NOW - Through November 3rd: Kansas City's DATA VIZ-A-THON

On 7:32 AM 0 comments

Data visualization helps people understand the significance of data by placing it in a visual context:
how might it forward the efforts of a non-profit?

There’s an infinite number of ways data visualization could help non-profits’ causes.

Tableau, a leading data visualization tool, has a division that works exclusively with non-profits around the world as well as a social responsibility division that takes on causes.  One example of a non-profit data visualization project is the end malaria campaign below.

http://datavizathon.com/

PATH and the Tableau Foundation wondered how data visualization could help us see a world without malaria and END MALARIA.

Visualized data was used to both understand information and make decisions, for example where bed nets are lacking and where to deploy diagnostics.

Right: This visualization shows malaria cases coming back between January and April (the rainy transmission season).

The height of the 2015 transmission season, when compared to other years, is significantly lower. The area in purple shows the percentage of cases detected by community health workers, which means detection and treatment  cases closer to the places where they first emerge.


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September 6th: Kansas City Mobile .Net Developers Group - Hands on Xamarin Forms

On 7:17 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

6:30 PM

  • TEKsystems

    7421 W 129th Suite #300, Overland Park, KS (map)

  • Attending a lecture about Xamarin is great, but how about a hands-on lab BUILDING something instead? Bring your laptop and join the KC Xamarin Developers Group for our first hands-on lab building a Xamarin Forms application from scratch! To get the most out of this meetup you'll need Visual Studio -- the free Community Edition is just fine! -- with the Xamarin components installed (or Xamarin Studio Community, Pro, or Enterprise on Mac OS X). To make sure you have your computer set up correctly please walk through the Xamarin Forms quickstart tutorial to verify that you can run the PhoneWord app (or just download the completed code from Github).
    Space and food sponsor: TEKsystems
    Note: if you are having trouble getting the PhoneWord app to run on your system, please message Mike Cerny via the Meetup group for assistance.


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    November 10th-13th: Midwest GameFest 2016

    On 7:16 AM 0 comments

    Thursday, November 10, 2016 12:00 PM

    to

  • Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center

    18011 Bass Pro Dr, Independence, MO (map)
     

  • Midwest GameFest is an annual game convention bringing a number of long standing midwestern game organizations under one roof. The Role-Players Guild of Kansas City (Shauncon), Heart of America Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (Borderwars), and Gamer's Haven Game Library have banded together to bring you role-playing games, historical miniatures, board games, card games, organized play, cosplay, workshops, game designers, dealers, benefit events, a used game sale and more! The list of events expands up until the convention, so check back regularly.


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    October 6th: Kentico User Group Meetup

    On 6:57 PM 0 comments

    to

  • Wirestream

    521 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO (map)
  • East side of Walnut just south of Planter's
  • Marketing and Development always have different goals; frequently this results in requests being made and “No” is given as the answer all to often. Kentico allows both Marketers and Developers to find ways to work together to achieve business and technology goals. Our Kentico meet-up group series will explore various areas of Kentico from these two different perspectives over the course of the year. We will look at things like personalization, forms, general content management and other areas from each side – exploring the requirements needed and the mechanisms for building and expanding the platform – while satisfying the needs by all sides.
    Our first series will kick off with an introduction to the platform, how we use it and answering some of the basic questions that any organization should ask themselves when deploying websites on Kentico. These questions can be asked at the outset of a project’s engagement or when you’re already knee deep. We will discuss some general topics and then open the floor to a full Q&A session. We look forwarding to hosting both marketers and developers in this intense and fun discussion that will allow you to make the most of the platform.


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    September 20th: SMCKC Happy Hour

    On 12:34 PM 0 comments

    September Happy Hour at Doughnut Lounge
    September 20 | 5:30 p.m.

    Come for the doughnuts stay for the drinks! Mix and mingle with your SMCKC friends at Doughnut Lounge! Your ticket gets you one classic doughnut and a coffee OR cocktail. 


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    September 9th: SMCKC September Breakfast

    On 12:33 PM 0 comments

    September Breakfast
    Crisis Communciations in a Social Era
    September 9 | 7:30 a.m.

    In an age of instant, digital communications, you can’t afford to have the wrong crisis communications approach. Honesty and transparency are key to preserving your company brand and reputation. Morningstar Communications Vice President Tricia McKim and Account Executive Brian Van Note will share tips for crisis communications planning and management. Learn how to use social media to your advantage during a crisis and walk away with three action steps you can start immediately.


