Systems

In-person and online - this is the February 2026 **London Webflow Meetup**! New to Webflow, experienced, freelance, in-house, or just curious, everyone is welcome. Curious what it’s like? [Watch the one-minute teaser](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_eZDWFEuDU). ️️ **SCHEDULE** **6.15pm:** drinks + mingle **6.30pm**: welcome and announcements. **6.45pm:** presentations 1️⃣ **[Brandon Horvatić](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonhorvatic/)**[,](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonhorvatic/) Founder, Yes Chef Studio - **Start now, figure it out later** Brandon Horvatic is the founder of Yes Chef Studio, a Webflow agency partnering with funded startups and high-growth SaaS teams across the UK, US, and Europe. What began as freelance Webflow projects has grown into a focused studio model built around long-term partnerships, structured builds, and helping marketing teams move quickly as their companies scale. In this session, Brandon shares lessons from building and growing an agency in the Webflow ecosystem - offering an honest look at what it takes to move from freelancer to founder, and how thinking differently changes the trajectory of your work. 2️⃣ **[Alessia Sannazzaro](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessia-sannazzaro/)**, Co-founder & Managing Director, Code & Wander - **Open, closed, or broken? Designing Webflow component systems for real teams**. Most Webflow component systems break at the editor level. Too open, and consistency disappears. Too closed, and teams work around the system instead of with it. In this talk, I’ll break down how we think about open vs closed components, how BLOCKS supports both, and how adapting a framework — rather than following it — leads to calmer builds and happier teams. This is a practical, experience-led look at designing systems around people, not patterns. **8.00pm**: social at a local pub ** LOCATION** Beyond, Level 2, **The Bower Building**, 207 Old St, London EC1V 9NR Main building entrance closes at 7pm! 1 minute walk from Old Street tube station. Take the MAIN tube station exit. Entrance to The Bower building is down a side street next to the Wagamama restaurant. ** LIVE STREAM** Can't make it in person? Then tune into our new live stream. **\- https://youtube\.com/live/qQwnmctDPgc** and make sure you hit the **Notify Me** bell! **✍️ MEDIA RELEASE** ​By attending, you understand and accept that portions of the event may have audio/photo/video-recorded and/or live-streamed and may be used by the organisers. You agree that the organisers have the right and permission to use and publish such media for any purpose in any format, including online and offline, now and ever after, without further compensation, permission, or notification. You understand that all official recordings from the event are the exclusive property of the organisers, available under the Creative Commons Attribution­ShareAlike license for general use, and you do not ask for nor expect compensation or notification of the use of official recordings or photographs in which you appear or speak. Please inform an organisational team member at the event's start if you do not wish to appear in photos or videos. ✊ **CODE OF CONDUCT** Finally, in attending this event you are agreeing to the [Webflow Community Code of Conduct](https://webflow.com/community/code-of-conduct).

Join us on February 25th for talks from engineers at **Nebius, Fireworks AI,** **Together AI** and **Cerebras** \- four companies working on distinct approaches to AI infrastructure\, from cloud\-native training platforms to custom silicon\. Topics: * **Nebius** \- Tips and tricks for Training High\-Performance Speculators by Filipp Fisin * **Fireworks AI** \- LLM evaluations and closing the benchmark\-to\-production gap by Shaunak Godbole * **Cerebras -** Technology underpinning the fastest inference by Dmitry Gaynullin * **Together AI** \- Road to 5M Sequence Length: Breaking Memory Barriers in Context Parallelism by Max Ryabinin If you’d like to give a talk or become a partner for one of the upcoming meetups, message [https://www.linkedin.com/in/fedorshabashev/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/fedorshabashev/) or [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirzharov/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirzharov/) In the meantime, you can watch the previously recorded talks: [https://youtube.com/@londonpytorchmeetup](https://youtube.com/@londonpytorchmeetup) Please subscribe to our channel! ❤️

