Dates are set a year ahead so members can hold them. A Circle member spends about thirty hours a year here and a guild member about fifteen, less than one conference trip.
The Circle meets online in the first week of each month. Each guild meets online once a month in the second or third week. Deep dives rotate through Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai, with the annual assembly in Bengaluru.
The year, month by month
| Month | Circle | Guilds and practices |
|---|---|---|
| November | Portfolio ownership: how a center wins a platform from the parent, and keeps it | Upgrade plans for the year ahead in every guild |
| December | Cost of the data layer: one estate’s invoice, line by line | End-of-support plans per engine |
| January | Reliability and freshness at month-end | Benchmark survey opens; Reliability practice: DR drills that actually restore |
| February | Deep dive, Hyderabad: end-of-support dates, what is forced and what is not | Upgrade war stories in every guild |
| March | DPDP and data residency readiness | Security practice: audit logging and masking per engine |
| April | Benchmark readout: the year’s GCC Data Platform Benchmark | Engine-level benchmark cuts in each guild |
| May | Deep dive, Pune: AI data foundations | Vector Guild and Real-time Analytics Guild joint session |
| June | Talent and attrition | On-call design and career ladders |
| July | The HQ relationship | Cost practice: managed vs self-managed, priced honestly |
| August | Deep dive, Chennai: architecture post-mortems, three designs three years on | Migration practice: engine consolidation stories |
| September | Members’ choice, voted in July | Guilds’ choice |
| October | Annual assembly, Bengaluru: council election, charter review, Circle seats for the year | Steward and SIG lead elections; new guilds confirmed |
The GCC Leadership Conferences run alongside, four a year, alternating between Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Edition dates and venues are announced to members first, then published on the conferences page.
Apply, ask, or nominate someone better
Practitioners apply to a Guild. Leaders request a Circle invitation. Anyone may nominate a peer. Every message to the secretariat is answered by a person within two working days.