March 3rd Meetup with Mitch Masia, Senior Software Engineer at Boulevard [Nerds Like Me]
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March 3rd Meetup with Mitch Masia, Senior Software Engineer at Boulevard

Mar
03
Tuesday
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026 • 7:15PM (CDT)
Address Info
Available on RSVP acceptance

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Gallery Survey Recap
Attendees 47+ registered
The most common skills and interests are AI/ML, followed by Python, data science, and SQL, represented by attendees like an Emmy-winning producer, a former Two Sigma trading systems engineer, and leaders from Meta, PagerDuty, and AbbVie.

Nerds Like Me – March Meetup

Welcome to our next gathering of AI, data, and product enthusiasts. Expect lively conversation, practical demos, and plenty of opportunities to meet people building interesting things in the real world.

(Photo) A man stands at a podium giving a presentation to a seated audience inside a large industrial brewery with stainless steel tanks and high ceilings. Text: DRINKS presentation in a brewery | indoor, industrial | large group of people, industrial brewing equipment, speaker with microphone, gold balloons | candid, documentary | Colors: #a4a49c, #745c4c, #bcbcbc, #3c3c3c Note: This is a candid photograph capturing a real-world event in a physical environment.

Event Details

  • Date: Tuesday, March 3
  • Time: 7:15 PM to 9:15 PM
  • Location: Skokie, IL (exact venue shared after you RSVP)

Featured Speaker: Mitch Masia

(Photo) A close-up portrait features a smiling young man with short brown hair and a beard, wearing a dark jacket over a white collared shirt. The background is softly blurred in warm, earthy tones. person | outdoor | smiling, close-up, beard, natural light | portrait, candid | Colors: #E0B494, #5C3D2B, #FFFFFF, #1A1A1A, #A3967F Note: The image is a realistic capture of a person, exhibiting the characteristics of a photograph rather than a stylized illustration, logo, banner, or handwriting.

Bio:  
Mitch is a senior software engineer, aerospace enthusiast, real estate investor, amateur dance teacher, and really amateur woodworker. He’s built full-stack applications in TypeScript and Elixir across fintech and logistics, and he’s currently building AI agents for the beauty industry at Boulevard.

Discussion:  
Mitch will present “Code Still Matters,” a talk grounded in real developer experience and skepticism around superficial “vibe coding” trends. Rather than a product demo, this session will explore why strong engineering fundamentals remain critical even as AI tools evolve, how voice and other agent paradigms interact with real codebases, and what practical tradeoffs teams face when adopting AI-assisted tooling. Expect technical perspective, candid opinions on common pitfalls, and a discussion about balancing innovation with maintainable systems. 

(Photo) A man stands before an audience seated at picnic tables, giving a presentation in a large warehouse or brewery filled with stacks of kegs. Text: SPEED LIMIT 10 A group of people attending a presentation in a brewery. | Indoor industrial warehouse/brewery space. | Stacks of beer kegs, audience at picnic tables, presenter with a laptop and projector. | Candid documentary photography. | Colors: #8B7D6B, #3C4142, #C5B392, #1A1C1D Note: This is a real-life photograph capturing a candid moment of a professional gathering in an industrial setting.

(Photo) A group of people sitting at picnic tables in a large brewery warehouse, watching a presentation given by a man standing next to a screen. Text: Mitch Masia Data Software Engineering Operations Product Strategy Marketing Sales Finance People COUNTRY MALT GROUP EXIT presentation in a brewery | indoor warehouse | stacks of beer kegs, bags of grain, picnic tables, presentation screen | candid | Colors: #8B7D6B, #3C4142, #C9B081, #2B5D90 Note: The image is a captured photograph of a real-world event and environment.

Sponsorship: Solving IT

The first round of drinks is sponsored by Solving IT. Solving IT is a Chicago-based boutique firm providing IT recruiting and Salesforce consulting services to help organizations build stronger teams and maximize their technology investments.

(Logo) A clean, modern logo for 'SOLVING IT' featuring a dark blue wordmark and a stylized orange-to-red gradient icon of three people within a circular arc. Text: SOLVING IT Colors: #0D2140, #E84E36, #FDBA4D, #FFFFFF Note: The image features a combination of a brand name in a specific typeface and a unique graphic symbol, which is the standard composition of a logo.

What You Can Do Now

  1. RSVP – reserve your seat (location revealed after RSVP)
  2. Subscribe for updates: https://nerdslikeme.dream.page
  3. Complete your profile – we’ll use it in an upcoming session to spark deeper conversation.
  4. Whitelist us – add [email protected] to your contacts so you never miss an invite.
  5. Help spread the word – share the event with someone who’d enjoy a practical, builder-focused AI conversation.

See you soon, both familiar faces and first-timers alike.

Jonathan Shertok  
Organizer, Nerds Like Me

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