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SundaySep 20 2026Portland Linux/Unix Group's Monthly Linux ClinicWebsite
That PLUG Clinic you like is coming back into style!
The PLUG Clinic returns again this month on September 20, from 1pm-5pm. We are back at the Albina Branch Library this month. If you need help with your Linux computer, or want to offer help, you are welcome!
Volunteer helpers are as desirable as helpees. Helping is fun and rewarding. If you've ever helped out at a PLUG Clinic before, come checkout the space!
Thanks to the taxpayers of Multnomah County for the beautiful new building!
Tomorrow
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MondaySep 21 202690 Days to Cashflow Positive (in Big Pink)Website
Greetings founders and founders-to-be
Here's a 90 day experience designed to get your startup idea launched and to cashflow positive before the end of the year.
a few bullet points
- it's free
- it happens every Monday morning starting September 21st at Upstart Collective thru the end of the year
- there is a shared revenue component that is 100% opt-in if you choose
- small accountability founder roundtables will play a role
- you can opt out at any time
Unique to Portland and the pacific northwest this is about community, connection and building important things with meaning and purpose.
Sign up and come check out the first experience, this might be something spacial you won't want to miss.
RSVP here (it's free) 90daystocashflowpositive.com
Questions? [email protected]
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Code & Coffee - Beaverton–
Fly ChaiWebsiteCode & Coffee is an inclusive, informal co-working session: drink your beverage of choice, bring your laptop, and hang out with your peers! Have engaging conversations, or focus on work or projects. This is a great opportunity to learn from others, share your knowledge, and possibly collaborate on side projects, online courses, or even your day-to-day work.
---- Schedule ----
You're welcome to drop in anytime during the event. We understand that everyone may have external commitments and challenges - join us when you can!
We have informal unscheduled introductions - practice your personal elevator pitch, or take things slower to build your confidence.
---- Venue ----
Fly Chai allow us to informally and freely use their space. If within your budget, we'd appreciate your help to sustain our use of the venue, by purchasing something tasty, whether Chai or otherwise.
Find us at tables with a Code&Coffee sign - or a clump of laptop-users!
Wifi and power outlets are available. Our meeting area should be accessible - please let us know if not.
---- What to expect ----
Smaller events than you may be used to, with a mixed crowd week-to-week. We expect this is likely due to us meeting weekly, at a less central location.
These may result in what you're looking for:
A smaller, less intimidating, lower pressure, cozy atmosphere. A mix of regular and new faces. A simpler schedule - every week, same time, same place - that you can drop into when you like. Being closer to you than other events.Whether those are generally or partly to your liking, we hope you'll consider dropping by sometime!
---- Getting to the venue ----
Look for the venue on the meetup Google map, or alternatives like OpenStreetMap.
-- Driving --
There are limited parking spaces on a lot outside the venue (4+1 accessible), with more in the surrounding area.
-- Transit options --
Beaverton Central (Red/Blue MAX), then walk~ 8 minutes
Beaverton Transit Center (Red/Blue MAX, bus, WES) then walk ~11 minutes
For a shorter walk to the venue, take a bus from Beaverton Transit Center (52 to Farmington/Hall, 76 to Watson/Broadway, 57 to Canyon/Watson)
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Vibe Coding: Tips, Tricks, and the Tool Landscape — Full Stack Devs PDXWebsite
Vibe coding: tips, tricks, and the tool landscape
Everyone in the room is already coding with AI. Almost nobody agrees on how to do it well — and the gap between the developer getting real leverage and the one getting expensive rework is no longer access to the tools. It's technique.
Last month we put a model in the product. This month we point the models at our own codebases. We'll start with the one idea everything follows from — generating code got cheap, and checking it didn't — then walk through nine specific, usable tips: the twenty-minute memory file that makes every future session smarter, how to make an agent plan before it touches a file, why three failed corrections means restart instead of argue, and how to read a diff a stranger wrote. Each one comes with a line you can copy.
Then we stop talking and do it. We'll take a real prompt from the room and fix it live against an eight-point rubric, and I'll run a real task on a real repo on screen — including the parts where the agent does something dumb, because knowing what that looks like is half the skill.
