Lego Groups Sydney

From EVP & CPO of Walmart US to Advisor for MrBeast: A Chat with Jon Alferness

Some careers shape products. Others shape industries. Join Leading the Product for an exclusive evening with [Jon Alferness](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-alferness-b193a3/) — one of Silicon Valley's most accomplished product leaders, advisor and investor. Jon is a highly experienced technology and product leader with more than 20 years' experience in Silicon Valley and the global retail sector, including recent focus on the food and grocery sector. Across more than two decades, his career has been defined by senior executive roles delivering digital transformation and innovation at some of the world's most influential technology companies, including Google, Pinterest, Lyft and, most recently, as Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Walmart US whilst a Strategic Advisor to MrBeast — a role encompassing eCommerce, Financial Services, Health & Wellness, Merchant Tools, and Last Mile Delivery. Prior to Walmart, Jon spent 13 years at Google, where as Vice President of Product Management, he played a pivotal role in developing Google Ads across Search, Mobile, Shopping, and Travel, driving innovations that shaped the digital advertising landscape. Now, Jon's roles consist of Non Executive Director for Woolworths Group and Advisor/Investor to many companies. Hosted as an intimate Fireside Chat, with Brainmates CEO [Adrienne Tan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriennetan/) driving the fireside chat, this is a rare opportunity for the Australian product community to hear directly from someone who has operated at the highest levels of global product leadership. This will be an open, candid conversation exploring what it really takes to build enduring product organisations, lead through constant technological change, make high-stakes decisions, and develop the next generation of product leaders. We'll dive into topics including: * How product leadership has evolved across the world's biggest technology companies. * What separates exceptional product organisations from merely good ones. * Leading through AI, disruption and constant change. * Building products, teams and cultures that scale. * The lessons, mistakes and experiences that only come from operating at the very highest level. Following the fireside conversation, we'll open the floor for an audience Q&A, giving attendees the chance to ask their own questions and engage directly with one of the industry's most experienced product executives. We'll then continue the conversation over drinks and networking with Sydney's product community. **Evening timeline** 5.30 – 6.15pm: Arrive, grab a drink, and connect 6.15 – 7.15pm: Fireside conversation with Jon Alferness and audience Q&A 7.15 – 8.00pm: Networking, conversation, and connection Whether you're an experienced product leader, an aspiring executive, or simply curious about how the world's best product organisations think and operate, this promises to be an evening of practical insights, honest stories, and unforgettable access. A huge shoutout to Dovetail for their gracious hosting at their Surry Hills office. We'll have light food and drinks covered—all we ask is that you bring your curiosity, your questions, and your perspective. RSVP your spot today.

CALIFORNIA LEGENDS performed by WILD THINGS RUN.

From transaction to insight to agent

Operational data used to live in one world and analytics in another — separated by brittle ETL, hours of latency, and a copy of your data you couldn't trust. This month we're closing that gap. We've got a hands-on look at Lakebase and the Lakehouse working as one system, a talk from the team at Slalom, and - because the best answers in this group usually come from the room rather than the stage — a proper open round where we crowdsource solutions to whatever people are actually stuck on right now. Slalom are hosting us, and there will be pizza and drinks. Come hungry, come with a problem you'd like to discuss or just help others to brainstorm on theirs! **🎤** **Talk 1 — Closing the operational/analytical gap with Lakebase and Lakehouse** **Speaker: [Vysnavi Mohan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vysnavi-mohan/), Databricks** Operational data used to live in one world and analytics in another — separated by brittle ETL, hours of latency, and a copy of your data you couldn't trust. We close this gap with Lakebase and Lakehouse. We write live application state into Lakebase, Databricks' managed Postgres transactional engine, and watch it sync automatically into Unity Catalog as a governed Delta table — no pipelines to babysit, no reverse-ETL tax. On top of that synced table we've built an analytics view that serves fresh insights the moment a transaction lands. You'll walk away knowing: * Where Lakebase fits next to the Lakehouse, and what it's *not* for * How the managed sync into Unity Catalog actually behaves — and what governance you inherit for free * What it takes to serve analytics off live application state, without a pipeline in the middle **🎤 Talk 2** - **Grounded, Governed, Useful: Enterprise AI Agents on Databricks** **Speaker: [Morty Mahzoon](https://www.linkedin.com/in/morteza-mahzoon/), Slalom.** Morty will share some exciting things Slalom team are working on, including Genie, Omnigent, Knowledge Bases and more! AI agents are easy to prototype, but much harder to make accurate, secure and useful at enterprise scale. This session explores how Databricks capabilities such as Unity AI Gateway, Genie Ontology, knowledge bases and Omnigent can help organisations build governed agents grounded in trusted data and business context. **🧠 Open round** \- what are you actually stuck on? The part we keep hearing people come back for. We go around the room, collect the real problems people are wrestling with this quarter - migration pain, governance sprawl, streaming costs, a model nobody trusts, whatever it is - and put them to the group. Someone here has almost certainly solved your problem already. Bring one problem you'd genuinely like a second opinion on. No slides needed, no need to have it figured out. **Call for speakers** Want to talk at a future meetup? We're always after speakers — 10-minute lightning talks count, and first-timers are very welcome. Comment below or message the organisers!

