Reading STEM Summer Get Together – Tuesday 14th August 2018

We are pleased to announce the Reading STEM Summer Get Together. A brilliant excuse to meet with Reading’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals, practitioners and enthusiasts.

Please register here on PHP Berkshire’s Meetup Page 🙂

Food will be provided on the night thanks to our event sponsor Lynx Pro. Lynx Pro is the network that connects the most sought-after tech talent and the leading companies in a unique place: https://www.lynxpro.com/

During the evening each group represented will get a short slot to let you know more about them and what they do.

You can find us upstairs: The Walkabout: Wiston Terrace (off Friar Street) Reading RG1 1DG **NB The venue is licensed for 18 and over **  http://www.walkaboutbars.co.uk/venues/reading/details

Theme: Reading STEM Summer Get Together

Time: 7pm until late

Venue: Upstairs @ The Walkabout Bar (Reading)

Familiar faces from the following groups:

• Agile Valley
• British Science Association (Reading Branch)
• The British Computer Society (Berkshire Branch)
• ConnectTVT
• Google Developer Group Reading & Thames Valley
• IET Berkshire
• PHP Berkshire
• Reading and District Amateur Radio Club
• Reading Data Science Group
• Reading Hydro
• Reading Tester Gathering
• rlab
• Startup Grind Thames Valley
• Thing Network Reading
• ….and more!

All Science & Tech meetup groups in the area are very welcome.

Also please join us on the new Slack workspace for Reading STEM so you can get involved with our local community 🙂
https://join.slack.com/t/rdguk-stem/shared_invite/enQtNDAzMTIxNTU3MzQ2LTM4M2E0YzczZTJmMDJjMjE0ZmVjNzU3NjgzZWQzMTdlODY3ZWYwZDY1NzM0NWEyOThmOGIyZmQ2ZjQwODQ1YmE

Contacts us: @RDGGeekNight, Facebook or email us: talks [at] rdggeeknight.org

Parking:

Reading Station car park or NCP Car Park Garrard St, Berks, Reading RG1 1NR. Please note its advisable not to leave anything of value on view in your vehicle.

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Reading Geek Night – Tuesday 10th July 2018

You can find us upstairs: The Walkabout: Wiston Terrace (off Friar Street) Reading RG1 1DG **NB The venue is licensed for 18 and over **  http://www.walkaboutbars.co.uk/venues/reading/details

Theme: TBC

• 8:00pm Welcome and Introductions
• 8:05pm Data Privacy in the new world (Daniel Cope – BCS)
• 8:35pm Networking & beers
• 9:00pm Short announcements/updates*
• 9:05pm Gamifying marketing – a new simulation for education & business (Dr Irute Daukseviciute – Henley Business School)
• 9:35pm End (Networking and beers downstairs)

Additional Info

Data Privacy in the new world (Daniel Cope – BCS)

Daniel Cope, British Computer Society. General Data Protection Regulation came into force on the 25th of May. Are you and your organisation 100% compliant? Get an in-depth understanding of your rights as a data subject, what defines as personal and sensitive personal information and the sanction between. Plus learn some of the fundamental principles of GDPR and the penalties associated with a breach and the potential impact to your business.

Gamifying marketing – a new simulation for education & business (Dr Irute Daukseviciute – Henley Business School)

Dr Irute Daukseviciute, lecturer in Marketing, together with marketing practitioners has designed a new simulation game “Value Proposition”. The game, although not digitalised yet, has been recently tested and validated in the U.K., Thailand and Latvia and received highly positive feedback. The game is fundamentally different from most other games available in the market in that it allows for students to develop their argumentative and critical thinking skills via text entering as opposed to “plugging numbers” which most games do. Although this method of learning is highly effective, with this comes a challenge – which technology to use for text recognition and how to incorporate AI into this? During the session Irute will introduce the simulation game “Value Proposition” to the audience in a compressed format and will look to explore opportunities to use technology to support the game.

Usual format is to gather from 7:30pm and commence the talks at 8:00pm. Talks are ~20mins + Q&A with a break of 20mins for networking and beer.

*Before the second session there is an opportunity for any short announcements so please let us know on the night if you would like a slot or 1-2mins.

FYI: BCS (Berkshire) Social Tech Group meet up (7PM) before our talks. Its a great opportunity for food, drinks, networking and discussions about IT technology, business and advice.

Look forward to seeing you there!