You'll leave with three things to change on Monday morning, and a set of offline pages — the tips, the prompt rubric, and a ten-tool comparison matrix — to take with you.
Bring one prompt that disappointed you this week, and one task you have to do next week. We'll use both.
Come curious. Beginners and veterans welcome.
SPEAKER
Matt Duffield is President & CTO of Summit Software with 30+ years building enterprise software. A published author of six technical books and U.S. Navy veteran, he now focuses on AI-assisted development, local LLMs, and cloud-native architecture — and mentors the next generation of coders in his spare time.
EVENT DETAILS
Food, drinks, and conversation beginning at 7:00. The talk begins around 7:30. Parking is free at the Gladstone Park SDA church.
RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/full-stack-dev-pdx/events/316190567/
Next two weeks
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TuesdaySep 22 2026Virtual Lunch & Learn: The Scientist-CEO Communication Trap: Why Brilliant Founders Create the Exact Problem That Stalls–Website
Join us for a Virtual Lunch & Learn presented by Dr. Yoanne Clovis as she explores how PhD and MD founders can adapt their communication approach as their companies grow.
As the scientist who discovered and developed your product, you are the best person in the company to explain the science to other experts in your field. You can close the first round and convince the first hires, usually also scientists. But scientists often fall into the expert trap, when your deep expertise prevents them from connecting with non-experts, like angel investors and non-scientist executives who could become your next hire or your next partner. What made you credible in the lab becomes a liability as the team grows.
This session looks at the specific pattern PhD and MD founders fall into somewhere between fifteen people and sixty: the founder keeps leaning on the science and insists on leading the communications alone, long after the company has outgrown that approach. Dr. Clovis will walk through when things tend to change structurally, why “I’ll handle it myself” stops working, and what early-stage and pre-Phase II leaders can put in place now to maintain scientific integrity while growing the company.
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SNAP Specs PDX MeetupWebsite
Join us for the SNAP Specs PDX Meetup. The group focuses on the wearable AR glasses, SPECS 27 (https://www.specs.com), being released by SNAP in Q4 2026. The group is open to all - developers, designers, enthusiasts. All are welcome!
For this first meetup, we'll be covering the public launch event on September 16th in California. Several of the members of this meetup group will be in attendance and will provide an overview of the launch event and follow-up developer day. We'll also be discuss planning for the SPECS Hackathon after the release of the device.
This event is hosted by the Oregon Reality Lab at the University of Oregon Portland Campus. The intent is to meet monthly.
NOTE: The https://pdxr.org is presently down being built.
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WednesdaySep 23 2026NEDME (NW Electronics Design & Manufacturing Expo)Website
Frontiers: Exploring What's Next in Electronics and Manufacturing The 23rd edition of the NW Electronics Design & Manufacturing Expo returns to the spacious Wingspan Event & Conference Center at the Washington County Fairgrounds — our third year in the hall. One focused day of the latest trends and innovations in electronics design and manufacturing, with the people who build the industry in the Northwest.
We’re thrilled to announce that Jamie Hyneman, special effects expert, co-host of MythBusters, inventor of the Sentry unmanned firefighting vehicle, and CEO of M5 Industries, will be our special gues at NEDME 2026
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Hot Topics, Cool HeadsWebsite
Portland Design Thinkers, The Pacific NW Facilitators Guild, and North Bank Innovations are excited to host a special in-person event: Hot Topics, Cool Heads
Every team has conversations where stakes are high, opinions clash, and silence is just as dangerous as conflict. This interactive workshop gives you practical techniques to facilitate those moments rather than dread them. In this 90-minute, in-person session at North Bank Innovations at The VIC, members of the Pacific Northwest Facilitators Guild share their go-to methods for keeping tempers cool when hot topics arise. Through hands-on exercises and group discussion, you'll focus on group facilitation (team meetings, cross-functional discussions, leadership off-sites), not one-on-one conflict resolution.
You'll leave with several facilitation techniques for cooling down high-stakes group conversations, plus a simple plan for trying at least one of them out in a meeting sometime in the next two weeks.
ABOUT THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FACILITATORS GUILD The PNWFG is a professional collective of independent facilitators and small firms serving Oregon and Washington. The Guild exists because organizations in this region deserve better access to skilled facilitation when it matters most: the high-stakes conversations, the stalled innovations, the cross-functional tangles, the decisions that keep getting deferred. Members bring a range of methodologies and deep experience.
