User Experience

🎉 Come along to the London Scala Talks for a deep dive into functional architecture! 🎉 In this event you'll hear from David Lebl and Przemysław Pokrywka. **Agenda** 6:00pm - 🥤 Doors open. Come along and grab a drink! 6:35pm - 🗣️ Introduction 6:40pm - 🗣️ Przemysław Pokrywka: Ports and Adapters for People on Tight Schedules 7:20pm - 🍕 Intermission: Join us for some free food and drinks! Vegan and vegetarian options are provided. Let us know if you'd like something special - we'd be happy to accommodate. 7:50pm - 🗣️ David Lebl: Complexity is a Sin, But Hexagons Forgive 8:30pm - 🥤 Socialising: Grab a drink and let's discuss the talks. 9:00pm - 🍻 Join us in a pub to discuss the talks! 🌐 **This event will not have a live stream** We hope to see you there in person. **🗣️ Przemysław Pokrywka: Ports and Adapters for People on Tight Schedules** Focus on software architecture is not always associated with pragmatism in common perception. Terms such as architecture astronautics and the ivory tower stereotype highlight the perceived disconnect between many architects and the realities of day-to-day code maintenance. Too often, architectural patterns are applied with insufficient understanding, leading to cargo-cult adoption and increased waste in the software development process. When applied in the right context, however, certain architectural approaches can be powerful enablers. In this talk, I would like to share the story of a serverless application in which elements of the Ports and Adapters architecture made a tangible, positive difference. ⭐ Przemysław Pokrywka ⭐ Husband, dad, grandad, software engineer. Functional Scala enthusiast with imperative OOP Java background. Fan of the command line. **🗣️ David Lebl: Complexity is a Sin, But Hexagons Forgive** A visual journey from spaghetti to sanity. This talk traces how cognitive load accumulates in unconstrained codebases, how domain-driven design and bounded contexts restore order, and how hexagonal architecture provides a practical, forgiving structure for real-world systems — all laid out on a single zoomable canvas where every example links back to the bigger picture. ⭐ David Lebl ⭐ David is a software developer with a CS background and 5 years of Scala and FP experience. He leads a small team, occasionally survives his own accidental complexity, and is here to share what he learned the hard way. ———————————————————— 🗣️ Would you like to present, but are not sure how to start? Give a talk with us and you'll receive mentorship from a trained toastmaster! Get in touch through [this form](https://forms.gle/zv5i9eeto1BsnSwe8) and we'll get you started 🏡 Interested in hosting or supporting us? Please get in touch through [this form](https://forms.gle/3SX3Bm6zHqVodBaMA) and we can discuss how you can get involved. 📜 All London Scala User Group events operate under the [Scala Community Code of Conduct](https://www.scala-lang.org/conduct/). We encourage each of you to report the breach of the conduct, either anonymously through [this form](https://forms.gle/9PMMorUWgBnbk1mm6) or by contacting one of our team members. We guarantee privacy and confidentiality, as well as that we will take your report seriously and react quickly.

*We have limited space, but we will do our best to record the event and publish on our [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_a-vGdkAIRMKT1zzZ4I2ag) soon afterwards.* \-\-\-\- \-\-\-\- \-\-\-\-\- Flutter London will be back with another exciting event for 2026! We look forward to seeing some familiar and new faces. We are excited to announce the next FlutterLDN on ***Wednesday 10th June*** is being hosted at [BT](https://www.bt.com/about), (thanks go to [Few&Far](https://www.fewandfar.io/) for helping to arrange this). We're thrilled to deliver the familiar setup we all cherish and enjoy. Join us for an evening filled with insightful talks, networking opportunities, and a delightful surprise spread of food and drinks, thoughtfully put together by [George](https://georgemedve.co.uk/) and [Tom](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomshannon1/) team - guaranteed to impress and satisfy. **The venue address is:** BT - One Braham 1 Braham St, London E1 8EE maps: [https://maps.app.goo.gl/UdexaanKGxCYGASM7](https://maps.app.goo.gl/UdexaanKGxCYGASM7) ⏰ **Schedule:** [6:00pm] Arrival & registration [6:15pm] Drinks and snacks and socialising (sponsored by BT and Few&Far) [6:45pm] Introduction from FlutterLDN and [Few&Far](https://www.fewandfar.io/) [7:00pm] **Talk 1:** Morgan McKenzie \| dart:ffi [7:45pm] **Talk 2:** Renan Araujo \| Bringing AI to Life with Shaders and FFI [8:30pm] Q&A and networking [9:00pm] Drinks and chat: TBD \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- 🌟**Talks and Speaker Information:** **// 🚀 Talk 1:** Morgan McKenzie \| How to use FFI to integrate 3rd party non\-dart libraries * build hooks, allowing for building sources (i.e. c code) alongside the library/plugin * FFIGen for Swift/Objc * JNIGen for Java/Kotlin * *Tags: FFI, iOS, Native, Flutter Android, Desktop* **\-\-\-\-** // Morgan's Links Github: [https://github.com/rmtmckenzie](https://github.com/rmtmckenzie) X/Twitter: --- LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmtmckenzie](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmtmckenzie) **// 🚀 Talk 2:** Renan Araujo \| Discover how to use Dart FFI and shaders to build a living particle system\. We'll explore creating a dynamic AI persona that pushes Flutter's performance limits\. *Tags:* Flutter, Dart, FFI, InterOp // links: Web: [https://renan.gg](https://renan.gg) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/renancaraujo/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/renancaraujo/) Mastodon: [@renan@fluttercommunity.social](https://fluttercommunity.social/@renan) X/Twitter: [https://x.com/reNotANumber](https://x.com/reNotANumber) Github: [https://github.com/renancaraujo/](https://github.com/renancaraujo/photo_view) **FlutterLDN:** BlueSky: [https://bsky.app/profile/flutterldn.dev](https://bsky.app/profile/flutterldn.dev) X/Twitter us @FlutterLDN [https://x.com/FlutterLDN](https://x.com/FlutterLDN) Flutter London YouTube channel: [http://bit.ly/2yZLTTb](http://bit.ly/2yZLTTb) See you there! **[George Medve](https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgemedve/)** is Professional Mobile App Consultant and building and scaling teams for success. **[fewandfar](https://www.fewandfar.io/)** is a Tech, Product, Data and Design recruitment company, **[Tom Shannon](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomshannon1/)** who heads up mobile hiring and will be at the event.

