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WednesdayMay 27 2026Portland Accessibility and User Experience Meetup (PDX A11Y UX) - Alt Text is the Ocean You Thought Was a PondWebsite
Topic
Writing proper alt text is hard. But it doesn't have to be. There's a minimum standard and an advanced approach. People who need alt text will appreciate you for the former and love you for the latter. Alt text is also a whole lot more than the
altattribute. That's just one of the many ways to make content accessible. In fact, there are a number of considerations for writing great alt text.In this presentation, Mark Wyner will help you understand the spectrum of options so you can take good care of your audience. We'll walk through implementation methods, phonetics, composition, complex sources, and tackling social media.
Let’s give screen readers and other assistive technologies something to talk about.
Agenda
The event begins at 6 pm; join early, starting at 5:45 pm for networking.
- 5:45 Networking
- 6:00 Introductions and announcements
- 6:15 Presentation
- 6:45 Q&A and discussion
About the presenter
Mark Wyner is an autodidactic polymath with over two decades of experience in design and development. His approach prioritizes usability, accessibility, and inclusivity. He’s also an antifascist humanitarian. So diversity and equity are overarching principles for everything he does in this space. Currently, as the Lead Product Designer at BookNook. His pronouns are he/him/his. You can follow him on Mastodon or his accessibility writings on his website.
Accommodation requests
If you have any accommodation requests, don't hesitate to contact us before the event to discuss.
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PDXOSGeo May MeetupWebsite
PDXOSGeo connects again this week, Wednesday May 27, 6:30p Hot Lips Pizza @ the Natural Capital Center 721 NW 9th Ave, Portland OR. Join us for some show and tell and good open geo discussion!
This month bring your current projects for show and tell to share whatever open-source geo-goodness you have recently been working on! Don't have a project to share? Feel free to share the best thing you saw at GIS in Action, the QGIS plugin that helps you the most, or anything you've recently seen that you think the group would enjoy.
Tomorrow
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ThursdayMay 28 2026Better Futures Club
WebsiteBetter Futures Club is a weekly event (alternating Tuesdays and Thursdays) focused on imagining and making better futures.
Imagine an artist community, a think tank, and a research center in the same building. People in all of those fields working alongside each other imagining and creating different futures together. Cross pollination and inspiration. Liberal Arts and STEM and R&D. Photographers, physicists, authors, astronomers, musicians, makers, mathematicians, designers, developers, fashionistas, climatologists and all manner of imaginative optimists.
All Better Futures Club events are covered by the Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct (https://www.contributor-covenant.org)
Next two weeks
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SaturdayMay 30 2026Portland Indie Game Convention (PIGCON)through
Norse HallWebsitePortland Indie Game Convention (PIGCON) is a brand new convention celebrating independent game developers from Portland and beyond! A weekend for indie developers to learn, share, and connect, PIGCON will consist of two days of showcases, workshops, talks, an artist alley, as well as events featuring familiar and under-the-radar indie game development talent. Saturday hours are 10AM-10PM and will feature an all-day talk track as well as a curated showfloor featuring ~40 indie games and an artist alley. Sunday hours are 10AM-7PM, featuring a second all-day talk track, an all-day workshop track, and a free and open-to-the-public BYO Game showcase where anyone can come to play games, and even bring their own games to set up and showcase! No sign up is required for the BYO game showcase, just show up and grab some table space and power.
Additional special events will be hosted on site both Saturday and Sunday night.
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ThursdayJun 4 20266-4-26 Accelerate Biotech Happy HourWebsite
Join us for OBI’s Accelerate Biotech Happy Hour on Thursday, June 4, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM.
Kick off June with OBI’s Accelerate Happy Hour! Good conversations, great people, and a relaxed space to connect. This month’s happy hour is fueled by our beverage sponsors, Ramsey Cox Media Relations and Public Affairs and Nucleate.
It’s a chance to connect with others in the community, build new relationships, and share ideas that move your work forward.
Whether you’re new to OBI or have been part of the community for a while, we’d love to see you there.
When: Thursday, June 4 | 5:30 to 7:00 PM Where: OBI Event Space | Suite 230
RSVP and join us for an easy, welcoming evening built around connection and good company.
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SaturdayJun 6 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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Starlight Parade–
Big PinkWebsitePortland Starlight Parade
n 2026, the Portland Rose Festival proudly introduces an exciting evolution of two beloved traditions: the CareOregon Grand Floral Starlight Parade. This newly reimagined parade brings together the pageantry of the Grand Floral Parade with the energy and excitement of the Starlight Parade into one unforgettable celebration. By combining these iconic events, the Rose Festival is creating a single, dynamic parade experience that honors tradition while embracing creativity, community, and innovation.
To preserve the distinct character of each parade, the event will unfold in two phases. The Grand Floral portion will step off at 6:30 pm, featuring floral floats, marching bands, equestrian units, and community groups in daylight. Later in the evening, as darkness falls, the Starlight portion will step off at 8:30 pm, showcasing illuminated floats, lighting effects, and nighttime spectacle. The two portions will run sequentially allowing each to shine in its own way.
This format allows for richer storytelling, broader representation, and an enhanced experience for both participants and spectators, while also enabling the Rose Festival to focus resources more intentionally—strengthening production quality, improving operational efficiency, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of one of Portland’s most cherished civic celebrations.
We look forward to welcoming the community to this bold new chapter of the Rose Festival.
Ways To Watch
From The Street Get in on the action for free with a city street spot! The CareOregon Grand Floral Starlight Parade travels through downtown Portland and ends at Lincoln High School. View the Route Map below and find your favorite spot!
Pro Tip! Set your chairs for the parade in the afternoon and enjoy some fair food and carnival rides at CityFair before the parade steps off!
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TuesdayJun 9 2026Virtual Lunch & Learn: From Half-Baked to Fully-Baked: Getting Your Product Right for Faster Market Uptake–Website
Have you ever wondered if your product truly has the upside you believe—or have sold to your investors? Given the remarkable failure rate of new products, it’s worth understanding what separates the winners from the losers, and how you can see more clearly which of those paths you’re on.
“From Half-Baked to Fully-Baked: Getting Your Product Right for Faster Market Uptake” is for entrepreneurs who run lean and can’t afford a new product failure. The talk is based on case studies with local Inc.-5000 companies that, while smart, made product blunders costing millions of dollars because of overconfidence and hubris.