Join us **the night before Elastic{ON} London** for an exclusive meetup, a perfect warm-up to the big day ahead! This is your chance to connect with the Elastic community, mingle with fellow attendees, and get energized for a full day of presentations at Elastic{ON} London. Don’t miss out! Register for the meetup and make sure you’ve also signed up for [Elastic{ON} London](https://www.elastic.co/events/elasticon/london) as well to experience a full day of learning and networking! **Date and Time:** Wednesday, February 25, from 6:00-8:30 PM **Location:** Davidson Building Address: 1st floor, 5 Southampton St, London WC2E 7HA Note: please use Exeter St entrance as the main entrance is closed after 6pm **Agenda:** * 6:00 pm: Doors open; say hi and eat some food * 6:30 pm: #Talk 1 - Re-thinking significant term discovery Mark Harwood - Ex-Elastic Core Developer and Lucene committer * 7:00 pm: Q&A * 7:10 pm: #Talk 2 - From Specs to Play: How I Built a Generative AI Game with Elastic + Microsoft AI Mike Richter - Principal Partner Solution Architect at Microsoft * 7:30 pm: Q&A * 7:40 pm: Networking and event wrap-up * 8:30 pm: Event close If you’re a long-time Elastic user or just starting your journey, this is the perfect opportunity to share ideas, meet new people, and get inspired. Invite your friends and RSVP on this page! **⚡️ Interested in giving a talk? ⚡️** Have you ever considered presenting on your Elastic use case? We welcome 5-10 minute lightning talks, 45-minute deep dives, and everything in between. If you're interested, please submit via our [CFP](https://sessionize.com/elastic-meetups/) or send us an email at [meetups@elastic.co.](http://meetups@elastic.co./)

January will be behind us, and Valentines, and most of possibly the coldest month of the year, so what comes next? Come meet like-minded people, with a common interest in Linux, in a warm cosy pub at the at the February meetup of 2026 - "Don't Worry; It Will Soon be Spring" edition. Whether you are a complete neophyte or Linux warrior with decades of experience, come join the chat about distros, networks, open-source software, personal projects, ... or nothing related whatever. The venue is the Hand & Racquet in Wimbledon (25-27 Wimbledon Hill Rd, SW19 7NE). [https://www.greeneking.co.uk/pubs/greater-london/hand-and-racquet](https://www.greeneking.co.uk/pubs/greater-london/hand-and-racquet) Chris and Gulraj will be sharing hosting duties with at least one of us present at each meetup. Whilst we realise that this venue is not as convenient for some people as our central London former haunts, the pub is only 2 minutes walk from the station, and Wimbledon is exceptionally well connected (only 17 minutes out of London Waterloo mainline, lies on the Sutton branch of the Thameslink, and is a terminus of both the District Line and the Croydon Tramlink). The pub is on the flat, at street level, including the toilets, although the space reserved for us (presently, at least) is a raised mezzanine area up a small number of steps at the back of the pub. We aim to be inclusive, so if this presents an issue, we'll work with the pub to adjust the arrangements in the future. Sign-ups are open. Please come join us. Directions from the station: Exit the station through the main concourse (near the District Line platforms), turn right along the main road, passing the taxi rank on Orinoco Lane. Cross Alexandra Road at the traffic lights, pass the gym on the corner, then continue past the chemist to reach the pub.