**Welcome!** Join us for **Thought Experiments in Hertfordshire**, a chance to meet new people and discuss interesting questions in a wonderful space. No experience necessary. We will discuss three different thought experiments (you could also call them scenarios) on the theme of **Curiosity.** This is one of our ‘taster’ sessions which means you can try out Thought Experiments in Hertfordshire for free (tickets are usually £5). The group is part of the [Thought Experiments in Pubs](https://alltogether.one/thoughtexperimentsinpubs) network so if you've been to one of those events, you'll know the score. **What to expect** We will discuss three thought experiments in small groups of four. There will be an opportunity to change groups between each thought experiment, so you’ll get the chance to meet and talk to quite a few different people at each event. At the end of the session we’ll have a short get together as a whole group to share thoughts and ‘vote’ on a few questions, so that you can get a sense of everyone’s views. After that feel free to stay and chat with your fellow thinkers! A link to the thought experiments will be posted in the comments below on the day of the event, in case you want to read them ahead of time, but there’s no requirement to do this. **Who should come?** Everyone. No experience required. Each session is standalone. The more perspectives, the richer the conversation. The vibe is calm and inquisitive so leave your boxing gloves at home! If you have friends who are not on Meetup but who might enjoy this event, feel free to get an extra ticket for them when you sign up. **The Venue** The beautiful [Old Manor](https://www.the-old-manor.co.uk/) pub in Potters Bar. Dating back to the 13th century, the building is the surviving part of an old manor house. We’ll be at the top of the stairs in a space called ‘The Eaves’. Ask at the bar if you can't find us! **Address:** **The Old Manor, Wyllyotts Place, Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, EN6 2JD.** **By train:** the nearest station is Potters Bar (a 4 minute walk to the venue) with fast train links from Finsbury Park and Kings Cross as well as Welwyn Garden City and Cambridge. **By car:** there’s lots of parking including: the pub's car park; free on-street parking after 6.30 on Darkes Lane; and an underground car park (pay and display) opposite the pub (under Wyllyotts theatre).

This is a smallish-group, quiet-ish meetup for ADHD brains who want to connect with their tribe without their nervous system going, 'Alll riiight, I'm outta here!' Everyone welcome. You don't need a diagnosis, you don't even need ADHD. Just need to be a good egg. We’re meeting at **Picturehouse Central - UPSTAIRS cafe** (Piccadilly) because it’s one of those places where you can actually hear yourself think. Mostly. This is more of a tea/coffee and cake kinda venue. Sorry, booze hounds! **The environment is**: relaxed, validating, welcoming It won't be like whispering to each other at the back of the class, more less sensory Armageddon. **What to expect** A small group (human-scale, not “who are all these people” scale). A quiet-ish venue where you don’t have to shout your personality into existence. Conversation that can be normal (well, probably far from normal 😅. There is no need to worry about trying to fit in, no need to mask. A soft landing. Come late, ease in, do a gentle hello, no one’s timing you. Low-pressure hanging out. If you want to chat, great. If you want to sit and decompress near other people, also great. **The unofficial theme** How to be social without being assaulted by: fluorescent lighting overlapping conversations surprise music that one table doing a full volume podcast recording next to you. **Important Note:** If you cannot make it, please put 'Can't go'. This ensures there's space for others who want to attend 🙂 ‐------------------------------------------------------ Boundaries (quick, clear, important) Yay!-DHD is a consent-led space. Some people are chatty, some are quiet, some are pacing themselves. Please don’t push for personal details, contact info, or continued connection if someone isn’t offering it. This isn’t a dating event. ‐------------------------------------------------------- For you robots out there: ADHD \| Low sensory meetup \| Inclusive \| AUDHD \|

