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**Can R tame the MCP chaos? Or better yet… can it speak foreign? 🤖** “I Like It When You Talk Foreign” An evening exploring MCP, AI tooling, databases, and graphs — all through R. Two talks. Two live demos. One evening that might completely change how you think about R in the age of AI. Refreshments and networking from 18h00. **Agenda** **16h30 – 16h45 \| Welcome and News \- Handre Williams & Luis de Sousa** **16h45 – 17h20 \| Handre Williams** **Talking to Your Database in Plain English — MCP Clients in R** What if you could query your database conversationally? This talk explores how R can act as an MCP client — allowing LLMs to interact with databases through natural language while R orchestrates the workflow underneath. You’ll see: \- How MCP clients work in R \- How LLMs can interact with databases safely \- Where structured workflows still matter \- A live demo of conversational data access **17h20 – 17h55 \| Luis de Sousa** **Talking to Your Graph in Plain English — MCP + Graphs in R** Graphs are everywhere: relationships, systems, networks, dependencies. But what happens when AI can explore them conversationally? This talk explores how MCP and R can expose graph structures to LLMs — turning graph queries, traversals, and analysis into natural language interactions. You’ll see: \- How graphs can be exposed through MCP workflows \- Conversational querying over connected data \- Where graph reasoning becomes powerful \- Where the abstraction breaks \- A live demo **17h55 – 18h00 \| Wrap up\, questions & close** **18h00 \| Refreshments & networking** Continue the conversation in person. **Details** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ When: 12 May 2026 @ 16h30 to 18h00 (GMT+2) Where: Microsoft Campus in Bryanston, South Africa Location: https://goo.gl/maps/4ffcC3N6T7S2 Keen to speak at a future event? Submit your session abstracts at https://sessionize.com/johannesburg-r-user-group/ **Stay connected** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ \* Website: https://www.rusergroup.co.za \* Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/joburg-r-users-group \* Twitter: https://twitter.com/JHBRUserGroup \* GitHub: https://github.com/rusergroupcoza \* WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/3CeDifS

**Can R tame the MCP chaos? Or better yet… can it speak foreign? 🤖** “I Like It When You Talk Foreign” An evening exploring MCP, AI tooling, databases, and graphs — all through R. Two talks. Two live demos. One evening that might completely change how you think about R in the age of AI. Refreshments and networking from 18h00. **Agenda** **16h30 – 16h45 \| Welcome and News \- Handre Williams & Luis de Sousa** **16h45 – 17h20 \| Handre Williams** **Talking to Your Database in Plain English — MCP Clients in R** What if you could query your database conversationally? This talk explores how R can act as an MCP client — allowing LLMs to interact with databases through natural language while R orchestrates the workflow underneath. You’ll see: \- How MCP clients work in R \- How LLMs can interact with databases safely \- Where structured workflows still matter \- A live demo of conversational data access **17h20 – 17h55 \| Luis de Sousa** **Talking to Your Graph in Plain English — MCP + Graphs in R** Graphs are everywhere: relationships, systems, networks, dependencies. But what happens when AI can explore them conversationally? This talk explores how MCP and R can expose graph structures to LLMs — turning graph queries, traversals, and analysis into natural language interactions. You’ll see: \- How graphs can be exposed through MCP workflows \- Conversational querying over connected data \- Where graph reasoning becomes powerful \- Where the abstraction breaks \- A live demo **17h55 – 18h00 \| Wrap up\, questions & close** **18h00 \| Refreshments & networking** Continue the conversation in person. **Details** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ When: 12 May 2026 @ 16h30 to 18h00 (GMT+2) Where: Microsoft Campus in Bryanston, South Africa Location: https://goo.gl/maps/4ffcC3N6T7S2 Keen to speak at a future event? Submit your session abstracts at https://sessionize.com/johannesburg-r-user-group/ **Stay connected** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ \* Website: https://www.rusergroup.co.za \* Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/joburg-r-users-group \* Twitter: https://twitter.com/JHBRUserGroup \* GitHub: https://github.com/rusergroupcoza \* WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/3CeDifS