**Please note this is an offline event with limited space. RSVP only if you will be able to attend in person. If you want to watch the live streaming, please RSVP to our [online meetup](https://www.meetup.com/producttank-london/events/313347025/?eventOrigin=group_events_list),** **\-\-\-\-\-\-\-** Join us for an exciting panel discussion at the next ProductTank London event on **Navigating the transition to a product-first operating model: leveraging AI to make faster and smarter decisions.** **Our speakers:** **[Alex Stergiou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-stergiou-30465a67/)** - **Product Success Partner** Alex Stergiou is a transformation and product leader with nearly two decades of experience in complex sales and service organisations, primarily at BT and now in a high‑growth SaaS environment. He has led cross‑functional squads and business analysis teams to deliver major broadband, TV and converged product transformations, and more recently has rolled out Productboard and modern demand planning practices across BT Business. In his current Product Success role, he helps enterprises evolve their product operating models and unlock value from product tooling and AI‑enabled ways of working. **[James Reynolds](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesreyno/)** - **Director** A product leader with huge experience in Telco across roles in marketing, engineering and digital, covering consumer and business in multi national organisations. I love telco as it's the fabric that underpins all our digital lives. I'm passionate about the power of product to solve problems and excited about the possibilities AI brings. Away from work I taxi my 3 kids around, go on dog walks and follow Arsenal. **[Simon Evatt](https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonevatt/)**[ ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonevatt/)- **Digital Director** Simon Evatt, Digital Director is responsible for BT, EE and Plusnet digital journeys and experiences across Service and Sales channels, along with tools and tech in our Contact Centres and Retail stores. **[Amanda Ho](https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-ho-uk/) \- Product Manager**, will be our host for the evening. This event is sponsored by [Productboard](https://www.linkedin.com/company/productboard/) **Location:** EE, 1 Braham St, London, E1 8EE **Timings:** 6:30 - Doors open 7:00 - Talk starts / streaming starts 8:00 - Q&A 8:30 - Q&A Finish 9:00 - Close Please note that the event will be live-streamed on our YouTube channel, and images taken throughout the evening may be shared on our social media platforms. To keep up-to-date with our upcoming talks, follow our [LinkedIn page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/producttanklondon) and our [YouTube channel.](https://www.youtube.com/c/MindtheProductTV) \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- By attending this event, you agree to give permission for any photos taken during the event to be used for promotional purposes, give permission for your name and surname to be used for registration purposes, and agree to be contacted by email by ProductTank and Productboard.

In February, we are taking a look at what is happening with agentic AI and data pipelines Join us in lively Hoxton as we learn from Carmen's and Laura's learning from real-world experiences with agentic AI systems in data pipelines. We are running this event in collaboration with **[Sahaj Software](http://www.sahaj.ai)**. **6pm:** Doors Open **6:30pm:** Talks Start ️The Speakers️ ***Beyond the Hype: Practical AI for Real-World Data Engineering Time Sinks*** ***Carmen Mardiros, Solution Consultant at*** ***[Sahaj Software](https://www.sahaj.ai/)*** ***([Carmen's LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmenmardiros/))*** ***Abstract*:** While the world is obsessed with agentic self-healing ETL pipelines, data engineers everywhere still spend hours upon hours on the same tasks as before -- debugging failing tests, exposing new fields into pipelines, navigating schema changes, QA-ing data and business logic. In this session we'll look at some practical examples from the trenches around how to shrink those time sinks using AI coding assistants so that you can spend more time on what really matters. Examples are dbt-based and Claude Code but accompanied by core tenets applicable to any stack and any coding assistant. ***Carmen's Bio:*** Carmen Mardiros has worked around analytics and data for 15 years. Her experience covers areas such as Data architecture design and implementation and has worked in roles that cover Data Strategist, Lead Data Engineer, Data Warehouse Architect, Tracking Developer, Product/Project Manager, Technical BA, Insight Analyst, Data Modeller. ***Agentic AI for Data Pipelines: Our Good, Bad, and Ugly Learnings*** ***Laura Bogaert, Co-Founder and COO at [Tracer.cloud](https://www.tracer.cloud/)*** ***([Laura's LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-bogaert/))*** ***Abstract:*** As teams move from single models to agentic systems, data pipelines present a uniquely hard production challenge: failures are distributed, context is fragmented, and root-cause analysis is slow. This talk shares practical learnings from building agentic AI systems for troubleshooting real-world data pipelines, including what worked, what didn’t, and why data ontology and context management are critical. Attendees will leave with concrete insights into designing agentic architectures that actually hold up in production. ***Laura's Bio:*** Laura is a co-founder of [Tracer.cloud](http://tracer.cloud/), where she works on building agentic AI systems for alert investigation in production data pipelines across industries. She started her career at McKinsey as part of the fintech and biopharmaceutical team working on AI strategy and M&A. She holds a BSc from University College London and a MSc from Oxford University. **8pm:** Talks finish. We have the space for networking until 9pm. There will be a short break between the talks. Afterwards, we may head to a pub to continue chatting. You can sign up by subscribing to this event **IMPORTANT**: Please make sure to have a ***valid form of ID***. See you all on the 26th February Happy Networking **About our collaborators**: [Sahaj](https://www.sahaj.ai/) is an artisanal technology services company crafting purpose-built AI and data-led solutions for our clients. By attending this event, you agree to abide by our rules of conduct: * Respect others' opinions which may differ from your own. * Keep it appropriate - no harassment of fellow attendees will be tolerated. * If you see something or have a complaint, please reach out to one of the organisers on LinkedIn or email events@dataengineerslondon.com.

