Talk presented at Grafana & Friends Stockholm meetup. RSVP here.

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Time for another Grafana & Friends Meetup, together with the Stockholm Apache Kafka® and Kong/Stockholm communities, hosted by Magello 🎉

📕 Agenda
17:00 – 17:25: Drop-in, food/drink-grabbing and mingle
17:25 – 17:30: Introductions
17:30 – 18:00: Talk 1
18:00 – 18:20: Mingle
18:20 – 18:50: Talk 2
18:50 – 20:00: Mingle

1️⃣ “Beyond API Management: Building AI-Enabled Event Streams with Kong Event Gateway, Kafka and MCP” by Johannes Brännström, Staff Solutions Engineer at Kong
In the era of LLMs and real-time data, the gateway’s role has shifted from a passive “traffic cop” to an active platform enabler. In this session, we’ll move beyond the basics and live-build a real-time, event-driven chat system. We’ll show you how to:

• Architect the Backbone: Use Kafka for high-throughput event streaming.
• Secure the Flow: Implement robust Auth/Z using Kong to protect your event streams.
• Give AI “Hands”: Integrate the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to allow a chatbot to perform actions, like fetching Konnect metrics or generating memes, directly from the stream.
• Simplify the Complexity: See how Kong isn’t just another layer of friction, but a tool that makes orchestrating these complex, multi-protocol systems significantly easier.

2️⃣ “Visualizing Your Data Lake with Grafana”, Imma Valls, Staff Developer Advocate at Grafana Labs.
In this brief talk, we’ll walk through how to get started with Grafana’s open source platform to explore and understand your data lake. We’ll cover how to connect to your data, no matter where it lives. How to craft queries that turn raw information into clear, compelling visualizations, and finally, set up alerts and annotations so you’re always in the know when something important changes in your data lake.

📍Location
Magello office: Västgötagatan 2, 118 27 Stockholm | https://maps.app.goo.gl/FPhEqLjttBHEneEt8
Take the stairs to the left after entering the building. If anyone is late, dial “Patrik Magello Group” on the door phone.

Food
There will be vegan/vegetarian food, and beverages at the event; if you have any allergies or other food preferences, please let us know at least 48 hours before the event!

Photo and video
We may take photos and record videos during the event. If you prefer not to be captured on camera, please inform the photographer when arriving.
If you feel sick, stay at home.

We are looking forward to seeing you 🎉!

Social

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/imma-valls_grafana-observability-techcommunity-activity-7434902714863656960-F8DN

Recording

RSVP https://women-in-apis.kit.com/8623233d18

Join the next session in our GET /Ready series designed to help women in tech build the confidence and support they need to step into public speaking.

In this session, we’ll explore: ”How to find the courage to submit your first conference talk.”

Join your host Imma Valls, joined by Katya Dreyer-Oren, Lead Software Engineer at Heroku, in this interactive conversation where you’ll discover practical ways to manage fear, validate your ideas, and confidently press “submit” on your first CFP.

​10 March 2026
17:30 CET

What you’ll take away:

1. A practical mindset shift to reframe rejection as feedback.
2. Simple ways to validate and shape your talk idea before hitting “submit”.
3. Tools to manage self-doubt and step beyond your comfort zone.

Social:

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/imma-valls_public-speaking-often-feels-like-something-activity-7435608443505414144-OuTt
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/women-in-apis_a-question-for-the-community-whats-the-activity-7436793215057481728-jHtc
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kdreyeroren_public-speaking-often-feels-like-something-activity-7435798796137029632-y02j

This talk was presented at the Grafana & Friends Zurich meetup, a joint meetup with the Zurich Apache Kafka community.

Grafana is powerful on its own, but its true potential lies in its vibrant community of plugin developers. In this talk, we’ll explore how community plugins extend Grafana’s core functionality, enabling you to connect to a broader range of data sources and visualize your data in new ways. As a practical example, we’ll introduce the Kafka Data Source plugin and demonstrate how it enables you to directly query and visualize Kafka topic data in your dashboards, eliminating the need for intermediate storage or external services.