Customer identity resolution becomes increasingly complex as organizations scale across multiple systems, regions, and data formats. Traditional rule-based approaches often fail to keep up with data variability, require constant manual tuning, and struggle with real-time processing needs. This session presents a practical approach to building a scalable identity resolution pipeline using AWS services and modern AI techniques. The architecture combines data ingestion through Amazon S3 and AWS Glue, transformation pipelines using Spark on EMR, and machine learning models deployed via SageMaker for entity matching and standardization. Graph-based relationship modeling is implemented using Amazon Neptune to improve resolution accuracy by incorporating household and shared attribute context. We will walk through how machine learning models can be used for name and address normalization, how intelligent blocking strategies improve matching efficiency, and how feedback loops can be introduced to continuously improve accuracy. The session also highlights how serverless components such as AWS Lambda can be used for orchestration and real-time processing. **SPEAKER BIO** Mosaic Syed is a Senior Data Engineering and Cloud Solutions Architect with over 20 years of experience designing and delivering scalable, secure, and high-performance data solutions across global enterprise environments. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosaic-basha-syed-92300856 **CALL FOR SPEAKERS** Learn more: [https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/](https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/) **THANK YOU** *VEEAM* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Veeam*, please visit their website: [https://www.veeam.com/](https://www.veeam.com/) **DIRECTIONS** 8800 Lyra Dr #450 · Columbus, OH go to 4th floor. **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

Our monthly PHP meetup. A virtual shindig courtesy of Zoom. Check back here for the details around 6:15 pm

**TBA**

**PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT NOTES:** 1. The dates for this series are simply placeholders at the moment. We are working on our 2026 schedule, and adjustments are forthcoming. 2. Each class in this series has an attendance fee. 3. Each class, from BOTH a sign-up and fee perspective, is a separate entity. 4. As the Etch toolset evolves, so too will the class outline below. **Introduction:** Our Site Building with Etch class provides detailed instructions on the philosophy of the Etch development framework, as well as in-depth, hands-on instruction on using the Etch environment and associated tools. Anyone familiar with Kevin Geary and the Digital Gravy set of products will tell you that they offer ground-breaking approaches to professional WordPress site development. As we write this, the Etch toolset and environment are rapidly taking shape, with weekly quantum leaps forward in WordPress development methodologies. As early investors in the Etch product offering and its development process, we are actively testing and evaluating the toolset as it takes shape. We are beyond excited to see how WordPress site development is being modernized, and can't wait to bring this course set to you. It will be a paradigm shift in page and site development within WordPress, as well as moving your development mindset light-years forward. Join us as we explore Etch and dive deep into development approaches that will genuinely elevate your craft as a website developer and agency provider. Scalable, responsive, compliant websites are now within easy reach, and Etch provides both the platform and toolset to take you there. **The breakdown of the 10-class series is as follows:** * Class 01 - TBD * Class 02 - TBD * Class 03 - TBD * Class 04 - TBD * Class 05 - TBD * Class 06 - TBD * Class 07 - TBD * Class 08 - TBD * Class 09 - TBD * Class 10 - TBD Throughout the class sessions listed above, we cover the following key areas of web development with Etch: * **Introduction to Etch Interface:** * Familiarization with the toolset's layout and understanding how to navigate and interact with its various components. * **Visual Site Building:** * Techniques for creating layouts using Etch's interface, incorporating sections, divs, containers, and elements to build semantically correct page structures. * **Styling and Design:** * Utilizing Etch's styling approach to customize elements, apply global CSS classes for consistent design, and leverage features like Flexbox and CSS Grid for responsive layouts. * **Dynamic Content and Custom Fields:** * Integrating dynamic content from custom post types and custom field plugins (like ACF, Meta Box, and even built-in fields) to build data-driven websites. * **Component Building:** * Creating and managing reusable components for headers, footers, post type layouts, and other site-wide elements. * **Performance Optimization:** * Understanding how Etch contributes to fast-loading websites and implementing performance best practices. * **Advanced Features:** * Depending on the class level, it might delve into advanced topics such as conditional logic, interactions, and custom code integration to enable more complex functionality. The series aims to equip participants with the skills to efficiently build, customize, and maintain WordPress websites using Etch, catering to both beginners and experienced web developers alike.

**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** TBD **YouTube Link** TBD