A relaxed Sunday walk in nature with friendly people No pressure, just connection and fresh air. Coffee after if you’d like ☕ Community-led this week — see you there!

## DevOps Society Meetup with EDF **Location:** EDF UK, Nova North, 11 Bressenden Place London, SW1E 5BY **Time:** Doors open at 6PM **Drinks, snacks, talks, and networking.** We’re excited to invite you to our first in-person **DevOps Society Meetup** of 2026, proudly **sponsored by EDF**. This event brings together the DevOps, SRE, and cloud engineering community for an evening of honest conversations, real-world lessons, and networking with people who’ve actually done the work. A huge thank you to **EDF** for sponsoring the event and for providing the venue, refreshments, and support for our community. *** ## ️ Format of the Meetup: 6:00pm – 6:30pm — Networking on arrival, with food and drinks provided by EDF 6:30pm – 7:10pm — First speaker + Q&A 7:10pm – 7:20pm — Break for refreshments and networking 7:20pm – 8:00pm — Second speaker + Q&A 8:00pm onwards — More networking at the venue, then at a nearby pub. *Timings can vary slightly depending on Q&A.* *** We’re delighted to welcome **two fantastic speakers** to this EDF-hosted DevOps Society meetup. *** ## SPEAKER 1 – Steve Bowerman **Principal Software Engineer, EDF** ### Bio Steve is a technologist and thought leader with **25 years in the industry**, including **20 years in the utilities sector**, spanning startups through to large, established enterprises. Since stepping into the role of **Principal Software Engineer at EDF**, Steve has played a key role in reviewing and overhauling EDF’s approach to software engineering - bringing critical capabilities in-house and aligning teams with modern **DevOps and SRE principles**. His work focuses on long-term, sustainable transformation rather than tooling churn, helping large organisations evolve how they build, operate, and scale software. *** ### Talk Title **Rebooting the Enterprise: The DevOps Way** ### Talk Intro Building a DevOps mindset in a startup is relatively easy - it’s often the default DNA of modern engineering teams. Doing the same in a **large enterprise** is a very different challenge. In this talk, Steve will take you through **five years of transformation in 15 minutes**. He’ll share how EDF approached enterprise DevOps adoption, where things failed (and why), what ultimately worked, and the lessons learned along the way. Spoiler: **technology was the least difficult part**. This session is ideal for engineers, platform teams, and leaders working in complex organisations who want a realistic view of what enterprise DevOps transformation actually looks like. *** ## SPEAKER 2 – Matteo Emili **Director of Software Engineering, Avanade** **Bio** Matteo Emili is a Director of Software Engineering at Avanade UK and Ireland, leading the talent in Software Engineering and always looking at new ways of applying technology to solve business problems. He is a passionate Agile advocate and a technologist at heart, a Cloud Architect who is always driven by using technology as a vehicle for change and continuous improvement. A Microsoft MVP since 2010 (currently in the Azure DevOps and GitHub category), he enjoys sharing back as much as he can with the worldwide technical communities – especially within Agile and DevOps. He has founded several User Groups around Europe and he is a regular speaker at meetups and conferences. ### Talk Title **From Vibe Coding to Agentic Engineering: A Step-by-Step Guide** ### Talk Bio AI-augmented software development is evolving. What started as *“vibe coding”* \- intuition\-driven\, creative experimentation with AI \- is now moving toward **agentic engineering**, a more governed and intentional approach where AI agents actively collaborate with developers while enforcing best practices and organisational standards. In this session, Matteo explores how teams can transition from unstructured AI experimentation to **agentic workflows** that balance creativity with accountability. You’ll learn how agentic engineering enables: * Faster development without sacrificing quality * Built-in governance and standards * AI collaboration that scales across teams * A practical path from experimentation to production-ready AI-assisted engineering This talk offers a clear, pragmatic view of how AI will reshape software engineering in the years ahead - and how teams can adopt it responsibly. *** Please **RSVP to secure your spot**. Spaces are limited and available on a **first-come, first-served** basis. We’re really looking forward to getting the community back together again for our first event of 2026. [Our slack community](https://join.slack.com/t/devopssociety/shared_invite/zt-3mswuylw7-MhJg1IZ70rX_GpJTluG2Cw) \- join in and introduce yourself\! [Our Youtube Channel ](https://www.youtube.com/@DevOpsSociety)for regular podcasts with DevOps professionals + more DevOps content. [Website](https://thedevopsociety.com/) [To partner with us](https://thedevopsociety.com/partnerships) EDF website - https://www.edfenergy.com/ Thanks! From the DevOps Society team [Ben](https://www.linkedin.com/in/benwhitmarsh/) and [Vytas](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vytasdevops/)