Demo repository: https://github.com/thopewell/grafana-kafka-datasource-demo

Social

• https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7434902714863656960/

Build your voice in the API Community

Speaking opportunities are everywhere, from conferences to team meetings.

GET /Speaking is a small-format program from (and for) Women in APIs (WIAs). It’s designed to boost your public speaking skills and confidence. You’ll get practical advice and share experiences with others, helping you overcome what holds you back. You’ll be better prepared to take speaking opportunities head-on.

Who it’s for:

• Potential/future speakers at apidays and related events

• Anyone working in API design, engineering, product, or advocacy.

• Non-native English speakers.

What we’ll cover:

• Identify what holds you back from speaking.

• Find a subject that resonates with your audience.

• Prepare for a conference talk.

What you’ll get:

• Actionable tips for finding your voice and preparing talks.

• The chance to build your professional network.

• Two highly interactive, two-hour in-person sessions.

Before registering for this course, ensure you’ve joined our community at our WIAs website. As a member, you are welcome to join GET /Speaking and other WIAs events, however you identify.

Thanks to APIdays and our global group of committed volunteers, we can offer this GET /Speaking program free of charge to Women In APIs members. Make sure you apply first for membership at www.womeninapis.com

Tickets: https://women-in-apis.kit.com/d0b339e785

Social

• https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7432768738665402369/
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cristinagallardorey_yesterday-i-learned-a-lot-about-how-to-approach-activity-7436362456366546944-pJhn
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/julia-dur%C3%A1n-751aa82b_get-speaking-activity-7434925725675134976-TMx9
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/isabel-olea-170a7556_last-saturday-i-had-the-opportunity-to-take-activity-7436696953620500480-ZEgm
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cristinagallardorey_yesterday-i-learned-a-lot-about-how-to-approach-activity-7436362456366546944-pJhn

Contrary to popular belief, we still have a long way to go toward equality in the workplace. And in these uncertain times, where DEI programs have gone the way of the dodo, we need to have these conversations now, more than ever. Join us for a Geeking Out LIVE panel ahead of International Women’s Day (IWD), as we discuss what it means to support women in the workplace from both female and male perspectives, featuring panelists Colleen Coll, Reese Lee, Imma Valls Bernaus, and Josh Lee. ✌️

Social

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/geeking-out-podcast_todays-the-day-join-us-mar-4th-at-0900-activity-7434946332894773248-BNEp
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/geeking-out-podcast_one-more-sleep-until-geeking-out-live-join-activity-7434606214883291136-uZ7c
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/imma-valls_mark-your-calendars-on-march-4th-join-us-activity-7432020666285027328-czPn
• https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jkloammkxhs5qef3oiaxluog/post/3mfktkjdslu2h
• https://hachyderm.io/@adrianamvillela/116122609162519845

Grafana Labs patrocina HackUCD 2026. Como parte del patrocinio, se presenta un reto para los estudiantes hackers. Con María Alonso, preparamos una sesión para presentar el reto e incluir una formación en el uso de Grafana para el reto.

Descripción

¿Cómo podemos saber si hoy es un buen día para practicar deporte al aire libre basándonos en la contaminación? ¿O cómo influye el clima en el consumo de servicios públicos? Los datos abiertos están ahí, pero necesitan ser interpretados para ser útiles.

Os retamos a construir un cuadro de mando (dashboard/s) y un sistema de respuesta que resuelva una duda concreta o narre una situación específica de Galicia o de sus ciudades. Buscamos proyectos que no solo visualicen tendencias, sino que también permitan a sus usuarios recibir notificaciones simplificadas y personalizables.

