Systems Thinking

**Backabush is heading back to Turkiye for the Easter holidays on another exciting trip exploring the enchanting landscape of Cappadocia.** Cost from £499. Nights - 5. Group size - 18. Cave Hotel Accommodation. The rocky valleys surrounding the town of Goreme in Cappadocia have been sculpted by the wind and rain over many thousands of years to create a truly unique geological landscape of intricate folds. This area is famous for it's distinctive tufas or 'fairy chimneys' as well as the many ancient cave dwellings, pigeon houses, canyons and of course the vast numbers of hot air balloons that fill the dawn skies each day. We have booked the exclusive use of one of Goreme's traditionally styled cave hotels, with bedrooms that are partly set back into the rock. We have options for shared rooms, private rooms and some larger, luxury private rooms with jacuzzi baths. Our hotel has all the amenities that you would expect, with en-suite rooms and a generous breakfast served each day. There is also an outdoor terrace seating area that overlooks the town, the perfect spot to view the balloon fights each morning. Shared (mixed gender) 4 bed room - £499 Shared twin room - £589 Private room - £699 Deluxe private room - £749 Our plan is to spend the Easter weekend around Goreme with 3 full hiking days to explore the surrounding valleys and villages. We will also have 1 rest day so we have the chance to take an optional hot air balloon ride and spend a bit more time checking out the town of Goreme and the famous frescos at the Open Air Museum. **Highlights of our suggested hiking itinerary include:** * Red Valley & Rose Valley, a dreamy landscape in a beautiful crimson colour. * Love Valley & Honey Valley. Love valley has some of the most iconic, and also phallic, fairy chimneys in Cappadocia, hence the name. * Pigeon Valley & the Uschisar Castle, littered with rock cut dovecotes and an intriguing castle perched on the highest point in the region with panoramic views. * Zelve Valley & Goreme Open Air Museum - The museum covers a large area with over 30 rock cut churches from the 9th century onwards complete with frescoes. * Derinkuyu underground city & the Ihlara Valley, visit an underground city built as a Christian shelter during the Byzantine wars and the only lush green valley in Cappadocia nourished by the Melendiz river. **DIFFICULTY** On this trip will be hiking up to 10 miles each day on rough trails. Although we will not be hiking up any mountains there will still be some moderate ascents and descents so a good level of fitness is required. **WHAT IS INCLUDED:** * 5 nights cave hotel accommodation (various room options available) * All breakfasts * 3 hiking days guided by an experienced local hiking guide * Airport transfers and minibus transport to/from the hikes * One trip organiser * Financial protection in accordance with the Package Travel Law 1992. **WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED:** * Lunches and evening meals (There are many local restaurants to choose from around our hotel) * Flights (See below) * Entrance fees into the sites (Ihlara Valley, Open Air Museum, Uchisar Castle, Underground city) * Optional hot air balloon excursion **RECOMMEDED FLIGHTS:** Our airport transfers will be organised to meet these flights, if you choose to book alternative travel to Cappadocia then you will need to meet us at our hotel in Goreme, which is reletively straight forward as shuttle busses connect Kayseri Airport to Goreme regularly. It is also possible to fly from several other UK Airports to Istanbul and then catch the same group connecting flight from Istanbul to take advantage of the the airport tranfers. Outbound - Thursday 2 April Turkish Airlines - TK1982 & TK2020 (connection in Istanbul) Departs LGW London Gatwick 10:55 Arrives ASR Kayseri 19:55 Return - Tuesday 7 April Turkish Airlines - TK2013 & TK1997 (connection in Istanbul) Departs ASR Kayseri 10:45 Arrives LGW London Gatwick 16:15 **HOW TO BOOK A PLACE ON THIS TRIP:** To confirm your place on this trip use internet banking **your RSVP is not enough to reserve a space on this trip**. Please use **CAPPADOCIA** as your payment reference. The account details are: Account Name: BACKABUSH XPLORERS Sort Code: 090127 Account Number: 22440622 The following "terms and conditions" apply to all trip reservations: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ngc5A61k76qb6HGMeTK96AVaXn0565yPS9p42IPzIy8/](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ngc5A61k76qb6HGMeTK96AVaXn0565yPS9p42IPzIy8/edit?usp=sharing) Only payment secures your place. **Please email backabushxplorers@yahoo.com as soon as you send payment so that we can confirm everything with you**. Thanks. :) **IMPORTANT NOTES** VISA - Please check if you need a visa to travel to Cappadocia. Turkey is NOT within the Shengen zone. It is your responsibility to obtain all necessary documents, including visa.

Pay attention! We’re delaying a week for those of you who may be on Spring break and/or celebrating the holiday. Ok, no pancakes, but waffles-a-plenty. Join the local UX and Digital Design community for a casual monthly breakfast. Look for us upstairs!

**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

**The Data-Driven Brand: Using Analytics to Shape Perception** Can you use analytics to improve tacos? This being CBUSDAW, we think the answer is probably “yes”, but we’re not sure how to implement or test this theory. For our April meetup we’ve got Sara Kear, CMO of Condado Tacos, to investigate this delicious question. Sara will explore how she blends quantitative data and qualitative customer feedback to shape brand positioning and drive business decisions. We all know that marketing and analytics go way beyond attribution. Sara will show how Condado uses customer insights to inform product and pricing strategy. She’ll also highlight how Condado leverages customer feedback at scale to influence operational priorities, positioning marketing as the voice of the customer across the organization. In the last 12 years Condado has gone from one location in Columbus to 52 locations across 10 states, so we’re guessing there’s more to that growth than really good guac (though the guac probably helps). Ultimately, this talk focuses on the intersection of art and science—using data to inform creativity and build a brand that resonates with customers in a measurable way. **About Our Speaker** Sara Kear is Chief Marketing Officer at Condado Tacos, where she oversees brand, restaurant design, menu and pricing strategy, off-premise including catering, and customer data strategy. Since joining in 2021, she has helped grow the brand from 19 to 52 locations while building a data-driven marketing organization focused on loyalty and customer insights. Condado has since been named to the Inc. 5000, recognized as Breakout Retailer by Chain Store Age, and consistently ranked among FastCasual’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers. 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)

How do we recover from having had a toxic or narcissistic ex? How do we move on from the past, especially something as traumatic as a divorce or breakup? How do we avoid anxiety and depression? How do we have more self esteem? In this meeting, you will learn the mental health secrets to help you quickly get over the past and heal your mind. Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there. This group is created by the Dianetics & Scientology life improvement center.

**First meetup of the Columbus AI Engineering group.** We’ll kick things off with a practical, beginner-friendly discussion on: **How LLMs like ChatGPT actually work — and how to build real applications with them.** We’ll cover: * what’s actually happening under the hood (at a high level) * why LLMs behave the way they do (hallucinations, prompt sensitivity, etc.) * how people are building real systems with them today * where things break in practice This will be a **short, informal talk (\~15–20 min)** followed by open discussion and Q&A. Whether you’re an engineer, builder, or just curious about how modern AI systems work, you’re welcome to join. No slides, no fluff — just real conversation about real systems. We’ll hang out afterward and get to know each other.

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.

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.