**Please register on [Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ljc-meetup-at-capital-one-tickets-1981939102207) to join this event.** **About this event** LJC Meet-ups is a new series of events, aimed at giving all Community members an opportunity to present at an LJC event. Join us on 26th February 2026 for a London Java Community meetup hosted at Capital One. This event brings together practitioners exploring what it means to build modern, cloud‑native platforms and work effectively with AI‑powered development tools. As cloud adoption matures and AI coding agents become embedded in engineering workflows, this evening focuses on two critical themes: architecting for cloud‑native efficiency and leveraging AI agents more effectively in real‑world development. **Talk 1 – Tom Clifford‑Clarke, Lead Software Development Engineer at Capital One** *Keeping our heads in the cloud, using AI agents on the ground* Many organisations operate entirely in the cloud — but far fewer are truly cloud‑native. As architectures evolve and AI becomes a core concern, the gap between “running in the cloud” and “optimising for it” becomes increasingly costly. Tom explores why robust architectural patterns and standards are non‑negotiable today. Drawing on Capital One’s journey, he’ll cover practical approaches to Event‑Driven Architecture, serverless adoption, and service cataloguing strategies that unlock scalability, efficiency, and AI readiness — while improving the developer experience. **Talk 2 – Steve Poole, Community Director at LJC** *AI-Assisted Development and the New Risk Surface* AI-assisted coding is now a standard part of development. It accelerates delivery and reduces friction, but it also changes how risk enters our codebases. AI models replicate patterns at scale, including insecure defaults, outdated practices, and subtle flaws. In some cases, attackers can influence public training data or open-source projects, allowing weaknesses to spread quietly through tools and libraries developers trust. This talk looks at how AI-generated code fits into the modern software supply chain, and how speed, automation, and trust can be exploited. We'll examine how vulnerabilities slip past reviews, why unvetted AI output can bypass safeguards, and what these failures look like in real systems. With real-world examples, we'll focus on practical ways to review, test, and integrate AI-generated code responsibly. Strengthening your workflow instead of undermining it. AI isn't the problem. Unexamined automation is. The goal is not fear, but sharper judgment about when AI is helping, and when it needs a closer look. **Speaker Bios** **Tom Clifford‑Clarke** Lead Software Development Engineer at Capital One. Tom’s background spans large‑scale corporate software, end‑user products, and custom delivery tooling. He now focuses on cloud productivity engineering — improving developer experience and enabling teams to build high‑quality software at a sustainable pace. LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tbc2/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tbc2/) **Steve Poole** Community Director for the London Java Community. Steve is a Developer Advocate, DevOps practitioner and a long time Java developer, leader and evangelist. He’s been working on Java SDKs and JVMs since Java was less than one year old. Linkedin: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/noregressions/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/noregressions/) Huge thanks to our friends at **Capital One** for sponsoring this event and supporting our Community. This event is organised by RecWorks on behalf of the London Java Community. The London Java Community is sponsored by Hazelcast, Neo4j, Redis, and Discover