**Hello there!** Our Face-to-Face Afternoon Classes are back this June in London! Are you learning English as a second language and looking for an opportunity to practise your English? Interested in **free, in-person classes**? We’ve got you covered! Here at **Stafford House,** our teachers-in-training are gaining hands-on experience by teaching enthusiastic English learners. Each lesson is interactive and fun, with plenty of opportunities to practise speaking, meet other learners, and improve your English along the way. We also offer **free online English classes**. Check out our other events for more information! Please see the **updated** details below! 🕑 **When:** From **8th June - 2nd July (4 weeks)** ➡️**Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays** 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. ➡️**Fridays** 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m 📍 **Where:** Stafford House London, 2 Southampton Place, WC1A 2DA (just 2 minutes from Holborn Station) 📚 **Level: Both levels available** **\- Pre\-Intermediate \(A2\-B1\)** **\- Upper\-Intermediate \(B2\)** Spaces are limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Please arrive **15- 30 minutes early** to secure your spot. We will ask for your name and email upon arrival. *Please note⚠️ confirming attendance on Meetup does not guarantee a place in the classroom.* **Please note that class times or dates may occasionally change due to the nature of the course. If this happens, we will inform you by email.** We look forward to seeing you all very soon! Got Questions? send us an email at [[[teachertraining@staffordhouse.com](mailto:teachertraining@staffordhouse.com)]

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/49011 **Game Description:** Drills and Games for Lower Intermediate level on a smaller court. Led by a club's coach and open to 6-8 club members and 6 players from Sportas. **Rules** Respect all participants and have fun! Everyone plays all the time, no waiting around.

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/38104 **Game Description:** Please be aware that our sessions are also on our own mobile app. Therefore, the number of participants you currently see may not reflect the total number of participants. Elevate your volleyball skills at our adult coaching sessions! Led by expert coaches, our sessions cater to all levels, from beginners to experienced players. Develop your technique, agility, and teamwork through drills and gameplay. Join our vibrant community and unleash your full potential on the court. Let's play, learn, and excel together. **Rules** By booking this session, you acknowledge and agree to comply with our terms and conditions, privacy policies, and cancellation policy, which can be found below. Terms & Conditions at: https://www.littlegiantsvc.com/terms-and-conditions Privacy Policy at: https://www.littlegiantsvc.com/privacy-policy

Looking to organise a first meet up for a Dessert Social. Am confirming venues but will scout some good dessert places and the format for the meetup. The format will likely be a dessert oriented location that has coffee / tea etc.. so we can get to know each and chit chat Please do confirm if you can make it.