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    September 13th: TechweekKC Venture Lounge

    On 12:33 PM 0 comments

    to

  • Lathrop and Gage

    2345 Grand Blvd, 22nd Floor, Kansas City, MO (map)
    39.084854 -94.581055


  • Techweek Venture Lounge: KC's latest exit from the inside out
    September 13th, 2016 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

    You may also register via Eventbrite here:
    Join angel investors, entrepreneurs and some of Kansas City's most successful business elite at the Techweek edition of Venture Lounge for a look at Kansas City's latest exit from the inside out. 
    Enjoy cocktails, snacks and one of the best views of Kansas City while rubbing elbows with some of the city's most talked-about entrepreneurs and influential investors. 
    Who's the entrepreneur? You'll have to RSVP to find out! 

    Thank you to Lathrop & Gage, LLP for their generous sponsorship of this event!
    Promotional partners for this event include: 

     


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    September 6th: Lawrence Coders: Shop Talk

    On 10:10 AM 0 comments

    Tuesday, September 6, 2016

    7:00 PM

  • Johnny's Tavern North

    410 N Second, Lawrence, KS (map)

  • This informal gathering is for designers and developers to get together, grab some food and/or drinks, and talk shop. A lot of great discussions and networking happen organically at these meetings, don't miss out!


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    September 24th: SQL Saturday Kansas City!

    On 7:21 AM 0 comments



    Here's our updated schedule of presentations:

    Session TimeSession TitleTrackSpeaker(s)
    08:30 AM - 09:45 AMBiml: Your 3D Printer for SSISBimlBen Weissman
    08:30 AM - 09:45 AMDisaster Recovery From On Premises to AzureEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentCarlos L Chacon
    08:30 AM - 09:45 AMDoes it Hurt When I Do This? Performing a SQL Server Health CheckEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentAndy Galbraith
    08:30 AM - 09:45 AMMobile, Paginated, KPIs and Power BI, Oh My! SSRS 2016 ReportingBI Information DeliverySteve Wake
    08:30 AM - 09:45 AMNear real time analytics with Azure Stream AnalyticsBI Information DeliveryFrank Kearney
    08:30 AM - 09:45 AMSo this is Power BI. What now?BI Platform Architecture, Development & AdministrationGeorge Bryant
    08:30 AM - 09:45 AMSQL Server R Services in SQL 2016Advanced Analysis TechniquesChris Hyde
    08:30 AM - 09:45 AMTop 10 Wait Types Everyone Should KnowEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentJanis Griffin
    10:00 AM - 11:15 AMBiml: I got the basics - what's next?BimlBen Weissman
    10:00 AM - 11:15 AMIntroduction to Microsoft Analytics – Turning Data into Intelligent ActionBI Information DeliveryMelody Zacharias
    10:00 AM - 11:15 AMPragmatic Power BI: Transforming DataBI Platform Architecture, Development & AdministrationWilliam E Pearson III
    10:00 AM - 11:15 AMShaping Your Process to Hire Top TalentProfessional DevelopmentErica Woods
    10:00 AM - 11:15 AMSQL Server Databaseology: A Deep Dive Into Database InternalsEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentJohn Morehouse
    10:00 AM - 11:15 AMTest Automation: Agile Enablement for DW and BI TeamsOtherCher Fox, Lynn Winterboer
    10:00 AM - 11:15 AMUsing Powershell to Document SQL ServerEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentGeorge Walkey
    10:00 AM - 11:15 AMWhat is new in SQL Server 2016 for DBAs?Enterprise Database Administration & DeploymentAmeena Lalani
    12:45 PM - 02:00 PMAn Architect's Strategy for Consistent SSIS with SQL Server 2016BimlBill Fellows
    12:45 PM - 02:00 PMBuilding a Modern Transaction System on SQL ServerStrategy and ArchitectureBill Graziano
    12:45 PM - 02:00 PMData Migration Using BIMLBimlKevin Feasel
    12:45 PM - 02:00 PMIntroduction to BIML and BimlScriptBI Platform Architecture, Development & AdministrationJeremy Marx
    12:45 PM - 02:00 PMIsolation Levels – Understanding Transaction Temper TantrumsEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentAdam Koehler
    12:45 PM - 02:00 PMMicrodata For MicroservicesApplication & Database DevelopmentChase Aucoin
    12:45 PM - 02:00 PMSQL Server Tips and Tricks from a lazy DBAOtherChuck Hieber
    12:45 PM - 02:00 PMWIT: Identifying, Understanding and Combating Gender BiasProfessional DevelopmentRie Irish
    02:15 PM - 03:30 PMGet Your Optimizer to Give up All Its SecretsEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentBrian Hansen
    02:15 PM - 03:30 PMI’m It – Survival Techniques for the Lone DBAProfessional DevelopmentMonica Rathbun
    02:15 PM - 03:30 PMIncrementally Moving to the Cloud Using BimlBimlScott Currie
    02:15 PM - 03:30 PMKerberos Delegation Made SimpleEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentKathi Kellenberger
    02:15 PM - 03:30 PMLock, Block, and Two Smoking CPUsApplication & Database DevelopmentDaniel Maenle
    02:15 PM - 03:30 PMSSAS 2016 Tabular - Diving into the new featuresBI Platform Architecture, Development & AdministrationBrian Beswick
    02:15 PM - 03:30 PMTurbo Charged Transaction Logs - Internals and PerformanceEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentDavid Maxwell
    02:15 PM - 03:30 PMUnderstanding Azure SQL Data WarehouseBI Platform Architecture, Development & AdministrationPierre LaFromboise
    03:45 PM - 05:00 PMA New Approach to Unit and Integration Testing in SSISBI Platform Architecture, Development & AdministrationReeves Smith
    03:45 PM - 05:00 PMEssential steps to ensure survivability of your SQL Server databaseEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentAndre DuBois
    03:45 PM - 05:00 PMPowershell Jumpstart for SQL Server DBAsEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentMichael Fal
    03:45 PM - 05:00 PMRevenge: The SQL!Enterprise Database Administration & DeploymentRob Volk
    03:45 PM - 05:00 PMTroubleshooting Skills for the DBAProfessional DevelopmentBen DeBow
    03:45 PM - 05:00 PMUnderstanding SQL Server 2016 Always EncryptedApplication & Database DevelopmentEd Leighton-Dick
    03:45 PM - 05:00 PMUsing SQL Nexus for system healthEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentWendy Pastrick
    03:45 PM - 05:00 PMYour Data, in the CloudEnterprise Database Administration & DeploymentDave Walden



