IN-PERSON: Apache Kafka® Meetup Deinze, Belgium

Join us for an Apache Kafka® meetup on Thursday, January 23rd from 6:00pm in Deinze, Belgium hosted by Cymo!

📍Venue:
Hof bel'ami, Peperhol 6, 9850 Deinze

🗓 Agenda:

• 6:00pm: Doors open
• 6:00pm - 6:30pm: Food, Drinks and Networking
• 6:30pm - 7:00pm: Gilles Philippart, Software Practice Lead, Confluent
• 7:00pm - 7:45pm: Jonas Geiregat, Software Developer, Cymo
• 7:45pm - 8:30pm - Additional Q&A & Networking

💡 Speaker One:
Gilles Philippart, Software Practice Lead, Confluent

Title of Talk:
Intro to Apache Kafka

Abstract:
Dive into the world of real-time data streaming with this introduction to Apache Kafka. This talk is tailored for developers, data engineers, and IT professionals who want to gain a foundational understanding of Kafka, a powerful open-source platform used for building scalable, event-driven applications.You will learn about:

• Kafka fundamentals: the core concepts of Kafka, including topics, partitions, producers, and consumers
• The Kafka ecosystem: brokers, clients, Schema Registry, and Kafka Connect
• Stream processing: Kafka Streams and Apache Flink
• Use cases: discover how data streaming with Kafka has transformed various industries

Bio:
Gilles works at Confluent as a Software Practice Lead and has over twenty years of experience in the financial sector, primarily developing systems for investment banks. In recent times, he served as a Principal Engineer at a FinTech company, where he built a platform that offers loans to small and medium businesses in the blink of an eye. Through this work, he became a proponent of event-driven architectures with Apache Kafka and is now passionate about guiding others to leverage its advantages. Outside of work, Gilles enjoys reading books, whipping up culinary delights, and playing games with his daughter and wife.

💡 Speaker Two:
Jonas Geiregat, Software Developer, