Trends and Forecasting

Join the Bitcoin District Book Club! We meet every month to explore new and exciting rabbit holes by reading books that are popular with bitcoiners. Join us for a deep dive into End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration by Peter Turchin. In this thought-provoking session, we’ll explore the structural forces that have historically led to societal instability—and why Turchin believes we are entering such a period today. Drawing on his work in “cliodynamics” (the quantitative study of history), Turchin examines cycles of rising inequality, elite overproduction, and political fragmentation. We’ll discuss how internal competition among elites and growing public discontent have repeatedly destabilized societies—from ancient Rome to modern America—and what this might mean for the decades ahead. For those interested in macro trends, power structures, and long-term societal patterns, this book offers a compelling framework for understanding today’s increasingly chaotic world. Buy the book on [Amazon](https://a.co/d/097mab73) **Event Notes:** * Discussion Starters: We’ll kick things off with a few key questions around elite dynamics and societal cycles, but feel free to bring your own perspectives. * Future Reads: Let us know if you have recommendations for future book club selections! We’ll add them to the list posted on our website. * Afterwards: Feel free to join us at Pubkey after the meeting to hang out, continue the conversation, and grab some food! **Getting There:** * 🔴🟢🟡 Gallery Place/Chinatown + 2 min walk * Parking: Street & garage parking available nearby

**Location:** Crimson Whiskey Bar (Either the downstairs whiskey bar, or main floor bar, TBD) The purpose of Thinkers and Drinkers is to facilitate casual but meaningful and interesting conversations with other people in a face-to-face setting. The topics cover a wide variety of issues and are different for every meeting. While conversations may get heated at times, we ask that all members be respectful of each other and refrain from personal insults. \*\*\* **Topic: The Future of DC** DC is set to undergo a lot of changes over the next 5 years. There are changes to the local political structure, massive real estate projects in the works, and the federal plans to "beautify the city." We want to hear your opinions on these and what direction you would want to DC move toward. **Local Politics** DC will be implementing ranked choice voting in it's upcoming primaries this June for the first time in it's history.[ (Ben from Ben's Chili Bowl Explains this)](https://www.opportunity-dc.org/post/rank-your-vote-dc-launches-first-ads-to-educate-voters-featuring-ben-ali-owner-of-ben-s-chili-bow). This includes elections for mayor, attorney general, and city council, which could have a huge impact on the city's future. **Beautifying the City** Trump issued an executive order in March 2025 titled "Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful," and has since gone much further, announcing plans to spend $2 billion within a three-mile radius of the White House, repaving streets and replacing infrastructure he called emblematic of a ["hellhole.](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/aug/22/trump-says-hes-asking-congress-billions-beautify-dc-streets/)" His latest budget takes it even further, proposing a $10 billion ["Presidential Capital Stewardship Program](https://rollcall.com/2026/04/06/trumps-budget-proposal-for-interior-seeks-to-make-dc-beautiful-again/)" for construction and beautification projects in and around DC. **New Developments** It would be impossible to talk about the future of DC without talking about how the landscape has and is changing. Neighborhoods that were previously "Places where you only go to get drugs," like NOMA have become prime examples of gentrified neighborhoods with bustling restaurants and bars. With billions of dollars' worth of residential projects popping up all over the city, other neighborhoods are set to experience similar transformations, especially with developments like the new RFK Stadium.

Everyone has access to AI. Everyone is creating more content. The real question is **How do you create content that actually performs when everyone is using the same tools?** At this DC Marketing Tech Talks session, we’re going beyond prompts and tools and getting into what actually matters now: * How to build a content strategy that doesn’t fall into the “AI slop” trap * How AI and search engines are actually evaluating and surfacing your content * How to distribute and structure your content so it reaches the right audience and drives results **What This Session Will Cover** This session is designed as a focused, three-part experience, with each speaker taking a different angle on what it really means to create content in an AI-driven world. We’ll start with **[Tara L. Finney](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarafinney/)**, who brings a strategic lens shaped by over two decades of building content programs across B2B and B2C. Tara will walk through how to build a content strategy that aligns with your business goals, reflects your brand, and resonates with your audience. From there, **[Stephen Hart](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamstephenahart/)** will shift the focus to what happens after the content is created. Because even strong content fails if it doesn’t reach the right people. He’ll walk through how to structure your content ecosystem so it can be distributed effectively, reused across channels, and scaled without requiring constant output or burnout. We’ll close with **[Alex Lindley](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lindley-50823437/)**, who will take the conversation into how content is actually being evaluated today. As AI becomes a gatekeeper for discovery, it’s no longer just about what you publish, but how it’s interpreted. Alex will unpack how AI and search systems read, assess, and surface your content, giving you a clearer understanding of what drives visibility in an AI-influenced search landscape. This is a practical discussion about how to create content that shows up, gets read, and supports real business growth in a world shaped by AI. If you’re a marketer, founder, or content leader trying to figure out how to stay relevant in an AI-saturated world, this is the conversation you need to be in.

We are the Federal Center Toastmasters Club. We meet the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Thursday of each month in Hyattsville, MD, from 12 noon to 1pm. Our meetings are held at the headquarters of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics of the CDC. Our meetings are open to the public, though visitors must go through building security procedures. For visitors who are not U.S. citizens, we do need to pre-coordinate a first visit with our security team. Contact us at: 1260@toastmastersclubs.org. We have been a Toastmasters Club for 40 years and always welcome new members! Join us, and you will improve your public-speaking and leadership skills in a friendly, supportive atmosphere!

• What we'll do On https://blackecon101.podbean.com/ Thursdays at 6 pm. discussing the economy....

It’s been a while… but we’re back for Third Thursday 🎉 Join us on Thursday, April 16, 2026 for a fun evening of good vibes, great company, and a chance to reconnect! 📍 Sports & Social 1314 U St NW, Washington, DC 20009 🕕 6–9 PM Bring your friends, meet new faces, and let’s make it a night to remember. See you there! ✨ And yes, we will be having events on Third Thursdays of the remaining months in 2026! Save the dates!

**‼️This is a MAFN (Mid-Atlantic Facilitators Network) event. To attend, register at [https://mafn.org/event-6471409](https://mafn.org/event-6471409)** WHEN: Friday\, April 17\, 2026 \| WHERE: Mason Fuse Center \- 3401 Fairfax Drive Arlington\, VA 22201 Don't miss out on this opportunity to Explore \| Sharpen \| Connect We’re bringing the MAFN community together in person this spring - Join us! **What You will Experience** Expect a day filled with fresh ideas, meaningful conversations, and the energy of being in community. Attendees will direct their own agenda around the content themes through interactive workshops and meaningful opportunities to connect and network before and after the conference. **CONTENT Themes:** * Business development in dynamic times * Technology shifts in facilitation * Facilitating amid polarization and conflict **Who Should Attend and Why** If you lead groups, facilitate change, or guide learning, New Frontiers in Facilitation is designed for you. This one-day, in-person conference brings together facilitators, trainers, educators, coaches, mediators, and organizational leaders to explore cutting-edge practices in business development, technology in facilitation, and working across divided contexts. Beyond the sessions, the conference emphasizes intentional networking to help you build meaningful connections that last well beyond the event. Join us and leave inspired, equipped, and connected for the future of facilitation. **SCHEDULE** * Registration & Coffee Networking from 8:30 * Plenary * Rae Ringel - Rupture & Renewal, How Facilitation Evolves in a Polarized AI-Driven World * Six workshops in three parallel sessions (the opportunity to join three in the program) * Bola Audena - Scaling with Purpose: Building a Thriving Facilitation Brand in the Age of AI * Carly Chomer & Kim Fredrich - Make Your Business Development Meaningful Not Mechanical * Christine Gerson & Eboney Dixon-Crump - Clarity, Curiosity and Connection: Coaching Through Polarization & Communicating Across Differences * Jennie Toner-Algin - Find the Beat: Using Musical Techniques to Reduce Polarization and Navigate Group Conflict * Mike Burns - AI and Facilitation: Asking Not What It Can Do, But What It Should Do * Nikki Frias - Building Bridges in Conflict and Uncertainty with Applied Improv * Lunch & Networking * Parallel sessions * Knowledge Cafe: Join table hosts for skills-based learning * Open Space: Join fellow participants to reflect on key learnings, collaboratively explore emerging questions, and engage in self-directed dialogue with peers. * Closing * Happy Hour & Networking from 4:00 **Sponsorships available** Interested in reaching 100+ facilitators and organizational leaders? Contact us today to ask about being the sole presenting sponsor! View Sponsorship Opportunities: [https://mafn.org/resources/Documents/MAFN%20New%20Frontiers%20Sponsorship%20Deck.pdf](https://mafn.org/resources/Documents/MAFN%20New%20Frontiers%20Sponsorship%20Deck.pdf) Email Us: treasurer@mafn.org **Rates** **Members:** Early-Bird (until 11:59 pm on 2/15/26): $99.00 Regular Rate starting 2/16/26: $129.00 Membership Bundle (Member & Registration): $199.00 **Non-Members:** Non-Member Early Bird (until 11:59 pm on 2/15/26): $129.00 **Students:** Current/Active Student: $79.00