    For more information please visit SQLSaturday.com or email us at [email protected].


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    September 1st: GeoDev KC Meeting - Tradewind Energy Meet & Greet & Exploring Custom Routing in QGIS - SQL Required!

    On 8:15 AM 0 comments

    •  to 

    • Tradewind Energy Inc.

      16105 West 113th Street, Suite 105 , Lenexa, KS (map)
    • See details below.
    • Hi Gang! 
      We will kick off the exciting September meetup at Tradewind Energy, our cool new sponsor for the GeoDevKC Meetup! The topics for this meetup are:
      1. Find out a bit what Tradewinds Energy does.
      2. Exploring Custom Routing in QGIS. We'll look at pedestrian routing using a partial Johnson County custom sidewalk graph - via a local Postgres db and the pgRouting Vehicle Routing add-on.
      Tradewind Energy is located in Lenexa right across the street from the SKW headquarters (On the west is Renner Boulevard and on the North is College).  They are housed in the same building as Grantham University. 
      Below is a URL to Google Maps:
      The campus is called EcoWorks. 
      Use the 113th Street entrance to the parking lot between Corporate Avenue and Lakeview Avenue.  The parking location on the Northwest corner is best.  There is a main glass door entrance in the corner.  Use the stairs to the 2nd floor and the Tradewind entrance will be straight ahead.
      16105 West 113th Street, Suite 105  
      Lenexa, Kansas 66219

      Mark's contact information is below
       Mark Hanway
      GIS Manager | Tradewind Energy, Inc.
      P.S. Kudos go out to Mark for arranging sponsorship and location! 


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    September 1st: Hammerspace Open House

    On 7:54 PM 0 comments

    •  to 

    • Hammerspace

      440 E 63rd St , Kansas City, MO (map)
    • 1/2 block east of Oak St. on 63rd St.
    • Every Thursday, the members of Hammerspace gather to socialize, network, and meet new members of the space. We welcome the community at large to come down during this time to explore the workshop, check out all of the tools, fabrication equipment and work space made available to HammerSpace members, and ask questions of our community of Hammerspace users.
      There is a concession stand and kids playroom available, and the evening is always the origin point of new and amazing creative ideas.
      Tours are led every 30 minutes for those curious about the tools and capabilities of the facility and staff. This is a free event, open to the public.


