STEM Mentoring

Hi friends, Off to a great start! Our first event made one thing clear, we got together because we all agree it’s surprisingly hard to meet others in our field outside of work or a commercial conference. As a smaller group, we make meaningful connections with like-minded actuaries and quants. Lifelong friendships are forged along the way! Whether you're a veteran, a rising star, or simply new in town and want to expand your social circle, get into the insurance and banking space, or see a friend you know, this is the place to be! No guest speakers nor rigid agenda, just a casual meetup and lots of fun conversation! 🥳 We're also on Luma, so please follow us there too! [https://luma.com/friendly-actuaries](https://luma.com/friendly-actuaries) See you soon! NOTE: Please remember to bring your ID with you, as all guests must be of legal age to enter the venue. **About Us** We're a sister group of [The Friendly Data Meetup London](https://www.meetup.com/the-friendly-data-meetup/?eventOrigin=home_groups_you_organize), a bootstrapped 2000+ person group (and still maintains that small cozy vibe!). This one is focused on actuaries and quants :D 🤗 Welcome actuaries, quants and friends! Sometimes, it can be difficult to make friends within the field, and that's what we're all about! We're a group of like minded individuals who understand the highs and lows of working in finance and insurance. ✅ Our primary goal is to have higher quality conversations that are more meaningful, with smaller groups so that we get to spend more attention on each individual. 💯 If you're already reading this, you're definitely welcome! We welcome everyone, whether you're already in the field, looking to get started or just curious! 🗨️ Bring your friends, bring your plus ones, we're all just here to have a good laugh and a good chat about the world, even if it isn't always about our work. **Our values:** 📖 Openness - We welcome everyone 🤝 Trust - Build long-lasting friendships together 💝 Care - Be kind to others and help each other out **Who it's for:** \- Life Actuaries \- Non\-Life Actuaries \- Health Actuaries \- Pensions Actuaries \- Reinsurance Actuaries \- Quantitative Analysts \- Quantitative Traders \- Investment Bankers \- Portfolio Managers \- Financial Engineers \- Entrepreneurs\, Contractors \- Anyone who works with Insurance\, Pensions\, Hedge Funds\, Investment Banks\, Asset Managers etc\. \- Anyone looking to get into the space \- Friends **How to Make the Most of the Meetup** The Friendly Meetup for Actuaries and Quants has one simple purpose: meaningful connections. We're not just a community of people, we're friends who get invested in each others lives. We check in on our friends regularly, and personally. So come and join us, more than just once or twice! **Code of Conduct:** The Friendly Meetup welcomes all genders, nationalities, ethnicities, backgrounds, identities etc. There is a strict no discrimination policy in adherence to our code of conduct and our guiding principles. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for hateful or antisocial behaviour. In short, be kind to others. Do not insult or put down others. Behave professionally, don't make others uncomfortable. Remember that harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate for The Friendly Meetup.

The Databricks London Meetup is back after a short break, and we’re looking forward to bringing the community together again for another friendly, in-person evening of data, AI, and good conversation. Join us for a relaxed meetup where data and AI professionals can swap ideas, hear a couple of practical talks, and meet others working with Databricks in the real world. Whether you’re deep into the platform already or just keen to learn from the community, this is a great chance to pick up something useful and meet some excellent people along the way. This session will include the latest Databricks updates, a practical talk from the Advancing Analytics team on how they used Lakebase to power AI projects, and time for questions with the Databricks team before we round things off with pizza and networking. **17:30 - 18:00:** Arrival & Networking **18:00 - 18:10:** Opening Remarks & Introductions **18:10 - 18:30** What’s New in Databricks - Simon Whiteley **18:30 - 19:00** Building Better AI Projects with *Lakebase* \- Toyosi Babayeju from Advancing Analytics **19:00 - 19:15** Q&A with the Databricks team **19:15 onwards:** Pizza, Drinks & Networking *Join us for a fantastic evening of learning and networking at the London Databricks meetup!*

**Dead Product Society \| After Work Drinks** Come along, bring a friend/colleague or two and join us for a relaxed evening of informal product and tech chats over a few drinks and doughnuts. We aim to connect everyone without awkwardness or LinkedIn spiel, and value good conversation over boring presentations. **Who is welcome?** Product Managers, CEOs, UX/UI Designers, Developers, Scrum Masters etc. We welcome anyone who works in, with or wants to break into product. *Note: We intentionally keep our After Work Drinks on the smaller side to allow for more in-depth conversations.* **The Bike Shed** We'll be hanging out in the lounge area (behind the area with all the tables, next to the store). \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **Dead Product Society** Dead Product Society is a collective of like-minded professionals sharing real-talk and joining forces to navigate the twists and turns of the product world. Our down-to-earth community is for anyone who works in, with or wants to break into product teams regardless of their background or experience. **Our Sponsors** Shout out to our generous sponsors at Waggel Pet Insurance; Lifetime pet insurance, simplified. With their support we are able to host these events for you and create a space for those important, honest conversations.