Come join us for brunch with a view of the Potomac

Have you seen the movie “**The AI Doc**: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist” and are left with questions and thoughts that you're longing to express? A group of friends went to see this documentary and couldn’t stop thinking or discussing about it. Now we want to hear from more people who have seen the movie! Come share your thoughts about AI and the world. **NOT from a technological perspective but where our future lies ahead**. We will start from the key **questions** asked in the documentary, including but not limited to: \- Is it the worst or best time to be born now\, at the age of AI? \- Are you an apocaloptimist or pessimist? \- Did anything in the film challenge your previous beliefs about AI? \- Do you think AI will reduce or worsen inequality? \- What can we\, as the general public\, do to ensure AI safety? 💡Disclaimer: We aim to create a thoughtful, open, and respectful space for sharing ideas. You may encounter perspectives that differ from your own—and that’s part of what makes these conversations meaningful. Sometimes, it’s through contrasting viewpoints that the most interesting insights emerge. We encourage everyone to listen with curiosity and engage with respect. 📍We'll be meeting at a cafe near Dupont Circle. Location will be confirmed later this week, depending on the number of attendees.

**\*TO ATTEND GET TICKET At** [https://www.socialevents123.com/event-details.aspx?id=13395#tix](https://www.socialevents123.com/event-details.aspx?id=13395#tix) (Multiple Meetup groups are co-organizing so the RSVP's shown are just a very small portion attending. We'll have at least 20 registered.) Our last online Bingo Night Party was such a BIG hit, we're doing it again! Do you like to play BINGO or want to just do something different?! Then you will LOVE this event! Here is your opportunity to have some fun playing our Live "Bingo" game. You will also get to socialize and make other friends from the comfort of your home. Prizes included Amazon gift cards, free future events and more! This completely online event will be LIVE and you will be able to see and hear the other participants while playing. You will either need to print or draw out your bingo cards. We will email you with how to get it after registering. You can have more than 1 person on your team as long as they're from your house and use same device. Friends/family around the country can also play. They would just need to also register for a ticket. This event will be held on Zoom which you would access through your computer/webcam, or via your phone/tablet. On day of the event, you will get a secured Zoom link and link to print out Bingo cards. \*RSVPS ON HERE ARE NOT REFLECTIVE OF ACTUAL ATTENDANCE as this is a multi group event. Cost: $15-$20 depending on how early you register. **\*TO ATTEND GET TICKET AT -** [https://www.socialevents123.com/event-details.aspx?id=13395#tix](https://www.socialevents123.com/event-details.aspx?id=13395#tix) To find more fun events: Follow: [https://www.eventbrite.com/o/new-york-city-social-events-10797526283](https://www.eventbrite.com/o/new-york-city-social-events-10797526283) Join: [https://www.meetup.com/NYC-Social/](https://www.meetup.com/NYC-Social/) Click: [https://dljparty.ticketleap.com/](https://dljparty.ticketleap.com/)

BYOC (Bring Your Own Coffee) We’re an independent, non-sponsored Code & Coffee meetup. Because of this approach, we do not provide coffee. Feel free to bring your own if you wish. There are plenty of great cafés across the street in Centreville Square. I recommend Cafein, they make a damn good cappuccino. Meetups will typically be held at the Centreville Regional Library, though I may occasionally rotate to Chantilly or other nearby libraries depending on availability. We start this meetup with a TOTALLY OPTIONAL intro circle. You can share as much or as little as you want—your name, technical background, what you’re working on, interests, or just pass and listen. For questions, comments, and concerns please email me at: timothyfilippone@gmail.com