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    September 17th: Kansas City's PHP User Group Meeting - Coffee Shop Hangout

    On 4:28 PM 0 comments

    Saturday, September 17, 2016

    2:30 PM

  • Black Dog Coffee House

    12815 W 87th St, Lenexa, KS (map)
     

  • Hopefully the big room in back--look for the group with laptops
  • Saturday Meeting Format
    Our Saturday meetings are free-formed. Attendees bring up topics that interest them or that they want feedback on. Attendees are welcome to participate or just kick back and soak in the discussions. There are also no dumb questions! If you're just starting out this is a great opportunity to ask questions.
    The meeting structure usually follows this format:
    * Introductions / meet and greet new members
    * Open group discussion on any development topic, concern or question; discussing any new happenings that interest the group
    * Get help s    etting up your development environment, looking at code, quick demos, etc. (time permitting)
    All levels welcome!
    Maybe you have been using using PHP for a week or even a decade--we all have things to learn and share. If you enjoy working with PHP, or want to learn more about it this meeting is for you.
    Get Involved
    If you're looking for a presentation-focused event with talks and demos, check out our weeknight meetups. We would also love to have you present! Please contact an organizer through Meetup or talk after a meeting to tell us more about your topic.


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    September 7th: Kansas City's PHP User Group Meeting

    On 4:27 PM 0 comments

    Wednesday, September 7, 2016

    6:00 PM
    Stowers Institute
    1000 E 50th St, Kansas City, MO (map)

  • Park in the garage and enter the main building to the west of the garage. Follow the signs and turn right at the security desk.
  • Please join us for an evening of looking at the exciting past month of PHP news and hacking on open source projects. If you would like some help on your own project, bring it in!
    Light refreshments will be provided. Join us to meet new people, discuss PHP, and learn something new. 
    Our Evening Meeting Format
    We love Web Development and all things PHP. Our meetings are often a little free-formed, but we shoot for this schedule:
    6:00pm - Mingling / Meet and Greet
    6:15pm - Lightning Talk: Last Month in PHP
    6:30pm - Hack on open source projects!
    Your topic here? Contact us to speak! 
    Rate the talks! 
    All Developers Welcome!
    We understand Web Developers often come from all backgrounds, and many work in more languages than PHP. Whether you're curious and just starting out, dabble in PHP on the weekends, write custom PHP on a daily basis, work in a framework like Symfony, Zend Framework, Silex, Slim, Laravel, CakePHP or customize CMS products like WordPress, Drupal or Joomla; our goal is that you will find something new, useful and thought provoking.
    Interested in giving a presentation to the group, or demoing something you're working on? Contact one of the organizers through Meetup or talk after a monthly meeting to sign up!


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    September 1st: KC Elixir Users Group Meeting

    On 12:16 PM 0 comments

    Thursday, September 1, 2016

    6:00 PM

  • C2FO

    4210 Shawnee Mission Pkwy, Fairway, KS (map)

  • Looking for presenters/presentations


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    August 31st: DevOps Kansas City - Ignite Talks and Open Spaces

    On 7:38 AM 0 comments

    to

  • VML

    250 Northwest Richards Road, Kansas City, MO (map)
     

  • We are only a couple months away from http://devopsdayskc.org/  Get your tickets now!!!

    We will do as many Ignite talks as people bring. If you are unfamiliar with the Ignite format, it is 5 minutes, 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignite_(event)
    Then we will hold open spaces to discuss the topics that you are interested in chatting with others about. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Space_Technology So bring topics and we will vote as a group what topics to chat about.
    250 Richards Rd Kansas City, MO 64116 (It's the main building at the Charles B Wheeler - Downtown Airport - just across the Broadway bridge from downtown)
    Park anywhere in lot, it's free.
    Enter building through the main front doors.
    Food and drink will be provided.


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    August 31st: Kansas City Internet of Things Meetup -Cognitive Solutions for IoT; Making Sense of all the IoT Data