**Please register on [Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ljc-meet-up-at-tessl-java-and-gen-ai-jvm-agents-with-embabel-tickets-1985712292922) to join in-person.** **About this event** vJUG Connect is teaming up with the London Java Community for a special evening exploring the future of Java in the age of Generative AI. Join us both online and in London for a deep dive into how JVM developers can lead the next wave of innovation with agent-based systems. We’re excited to host Rod Johnson, creator of Spring, as he introduces Embabel, a new framework designed to push Java and Kotlin to the forefront of agentic AI. From building safe, testable, and enterprise-ready AI agents to rethinking how Java fits into the Gen AI ecosystem, this session will give you a front-row seat to what’s next. Whether you join us virtually or in person at Tessl HQ, expect an evening of cutting-edge ideas, practical insights, and great conversations with the Java community. Can’t make it in person? Join us virtually, register here: [https://luma.com/s9rp5nem](https://luma.com/s9rp5nem) **Agenda:** ​6:00pm – Doors open (live stream begins on YouTube with vJUG) ​6:45pm - Kick off and message from our partners ​7:00pm – Session kicks off Java and Gen AI: JVM Agents With Embabel by Rod Johnson (Spring Creator) (live stream ends) ​8pm – Networking 9pm – Wrap-up **​Java and Gen AI: JVM Agents With Embabel by Rod Johnson (Spring Creator)** Since the emergence of Gen AI, it's become obvious that agents will be a big part of our future as both technologists and citizens. Building predictable, safe, manageable, testable agents that integrate with existing enterprise systems is critically important to us all. ​In this session, Rod Johnson will show how JVM developers can be central to unlocking the business value of agentic AI, using the Embabel agent framework: [https://github.com/embabel/embabel-agent](https://github.com/embabel/embabel-agent) Embabel is an innovative framework for Java and Kotlin developers, seamlessly integrated with Spring. Built in Kotlin, it aims not to play catchup with Python frameworks like Crew AI, but to leapfrog them to be the best agent framework, period. ​Embabel innovates in several ways. It introduces a planning step that maximizes autonomy while maintaining determinism and safety. It is type safe, ensuring excellent toolability and avoiding errors in prompts. It enables developers to use a rich domain model, defining not just types but behavior exposed to user code and to LLMs as tools. ​ Read more about the [vision](https://medium.com/@springrod/the-embabel-vision-967654f13793?utm_source=luma); and also the call to action for Java developers in recent Devoxx keynote: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbx1_P7W1DM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbx1_P7W1DM&utm_source=luma) **​Rod Johnson, Creator of the Spring Framework and Embabel Agent Framework** ​ Rod Johnson is a developer, author, entrepreneur and advisor. He is the creator of the Spring Framework and Embabel agent framework. ​Twitter: [https://x.com/springrod](https://x.com/springrod) ​LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsonroda/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsonroda/) Huge thanks to our friends at Tessl for sponsoring this event and supporting our community. This event is organised by [RecWorks](https://recworks.co.uk/) on behalf of the London Java Community. The London Java Community is sponsored by Hazelcast, Neo4j, Redis, and Discover You can see our latest jobs [here](https://recworks.co.uk/java-developer-jobs-london/) You can see our privacy policy [here](https://recworks.co.uk/privacy-policy/) Continue the conversation at our Slack Group: [https://londonjavacommunity.slack.com](https://londonjavacommunity.slack.com/) Sign up here if you're not a member: [https://bcrw.typeform.com/to/IIyQxd](https://bcrw.typeform.com/to/IIyQxd)

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission, and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesnt know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery, and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone. Or does he? ————————————— Join us at Canova Hall to discuss Project Hail Mary over a coffee!

