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!