Yorkshire Azure User Group summer social and panel

Three of Leeds' most active cloud and infrastructure communities — Yorkshire Azure User Group, Yorkshire DevOps and AWS Leeds — are joining forces for a summer social and panel evening at The Brew Society on Aire Street. The event also marks the Yorkshire Azure User Group's 4th birthday.

The panel brings together seven speakers from across the industry: Ethan Sumner (Co-Founder & CEO, Community Stack), Jared Holgate (Senior Software Engineer, Azure Deployments, Microsoft), Suzie Rasneek (Junior Automation Engineer, Independent), Grace O'Halloran (Group Data Engineering Lead, Co-op), Sofia Trevino (Cloud Solutions Architect, Microsoft), Edmund Craske (Senior Business Consultant, Technical Advisory, CGI) and Edward Richardson-Lee (Full Stack Engineering Specialist, Accenture). The panel covers the communities themselves and the broader Leeds tech landscape, with speakers drawn from enterprise, consultancy and independent practice.

The format is social-first: drinks, networking and a panel discussion rather than a formal talk or workshop. Attendees from all three communities are expected, making it one of the larger cross-community gatherings in the Leeds cloud calendar. Hippo Digital is partnering on the event; sponsors include Overmind (Global Platinum), Searchability (Platinum and Recruitment) and Lloyds Banking Group and CGI as event partners.

Yorkshire Azure User Group has been running since 2022 and organises regular meetups focused on Microsoft Azure and adjacent cloud technologies. Yorkshire DevOps and AWS Leeds cover the broader infrastructure and platform engineering space. Between them the three groups represent a substantial slice of Leeds' cloud engineering community, and this joint event is a chance to meet people you'd otherwise only encounter on Slack or LinkedIn.

Why attend

Seven named speakers from Microsoft, Co-op, CGI, Accenture and independent practice will be on the panel — a rare concentration of cloud and platform engineering experience in one room. The social format means you can actually talk to them rather than queue for a two-minute chat after a talk.

It's also the YAG's 4th birthday, so the atmosphere should be relaxed. If you work in Azure, DevOps or AWS in Leeds and haven't yet connected with these communities in person, this is a low-pressure way to do it. Free entry, city-centre venue, 6–8pm.

Agenda

• 18:00 Doors open, networking begins
• TBC Panel discussion: communities across Leeds, featuring seven speakers
• 20:00 Close

Speakers

• Ethan Sumner — Co-Founder & CEO, Community Stack
• Jared Holgate — Senior Software Engineer, Azure Deployments, Microsoft
• Suzie Rasneek — Junior Automation Engineer, Independent
• Grace O'Halloran — Group Data Engineering Lead, Co-op
• Sofia Trevino — Cloud Solutions Architect, Microsoft
• Edmund Craske — Senior Business Consultant, Technical Advisory, CGI
• Edward Richardson-Lee — Full Stack Engineering Specialist, Accenture