Objetivo 

Desarrollar un sistema que conecte al menos una fuente de datos abiertos para:

• Crear dashboards en Grafana que hagan los datos comprensibles de un vistazo mediante gauges, heatmaps, series temporales, etc…
• Configurar Grafana Alerting para detectar anomalías o la superación de umbrales.
• (Opcional – Nivel Avanzado) Desarrollar una capa de usuario (App, Bot o Web) que consuma dichas alertas, de modo que la ciudadanía no tenga que interpretar gráficas complejas para estar informada.

Material de apoyo

• Datos Xunta de Galicia: abertos.xunta.gal (Recomendado: Medio Ambiente > Calidade Ambiental/Meteoroloxía).
• MeteoGalicia: API MeteoSIX, con datos de meteorología y calidad del aire en tiempo real.
• Grafana: Grafana Cloud y Grafana Assistant, herramientas para el despliegue y la ayuda en la creación de dashboards.
• Tokens de acceso: Se proporcionarán instrucciones en Discord para obtener los tokens de MeteoGalicia.

Criterios de valoración

1. Creatividad e impacto social: ¿ayuda realmente a que una persona tome una mejor decisión sobre su salud o su entorno?
2. Storytelling y claridad: capacidad del dashboard para narrar una historia de forma clara a simple vista.
3. Complejidad técnica: se valorará positivamente la integración de sistemas de alerta (Telegram/Discord) y el uso de arquitecturas completas (App + Grafana).
4. Uso de datos en tiempo real: capacidad para trabajar con flujos de datos dinámicos frente a datasets estáticos.

¿Qué no se premia?

• No se requiere un código perfecto ni una solución totalmente funcional en todos sus aspectos; buscamos un prototipo que demuestre el potencial de la idea.

Social

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/imma-valls_hackudc-hackudc-gpul-activity-7432437481289142272-oQRs

Recording https://womeninapis.substack.com/p/get-ready-how-to-step-on-stage-with

RSVP https://women-in-apis.kit.com/e498de9362

In this GET /Ready session, Nathalie Moss joins Imma Valls to share a practical checklist for approaching that moment with greater confidence.

​After more than 25 years leading global teams and transformation programmes, Nathalie knows that confidence on stage isn’t personality — it’s preparation.

What you’ll learn:

• How to rehearse your walk-on and opening
• What to consider about stage setup
• Why a tried-and-tested outfit matters
• How to check in with the sound crew and MC
• What to include in a simple speaker survival kit
• How to build a personal confidence routine
• Why the audience is rooting for you

Who’s hosting:

• ​Imma Valls – Developer Advocate, Grafana Labs
• ​Nathalie Moss – CIO | CTO | Strategic Technology Executive | Transformation Leader

Social:

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/women-in-apis_womeninapis-publicspeaking-womenintech-activity-7428191394063724544-kQXM
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/imma-valls_here-we-go-again-i-have-a-busy-week-ahead-activity-7427973566517768192-sl0F

We don’t want to guess what you need this year. We want you to tell us.

We want to start 2026 by rebuilding our roadmap. And a community isn’t built by organizers alone, it’s built by its “tribe”.

For this special Tech Tribe edition, we are ditching the slides and speakers to host a World Café.

☕ What is a World Café? Don’t worry, you don’t need to bring coffee! A World Café is a creative, conversational workshop format.

• The Setup: Small groups sit at tables with markers and paper.
• The Flow: We ask powerful questions about our future. You doodle, write, and discuss your ideas right on the table.
• The Rotation: Every 20 minutes, you move to a new table to exchange ideas with different women+ on a different topic.

💡 Why should you come? This isn’t just a chat. It’s a session to define what TechFems 2026 should look like, what we love and we should keep, and what we should add.

• If you missed us, come tell us what would bring you back.
• If you have big ideas: Come design the events you actually want to attend.
• If you have blockers, come tell us what’s stopping you from attending so we can fix it.

📅 The Agenda

• 18:00: Doors Open. Grab a drink, some snacks, and say hello 👋
• 18:30: The World Café Begins. Please try to be on time so we can start the rounds together!
• 19:30: We share the top ideas and vote on our favorites.
• 20:00: Wrap up & mingling.