    On 6:32 PM 0 comments


  • to 

  • Olathe City Hall

    100 East Santa Fe, Olathe, KS (map)
  • Join your fellow IoT Enthusiasts at the Olathe City Hall for our August 2016 meetup in partnership with TechrIoT. We are excited to bring two industry veterans as speakers for this meetup.
    Cognitive Solutions for Internet of Things
    With Cognitive Solutions for IoT we are able to glean better intelligence and deeper insights, enabling us to efficiently manage, predict and avoid potential failures, outages or catastrophes whether it is in an industrial workshop, smart buildings, bins in farms, hospitals, assisted living, public safety. 
    Join us and hear the presentation that Pradeep Muthalpuredathe, Senior Manager at IBM, delivered to the House Reps and other leaders earlier this month at the Kansas Statehouse IT Technology Event.
    The Other Side of IoT: Making Sense of all the IoT Data 
    Machine Learning Algorithms (sometimes called cognitive learning) have recently surpassed all other methods for analyzing large amounts of data, often generated by IoT devices. In this talk, we will discuss the history of machine learning algorithms, why they have recently become popular, common techniques that are used, and sample applications especially in health care.  In addition, we will discuss opportunities and challenges for entrepreneurs and how to address them - the door is wide open for entrepreneurs who are interested in machine learning. 
    Manoj George, a veteran entrepreneur  who has started multiple companies in digital health and is a team member of IP Olathe, will be the presenter.
    Agenda
    5:30-6:00PM: Networking
    6:00-7:00PM: Presentations
    7:00-7:30PM: Wrap up/Networking
    Light refreshments will be provided, courtesy of TechrIoT! Please RSVP and join us. 


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    September 29th: Kansas City Skype for Business (Lync) Users Group - Summer 2016 Meeting

    On 6:23 PM 0 comments

    •  to 

    • Microsoft Corp

      10801 Mastin Blvd Suite 620 84 Corporate, Overland Park, KS (map)
    • Please use our new registration page at the SkypeUG site as we are moving away from MeetUp.

      Please join us for our Summer quarter meeting for the Skype for Business Users Group in Kansas City! 
      We will be having a session on new Mac client. We will also have a session featuring vendor highlights for Microsoft Ignite – our sponsors will be sharing what they are going to be featuring at their Ignite booths this year (new technology, gear etc.).  We will also have one of our open sessions, so please bring questions, comments, and other things to discuss.
      One lucky attendee from our summer meetings will win a 55” LG 4K TV, so be sure to attend this quarter to be entered into the drawing! Food will be provided, as will door prizes courtesy of the Skype for Business User Group and our sponsors.


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    August 30th: Smarter Sharepoint Kansas City Meeting

    On 7:37 AM 0 comments

    Smarter SharePoint KC User Group: Where Smart People Go To Talk About SharePoint

     
    WHAT
     
    Smarter SharePoint
    KC User Group
     
     
    WHEN
     
    Tuesday
    August 30, 2016
    11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
    Add to Outlook
     
     
    WHERE
     
    Microsoft Office
    Corporate Woods
    10801 Mastin Blvd 6th Floor
    Overland Park, KS, 66210
     

    Troubleshooting and Tuning SharePoint Online Performance
    This month's Smarter SharePoint will be hosted by DEG's Nick Aranzamendi and Richard Bishop. They will be presenting their recommendations for troubleshooting and optimizing SharePoint online performance, as well as best practices and recommendations for developing maintainable and performant JavaScript solutions for SharePoint.
    >>REGISTER HERE<<
    Nick Aranzamendi is the Enterprise Collaboration / SharePoint technical lead for DEG. He began working on SharePoint starting with the launch of Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and has continued to increase his knowledge of all things SharePoint and o365. Check out his blog at: http://www.sharepoint13blog.com/

    For the past 5 years, Richard Bishop has been learning and growing his abilities in web development on the .Net platform and client-side frameworks like AngularJS. He is currently a SharePoint Engineer for DEG and has been focusing on client-side UI using HTML5, AngularJS, and SASS for the enterprise collaboration clients of DEG. The knowledge and experience gained at DEG boosted his web game and he is ready to share it.
     

    Location: Microsoft Office | Pizza will be provided
    Please register for this event at: http://kcsmartersharepoint.eventbrite.com/


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    August 30th: Greater Kansas City Drupal User Group Meeting - Display Suite

    On 7:26 AM 0 comments

    to

  • VML

    250 Northwest Richards Road, Kansas City, MO (map)
     

  • Josh Fabian from Code Koalas is going to talk about Display Suite. As always we'll have plenty of time for Q&A and general discussion. 


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    August 30th: Hammerspace - Members Art Jam!

    On 7:26 AM 0 comments

    to

  • Hammerspace

    440 E 63rd St , Kansas City, MO (map)

  • 1/2 block east of Oak St. on 63rd St.
  • Art Jam is a chance for art loving members of HammerSpace to spend some time socializing and working on art related projects in the company of other artist members. Multi-talented instructors, air brushing equipment, and other random, useful materials will be available.
    Art Jam is for HammerSpace members only, unless we are offering a group activity or class during the event.
    If you have an idea for an artistic technique you want to learn, or you're interested in TEACHING the group (and get paid for your time), send us an email and let us know! hammerspacehobby @ gmail


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