**Note this is a ticketed event, please purchase a ticket from here to attend.** 🚀 Ready for the UK's premier Microsoft Community event? Experts Live UK is back and bigger than ever! 🚀 If you want to skyrocket your technical skills, forge invaluable industry connections, and get a front-row seat to the future of Microsoft technology, you need to be in the room. This year’s edition is a powerhouse of practical knowledge split across two action-packed days! 🌐 Event Details: 📍 Location: London 📅 Date: Thursday – Friday, June 11–12, 2026 🎟️ Website & Tickets: [eluk26.expertslive.co.uk](https://eluk26.expertslive.co.uk/) 📅 Agenda at a Glance: The Ultimate Two-Day Formula We are changing the game this year. The conference is structured into two distinct, high-impact days designed to give you the ultimate learning experience: * DAY 1 (June 11) – 5 Elite Deep-Dive Hands-On Workshops: Bring your laptop, log into real lab environments, and configure systems side-by-side with Microsoft MVPs. No endless slide decks—just pure, practical implementation. Choose your elite track from the 5 available core topics: Intune, Entra, Agents, Fabric, and Power Platform. Wrap up the day at our legendary Evening Happy Hour with complimentary drinks, canapés, and great music! * DAY 2 (June 12) – Dynamic Breakout Sessions & Keynotes: A highly-charged, multi-track day featuring 35 expert-led sessions, live technical demonstrations, real-world field experiences, and the latest enterprise announcements. To help you navigate the ultimate Day 2 experience, the sessions are organized into core cutting-edge pillars directly sourced from the official agenda: * 🤖 The AI & Data Agent Track: Demystify the enterprise AI landscape! Dive deep with core sessions focused on real-world engineering and architecture, including "Navigating the Copilot Maze: Choose the Right AI Agent for Your Enterprise", "Architecting multi-agent solutions with Copilot Studio vs. M365 Agents Toolkit", and "Building & Scalable Enterprise AI Agents". Plus, learn common pitfalls to avoid in "You Give Agents A Bad Name: Key Copilot Studio Mistakes To Avoid", accelerate organizational rollout with "GitHub Copilot Adoption: Lessons Learned", prepare your architecture via "Containers first, files next: a layered path to Copilot readiness in Microsoft 365", and enhance analytics using "Conversational Experiences in Microsoft Fabric with Data Agents". * 🔐 The Next-Gen Security & Identity Track: Arm your defenses with frontline security infrastructure tactics. Learn to build modern network perimeters with "Zero Trust Network Access with Microsoft Entra Private Access", accelerate incident containment using AI via "AI-Speed IAM Response with Microsoft Security Copilot", and secure data using "Securing AI Apps and Agents with Microsoft Purview & Beyond" alongside "Signal Over Noise: AI-Powered Data Security at Speed and Scale". Master forensic cloud investigations with "Sherlock in the Cloud: Solving Compliance and Investigation Mysteries with Microsoft Purview", leverage AI monitoring via "AI-Driven: Modernising Enterprise Security with Microsoft Sentinel", and discover how to "Strengthen cyber resilience for Entra ID and Microsoft 365". * 💻 The Modern Endpoint, Cloud PC & Infrastructure Track: Walk away with actionable field blueprints directly from deployment experts. Catch live infrastructure configurations in "What’s New in Windows 365 & AVD: Live Demos, Real-World Practices, and the Future of Cloud PCs", explore virtualization strategies with "Choosing the Right VDI & DaaS Strategy in 2026: A Practical Guide for Real-World Use Cases", and streamline endpoint compliance with "OpenIntuneBaseline 101 - Intune Easy Mode". Maximize your environments using "What to watch when configuring your Intune tenant - notes from the field", "Ten(-ish) learnings from ten years of Windows Autopilot", "Simplifying Android Enterprise Management: Selecting the Right Mode for Your Organization", and master advanced telemetry through "Mastering KQL: A Guide for Endpoint Admins". * 📊 The Workplace Productivity & Power Stack Track: Supercharge business processes, data flows, and team collaboration. Discover advanced analytics integrations with "Dataverse, Power BI and Microsoft Fabric", optimize dashboard creation using "AI for Power BI Professionals: The Prompt Pack That Actually Makes You Better at Your Job" and "Wireframes to Wow: Building Beautiful Power BI Dashboards in Minutes". Learn how to clean up digital workspaces in "Spark joy in Microsoft 365: Marie Kondo your data", organize deployment rollouts with "Everything under control: The new Microsoft Planner as a command center for projects", and tackle workforce deployment challenges in "Solved: The challenge of onboarding and involving mobile first users". 🌟 Don't miss inspirational and vital community panels including "The Human Hack: The Future of Consulting Culture", "Neurodiversity in the Workplace: Stories of Struggles and Superpowers", and "Women in Tech: Real Stories, Real Change." 🎯 Why You CANNOT Miss This This isn't just another passive webinar where you sit back and scroll through your phone. Experts Live UK 2026 is built for real impact. * Top-Tier Global Speakers: Learn directly from internationally recognized Microsoft MVPs, community champions, and tech leaders who are deploying these solutions at scale every single day. * The Most In-Demand Tech Skills: From Agentic AI and Fabric to cutting-edge Entra ID security and Intune policies. You’ll walk away with skills that immediately increase your market value. * Unmatched Community Vibes: Network during the Vendor Expo, ask your burning questions in MVP roundtable discussions, and unwind at the end of Day 1 at our Happy Hour with complimentary food, drinks, and career-changing conversations! 🎟️ Secure Your Ticket Before They Sell Out! Because Day 1 features fully interactive, hands-on labs, seats across the 5 workshops are strictly limited to ensure a high-quality experience for every attendee. Don't wait—invest in your career and become the go-to Microsoft expert in your organization. Your ticket is an all-inclusive pass to premium growth: * Full access to your choice of the 5 hands-on workshops and all 35 Day 2 breakout sessions, * Catering, coffee, and refreshments throughout both days, * Entry to the official Expo and the evening networking parties (complete with free drinks and food!). * 👉 Get your ticket now: [Experts Live UK 2026 - Registration](https://eluk26.expertslive.co.uk/) See you in London!