📅 Date: February 16th 2026, 18:00 – 20:30
📍 Location: Itnig Café – c/ Pujades 100, Barcelona | https://maps.app.goo.gl/dLkxLEZDs3ZUyLpV8

🎙️Facilitators
This session will be guided by Monica Verdi and Imma Valls. They will hold the space, keep the energy high, and ensure every voice is heard as we draw our new map.

🤝 In Collaboration With A huge thank you to Code Sherpas for collaborating with us to make this event possible, and Itnig Spaces for their hosting.

Who can join:

• This event is for women+ (including trans and non-binary people) of all backgrounds. Whether you’re a student, job seeker, or professional in tech, you’re welcome here!
• If you prefer not to be photographed or recorded, let us know at the event.

Learn more:

• Discover more about TechFems on our Website and follow us on LinkedIn
• Check out our Event Calendar
• Please read our Code of Conduct

Important:
By registering, you agree to the TechFems Privacy Policy and Code of Conduct.

Social

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/imma-valls_here-we-go-again-i-have-a-busy-week-ahead-activity-7427973566517768192-sl0F
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/imma-valls_techfems-tech-tribe-world-cafe-activity-7424368664558186496-VHX0

Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQy52iuKWM

Grafana is powerful on its own, but its true potential lies in its vibrant community of plugin developers. In this talk, we’ll explore how community plugins extend Grafana’s core functionality, enabling you to connect to a broader range of data sources and visualize your data in new ways. As a practical example, we’ll introduce the Kafka Data Source plugin and demonstrate how it enables you to directly query and visualize Kafka topic data in your dashboards, eliminating the need for intermediate storage or external services.

Demo repository by Tom Hopewell: https://github.com/thopewell/grafana-kafka-datasource-demo

Social

Talk based on the blog post “Metrics, logs, traces, and mayhem: introducing an observability adventure game powered by Grafana Alloy and OTel“, at Grafana & Friends Mumbai
We’re excited to kick off 2026 with our first Grafana & Friends Mumbai meetup — and this one is online, so you can experience it from anywhere! 🚀
This session is designed to be student-friendly, beginner-focused, and community-driven, with talks centered around Grafana, observability, and real-world learning journeys.

📅 Event Details

• Date: 6th February 2026 (Friday)
• Time: 5:30 PM IST
• Mode: Online

✨ What to Expect

• Beginner-friendly Grafana talks
• Practical insights and learning-focused sessions
• Community stories and real-world use cases
• Live Q&A and interactive discussions

Whether you’re a student, early-career professional, or Grafana enthusiast, this meetup is a great place to learn, connect, and grow with the community.

📌 Speakers

🎙️ Marie Cruz — Senior Developer Advocate, Grafana Labs
Talk: Observability Made Simple: Monitoring Plants with IoT and Grafana
🎙️ Imma Valls — Staff Developer Advocate, Grafana Labs
Talk: Metrics, Logs, Traces, and Mayhem: Introducing an observability adventure game powered by Grafana Alloy and OpenTelemetry
🎙️ Sonal Gaud — Software Engineer, Accenture
Talk: Inside otelhttp: How OpenTelemetry Instruments HTTP in Go

📌 Registrations open — save your spot!

We look forward to seeing you online — let’s learn and build together! 💬

Social

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/imma-valls_observability-opentelemetry-grafana-activity-7425168547686961152-LleI
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/imma-valls_observability-opentelemetry-grafana-ugcPost-7425168546420318208-M10C
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/grafana-user-group-mumbai-50149b386_grafanaandfriendsmumbai-observibility-grafana-activity-7428363989442777088-uo9m
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/grafana-user-group-mumbai-50149b386_grafanaandfriendsmumbai-communityevent-observability-activity-7425566641847037952-es2h
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amitabh-devops_amazing-online-meetup-by-grafana-and-friends-activity-7425542780606861313-3dUj