Join us in Oakland!

Thank you to everyone for helping make ApacheCon Europe 2009 a success.

We look forward to seeing you at ApacheCon US to celebrate the ASF's 10th Anniversary, featuring:

- Nearly 100 Training hours
- More than 80 Conference sessions
- 2-day BarCampApache + Hackathon open to the public
- Evening MeetUps free of charge
- Keynotes by Apache Pioneers, Kirrily Roberts, and Brian Behlendorf
- Business + Community Track
- Big Feather Birthday Bash and After Party
- Entertaining Lightning Talks

2-6 November 2009 -- Oakland, California

http://us.apachecon.com/

ApacheCon keynotes are available to watch live online for free

Last week we announced our keynote speakers for ApacheCon Europe 2009 in Amsterdam this week. Yahoo!’s Raghu Ramakrishnan will be kicking off the keynote sessions on Wednesday with “Data Management in the Cloud,” which will explore Yahoo!’s ideas for how cloud computing will evolve and the technical challenges in designing data management systems for the cloud. On the following day, RedMonk’s James Governor will present “Open sourcing the analyst business,” which will discuss how his analyst firm has been learning from, adapting to and consulting with open source’s technology and approach. A panel of the ASF’s pioneers will close out the keynotes at the conference by celebrating the Foundation’s 10 year history with stories from the early days.

If you can’t attend the conference, watch the keynotes and select sessions live online for free. To delve further in-depth into conference topics, on each day a different track will be streamed in its entirety for a fee.

Free video streams include:

• Wednesday, 8:00 UTC: Jim Jagielski, State of the Feather
• Wednesday, 8:30 UTC: Raghu Ramakrishnan, Data Management in the Cloud
• Wednesday, 12:00 UTC:Lars Eilebrecht, Behind the Scenes of The Apache Software Foundation
• Thursday, 12:00 UTC: Jim Jagielski, Sponsoring the ASF at the Corporate and Individual Level
• Thursday, 16:30 UTC: James Governor, Open sourcing the analyst business...
• Friday, 10:30 UTC: Apache Pioneer's Panel, 10 years of The Apache Software Foundation
• Friday, 12:00 UTC: J Aaron Farr, The Apache Way

For a fee, technical tracks available to watch are:

• Wednesday, 9:30-17:00 UTC: Hadoop Geeks for Geeks track
• Thursday, 8:00-16:00 UTC: Tomcat for Developers and Administrators
• Friday, 8:00-16:00 UTC: HTTP Server Administration

www.eu.apachecon.com/c/aceu2009/about/videoStreaming

Get a free burst of ideas at the Meetups

Short, powerful presentations are the order of the day at the free Meetups that will run during the evenings of Monday 23 March and Tuesday 24 March.

These informal gatherings are based around talks – some as short as 5 minutes, none longer than 30 minutes – where everybody can share discoveries, projects, best practice, and case studies. One rule: no advertising.

The Meetups have already been proven internationally, but this is the first time that they’re taking place alongside ApacheCon, hosted in the same venue. The committers will already be in town, and others will be able to socialise after the training sessions taking place in the day.

The conversations may move down to the hotel bar, and it will be a chance to mingle with others who share your interests. And you don’t have to be a committer or developer to benefit, either. In the past, the majority of visitors have been software users, or in many cases potential users. We’ve even seen companies formed as a result of the networking that takes place at these Meetups.

This year, we already have five Meetups planned:

• Wicket Meetup
• Jackrabbit Meetup
• Portals Meetup
• Lucene Meetup
• Maven Meetup

To attend any of those, you can just turn up on the day, but we’d really appreciate it if you registered your interest in advance. If nothing else, it means we can make sure the room is big enough!

Meetups are organised by the software communities themselves, and are not officially part of the ApacheCon programme. We’d love it if you wanted to add another Meetup – we’ve got room for one more this year! Just email arje@apache.org if you’d like to propose the topic. If you don’t want to organise a Meetup this year, let us know if you’d like to plan ahead for the next ApacheCon, too.

We look forward to meeting you!

For more information, and to register your interest, visit the ApacheCon Meetups Wiki.