Join us for the **Cloud Native & Open Source AI Conference**, a full-day, in-person event bringing together engineers, architects, platform teams, AI practitioners, technical leaders, and open-source communities working at the intersection of **cloud-native infrastructure, open-source AI, and production-scale systems**. **MAKE SURE TO REGISTER HERE: https://www.communitystack.io/conferences/cloud-native-london USE CODE: CommunityStack for a free ticket** ## Opening Keynote **Evolving the Kubernetes User Experience: More Intuitive, More Extensible, More Agentic** With: **Andrew Randall** — Principal PM, Office of the CPO, Microsoft **Pal Lakatos-Toth** — Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Kubernetes has become the default platform for modern workloads, and increasingly for AI systems. This keynote will explore how the Kubernetes user experience is evolving for both humans learning the platform and AI agents operating within it, with a focus on usability, governance and production readiness. ## Full Conference Programme **09:00 – 09:30** Doors Open **09:30 – 10:15** Opening Keynote: *Evolving the Kubernetes User Experience: More Intuitive, More Extensible, More Agentic* Andrew Randall, Microsoft Pal Lakatos-Toth, Microsoft **10:15 – 11:00** Panel: *From HFT to Enterprise Banking: The Talent War for Cloud Native, Open Source and AI Engineers* Moderated by Ethan Sumner, Community Stack Craig Whiting, RLS Search Jon Freedman, Quant Fin **11:30 – 12:00** *The Massively Parallel Agent Stack* Peter Bhabra, Doubleword **12:00 – 12:30** *Controlling AI Agent Access in Cloud-Native Engineering Workflows* Viola Lykova, nuclecode **12:30 – 13:00** *Preventing Silent Interpretation Errors at Scale* Maebh Booth, Senior Engineering Leader, Former M&S **14:00 – 14:30** *Prompt Driven Platforms: The Future of Self-Service Infrastructure* Salman Iqbal & Amir Tayabali, Appvia **14:30 – 15:00** *Platform as a Product: What Happens When We Treat Security as a User?* Hannah Foxwell, Bimp **15:00 – 15:30** *Beyond the Portal: Architecting AI-Native Platforms with CNOE and MCP* Hossein Salahi, Liquid Reply **16:00 – 16:45** *Intro to Apache Kafka on Aiven: From Managed Simplicity to Inkless Architectures* Hugh Evans, Aiven **16:45 – 17:15** Closing Keynote: *The Age of “Big Tech” is Over* Sean M Tracey, Mitchell Technologies **17:15 – 17:30** Closing Remarks Ethan Sumner, Community Stack Mercedes Moxon Greenfield, Community Stack ## Speakers We are delighted to welcome an exceptional speaker lineup, including: Andrew Randall — Principal PM, Office of the CPO, Microsoft Pal Lakatos-Toth — Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Peter Bhabra — Member of Technical Staff, Doubleword Viola Lykova — Senior Software Engineer, nuclecode Hannah Foxwell — Co-Founder, Bimp Sean M Tracey — Founding Technologist, Mitchell Technologies Craig Whiting — Director, RLS Search Jon Freedman — Chief Technology Officer, Quant Fin Ben Davison — Founder, Axiologik Salman Iqbal — Solutions Architect, Appvia Amir Tayabali — Tech Lead, Appvia Maebh Booth — Senior Engineering Leader, Former M&S Hossein Salahi — Senior Principal Engineer, Liquid Reply Jon Shanks — CEO, Appvia Hugh Evans — Senior Product Advocate, Aiven Ethan Sumner — Co-Founder & CEO, Community Stack Mercedes Moxon Greenfield — Co-Founder & CTO, Community Stack ## Sponsors and Partners This conference is made possible through the support of our sponsors and partners: **Headline Sponsor** BrainStation **Platinum Sponsors** Overmind Appvia Harvey Nash Axiologik **AI Native Sponsor** Nearform **Supporting Sponsors and Partners** RLS Search Doubleword Postman X4 Group Engaging Data BIMP Aiven If you'd like to get involved with a future event, please email: ethan.sumner@communitystack.io