Hello and welcome to our next **GenAI UK x Cloud Native & Open-Source AI** meetup. This event brings together engineers, practitioners, builders, and leaders working across cloud-native platforms, open-source ecosystems, Gen AI, Data and Agentic AI. Our meetups are friendly, welcoming, and community-driven; everyone is welcome, whether you’re experienced or just curious. This session will include practitioner talks, demos, Q&A, and time for networking with like-minded peers. We run bi-monthly in-person meetups in London, bi-monthly online global events, and regional chapters across the UK, North America, and APAC. Food and refreshments will be provided for in-person events where a host venue is supporting. We are delighted to host this event in **London** on the **26th of February** with Netmind AI NetMind XYZ ([https://xyz.netmind.ai/](https://xyz.netmind.ai/)) is NetMind.AI's new agent platform where you can create your agents with just natural language. Agents on NetMind XYZ can now join moltbook. **Speakers and Sessions:** Speaker: Xiangpeng Wan, Product Lead at Netmind.AI Session Title: Gamifying Intelligence: Deploying Your Agents into the Arena Description: Got a custom agent built on Open Canvas or a unique ReAct loop? It’s time to see how it performs under pressure. Arena is an open-source sandbox where agents compete in multi-player environments—ranging from tactical "client poaching" simulations to high-stakes logic games. Speaker: Frank Contrepois, Independent FinOps Voice at Coblan Session Title: Coding standards - back to basics Description: In this session, I’ll walk through the coding standards behind the FinOps Toolkit and show how a few strict constraints unlock surprising flexibility at scale. The toolkit is unapologetically command-line-first and modeled on mature Unix-style ecosystems. **Agenda (GMT /UK ):** * 18:00: Welcome and refreshments * 18:30: Introduction - Ethan Sumner * 18:35: Xiangpeng Wan * 19:10: Break * 19:20: Frank Contrepois * 19:55: Close and Networking **Get Involved:** We are always keen to hear from: • Speakers — case studies, engineering deep dives, lessons learned, open-source talks • Hosts — organisations able to provide space for future meetups • Sponsors — support with refreshments, marketing, or accessibility If you would like to speak, sponsor, or host a future event, please get in touch with **[Ethan Sumner](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethansumner404/)**[ ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethansumner404/)via LinkedIn. You can find our YouTube Channel **[here.](https://www.youtube.com/@CommunityStackHQ)** This community forms part of the **[Community Stack ecosystem](https://www.meetup.com/pro/generative-ai-uk-community/)**[ ](https://www.meetup.com/pro/generative-ai-uk-community/)and follows the Community Stack Code of Conduct to ensure a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all attendees.

We will show a variety of methods for building agents that run in Microsoft Foundry. This covers the different types of agents: Prompt, Multi, and Hosted, as well as the development lifecycle using evals and traces.

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.

