Events highlights for the week of April 6 – April 12, 2009

This week, there’s a ton of good stuff happening in the community, all listed on our events calendar. On Monday, Refresh Philly is taking a break from its lecture modus operandi to kick back with some beers at National Mechanics. It could be a great way to network with some of the city’s most innovative brains.
Net Tuesday Philly will be focused on GIS and maps this month, and have invited Robert Cheetham, founder and president of Avencia, a No Libs-based geographic software design company that works often with the public sector. Learn how GIS can help your non-profit. And if you’re for-profit, sneak in anyway. You’ll at least be able to ask someone how to work that darned GPS you’ve been toting around.
Brian Frantz and Jon Graves of Center City West-based The Neat Co. will be talking clean code at the Foundation Series Workshop Wednesday night, and Thursday has a burgeoning NJ and Philly Tech meetup. Be there. And by “there,” we mean at every single event.
Events listed in our highlights are free to attend. Please check our Events calendar for more information and read more after the jump.

Monday, April 6: Refresh Philly will be eschewing their normal meetup for a happy hour social at National Mechanics. Join the oft-crowded bunch for drinks and meets at the popular Old City digs. There is homework though, kiddos. Bring your best ideas for ways in which Philly could be improved by design and technology. Oh, and take our advice: some of the best ideas come after tasty beer and cocktails. 6:00 p.m., Old City. RSVP. [View more events]
Tuesday, April 7: If maps are your thing, or you’re just looking to get started in GIS, Net Tuesday Philly will have Robert Cheetham, founder and president of Avencia, a No Libs-based software design company that develops geographic analysis tools and services for government, nonprofit, commercial and research organizations. Cheetham has used his GIS background as an employee for the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Police Department and gets around on the lecture and research circuit—he’s been involved with Penn and Penn State University. He’ll be there to discuss ways to better non-profits with mapping. Don’t fret, for-profit orgs. We’re sure there will be value information to go around for non-non-profits, as well. 6:00 p.m., Old City. RSVP. [View more events]
Wednesday, April 8: Brian Frantz and Jon Graves of Center City West-based The Neat Co. (makers of popular and unique scanning software for receipts, business cards, and more), will be speaking at the Foundation Series Workshop, discussing ways to create the cleanest object-oriented code around. Learn how to follow S.O.L.I.D. design principles so you can keep your aesthetic principle and deliver Clorox-coated code even on deadline. 6:00p.m., Fort Washington, Montgomery Co. Details. [View more events]
Thursday, April 9: The hosts of NJ and Philly Tech say that their meetup is growing, so maybe it’s time to take the ride over the Ben Frank to Cherry Hill to see what’s going on. Consider it a show-and-tell for startups, investors, entrepreneurs, or anyone just looking to grab a drink with some techies.7:00 p.m., Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Details. [View more events]
Every Monday morning, Technically Philly will preview the best free tech events in Philadelphia and the surrounding region. See others here. Check our comprehensive events calendar here.