Please RSVP and let us know if your plans change, so we can plan accordingly.
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PDXOSGeo September Meetup - Portland Pastry 10K Walk app!Website
Happy Fall PDXOSGeo!
Join us fourth Wednesday September 23rd for more of your favorite open source geo-goodness. Tonight's special guest is Regan Hutson who has worked with both Enterprise and Open-Source geospatial tools for over 15 years. This has included incorporating spatial analysis into various roles at Kaiser Permanente, as well as pro-bono work for groups like the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
Regan’s presentation will outline decision points and development steps that went into building a mobile-focused web-map to support the first ever Portland Pastry 10K Walk event.
As always there will be pizza, and BYOB is available from across the hall at HotLips.
Time / Space Coordinates: Wednesday September 23rd, 6:30–8pm
Hot Lips Pizza @ the Natural Capital Center: 721 NW 9th Ave, Portland ORSee you there!
Our mailing list is a google group: drop us a line with any questions: http://groups.google.com/group/pdx-osgeo
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The Last Dive: Portland PremiereWebsite
Join us at Cinema 21 for a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience: the Portland premiere of THE LAST DIVE, an award-winning documentary from Oregon-based, Emmy-winning director Cody Sheehy and writer-producer Mark Monroe of the Oscar-winning films The Cove, Icarus, and the box office hit Fantastic Fungi.
TRAILER.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I54YmqxL2Q8
Terry Kennedy's life was transformed by a friendship with Willy, a 22-foot manta ray who'd slap his wings against Kennedy's sailboat to signal their next dive. Now in his 80s, Kennedy journeys to a remote island in search of Willy and the chance to say goodbye.
More than a film, this super event includes a special audience healing experience, the premiere of the film, and a top-notch panel featuring director Cody Sheehy and more expert guests.
Portland, take a deep dive with us and walk out with new possibilities for any stage of your life.
Post-screening Q&A with director Cody Sheehy and special guests. Presented by Portland-based distributor Area 23a, Random Good, and Rhumbline Media.
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ThursdaySep 24 2026Social Beer: Sept GatheringWebsite
Heading to the west side for this one. An IRL gathering of the Portland Startups Slack community. Whether you're already part of the Portland Startups Slack community or not, please feel free to swing by, have a beverage, and connect with other startup and tech folks here in Portland.
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MondaySep 28 2026Code & Coffee - Beaverton–
Fly ChaiWebsiteCode & Coffee is an inclusive, informal co-working session: drink your beverage of choice, bring your laptop, and hang out with your peers! Have engaging conversations, or focus on work or projects. This is a great opportunity to learn from others, share your knowledge, and possibly collaborate on side projects, online courses, or even your day-to-day work.
---- Schedule ----
You're welcome to drop in anytime during the event. We understand that everyone may have external commitments and challenges - join us when you can!
We have informal unscheduled introductions - practice your personal elevator pitch, or take things slower to build your confidence.
---- Venue ----
Fly Chai allow us to informally and freely use their space. If within your budget, we'd appreciate your help to sustain our use of the venue, by purchasing something tasty, whether Chai or otherwise.
Find us at tables with a Code&Coffee sign - or a clump of laptop-users!
Wifi and power outlets are available. Our meeting area should be accessible - please let us know if not.
---- What to expect ----
Smaller events than you may be used to, with a mixed crowd week-to-week. We expect this is likely due to us meeting weekly, at a less central location.
These may result in what you're looking for:
A smaller, less intimidating, lower pressure, cozy atmosphere. A mix of regular and new faces. A simpler schedule - every week, same time, same place - that you can drop into when you like. Being closer to you than other events.Whether those are generally or partly to your liking, we hope you'll consider dropping by sometime!
---- Getting to the venue ----
Look for the venue on the meetup Google map, or alternatives like OpenStreetMap.
-- Driving --
There are limited parking spaces on a lot outside the venue (4+1 accessible), with more in the surrounding area.