Join us for the **Cloud Native & Open Source AI Conference**, a full-day, in-person event bringing together engineers, architects, platform teams, AI practitioners, technical leaders, and open-source communities working at the intersection of **cloud-native infrastructure, open-source AI, and production-scale systems**. **MAKE SURE TO REGISTER HERE: https://www.communitystack.io/conferences/cloud-native-london USE CODE: CommunityStack for a free ticket** ## Opening Keynote **Evolving the Kubernetes User Experience: More Intuitive, More Extensible, More Agentic** With: **Andrew Randall** — Principal PM, Office of the CPO, Microsoft **Pal Lakatos-Toth** — Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Kubernetes has become the default platform for modern workloads, and increasingly for AI systems. This keynote will explore how the Kubernetes user experience is evolving for both humans learning the platform and AI agents operating within it, with a focus on usability, governance and production readiness. ## Full Conference Programme **09:00 – 09:30** Doors Open **09:30 – 10:15** Opening Keynote: *Evolving the Kubernetes User Experience: More Intuitive, More Extensible, More Agentic* Andrew Randall, Microsoft Pal Lakatos-Toth, Microsoft **10:15 – 11:00** Panel: *From HFT to Enterprise Banking: The Talent War for Cloud Native, Open Source and AI Engineers* Moderated by Ethan Sumner, Community Stack Craig Whiting, RLS Search Jon Freedman, Quant Fin **11:30 – 12:00** *The Massively Parallel Agent Stack* Peter Bhabra, Doubleword **12:00 – 12:30** *Controlling AI Agent Access in Cloud-Native Engineering Workflows* Viola Lykova, nuclecode **12:30 – 13:00** *Preventing Silent Interpretation Errors at Scale* Maebh Booth, Senior Engineering Leader, Former M&S **14:00 – 14:30** *Prompt Driven Platforms: The Future of Self-Service Infrastructure* Salman Iqbal & Amir Tayabali, Appvia **14:30 – 15:00** *Platform as a Product: What Happens When We Treat Security as a User?* Hannah Foxwell, Bimp **15:00 – 15:30** *Beyond the Portal: Architecting AI-Native Platforms with CNOE and MCP* Hossein Salahi, Liquid Reply **16:00 – 16:45** *Intro to Apache Kafka on Aiven: From Managed Simplicity to Inkless Architectures* Hugh Evans, Aiven **16:45 – 17:15** Closing Keynote: *The Age of “Big Tech” is Over* Sean M Tracey, Mitchell Technologies **17:15 – 17:30** Closing Remarks Ethan Sumner, Community Stack Mercedes Moxon Greenfield, Community Stack ## Speakers We are delighted to welcome an exceptional speaker lineup, including: Andrew Randall — Principal PM, Office of the CPO, Microsoft Pal Lakatos-Toth — Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Peter Bhabra — Member of Technical Staff, Doubleword Viola Lykova — Senior Software Engineer, nuclecode Hannah Foxwell — Co-Founder, Bimp Sean M Tracey — Founding Technologist, Mitchell Technologies Craig Whiting — Director, RLS Search Jon Freedman — Chief Technology Officer, Quant Fin Ben Davison — Founder, Axiologik Salman Iqbal — Solutions Architect, Appvia Amir Tayabali — Tech Lead, Appvia Maebh Booth — Senior Engineering Leader, Former M&S Hossein Salahi — Senior Principal Engineer, Liquid Reply Jon Shanks — CEO, Appvia Hugh Evans — Senior Product Advocate, Aiven Ethan Sumner — Co-Founder & CEO, Community Stack Mercedes Moxon Greenfield — Co-Founder & CTO, Community Stack ## Sponsors and Partners This conference is made possible through the support of our sponsors and partners: **Headline Sponsor** BrainStation **Platinum Sponsors** Overmind Appvia Harvey Nash Axiologik **AI Native Sponsor** Nearform **Supporting Sponsors and Partners** RLS Search Doubleword Postman X4 Group Engaging Data BIMP Aiven If you'd like to get involved with a future event, please email: ethan.sumner@communitystack.io

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/45756 **Game Description:** Come and play in a casual 6 aside game on a Sunday afternoon ⚽️ It’s a beautiful pitch with larger goals 😍 💦 Showers, changing rooms, water fountain and toilets available. **Directions:** 🚶‍♂️1 minute walk from Poplar DLR station 🚗 No designated car parking **Rules** \- Change keeper every 6 minutes \- Classic 6 aside rules \- No slide tackles\, play safe \- Respect everyone on the pitch

We playtest all sorts of tabletop games - strategic, silly, creative, or whatever (but not video games). Some games are almost done. Some are very early ideas. We test anything that will fit into 90 minutes. You don't need to bring a game - we always love to have new playtesters! Please let us know in the comments when you plan to arrive/leave and whether you are bringing a game or not. This helps us to plan the day better. The schedule is: 10am onwards - gathering, chatting 11am sharp - playing for 90 min ('slot 1') 12:30ish - break for food/chat 1pm sharp - playing for 90 min ('slot 2') 2:30ish - break for food/chat 3pm sharp - playing for 90 min ('slot 3') 4:30ish - finish up Often, we might hang around afterwards, to play some already-published games. We are strict on timings, so please try to arrive a few minutes before the session to limit disruption. You can just come for part of the day if you wish. The reason we have fixed timings for the 3 'slots' is to make it easier for folk to do so. Designers of all levels of experience are welcome! But if it's your first time, we ask that you don't bring a game and just spend some time learning how the group works. The group works based on reciprocation. If you expect to test your own game, make sure stay for long enough to play other games. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect to play one of your own games every third 90-minute session. So if you stay a whole day (3 sessions), you can expect to have one session to play your game(s). A good rule of thumb is that if you come all day, you will have one 90 minute session with two other playtesters in which to test your own games. It is sometimes possible to test games with more players. If your game requires 4 or more, please note that as standard you will be allocated half of a session (45 minutes). Pre-covid, we were getting unmanageable. As a result, we may have to limit attendees. This is a free-to-use venue, and we have to be mindful that other folk want to use the same space. Please note: This is an adults only event. We look forward to seeing you!