Monopoly

Tuesday Social NBC Granville

This is group for all players with a view to play to improve their badminton skills.🏸🏸 Every Tuesday Time: 8pm-11pm Number of Courts: 6 courts Number of players: 40 Regular: 20 Non regular : 22 Quality Shuttles included Please made your payment to PayID 0416 379 688 Reference your name and the receipt to 0416 379 688 to confirm your spot. No cash... Location: NBC Granville Address: 62 Ferndell Street south Granville , NSW 2142 Important to know Disclaimer: The members and guests are fully responsible for their injuries by RSVPing to this event. You can get personal injury insurance for yourself by joining Sydney Badminton Association. I will share more information later. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Regards, Kim and Coach Thiet.

Small Team, Big Stack: A Quality Toolkit Built from the Ground Up

**Small Team, Big Stack: A Quality Toolkit Built from the Ground Up** Most talks about quality assume you've got a QA team, a test framework someone already built, and headcount to spare. This one's for when you don't. **Sam Connelly**, Principal Quality Consultant within the Equal Experts network in Australia, walks through how a small startup team builds and maintains confidence in what they ship — for a predominantly JavaScript web app — without any of that safety net. **What we'll cover:** * **Unit testing** — what we actually test (and, just as importantly, what we don't) * **BDD, pragmatically** — the test framework we built, and how we've kept it extensible as our underlying model evolves * **Debugging from the outside in** — using analytics frameworks to reconstruct what a user did right before something broke * **Where we're headed** — early experiments including a self-healing UI E2E agent, and using Claude Code as an exploratory testing partner rather than just a coding tool This isn't a best-practices talk. It's what quality actually looks like when you're small, resource-constrained, and building the plane while flying it. You'll leave with practical ideas for your own toolkit — whatever size team you're working with. **Agenda** 5 30 PM - Gates open (Networking drinks & food) 6 15 PM - G-EE-K Talk 7 PM - Q&A 7 15 PM - Networking drinks (and more food) 8 PM - Wrap up

Riverwood MIISC - Indoor Open Skill Wednesday Socials

Our Open Skill Sessions are the easiest way to jump in, play, and enjoy pickleball. No pressure, no grading, just good rallies and good company. These morning and afternoon sessions are designed for all skill levels, whether you're brand new, still learning the ropes, or just looking for a relaxed social run-around. Players rotate through friendly doubles games, meet new people, and get plenty of court time. The vibe is simple: show up, have fun, and play at your own pace. If you want a welcoming, low‑stress session where everyone gets involved, this is your spot. Free to register online (Pay at desk of $7.50) Secure your spot only on Eventbrite: https://MIISCSocialPickleball.eventbrite.com.au

Riverwood MIISC - Indoor Open Skill Thursday Socials

Our Open Skill Sessions are the easiest way to jump in, play, and enjoy pickleball. No pressure, no grading, just good rallies and good company. These morning and afternoon sessions are designed for all skill levels, whether you're brand new, still learning the ropes, or just looking for a relaxed social run-around. Players rotate through friendly doubles games, meet new people, and get plenty of court time. The vibe is simple: show up, have fun, and play at your own pace. If you want a welcoming, low‑stress session where everyone gets involved, this is your spot. Free to register online (Pay at desk of $7.50) Secure your spot only on Eventbrite: https://MIISCSocialPickleball.eventbrite.com.au

