For this month, we'll be welcoming Instantiations' Mariano Martinez Peck and Seth Berman, who will be talking to us about asynchronous programming in Smalltalk. Whether you’re interested in starting a new project or enhancing an existing system, asynchronous programming offers a great way to optimize application speed and help ensure maintainability as complexity increases. We’ll discuss the asynchronous programming approach, why it’s important, and show live demos in the VAST Platform ( https://www.instantiations.com/vast-platform/ ) of how to get started with futures/promises, asynchronous streams/zones, and more! Mariano Martinez Peck ( https://twitter.com/martinezpeck ) is a senior systems engineer specializing in dynamic programming language software. In 2018, he joined Instantiations to further develop the VAST Platform through the addition of new frameworks, libraries and tools, as well as improving the existing code base of VAST. He is active in the Smalltalk development community, and has used his expertise to co-author numerous open source projects. Mariano has a PhD in Computer Science, and his academic research has been published across various international journals. Seth Berman ( https://twitter.com/sethloco78 ) is President & CEO of Instantiations ( https://www.instantiations.com/ ). He leads a dedicated team that tirelessly supports and enhances Instantiations' VAST Platform, while he guides expansion into new software/service areas like IoT, cloud, and edge computing solutions. Before leading Instantiations, Seth joined the company in 2011 as a software engineer working on projects ranging from advanced code editors and cryptography libraries to FFI enhancements and virtual machine implementations. Previously, he worked for the US government in a variety of domains including stochastic simulation, operations research, grid computing, and link analysis. Seth has a B.S. in Computer Science and an M.S. in Software Engineering. This will be an online meeting from home. If you'd like to join us, please sign up in advance on the meeting's Meetup page ( https://www.meetup.com/ukstug/events/cbklbrydclbgc/ ) to receive the meeting details. Don’t forget to bring your laptop and drinks!