**BOOK HERE**: https://sportas.co.uk/games/46680 **Game Description:** Come and join our badminton session in Canning Town 🔥 Join our whatsapp Group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LsLjg8CxI8MIxSFb82qkdb Music 🎶 3 courts, social session - the general ability is mid intermediate. There will be spare rackets but please bring your own racket if you do have one. 1 new tube of FEATHERED shuttles will be provided per session, plus a set of Yonex 300 plastic shuttles. 🚪 Getting Into the School 1\. The school is surrounded by a green fence\. 2\. Entrance is near the stone wall\. 3\. At the gate\, find the intercom on the right\-hand side\. 4\. Press the ‘Call’ button and wait for security to respond\. 5\. When the intercom flashes green\, push the gate open\. \-\-\- 🏸 Finding the Indoor Court 1\. After entering\, go through the visitor gate\. 2\. Follow the corridor to the end\. 3\. Look for the yellow double doors – the badminton courts are inside\! \-\-\- 🚻 Facilities 🔹 Changing Rooms & Toilets \- Located outside the court area in the corridor\. \- Male facilities – right\-hand side\. \- Female facilities – left\-hand side\. 💧 Water Points \- There are three water points in the corridor outside the court\. \- Bring a water bottle to use with the water pump\. Enjoy your game! 🏸🔥 **Rules** Games to 21 Max two games on in a row Max one game off in a row

Couldn't make Knowledge? Or want to debrief the dancing robots or Autonomous Workforce? Join us for a Knowledge '26 recap, insights sharing, a couple rounds of golf, and fun at Topgolf. As always, drinks and food will be provided. More details to come — mark your calendar, RSVP, and save your spot today!

Over a billion documents processed. Millions of Veterans impacted. Hundreds of thousands of employee hours saved. Faster decisions. Greater accuracy. More benefits in the hands of our disabled Veterans. We created Smart Search, the world’s largest consumer of Amazon Textract, right when GenAI began reshaping what’s possible. Since then, we’ve built a suite of AI‑driven solutions that transform this data into real, measurable outcomes—accelerating benefits decisions for our Nation’s Veterans. Join us for a focused conversation on how an outcome‑driven approach to AI is helping us boost accuracy, streamline workflows, and deliver faster results for those who have served. This is a follow up to the AWS re:Invent 2023 "Intelligent Document Processing with Gen AI for Public Sector" presentation. About Speaker: Cameron Williams is a Senior Technical Project Manager and cross-functional technical leader at Booz Allen Hamilton with 15+ years of experience architecting and evolving scalable, cloud-native systems, from greenfield development to complex enterprise modernization. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronw711/ **THANK YOU** *Franklin University* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Franklin University*, please visit their website: https://www.franklin.edu/ **DIRECTIONS** Franklin University Fisher Hall 300 E. Main St, Columbus, OH 43215 Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jxjBA2hUmS5qrvhq8 Parking is FREE! Please park in Lot C in front of Fisher Hall. See attached map. NOTE: Map the address only. When mapping with Google Maps it may use the Fisher Hall at OSU, which is NOT correct. **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

Come chat about Atlassian tools and best practices at the Reynoldsburg Sunny Street Cafe and Breakfast is on Atlassian! Let's get the day started off with breakfast with your ACE Leaders! We're always excited to talk about Atlassian Products, share our knowledge and hand out swag! Come chat with us about new product news and anything you are working on within the Atlassian product stack. This is a great opportunity to come see what we are all about, hear new business news and share with other Atlassian users your questions and experiences. We'd love to see new and old friends come out to chat and learn about Atlassian! Agenda --- Moderators Kimberly Deal - Columbus Atlassian User Group Leader Kevin Stanley - Columbus Atlassian User Group Leader Greg Sprowls - Columbus Atlassian Community Leader Hosted By Kimberly Deal, Atlassian User Group Leader Kevin Stanley, Chief Everything Greg Sprowls, Agility Lead --- Global Partner Atlassian (http://atlassian.com) Millions of users globally rely on Atlassian products every day for improving software development, project management, collaboration, and code quality. Partner Atlassian --- For over a decade, Atlassian customers have come together to network, share ideas, solve problems, and find new ways to use Atlassian products. Today, more than 15,000 people take part in Atlassian community events in more than 30 countries. --- Complete your event RSVP here: https://ace.atlassian.com/events/details/atlassian-columbus-presents-rise-and-shine-with-atlassian-reynoldsburg-5/.