Play pickleball at Pennant Hills Park! Monday 7:15pm

Come play pickleball at Pennant Hills Park! No first time beginners please. Those new to the game should book into the beginners session through meetup. **What to expect:** 12 outdoor courts 3 levels of play Advanced Intermediate Social Please self-assess your level and join the most suitable queue. Players are welcome to challenge themselves, however, if you are consistently unable to keep up with the level of play, please move down a level or join social play to help keep games fun and balanced for everyone. After each game, come off the court and place your paddle back into the appropriate rack. There are two racks per level - please split your paddles with your partner in the rack to help mix players and keep games social and balanced (though you are welcome to stay together if preferred). Once a rack has 4 paddles waiting, those 4 players may take the next available court. Ages 16 + **What to bring:** Comfortable sportswear and non-marking shoes Water bottle A pickleball paddle if you have (we have extras if you don't) **Where to find us:** Netball courts 3, 4 and 5 inside Pennant Hills Park **Cost:** $12 Payable by Pay ID, Tap and Go (1.6% transaction fee) or Cash. **How to join:** Please RSVP to reserve your spot. (Please **do not pay for Meetup.** Subscribe using the free version!) Please mark off your name with the host upon arrival and pay before playing. If paying via Pay ID, please include your name and the date of the session in the payment description. We look forward to pickling with you! **Event updates:** Any important notices, including event cancellations will be communicated via the Penno Pickleballers Whatsapp Group. [Click here to join](https://chat.whatsapp.com/KyxHvvSx0bK9rcYhnSgiAK) Please also follow us on instagram @pennopickleballers **Disclaimer** By confirming your RSVP to this event, you acknowledge and accept full responsibility for any risk of injury or damage to your property. The hosts and organizers are not liable for any injuries or property damage that may occur. Additionally, photos and videos may be captured during the event for our social media and promotional materials. By attending this event, you consent to the use of these images and recordings for such purposes.

Riverwood MIISC - Indoor Open Skill Friday Socials

Our Open Skill Sessions are the easiest way to jump in, play, and enjoy pickleball. No pressure, no grading, just good rallies and good company. These morning and afternoon sessions are designed for all skill levels, whether you're brand new, still learning the ropes, or just looking for a relaxed social run-around. Players rotate through friendly doubles games, meet new people, and get plenty of court time. The vibe is simple: show up, have fun, and play at your own pace. If you want a welcoming, low‑stress session where everyone gets involved, this is your spot. Free to register online (Pay at desk of $7.50) Secure your spot only on Eventbrite: https://MIISCSocialPickleball.eventbrite.com.au

Riverwood MIISC - Indoor Open Skill Monday Socials

Our Open Skill Sessions are the easiest way to jump in, play, and enjoy pickleball. No pressure, no grading, just good rallies and good company. These morning and afternoon sessions are designed for all skill levels, whether you're brand new, still learning the ropes, or just looking for a relaxed social run-around. Players rotate through friendly doubles games, meet new people, and get plenty of court time. The vibe is simple: show up, have fun, and play at your own pace. If you want a welcoming, low‑stress session where everyone gets involved, this is your spot. Free to register online (Pay at desk of $7.50) Secure your spot only on Eventbrite: https://MIISCSocialPickleball.eventbrite.com.au

Play pickleball at Pennant Hills Park! Wednesday 7:15pm

Play pickleball at Pennant Hills Park! No first time beginners please. Those new to the game should book into an introduction to pickleball session through meetup. **What to expect:** 12 outdoor courts 3 levels of play * Advanced * Intermediate * Social Please self-assess your level and join the most suitable group. Players are welcome to challenge themselves, however, if you are consistently unable to keep up with the level of play, please move down a level or join social play to help keep games fun and balanced for everyone. After each game, come off the court and place your paddle back into the appropriate rack. There are two racks per level - please split your paddles with your partner in the rack to help mix players and keep games social and balanced (though you are welcome to stay together if preferred). Once a rack has 4 paddles waiting, those 4 players may take the next available court. Ages 16 + **What to bring:** Comfortable sportswear and non-marking shoes Water bottle A pickleball paddle (we have ones you can borrow if needed) Good vibes! **Where to find us:** Netball courts 3, 4, 5 and inside Pennant Hills Park **Cost:** $12 Payable by Pay ID, cash or Tap and Go (1.6% transaction fee applies) **How to join:** Please RSVP to reserve your spot. (**Please do not pay for Meetup.** Subscribe using the free version!) Upon arrival, please mark off your name with the host and pay before playing. If paying via Pay ID, please include your name in the payment description. We look forward to pickling with you! **Event updates:** Important notices, including event cancellations will be communicated via the Penno Pickleballers Whatsapp Group. [Click here to join](https://chat.whatsapp.com/KyxHvvSx0bK9rcYhnSgiAK) Please also follow us on Instagram @pennopickleballers **Disclaimer:** By confirming your RSVP to this event, you and your guests acknowledge and accept full responsibility for any risk of injury or damage to your property. The hosts and organizers are not liable for any injuries or property damage that may occur. Additionally, photos and videos may be captured during the event for our social media and promotional materials. By attending this event, you and your guests consent to the use of these images and recordings for such purposes.