If you are interested in giving a talk at an upcoming event please contact us via twitter: @RDGGeekNight, Facebook or email us: talks [at] rdggeeknight.org

Reading Geek Night Special Event – Tuesday 12th June 2018

                      

This month The Museum of English Rural Life have kindly offered to host our event and we’ll be partnering with The Missing Maps project to assist them in their quest to help the most vulnerable communities around the globe.

There will pizza courtesy of our friends at BCS Berkshire :-). Drinks will also be available in the breakout area via a CASH ONLY bar!

Location:  The Museum of English Rural Life (Adjacent to Royal Berks Hospital on Redlands Road) – University of Reading, Redlands Road, Reading RG1 5EX (Getting there)

Please get your free ticket here so we can get a feel for numbers + don’t forget to bring a mouse! 🙂

Theme: The Missing Maps project + MERL Museum Tour

• 7:00pm Welcome and Introductions
• 7:05pm Tour of the museum + beers & networking
• 8:00pm The Missing Maps project (Please bring your laptop!)
• 10:00pm End

More info:

The Missing Maps project aims to map the world’s most vulnerable
communities: areas that are affected by natural disasters, poverty, epidemics,
and other crises. Through remote mapping and feedback with local volunteers,
we aim to put 200 million people “on the map” by 2021.
We will be providing tables and chairs with local power + wifi and will help you get started in mapping, but you will need to bring your own laptop, and a mouse is
essential. The software is compatible with Linux, Mac, and Windows.

FYI: BCS (Berkshire) Social Tech Group meet up (7PM) before our talks. Its a great opportunity for food, drinks, networking and discussions about IT technology, business and advice.

Look forward to seeing you there!

If you are interested in giving a talk at an upcoming event please contact us via twitter: @RDGGeekNight, Facebook or email us: talks [at] rdggeeknight.org

Reading Geek Night – Tuesday 8th May 2018

You can find us upstairs: The Walkabout: Wiston Terrace (off Friar Street) Reading RG1 1DG **NB The venue is licensed for 18 and over **  http://www.walkaboutbars.co.uk/venues/reading/details

Theme: TBC

• 8:00pm Welcome and Introductions
• 8:05pm How to run awesome tech internships (Beverley Newing – codebar Oxford)
• 8:35pm Networking & beers
• 9:00pm Short announcements/updates*
• 9:05pm Credit where it’s due: An overview of UK R&D incentives – (Simon Symes – Deloitte)
• 9:35pm End (Networking and beers downstairs)

Additional Info

How to run awesome tech internships

“The tech industry has a lot of hiring to do. According to the Tech City 2017 report, “the digital sector is creating jobs 2X faster than the non digital sector”. At the same time, the tech industry is lacking ways of helping those in underrepresented groups get their first tech role. A possible solution to both of these issues? More internships!

There are lots of things to consider with internships; how, what, who and where do I advertise? Where do I start? It can be a bit daunting. So as a seasoned intern and very active participant in the diversity in tech movement, Beverley has a lot of advice and tips to share with you all on how to go about internship success.”

Beverley currently works at Oxford Computer Consultants, as Front End Developer. After graduating from Warwick with a degree in English and German Literature in 2015, she did an internship at Code First: Girls, then another internship with Zooniverse at the University of Oxford, before finally finding her way to OCC. One of her hobbies is diversifying the tech scene in Oxford; she set up and now leads codebar Oxford, and leads on the Code First: Girls General course (which has won her a lot of awards).

Credit where it’s due: An overview of UK R&D incentives

Cash credits of between 10-33% of project spend are available to large and small UK companies undertaking challenging projects across a wide range of technology domains, such as software development and systems engineering. Many companies are missing out on significant cash savings through not appreciating the range of qualifying projects and costs.

Simon Symes, a former software engineer and now an Associate Director in Deloitte’s Global Investment and Innovation Incentives (Gi³) team will provide an overview of the main UK R&D incentives and explain some of the pitfalls to avoid when making claims.

Usual format is to gather from 7:30pm and commence the talks at 8:00pm. Talks are ~20mins + Q&A with a break of 20mins for networking and beer.

*Before the second session there is an opportunity for any short announcements so please let us know on the night if you would like a slot or 1-2mins.

FYI: BCS (Berkshire) Social Tech Group meet up (7PM) before our talks. Its a great opportunity for food, drinks, networking and discussions about IT technology, business and advice.

Look forward to seeing you there!