**The Behavior Gap: Where Products Win or Lose** Teams today have more data than ever, and yet many still struggle to understand why customers adopt, engage with, or abandon their products. Teams sprint, ship faster, and chase more signals… all while metrics stall and confidence drops. The missing piece isn’t more data. It’s often the behavioral insight between the metrics, explaining why the numbers move in the first place. Dashboards can tell you what customers did, but understanding why they did it (and how to influence what they do next) requires a deeper blend of insights. This session is about closing that gap. Drawing from real-world experience designing and scaling products as [ZoCo Design](https://zocodesign.com/)’s CEO, [Lacey](https://www.linkedin.com/in/laceypicazo/) will share how to cut through the noise and identify the insights that actually change behavior—moving people, and moving metrics. You’ll learn: * Why understanding customer behavior is a quant and qual challenge * How to spot the signals that actually predict behavior change * Where AI accelerates insight, and where it creates distraction * How to get meaningfully closer to customers, without adding more tools This talk reframes how to evaluate performance and identify what levers actually improve it, helping your team to make smarter bets with greater confidence. Every meaningful outcome is driven by behavior change. And when you know how to design for behavior, you stop guessing, and start building things that work. **About Our Speaker** [Lacey Picazo](https://www.linkedin.com/in/laceypicazo/) is the Founder and CEO of ZoCo, a healthcare product studio that turns complex, high-stakes ideas into products that drive real-world adoption. She partners with healthcare organizations to uncover critical care delivery insights, focus product strategy through behavior design, and build solutions that patients and providers actually use. 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)

Get ready for a Picnic, this is our social and member appreciation event for the year! Feel free to bring family, but be sure to reach out with the number of attendees, so we can provide food for everyone. There will of course be food, music, games and fun! Event is held rain or shine, we have a covered shelter house reserved for the event. Agenda --- Moderators Kimberly Deal - Columbus Atlassian User Group Leader Kevin Stanley - Columbus Atlassian User Group Leader Greg Sprowls - Columbus Atlassian Community Leader Hosted By Kimberly Deal, Atlassian User Group Leader Kevin Stanley, Chief Everything Greg Sprowls, Agility Lead --- Global Partner Atlassian (http://atlassian.com) Millions of users globally rely on Atlassian products every day for improving software development, project management, collaboration, and code quality. For over a decade, Atlassian customers have come together to network, share ideas, solve problems, and find new ways to use Atlassian products. Today, more than 15,000 people take part in Atlassian community events in more than 30 countries. --- Complete your event RSVP here: https://ace.atlassian.com/events/details/atlassian-columbus-presents-annual-columbus-ace-summer-picnic/.

Title: Smart Search + AI: An Outcome-Driven Journey from IDP to a Suite of AI Register at the Columbus AWS meetup: [https://www.meetup.com/columbus-aws-amazon-web-services-meetup/events/313426379/](https://www.meetup.com/columbus-aws-amazon-web-services-meetup/events/313426379/) Over a billion documents processed. Millions of Veterans impacted. Hundreds of thousands of employee hours saved. Faster decisions. Greater accuracy. More benefits in the hands of our disabled Veterans. We created Smart Search, the world’s largest consumer of Amazon Textract, right when GenAI began reshaping what’s possible. Since then, we’ve built a suite of AI‑driven solutions that transform this data into real, measurable outcomes—accelerating benefits decisions for our Nation’s Veterans. Join us for a focused conversation on how an outcome‑driven approach to AI is helping us boost accuracy, streamline workflows, and deliver faster results for those who have served. This is a follow up to the AWS re:Invent 2023 "Intelligent Document Processing with Gen AI for Public Sector" presentation. About Speaker: Cameron Williams is a Senior Technical Project Manager and cross-functional technical leader at Booz Allen Hamilton with 15+ years of experience architecting and evolving scalable, cloud-native systems, from greenfield development to complex enterprise modernization. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronw711/ **THANK YOU** *Franklin University* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Franklin University*, please visit their website: https://www.franklin.edu/ **DIRECTIONS** Franklin University Fisher Hall 300 E. Main St, Columbus, OH 43215 Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jxjBA2hUmS5qrvhq8 Parking is FREE! Please park in Lot C in front of Fisher Hall. See attached map. NOTE: Map the address only. When mapping with Google Maps it may use the Fisher Hall at OSU, which is NOT correct. **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

Join the Columbus AI community for a special event. **Battle of the Personal Agents** is your chance to see what people are actually building with AI agents and personal automation systems. Whether you’re running OpenClaw, Hermes, or a completely custom solution, bring your agent and show the community how it works. We’re interested in real-world implementations: the problems your agent solves, how you use it day-to-day, how it’s hosted and managed, how you built it, and why you’ve chosen to keep using it. Live demonstrations are encouraged, so be prepared to show your code, architecture, workflows, and your agent performing real tasks. This is less about polished presentations and more about sharing practical experience, comparing approaches, and learning from one another. If you’d like to present, please contact Chris Slee (via meetup) before the event so we can allocate enough time for everyone’s demonstrations. Come ready to show what you’ve built, discover what others are doing, and maybe find a few ideas worth taking home. 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)