We invite you to an in-person session in Seattle exploring the real impact of AI on knowledge-driven industries — from shifting economics and the disruption of traditional SaaS and consulting models to where organizations can still build lasting competitive advantage. As AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini continue to redefine how work gets done, organizations face a critical question: how can they adapt, remain competitive, and create lasting value? We’ll discuss practical strategies for integrating AI while preserving human expertise, along with actionable approaches to upskilling teams for an AI-driven workplace. Drawing on real-world experience from training thousands of professionals and deploying AI solutions, this session will provide clear, applicable insights for today’s evolving landscape. Following a short presentation, the session will open into an interactive discussion where attendees can share perspectives and explore key questions around the evolving role of humans, organizational adaptation, and staying competitive in an AI-first world. **Who should attend:** • Executives and managers in SaaS, consulting, and knowledge-driven organizations • Professionals exploring AI upskilling and workforce transformation • Anyone interested in the future of AI and knowledge work 📍 **Location:** Data Science Dojo, 5010 148th Ave NE, Suite 200A, Redmond, WA, United States 🔗 **Google Maps:** [https://lnkd.in/d8WA-yNc](https://lnkd.in/d8WA-yNc) **💻 Online Access:** A livestream will be available for those unable to attend in person; however, the full interactive experience is reserved for in-person participants.

Come join us atthe Pickle & International Food Festival in Sterling, VA. There will be pickle inspired foods, international cuisine, craft beer, and live music. THIS IS NOT A TICKET: Tickets can be found on the link below and general admission is $5 + credit card fee Buy ticket here: https://www.crookedrunfermentation.com/pickle-international-food-festival-2026

Mark has performed many times over the years at St. Timothy and has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard. I have several of his CDs. if that doesn't tell you how long I've been a fan. lol. Google him and listen. His song You are Mine has gotten me through many a tough day. If you would like me to arrange lunch before or dinner afterwards let me know in the comments.

We will be meeting at Starbucks to learn together. Come with an online class you're already going through or an interest and we will try to connect you with a course where you can learn it. Already have a skill you want to contribute to a Kaggle Datascience competition? We will work on these too! Laptop required :)

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Doom and Dinosaurs,”** a look at how mass extinctions shaped the dinosaurs and what research on these events tells us about Earth life’s long-term prospects, with Ian Wilenzik, paleontologist and visiting assistant professor of biology at George Washington University. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-dino-doom](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-dino-doom) .] Pity the poor dinosaurs. They lacked both scientific research to help deal with potential environmental catastrophes and places where they could have a beer and discuss it. You, on the other hand, have the opportunity to come to Profs and Pints to hear a fascinating talk on the impact of mass extinctions on dinosaur evolution and what research on dinosaurs tells us about biodiversity and Earth’s current biodiversity crisis. Dr. Ian Wilenzik, who has studied and taught courses on dinosaur evolution, population spread, and extinction, will leave you with a greater appreciation of the resilience of life on earth and how we’re both the product and source of biologically catastrophic events. Many of us are familiar with how a big meteor impact about 66 million years ago wiped out the Earth’s dinosaur population, leaving us only with their feathered descendants, birds. Less well known is how the Earth actually has undergone five periods of mass extinction that wiped out nearly all life, and how dinosaurs arose from one and endured another—both caused by volcanic activity—before meeting their match in the third. To ground his discussion, Dr. Wilenzik will talk about how we study mass extinctions by looking for geologic evidence of volcanic activity, meteoric blasts, and other catastrophic activity and of gaps in the fossil record after them. He’ll also discuss what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur, describing their distinct anatomical features. He’ll talk about how they and other forms of life evolved over long periods of time and were affected by extinction events. We’ll look at how the meteor-caused mass extinction that wiped out dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous paved the way for the rise of mammals and the emergence of primates, and, eventually, us. Looking ahead to future mass extinctions and what might survive them, we’ll talk about how that plant you forget to water might have the last laugh, as well as why crocodiles might be around a while. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: A *Triceratops* mounted skeleton at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History (Photo by Allie Caulfield / Wikimedia Commons).