Welcome to the another Global Nerdy Saturday “picdump!” It’s the weekly article where I post the technology- and work-related memes, pictures, and cartoons floating around the internet that I found interesting or relevant this week. Share and enjoy!
Here’s what’s happening in the thriving tech scene in Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for the week of Monday, January 27 through Sunday, February 2, 2025! Yes, we’re crossing over into a new month already.
This list includes both in-person and online events.
Note that each item in the list includes:
✅ When the event will take place
✅ What the event is
✅ Where the event will take place
✅ Who is holding the event
This week’s events
- Monday, January 27
- Tuesday, January 28
- Wednesday, January 29
- Thursday, January 30
- Friday, January 31
- Saturday, February 1
- Sunday, February 2
Monday, January 27
Tuesday, January 28
Be the CEO of Your Career is an online session that Computer Coach will host Tuesday morning from 10 to 11. You’ll learn how to approach your job search strategically, set clear goals and action plans, and thoughtfully evaluating your efforts and outcomes.
Find out more and register here.
Wednesday, January 29
Coders, Creatives, and Craft Beer returns Wednesday evening from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Magnanimous Brewing Seminole Heights in Tampa for another “all conversations, no presentations” gathering to get together, meet your peers in the tech community, and celebrate Lunar New Year!
Find out more and register here.
Thursday, January 30
Computer Coach’s Tech Success Network is holding an online event on Thursday at noon: Cultivating a Powerful Personal Brand That Stands Out. Explore the origins and importance of personal branding and learn how to articulate your Unique Value Proposition effectively. Through practical exercises and interactive storytelling, you’ll craft a compelling brand statement that resonates with your professional goals and personal identity.
The guest presenter will be Bryant Alexander, Jr., is the founder of Reframe, a company dedicated to leadership and executive coaching. He leverages mindfulness, coaching, and neuroscience to enhance resilience and performance in individuals and organizations.
Find out more and register here.
Tampa Bay’s cybersecurity guild, The Neon Temple, is going back to basics on Thursday evening and delivering a few hip pocket courses for the new members and juniors in the group, with this week’s subject being networking! They’ll cover things like:
- Major ports/protocols
- Networking mediums
- Cables, important standards, and more.
You’ll even learn why I posted a picture of 7 cats arranged in a layered structure above.
- Friday, January 31
The inaugural Tampa Bay Cyber Resilience Summit is happening all day Friday in Feather Sound! It’s a collaborative initiative hosted by ISACA in partnership with OWASP, ISSA, InfraGard, and ISC2.- This premier gathering is designed for cybersecurity and AI professionals to connect with peers, exchange innovative ideas, and stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving industry. Held at the prestigious Feather Sound Country Club, attendees can look forward to:
- Expert-led presentations
- Engaging interactive discussions
- Unmatched networking opportunities
- All in an elegant and professional setting.
- Seats are limited, so be sure to register soon at tampabaycyber.com. Don’t miss this exceptional opportunity to learn, grow, and connect!
- Find out more and register here.
- About this list
- How do I put this list together? It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
- In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
- What goes into this list? I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
- Programming, DevOps, systems administration, and testing
- Tech project management / agile processes
- Video, board, and role-playing games
- Book, philosophy, and discussion clubs
- ️ Tech, business, and entrepreneur networking events
- Toastmasters and other events related to improving your presentation and public speaking skills, because nerds really need to up their presentation game
- Sci-fi, fantasy, and other genre fandoms
- Self-improvement, especially of the sort that appeals to techies
- Anything I deem geeky
Wednesday, January 29 is the first day of the Lunar New Year, which is the Year of the Snake, and we’re celebrating it at the Coders, Creatives, and Craft Beer meetup that evening!
The tl;dr
- What: Coders, Creatives, and Craft Beer meetup
- When: Wednesday, January 29, 2025, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
- Where: Magnanimous Brewing Seminole Heights (6809 N Nebraska Ave, Tampa)
- What it is: A friendly, “all conversations, no presentations” meetup where techies and creatives can get together and have a great time
- Will there be food? There’s the Sliceadelic food truck (personal pizzas) at the front door.
Details
Wednesday, January 29th marks the start of the Year of the Snake!
In Western cultures, the snake is often associated with evil and deception, but in Chinese and Chinese-adjacent cultures, the snake represents wisdom, charm, elegance, and transformation. And in nerd culture, we’ve got Python — as well as Solid Snake from Metal Gear, Viper from Marvel Comics, Slytherin House in Harry Potter, and so much more!