If you are interested in giving a talk at an upcoming event please contact us via twitter: @RDGGeekNight, Facebook or email us: talks [at] rdggeeknight.org

Reading Geek Night – Tuesday 10th April 2018

You can find us upstairs: The Walkabout: Wiston Terrace (off Friar Street) Reading RG1 1DG **NB The venue is licensed for 18 and over **  http://www.walkaboutbars.co.uk/venues/reading/details

Theme: Blockchain & the Crypto Revolution

• 8:00pm Welcome and Introductions
• 8:05pm How to build a Blockchain (Stuart Ward)
• 8:35pm Networking & beers
• 9:00pm Short announcements/updates*
• 9:05pm Bitcoin and the Crypto Revolution (Ant Parker – Cuberoot64 Ltd )
• 9:35pm End (Networking and beers downstairs)

Additional Info:

How to build a Blockchain

Stuart will go through the elements of a blockchain and how it uses hash functions, merkel trees, and digital signatures to create the trustless network that powers Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. We will also look at the technical limitations and some of the alternative approaches.

Bitcoin and the Crypto Revolution

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple – all types of crypto currency causing waves in the IT industry. Bitcoin, built on the ‘blockchain’ since 2009, has revolutionised how we view the future of money all around the world. However, blockchain is not all that it seems – it could bring a far bigger technological revolution to the IT industry as many are wondering where this could lead.

In this talk we will venture down the crypto rabbit hole and discuss the future of blockchains (or Distributed Ledger Technologies as they are also known), how they may revolutionise future corporations and users, why blockchains use crypto currency and how you would purchase, trade and sell them. We’ll give you the insight into researching blockchain coins/tokens, touch the methods of mining, delve into some of the scams in this pre-regulated market, where you need to be careful and what this means for each of us in the IT industry.

Bio

Anthony Parker has spent over 18 years as a consultant in the IT industry, setting up Cuberoot64 Ltd in 2018 after completing an MBA at Henley to improve business agility through relationships. Concentrating on digital transformation, engagement and collaboration for corporate clients, Cuberoot64 also strategically advise companies on blockchain implementation, smart contracts and building project teams.

 

Usual format is to gather from 7:30pm and commence the talks at 8:00pm. Talks are ~20mins + Q&A with a break of 20mins for networking and beer.

*Before the second session there is an opportunity for any short announcements so please let us know on the night if you would like a slot or 1-2mins.

FYI: BCS (Berkshire) Social Tech Group meet up (7PM) before our talks. Its a great opportunity for food, drinks, networking and discussions about IT technology, business and advice.

Look forward to seeing you there!

If you are interested in giving a talk at an upcoming event please contact us via twitter: @RDGGeekNight, Facebook or email us: talks [at] rdggeeknight.org

Reading Geek Night – Tuesday 13th March 2018

This month we are proud to be part of Reading Science Week:

http://www.scienceinreading.org/reading-science-week/

You can find us upstairs: The Walkabout: Wiston Terrace (off Friar Street) Reading RG1 1DG **NB The venue is licensed for 18 and over **  http://www.walkaboutbars.co.uk/venues/reading/details

Theme: Neural Interface Technology & Engineering

• 8:00pm Welcome and Introductions
• 8:05pm The mind as a controller: Brain – Computer Interface (Ioannis Zoulias – University of Reading)
• 8:35pm Networking & beers
• 9:00pm Short announcements/updates*
• 9:05pm Neural Engineering: from neuroprosthetics to engineered spinal cords (Evangelos Delivopoulos – University of Reading)
• 9:35pm End (Networking and beers downstairs)

 

Usual format is to gather from 7:30pm and commence the talks at 8:00pm. Talks are ~20mins + Q&A with a break of 20mins for networking and beer.

*Before the second session there is an opportunity for any short announcements so please let us know on the night if you would like a slot or 1-2mins.

FYI: BCS (Berkshire) Social Tech Group meet up (7PM) before our talks. Its a great opportunity for food, drinks, networking and discussions about IT technology, business and advice.

Look forward to seeing you there!

If you are interested in giving a talk at an upcoming event please contact us via twitter: @RDGGeekNight, Facebook or email us: talks [at] rdggeeknight.org

Reading Geek Night – Tuesday 13th February 2018

This month only – Beers and food at Zero Degrees from 7pm!

Unfortunately this month the upstairs room isn’t available at The Walkabout.

We are going to meet up for beers and potentially pizza downstairs at Zero Degrees from 7pm 🙂

FYI @ZerodegreesBeer have some great happy hour deals on between 5-7pm.

We’ll be back for business as usual on Tuesday 13th March 2018 for Reading Science Week as we have a great evening planned! 🙂