This is a **theatre** and **livestream** talk from the **Royal Institution of Great Britain.** Get a fascinating look at animal biology with a live dissection of an animal as part of a full afternoon of wonder for all ages. **ADVANCE BOOKING AND PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR THIS TALK.** **More details and booking instructions on the RI web site:** **[https://www.rigb.org/whats-on/animal-dissection-live](https://www.rigb.org/whats-on/animal-dissection-live)** **SUMMARY** Join **Ben Garrod,** from the **University of East Anglia,** and veterinary surgeon **Jess French** for a very special afternoon at the Ri, with a unique opportunity to find out about the workings of the body at a lion dissection. Across the course of the event, Ben, Jess and their team will dissect the animal in our Theatre, explaining the anatomy as they go, and revealing the fascinating facts it can tell us about our own bodies. During an extended interval, you'll have the opportunity to explore hands-on demonstrations and activities to learn even more about how animal biology works. This event is open to all ages. Ben and Jess are very experienced in presenting this to a younger audience, as well as adults, and we encourage everyone to attend. Attendees will be able to come and go as they please if they require a break during the long sessions. Those who are particularly squeamish may choose to sit further back in the Theatre. **Event timings:** **1:00pm – 2:30pm – Dissection Session 1** **2:30pm – 3:45pm – Interval with pop-up activities** **3:45pm – 5:00pm – Dissection Session 2** **Disclaimer: The animal died of old age and has been donated for the purpose of education. The specific animal is subject to change.** With thanks to University of East Anglia for making this event possible. This is a theatre and livestream event for an adult audience, where the speakers and audience in our Theatre are joined by our audience online. **The livestream will go live around 6.50pm, and the talk will begin at 7.00pm. If you register but miss the livestream, the video will be available to you via the same link for two weeks after the event date.** For more information on livestreams, see the information below, or [visit our FAQs page](https://www.rigb.org/whats/faqs-ri-livestreams). Please use the event link you have been provided with. By booking to attend events at the Royal Institution, you confirm that you have read and accept the Ri's [event terms and conditions](https://www.rigb.org/terms-and-conditions). You also agree to abide by [our code of conduct](https://www.rigb.org/about-us/how-were-run/our-code-conduct-ri-visitors), and help to create a great experience for yourself and your fellow participants.

\*Disclaimer: All are welcome. Students, professionals, non professionals, business owners, curious cats. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- Come along to the Corner Corner venue, located just a few minutes walk from Canada water, for a few hours to meet friendly faces, work on your personal projects, or just come and share what passion projects you are all working on. Feel free to bring your laptop, tablet, sketchbook, and notes on the day. Whether you work in Animation, Art, Design, Film, Games development, or storytelling, you are welcome to come along. We love being around diverse creatives who want an opportunity to showcase their talents. This is an excellent opportunity for those looking to socialise with like-minded people and to get friendly feedback on their work. All backgrounds are welcome to join us, even if your just curious about Animation/Art/Storytelling \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* I Look forward to seeing you there.

We are back! This is going to be a monthly IN PERSON meet up in London. A very big thank you goes to Accurx who is hosting us in their amazing Shoreditch offices. This will include access to facilities including coffee! 😻☕️ **Want to know more? 👇** As with all CoffeeOps, this is an interactive, chatty, build your own adventure type of meet-up. Instead of booking in experts to *learn* *from*, we gather a group of practitioners to ***learn*** ***with***. We have been running for over 4 years now and often get feedback that this is the most useful meetup people join! The event is approximately 90 minutes and always starts by brainstorming topics to discuss. The group then votes on the most relevant/interesting to them and we then cycle through the topics trying to discuss each deeply, but in a time bound slot. To get an idea of topics, you can check out our remote board [here](https://easyretro.io/publicboard/h404NF84Uje4tCcxpJdHr4Ycs9B3/a4a35d2b-181b-409b-832e-a729be1af79c). The general gist is anything is fair game, though we tend to revolve around software delivery and definitely lean towards the more Ops-y or DevOps-y side of things.

Join the CONNECTED Westerville Mastermind Group for a dynamic afternoon of B2B networking! This event is perfect for professionals looking to expand their business connections, share insights, and foster collaboration within the community. Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this event offers a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas, build relationships, and grow your network in a supportive environment. Connect with like-minded individuals, explore potential partnerships, and discover new opportunities for professional growth. Don't miss out on this chance to enhance your business network and take your career to the next level with CONNECTED Westerville Mastermind Group! We meet the 4th Monday of every month from 11am-1pm. Welcome and general networking from 11am - 11:30am with core meeting 11;30 - 12:30 and a final round of networking from 12:30 - 1pm.