Video saved the conference star

ApacheCon offers a fantastic opportunity to meet up with your peers and gather new ideas. Many attendees tell us that the time they spend outside the official sessions – networking, sharing ideas and learning from others – is as valuable as the structured conference time. But if you can’t make it, we can help to ensure you don’t miss out on some of the star presentations.

We’ll be streaming keynotes and lunch presentations for free, so that everybody can share in these agenda-setting talks.

You can also access video streams of one selected track each day, for a fee:

• Wednesday: Geeks for Geeks (Hadoop)
• Thursday: Tomcat for Developers and Administrators
• Friday: HTTP Server Administration

If you can’t be in Amsterdam because you have a diary clash, don’t worry: buying a streaming video pass grants you access to the recorded conference sessions after the event.

The fee for participating in the live streaming is US$119 for residents outside the EU, and EUR 99 (including 19% VAT) for residents of the EU. You can see the program for the streamed tracks and sign up to watch here.

And if that program makes you wish you were here, it’s still not too late to join us in person! Register for ApacheCon now to make sure you don’t miss out on one of the most important software industry dates in 2009’s calendar.

ApacheCon Europe wants to teach you a lesson

Whether you’re immersing yourself in code at the Hackathon, kicking around ideas at BarCampApache, or just having a drink with your peers, ApacheCon is all about two things: sharing knowledge and having fun while doing it. But sometimes people want more structured, traditional workshops and classes too.

Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. We’re running special training sessions over the two days prior to the main ApacheCon conference, Monday 23 March and Tuesday 24 March. We’ve invited some of world’s the most experienced open source developers and industry experts to come over to Amsterdam and pass on their experience through lively half-day, full-day or two day courses.

Topics covered by the training sessions include:

• Creating services using a REST style approach
• Building standalone Couch DB applications
• Getting the most out of Lucene
• Apache HTTP Server 2.2
• A full training course for Tomcat, from basic configuration to advanced tuning
• Apache Wicket
• JavaServer Faces 1.2
• The ins and outs of Solr
• Strut 2, a new second generation web application framework
• How to organise a product lifecycle management with Maven
• Building and deploying web services with Apache CXF
• Basic and advanced media and analyst training
  

A pretty diverse range of topics, we think you’ll agree. The courses are open to all, so if you want to brush up your skills, or develop some new ones, head on over to http://www.eu.apachecon.com/c/aceu2009 to register.

And while you’re there, make sure you register for ApacheCon Europe 2009 too. With new features, like BarCampApache, and the open-to-all Hackathon, it will be a conference to remember.

See you at the BarCamp!

ApacheCon US took place in November last year. One of the great successes of the conference was the new BarCampApache, which gave attendees a unique insight into Apache Software Foundation projects, and enabled us all to share knowledge in an interactive and open way.

People had a great time at BarCamp in the US, so we’re bringing it to Europe for ApacheCon Europe 2009!

BarCamps are participatory workshops, where the content is driven by you. The schedule is determined by the participants – you pitch what sessions you want to see. Then people form groups and engage in a fun and lively discussion, kicking around ideas and passing knowledge between each other. The best thing about BarCampApache is that the workshops are very open – the participants are in control. And being open is what we’re all about.

We think BarCampApache is going to an even bigger hit in Amsterdam than it was at ApacheCon US. And it’s but one of many exciting features of this year’s European conference, which include the renowned Hackathon, Geeks for Geeks track, and focused training sessions.

To participate in BarCamp Apache, and register for ApacheCon Europe 2009, head over to our website.

Amsterdam: the city of openness

There are many reasons to love Amsterdam, from its beautiful canal-lined streets, to the bikes whizzing around everywhere and the bustle of Dam Square. It is known for being a city of freedom, but it is also increasingly a centre of Open Source in Europe. For these reasons, we feel that it is an ideal place to return to for ApacheCon Europe 2009.

For three years now, we have held ApacheCon in this beautiful Dutch city. We’ve seen an increase in attendance each year we’ve been to Amsterdam, and we are expecting a good turnout once again. The community has given us feedback that they love the city, and for 2009 we have more fun events planned for the conference.