Before you ask why we’re not holding the meetup in a Chinese restaurant, think about it: THEY’LL BE FULL. So we’re celebrating at Magnanimous Brewing Seminole Heights, a great brew pub with the Sliceadelic personal pizza truck at its front door.
Coders, Creatives, and Craft Beer is just what it says on the label: a new regular gathering of coders and creatives over craft beer! We’re pretty flexible on the definition of “creative”, and it doesn’t matter if you express your creativity in the form of programs, prose, poetry, paint, pitch-bends, processor chips, or project management — if you create and like craft beer (and even if you don’t drink beer), this is the meetup for you!
Join us next Wednesday! Find out more and register here.
Welcome to the another Global Nerdy Saturday “picdump!” It’s the weekly article where I post the technology- and work-related memes, pictures, and cartoons floating around the internet that I found interesting or relevant this week. Share and enjoy!
The tl; dr
- The event: Data4 conference
- When: Wednesday, February 26, 2025
- Where: Embarc Collective, Tampa
- What: “A fun and friendly environment for all data professionals, no matter the industry, to meet and grow through shared contributions, interests, and mutual discovery. You’ll hear from data thought leaders, make connections across the tech ecosystem, and expand your network. You won’t be sitting down all day listening to speaker after speaker. Discussions won’t be focused on only one industry.”
- How much: $99. There’s also a government and student rate of $50!
A data conference?
You’ve heard the saying: “Data is the new oil.” That observation is generally attributed to Clive Humby, who’s said to have first used it in 2006. The idea is that data shares a lot of qualities with oil:
- It’s a valuable resource.
- It’s not useful in and of itself; it needs to be extracted, then refined and processed before you to highlight the idea that data, like oil, is a valuable resource that needs to be extracted, refined, and processed — but after that you get a lot of benefit from it.
- And finally, like oil, it’s a key driver for several industries and the economy in general.
Something this valuable needs a conference, and we’re having such a conference here in Tampa!
That conference is Data4.
What will the talks be?
Here’s the list of talks and their speakers / panelists:
|
Lakehouse Catalogs 101 – Governing and Transporting your Iceberg, Delta and Hudi tables Alex Merced |
Explore one of the most critical frontiers in the lakehouse ecosystem: catalogs. Alex will demystify leading catalog solutions such as Apache Polaris (incubating), Nessie, Unity Catalog, Gravitino, Dremio Catalog, and AWS Glue, and guide you through navigating this evolving landscape to effectively manage your lakehouse. |
|
AI Safety: Crafting Certainty in an Uncertain World John Licato |
Unpack how robust design, user-centric interfaces, and regulatory collaboration can transform AI from a black-box risk into a predictable and valuable tool. |
|
The Great Analytics Data Strategy Heist! Pradnya Chavan |
Learn to refine problems and apply iterative systems thinking, drive continuous improvement for data initiatives, and develop successful data strategies to reach business analytics objectives. |
|
Defense as a Market: Overcoming Barriers for Tech Innovation in DoD Jim Smith Casey Johnson Daniella Diaz Rocio Frej Vitalle |
Uncover insights surrounding Data, AI, and delivering game changing solutions to the DoD. |
|
Using Top-Level Ontology for Better Governance – A Vendor Risk Case Study Tim Toohill Joe Blankenship |
Explore how top-level ontologies align disparate data sources to address governance challenges in knowledge graphs. |
|
Mapping Ever Larger Data with PostGIS, DuckDB, GeoArrow and deck.gl. Jared Lander |
Learn how to make a high performance geo workflow on large data through covering the four key aspects of the geospatial pipeline. |
|
From Data to Dominance: Navigating Edge and Enterprise Data Needs for Scalable Insights Lisa Costa |
In a world defined by data ubiquity, success hinges on the ability to align edge-based and enterprise-level data strategies. This talk explores the nuanced differences between edge and enterprise data needs and how semantic frameworks, AI, and edge-based processing can bridge the two. Learn how to harness data at the right place and time—enabling hyper-localized decision-making, predictive analytics at scale, and adaptive cyber defense to create resilient, value-driven organizations in an interconnected global ecosystem. |
|
Driving Data Innovation in Telecom: Trends and Opportunities Antra Malhotra |
|
|
Prescription for Precision: Building Smarter Pharma Sales Forecasting Dashboards Tanya Cashorali |
Ensure your regional sales goals are on track while identifying problem areas in real-time. |
There’s also a rumor that there might be some accordion entertainment during the day. Just sayin’.
Afterparty
And yes, there’s a happy hour after the event at American Social. Better still, there’ll be door prizes for a few lucky attendees!
How much will it cost to attend?
$99 for general admission. And that includes breakfast, lunch, and the happy hour.