-- Transit options --
Beaverton Central (Red/Blue MAX), then walk~ 8 minutes
Beaverton Transit Center (Red/Blue MAX, bus, WES) then walk ~11 minutes
For a shorter walk to the venue, take a bus from Beaverton Transit Center (52 to Farmington/Hall, 76 to Watson/Broadway, 57 to Canyon/Watson)
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ThursdayOct 1 2026This Is *Not* a Talk About AI (It's About Fire, Anthropology, Technology and Humanity–
KilnWebsiteWhen AI begins to feel uncanny, dangerous, or too powerful to contain, our cultural imagination reaches quickly for Frankenstein.
The comparison is everywhere in the current news cycle: a creation escapes its maker, technology accelerates beyond human control, and the world discovers too late that it has built something it cannot govern. The fear is not foolish. AI is moving rapidly into the systems that shape work, education, media, public services, and democratic life.
But Frankenstein offers a more interesting warning than the one we usually tell. Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel was shaped by fascination with galvanism, the early electrical experiments that made dead muscle appear to twitch. Its central horror is not simply that Victor Frankenstein creates something powerful. It is that he creates it and then abandons responsibility for what follows.
In This Is Not a Talk About AI, digital anthropologist Ali Maaxa, Ph.D. asks what changes when we stop treating AI as an alien force with a destiny of its own and start recognizing it as a human-built infrastructure. A system does not simply “take over.” It receives power through human decisions: whose data it uses, who funds it, what it is allowed to access, which institutions treat its outputs as legitimate, whose labor maintains it, and whether people can challenge its decisions.
The story begins long before AI.
Neanderthals made birch-bark tar with controlled fire to bind stone tools to handles and hunting shafts. The Gutenberg Bible made authoritative texts reproducible at unprecedented scale and turned interpretation into a public struggle. Electricity extended the human day and television reorganized public attention. The internet promised open connection before becoming an infrastructure of platforms, surveillance, ranking, and concentrated control.
Each technology changed not only what people could do, but what became normal. Each produced new anxieties, new gatekeepers, new forms of dependence, and new struggles over who should set the rules.
AI belongs in that longer history. It is not “just like” fire, print, or electricity. It is faster, more networked, more opaque, and increasingly able to generate language, classify people, and act through connected systems. It also has a body: chips, data centers, electricity, water, land, extraction, invisible labor, public subsidies, and communities asked to absorb costs that rarely appear in a product demo.
For more than 20 years, Dr. Maaxa has studied how people around the world encounter, repurpose, resist, innovate with, and make meaning around emerging technologies. As a researcher funded by Mellon, Peacock, REACH, Wilgus, and NEH, an author of books and articles, and a professor at UNC, Duke, William & Mary, Virigina Tech, PSU & Pierce, she has produced leading work on global digital cultures. A leader in AI innovation and incubation, she has spent the past decade working across New Relic AI, AWS AI, Meta AI, startups, and accelerators, bringing new technologies into public and professional life while advocating for responsible, accessible, deeply ethical use.
This is neither an AI sales pitch nor an apocalypse sermon. It is a lively intervention into an overblown public conversation.
It asks:
What is AI actually doing now?
Which human relationships, forms of labor, judgments, and institutions is it rearranging?
Who gets to build and govern it?
Who pays for its infrastructure?
Who can inspect, interrupt, challenge, or repair what it does?
The answer is not to pretend risk has disappeared. It is to recover agency as a shared public practice.
A technology is not the same thing as a culture of use.
The question is not only what AI can do. It is what kind of public we are becoming while we learn to live with it.
Learn more, book me for a keynote or interview, or get involved: https://notanai.site
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SaturdayOct 3 2026Mentorship Saturdays @ Roseline Cafe & OnlineWebsite
Thanks to Roseline Coffee for providing a physical location! Find inside the hotel and to the right, likely on the couches
Coffee, bagels and people working on their careers and code! We have 2-5 mentors every month ready to help people get started in the industry, get help with a particular problem, or get career advice. We offer resume reviews, portfolio reviews, and sometimes mock interviews (time permitting).
Or call in (audio only)
+1 872-240-8681,,882162595# United States, Chicago
Phone Conference ID: 882 162 595#
Thanks to Capital One Café for providing a physical location!
Discord https://discord.gg/nSCxgbcG7U
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