The city of Amsterdam and the country of the Netherlands have been increasing their reliance on Open Source, including having a mandate that government offices use Open Source software over proprietary whenever possible (the OSOSS project). Last month, in fact, the Ministry of Education, said it will not subsidize proprietary software for the Netherlands Antilles. Prior to that, the Holland Open Software Platform was launched to bring together the entire Open Source community in the country and encourage its adoption.

There are a number of growing companies that are focused on Open Source with Apache ties that are based in the Netherlands as well. This year’s gold sponsor, Hippo, for example, and several of the members that work for it, is very active in both Apache and in bringing ApacheCon to the Netherlands. Its members contribute to projects like JackRabbit, Cocoon, Jetspeed and Portals among others. JTeam is also quite active with various Apache projects, and provides service for Wicket, Lucene, Solr and Maven among others.

Located in a world class city, filled with bright minds who believe in Open Source, it will be the ideal venue once again to bring everyone together under the feather of Apache.

Photo credit: J. Aaron Farr

Can you hack the Hackathon?

It’s like a mash-up between a marathon and a hacking session, and it’s coming to ApacheCon again this year! The Hackathon is your chance to meet up with other Apache committers and community members, and to work with them on F2F or ASF projects. For two days before the conference proper, community members will come together to grind the code, discuss the latest developments and – above all – have fun.

If you haven’t been before, don’t be shy – this is the place to find out more about what it means to be a committer, and what role the committers play in the software we all use.

And if you don’t want to get knee-deep in code, don’t panic – your views will be equally valid, and you’ll get a rare chance to put your ideas to the people who create the software you use.

The Hackathon takes place on Monday, 23 March and Tuesday, 24 March, before the main conference which runs Wednesday-Friday. We hope to see you there!

Register now!

Special offer for combined hotel stay and conference ticket

You can save €150 on your registration for ApacheCon, making the ticket price less than €900 if you stay at the conference hotel for two nights or more. The Movenpick Hotel is a short walk from the city centre, and is located near the scenic canal front.

Even if you choose to stay elsewhere, or you're local and travelling from home each day, the full ticket price of €1060 represents outstanding value for three days of expert presentations, workshops and networking opportunities.

To take advantage of this great offer, register now!

ApacheCon Europe 2009: the taxes are like the code – free

Here's some great news for everyone who's thinking of travelling to Amsterdam for this year's ApacheCon Europe. New tax laws that have recently been passed in the Netherlands mean that this year's conference will cost 19% less than last year's. We'll also be offering more for the money by introducing several exciting new features such as BarCamp Apache.

Originally introduced during November 2008's ApacheCon US, BarCamp Apache will be making its European debut at this years ApacheCon Europe. The BarCamp teaches attendees about ASF projects in an open and interactive environment.

We also have a new track to run alongside our existing ones. The Geeks for Geeks track will dive deep into Hadoop, HTTP server, Tomcat and more. And, for the first time, all attendees can mix-and-mingle while writing code side-by-side at the Hackathon.

We hope to see you on the 23-27 March at the Movenpick Hotel in Amsterdam! Please register here.

ApacheCon launches its blog!

We've decided to start a blog to keep everyone up-to-date on ApacheCon news as ApacheCon Europe 2009 starts to draw closer. The blog will serve as a platform for the team behind ApacheCon to voice thoughts on the event, to feature speakers and sponsors, and to foster dialogue within the community.

ApacheCon is not like any other event in the Open Source community, and Apache is not like any other organisation. Our conference combines thorough training sessions and presentations from experts with unconference tracks, BarCampApache, Birds-of-a-Feather sessions, 5 minute Lightning Talks and a newly open Hackathon. The whole event is inspired by the Apache Way, encouraging two-way communication and collaboration.

With this in mind, we'd like to hear your ideas even before you arrive. We promise to read your comments here, and we'll respond too. More importantly, we promise to truly listen to what you want and to use it to shape this year's event, and future events. Tell us about your community news, your experience of past ApacheCon events, and what you think about holding the event in Amsterdam. As past attendees will confirm, ApacheCon is a massive success because of the way it brings everyone together.

Block out 23-27 March in your diary today, and register here!