so we will be putting in the time. We are NOT meeting at our usual location, but rather at Steve's house/lab.
If you RSVP, you will get a DM with the address but it's located in Silver Spring.
We will attempt full, clean lab - clean tip repeated scanning tests to see what we can learn and improve. We will experiment with online attendees, but if all possible showing up in person is strongly encouraged. Online join link is: - [https://meet.jit.si/mocomakers](https://meet.jit.si/mocomakers)
Our community is building (and documenting for other teams) how to build a scanning tunneling microscope using a mix of common and 3D printed parts. This will allow us to scan and visualize a single atom - an ambitious we are doing over the course of a few months.
The MoCo Makers community is one of the most innovative and competent groups in Maryland, and we've done everything from [publishing cancer research](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38136356/), to [launching products](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gotim/cozy-curvy-multi-contour-pillow), [winning grants](https://covidinfocommons.datascience.columbia.edu/awards/2014255), and inspiring thousands.
Now our biggest challenge yet has appeared. We are building a Scanning Tunneling Microscope, that will allow us to scan and visualize single atoms.
To get a better idea of what we are doing, see our reference project here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N3OqTEq08g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N3OqTEq08g)
All starting CAD, code, and reference files should exist. However, let's be the first Maker community to document the build process and share it with learners around the world.
We will be publishing our work here -[ https://hackaday.io/project/202816-qt-panda](https://hackaday.io/project/202816-qt-panda)
If you need a ride, let us know.
🍷♠️❤️ Cards & "Casual" Conversation in Downtown Silver Spring 🍷♠️❤️
🍷♠️❤️ A Spades Special - A Night of Cards & "Casual" Conversation 🍷♠️❤️
Thank you for all those who participated in our Speak & Spades Night on April 10! We are hosting another event at the same venue in Downtown Silver Spring - Comma's Food Hall inside City Place Mall.
This time, it will be more about the game - a traditional night of Spades play, lots of laughs, and Friday fun.
♠️ Spades games will be the main event, from 6pm to 10pm! Play cards, eat, drink, & socialize! Enjoy drink specials and variety of reasonably-priced restaurant options.
❤️ Optional: If interested, conversation cards will be available in the room all evening. No formal discussion or official program is planned. Just engage in open, casual conversations about a variety of topics with those who may want to talk as well. No pressure.
Singles and couples are invited! Get matched with a partner onsite. All skill levels are welcome.
The fun starts at 6pm!
🍷 Happy Hour Specials all night!
🎶 Live music will be playing
🚗 Parking available in Ellsworth Garage (connected to the venue through the Skywalk)
📷 See the photo section for details
🌜Join us for a night of CARDS....with a little bit of conversation, if you like! Either way, you won't forget it!🌛
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
Research Triangle Park Events Near You
Connect with your local Research Triangle Park community
Trails & Ales! Blendon Woods Metro Park / Forbidden Root Restaurant & Brewery
**History**
The history of [Blendon Woods Metro Park](https://www.metroparks.net/parks-and-trails/blendon-woods/) began long before its 1951 opening, rooted in a landscape of rugged ridges and deep ravines that made the land unsuitable for traditional farming. In 1945, a report proposing a metropolitan park system for Franklin County specifically highlighted these cliffs of Bedford Shale as some of the "wildest land in the vicinity". Following this recommendation, the recently formed park district purchased the first 229 acres in early 1949. Because the terrain was so uneven, developers had to cut a mile-and-a-half-long roadway through dense woods just to bring in heavy equipment. This initial preservation effort ensured that the mature second-growth hardwood forests remained largely untouched by the urban expansion spreading toward Westerville.
Opening day arrived on Labor Day, September 3, 1951, marking Blendon Woods as the second park in the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks system. The final push to open was a frantic race; the State Highway Department only finished the primary gravel access road four days before the gates opened. Early staff members, consisting of just four full-time employees, had to hand-dig pit toilets and learn construction skills on the fly to build the first picnic shelters. Despite the dusty conditions and limited facilities, the park was an immediate success, drawing massive crowds from across Central Ohio. By the end of the 1950s, annual visitation had already climbed to over 190,000 people.
As the surrounding suburbs grew in the 1960s, the park faced severe overcrowding that threatened its natural habitats. In response, Franklin County voters passed the first Metro Parks levy in 1960, providing the funds necessary for a decade of steady expansion. During this era, the park nearly doubled in size, growing from 264 acres to over 570 acres by 1968. Planners also addressed a critical water shortage by collaborating with the U.S. Soil and Conservation Service to build a lake in 1964. This body of water originally served as a temporary reservoir before its role shifted toward conservation and wildlife support.
The 1970s marked a transition toward the specialized wildlife and educational focus for which the park is known today. In 1971, the Walden Waterfowl Refuge was established around the 11-acre Thoreau Lake, creating a sanctuary that remains restricted to provide a quiet habitat for migratory birds. A formal nature center was also developed during this period, expanding on the guided Sunday walks that had been a park staple since the early 1950s. The park’s famous "Monarch Mansion" also became a prominent fixture, starting a long tradition of raising and releasing thousands of monarch butterflies each September. These initiatives cemented the park’s reputation as a premier destination for birders and nature enthusiasts.
In more recent decades, Blendon Woods has continued to modernize while maintaining its wilderness character. The 10-acre Natural Play Area was added in 2017, encouraging kids to explore the ravines and woods off-trail. This was followed by the opening of a $1.5 million inclusive playground in April 2025, designed to accommodate children of all physical abilities. The nature center also underwent major renovations to include immersive, three-dimensional exhibits and a new butterfly house. Today, the park encompasses 653 acres, preserving a unique geologic and biological corridor amidst the bustling Westerville and Northeast Columbus area.