The Fellowship of the Star Schema: Transforming OLTP Data for Power BI One does not simply build reports on OLTP data. Join us on an epic journey from the depths of raw, normalized tables to the shining halls of a well-modeled star schema fit for Power BI greatness. We will demystify the differences between OLTP and OLAP, walk through star schema vs snowflake (and why Power BI has a clear favorite), and show you the compression differences between normalized and columnar storage that will make you never look at an OLTP model the same way again. We will cover the different types of dimensions, when to use them, and how to handle Slowly Changing Dimensions without losing your mind. You will leave knowing exactly how to identify a bad model, how to convert OLTP data into a clean star schema, and how to forge relationships that rule them all. Whether you are a data wizard, a curious hobbit, or somewhere in between, your models will never be the same.

AI is changing how art is made. But when does it stop being your work and start being the machine’s? This month we're going to be doing a panel with with digital image, music, and written word artists, talking about at what point, while using AI in the creation process, does the work become not the artist creation? We encourage audience participation during this event that will be moderated by Chris Slee. 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.transformlabs.com/services) Sign up also accessible via [Transform Labs Luma](https://luma.com/55umjqta)

WQC has weekly Thursday night social nights at the Westerville Java Central. Come and grab a coffee and connect with the community: low stakes, chill environment, and tasty drinks. No registration is required; come as you are.

Bring your business cards and network in person with other business professionals! Gold Star Referral Clubs is one of the most established professional networking organizations in the country, with multiple groups in central Ohio. Join us!

**Connected Westerville Night of Networking** *April Edition: The Introduction Economy* You've been to the networking events. You've done the small talk. Collected the cards. Forgotten the names. And walked out feeling like you just wasted two hours of your life. The problem isn't you. It's the format. Most networking events put you in a room and tell you to figure it out. So everyone defaults to elevator pitches and business talk, and nothing real gets built. Here's the truth about networking that most people miss: Your network isn't just who you know. It's who thinks of you when they're talking to someone else. *That's* The Introduction Economy. And it only works when relationships are real. There's a reason people who come once keep coming back. It starts with seven minutes that feel nothing like networking. Then we open it up. Free networking. More conversations. More momentum. This is a room full of corporate professionals, entrepreneurs, business owners, creatives, and career builders in the Westerville and Columbus area. The mix is the magic. You might never do business with everyone you meet tonight. But someone in this room will think of *you.* **By name**. So, the next time someone needs exactly what you do, you get the recommendation. **April 14th. RSVP now.** **When:** Tuesday\, April 14th \| 6:15 PM \-\- 8:00 PM **Where:** Vineyard Community Center \| 6000 Cooper Rd\, Westerville\, OH 43081

Semi in honor of March being International Women's Month Columbus libraries: [https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3454709](https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3454709) Location: SOW Plated Menu: [https://www.sowplated.com/menu-brunch/](https://www.sowplated.com/menu-brunch/) Book summary: In 2006 Julia Lerner is living in Moscow, a recent university graduate in computer science, when she's recruited by Russia's largest intelligence agency. By 2018 she's in Silicon Valley as COO of Tangerine, one of America's most famous technology companies. In between her executive management (make offers to promising startups, crush them and copy their features if they refuse); self promotion (check out her latest op-ed in the WSJ, on Work/Life Balance 2.0); and work in gender equality (transfer the most annoying females from her team), she funnels intelligence back to the motherland. But now Russia's asking for more, and Julia's getting nervous. Alice Lu is a first generation Chinese American whose parents are delighted she's working at Tangerine (such a successful company!). Too bad she's slogging away in the lower echelons, recently dumped, and now sharing her expensive two-bedroom apartment with her cousin Cheri, a perennial "founder's girlfriend". One afternoon, while performing a server check, Alice discovers some unusual activity, and now she's burdened with two powerful but distressing suspicions: Tangerine's privacy settings aren't as rigorous as the company claims they are, and the person abusing this loophole might be Julia Lerner herself. The closer Alice gets to Julia, the more Julia questions her own loyalties. Russia may have placed her in the Valley, but she's the one who built her career; isn't she entitled to protect the lifestyle she's earned?