**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** *Spec-Driven Development with GitHub Spec-Kit: From Intent to Implementation* Spec-driven development flips the traditional workflow on its head: instead of code being the source of truth, the specification becomes the backbone of design, collaboration, and delivery. In this session, we’ll explore how GitHub Spec-Kit enables teams to treat specifications as first-class artifacts—living documents that drive architecture, implementation, and verification. You’ll learn how Spec-Kit helps teams clearly express intent using structured, version-controlled specs that live alongside code. We’ll walk through a practical workflow that starts with defining system behavior and constraints, then progressively refines those specs into testable, automatable outcomes. Along the way, we’ll show how specs can reduce ambiguity, improve cross-functional collaboration, and make design decisions explicit before a single line of production code is written. This talk will cover: --What spec-driven development is (and what it isn’t) --How GitHub Spec-Kit fits into modern developer workflows --Using specs to align product, engineering, and AI-assisted development --Real-world examples of turning specs into implementations with confidence Whether you’re building greenfield systems, integrating AI into your stack, or trying to reduce costly rework, spec-driven development offers a scalable way to move faster without sacrificing clarity. Attendees will leave with concrete patterns and a clear mental model for adopting GitHub Spec-Kit in their own projects. **YouTube Link** TBA

Connected Westerville Night of Networking flips the script on networking, with surprises and connections that'll make you say, "Who knew networking could be this much fun?!"

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!

#### Turning Rentals Into Income: How Investors Pay Off Properties Faster #### **Featuring Guest Speaker: John Blackburn** ** Get your FREE TICKET [HERE](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/turning-rentals-into-income-how-investors-pay-off-properties-faster-tickets-1980492192461?aff=cicmeetupapp)** #### A lot of people get into real estate because they want freedom. Then they buy a rental…and realize most of the rent goes straight to the bank. They technically own property, but the mortgage controls the income. And waiting 30 years for properties to be paid off doesn’t feel realistic. This meetup is about understanding a different way to think about rental properties… one that focuses on paying them off sooner so the income is actually usable. **Featured Guest Speaker: John Blackburn** We’re excited to welcome John Blackburn as our guest speaker for this event. John has been actively investing in real estate since 2006 and has: * Been involved in **5,000+ real estate transactions** * Helped investors **acquire over $150 million in rental property** * **Raised more than $100 million** in private capital John didn’t start with family money or shortcuts. He built his portfolio by focusing on clear systems, real numbers, and long-term strategy. For this meetup, John will walk through how investors shift their focus from simply owning rentals to building properties that eventually pay them…without a mortgage attached. **What You’ll Learn** John will break down, in simple terms: * Why most rental properties don’t produce much usable income early on * Why buying more rentals isn’t always the answer * How investors structure their properties to pay off mortgages in a fraction of the time * How properties can work together to eliminate debt faster * What changes once rentals become free and clear This approach is often referred to as an accelerated paydown strategy — using rental income intentionally to reduce debt sooner, rather than waiting decades for mortgages to run their course. John will also share a simple calculator you can use to see how this works with real numbers and realistic scenarios. **The Core Idea** When a rental has a mortgage, the rent has one job: **pay the bank.** When a rental is paid off, the rent has a different job: **pay you.** Most people only see one timeline…30 years. This session shows how investors shorten that timeline and gradually increase their income as properties become free and clear. **Who This Event Is For** This event is for people who want more than just “owning rentals” on paper. * Rental owners who are tired of most of the rent going to the bank and want a clearer path to real, usable income * New investors who want to understand how rental properties actually build wealth over time before jumping in * People with capital who want to invest in real estate with intention and a long-term plan * Anyone serious about freedom and curious how rental properties transition from debt-heavy assets into income-producing ones **Event Details** **Location:** Ohio Brewing Company - 421 E 2nd Ave, Columbus, OH 43201 **Date & Time:** January 25th, 6–8 PM (Doors open at 5:30) **Cost:** Free (Seats are limited - RSVP required) ** Get your FREE TICKET [HERE](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/turning-rentals-into-income-how-investors-pay-off-properties-faster-tickets-1980492192461?aff=cicmeetupapp)** If you’ve ever wondered how rental properties actually turn into freedom —this is the room to be in.

Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/cbus-hug-2026/