Here’s a handy tip from the first episode of the 1975 TV series Space: 1999 that seems tailor-made for the current era of AI. Keep it in mind!
(And in case you’re curious, here’s that episode, and I’ve even cued it up to the scene where the computer displays that message…)
Here’s what’s happening in the thriving tech scene in Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for the week of Monday, January 20 through Sunday, January 26, 2025! This list includes both in-person and online events.
Note that each item in the list includes:
✅ When the event will take place
✅ What the event is
✅ Where the event will take place
✅ Who is holding the event
This week’s events
- Monday, January 20
- Tuesday, January 21
- Wednesday, January 22
- Thursday, January 23
- Friday, January 24
- Saturday, January 25
- Sunday, January 26
Monday, January 20
Tuesday, January 21
Tuesday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Green Bench in St. Pete: It’s the January edition of St. Pete Connects, a meetup for a diverse group of entrepreneurs, founders, and community partners helping them to create friendships and network!
They’re bringing together the tech founders, connectors, creatives, and innovators of St. Pete. A laid back meet up for those new and old to the Sunshine City to find new friendships, expand their networks and build community partnerships.
Bring yourself and/or a friend and help us enjoy an evening with good beer and people.
Find out more and register here.
Wednesday, January 22
Thursday, January 23
Thursday morning from 8:00 – 9:30 a.m. at Computer Coach in Tampa: LinkedIn Local™ events are organic meetups, hosted by members all over the world — this one’s the Tampa Bay edition! These gatherings provide an opportunity to network, build community, discuss industry trends, and share best practices for using LinkedIn.
Who should attend?
- IT Professionals: Expand your tech network and share industry insights.
- Business Leaders: Connect with peers and explore collaboration opportunities.
- HR and Talent Acquisition Specialists: Meet top talent and discuss the latest trends in recruitment.
- Entrepreneurs and Start-up Founders: Exchange ideas and gain support from like-minded individuals.
- Community Leaders and Influencers: Strengthen your influence and build lasting relationships.
Why attend?
- Enhance Your Network: Meet diverse professionals from various industries.
- Professional Growth: Gain new perspectives and learn from others’ experiences.
- Reconnect: Strengthen existing connections and make new ones.
- Collaborative Opportunities: Discover potential partnerships and business ventures.
Find out more and register here.
Thursday evening from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at Tampa Bay Brewing Company in Oldsmar: This event is all about meaningful conversations and building valuable connections with fellow tech professionals and industry leaders.
No presentations, no demos—just people talking to people. Come ready to connect, and grow your professional relationships in a relaxed, engaging atmosphere.
Find out more and register here.
Thursday evening from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at 501 E. Kennedy (2nd floor) in Tampa: Tampa Bay AWS User Group is hosting a re:Invent recap session where local Solution Architects from AWS will talk about the many announcements and various highlights from the 2024 re:Invent event. Speakers from AWS include Renato Fichmann and Vivek Mittal.
This event is sponsored by JetSweep, and refreshments will be served!
Find out more and register here.
Thursday evening from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at Embarc Collective, Tampa: Tampa Bay Data Engineering Group is kicking off 2025 with an introduction to data engineering. We’ll review Joe Reis and Matt Housley’s book Fundamentals of Data Engineering and other resources to define and explore the expanding world of data engineering practices.
Find out more and register here.
Thursday evening from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at The Secret Insurance School: Tampa Bay’s security guild and band of merry pranksters, The Neon Temple, are featuring To Pimp a Benjamin, with Crispy presenting.
Their abstract is more fun than anything I can come up with right now, so I’ll just quote it:
Crispy has started in the basement and worked his way to the penthouse. From managing a taco joint to being one of the premier blue teamers in Tampa Bay, if not the country, he knows what the value of a buck is. He also knows how to make a dollar stretch its absolute value and make the convoluted financial system that spawned the meme below work for you. He pretty much planned his BFF Cochise’s retirement account (not that he’s smug about it). Join him for a night of financial literacy, knowledge, and some advice from a guy who’s not a financial planner and doesn’t have a college degree, but makes more than you.
Find out more and register here.
Friday, January 24
Saturday, January 25
Sunday, January 26
About this list
How do I put this list together? It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list? I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
- Programming, DevOps, systems administration, and testing
- Tech project management / agile processes
- Video, board, and role-playing games
- Book, philosophy, and discussion clubs
- ️ Tech, business, and entrepreneur networking events
- Toastmasters and other events related to improving your presentation and public speaking skills, because nerds really need to up their presentation game
- Sci-fi, fantasy, and other genre fandoms
- Self-improvement, especially of the sort that appeals to techies
- Anything I deem geeky