**Map of the Park**
Here is a map of [Blendon Woods](https://www.metroparks.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BLN_map_Inclusive-Playground-and-Butterfly-Trail_May-2025_1980px.png).
**Summary**
For this event, we will hike the Lake View, Hickory Ridge, Ripple Rock, Overlook, Brookside, and Sugarbush Trails. This sounds like a lot, but it will really be only a little over five miles. Blendon Woods has a few hills here and there, but it's not one of the more strenuous metro parks.
**Where We'll Meet**
We'll meet just in front of the Nature Center. This is about a mile into the park from the main entrance. You have to go past the Ranger Station and the Shadblow Reservable Area to get to it, so don't stop too early at the Ranger Station and get it confused with the Nature Center.
**After the Hike**
Afterward, we will head over to [Forbidden Root Restaurant & Brewery](https://forbiddenroot.com/restaurants/columbus-ohio/) at Easton for [drinks](https://forbiddenroot.com/restaurants/columbus-ohio/#dinner-menu) and [food](https://forbiddenroot.com/wp-content/uploads/Cbus-Food.pdf). We should be there by 5 if you can't make the hike and just want to join us for drinks.
The brewery's actual address is [4080 Worth Ave, Columbus, OH 43219](https://www.google.com/maps/place/4080+Worth+Ave,+Columbus,+OH+43219/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x88388a86d10b6619:0x4d42b470a5cf11d3?sa=X&ved=1t:242&ictx=111); however, I recommend pointing your GPS to the [Worth Garage](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Worth+Garage/@40.0542293,-82.9137962,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x88388b4df6082825:0x17582f0eccd9dda1!8m2!3d40.0542293!4d-82.9137962!16s%2Fg%2F11rzfvvv8b?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQxNS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D) across the street. Parking in this garage is free as long as you're not on the first floor, and it is literally right next to the brewery.
TBD
**Important time note:** Please plan on arriving between 5:30 and 6:00 as the elevators lock after 6 and you'll need to message us and we'll need to come get you.
The building address is 4450 Bridge Park
The entrance is 6620 Mooney St, Suite 400
You will need to scan your ID at the door to get a visitor badge.
**Abstract**
TBD
**YouTube Link**
TBD
Building Scalable Customer Identity Resolution Pipelines on AWS Using AI
Customer identity resolution becomes increasingly complex as organizations scale across multiple systems, regions, and data formats. Traditional rule-based approaches often fail to keep up with data variability, require constant manual tuning, and struggle with real-time processing needs.
This session presents a practical approach to building a scalable identity resolution pipeline using AWS services and modern AI techniques. The architecture combines data ingestion through Amazon S3 and AWS Glue, transformation pipelines using Spark on EMR, and machine learning models deployed via SageMaker for entity matching and standardization. Graph-based relationship modeling is implemented using Amazon Neptune to improve resolution accuracy by incorporating household and shared attribute context.
We will walk through how machine learning models can be used for name and address normalization, how intelligent blocking strategies improve matching efficiency, and how feedback loops can be introduced to continuously improve accuracy. The session also highlights how serverless components such as AWS Lambda can be used for orchestration and real-time processing.
**SPEAKER BIO**
Mosaic Syed is a Senior Data Engineering and Cloud Solutions Architect with over 20 years of experience designing and delivering scalable, secure, and high-performance data solutions across global enterprise environments.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosaic-basha-syed-92300856
**CALL FOR SPEAKERS**
Learn more: [https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/](https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/)
**THANK YOU** *VEEAM* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Veeam*, please visit their website: [https://www.veeam.com/](https://www.veeam.com/)
**DIRECTIONS**
8800 Lyra Dr #450 · Columbus, OH
go to 4th floor.
**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
The Alliance All-Voices Chorus Open Rehearsal
The Alliance is part of the Greater Central Ohio Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. We are an all-voices chorus dedicated to providing an inclusive environment for all those who love to sing, regardless of their race, gender identity, sexual orientation or musical background. The Alliance is the first and only all-voices barbershop chorus in Central Ohio.
**Who:** Anyone with a passion for singing at a high level. Previous barbershop chorus/quartet experience not required.
**When:** The Alliance rehearses weekly on Thursdays from 7pm-10pm.
**Where:** Lord Of Life Lutheran Church: 2480 W Dublin Granville Rd, Columbus, OH 43235
To become a full member of The Alliance, we welcome you to start by visiting us for a few rehearsals to experience the group and sing with us! Then, you may begin the 2-part audition process for membership: the assessement, and audition. We strive to make our auditions as stress-free as possible to help you let your best singing self shine.
Quarterly Community Gathering
Join the Columbus AI community for our quarterly gathering — a casual, community-focused evening where everyone has a chance to share, learn, and connect. These open mic–style events give anyone in the community up to **5 minutes** to present a project, share a tool, pose a question, or offer a perspective on the evolving AI space.
No slides required — just a welcoming space to exchange ideas and keep the local AI conversation moving.
If you’d like to take the stage, message \*\*Chris (the organizer)\*\*with a **title and short description** of what you’d like to share.
Whether you’re deep in the field or just getting curious, come connect with others building and exploring AI in Columbus.
Sponsored by [Transform Labs](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transformlabs/)
Sign up also accessible via [Transform Labs Luma](https://luma.com/transformlabshq)
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.





















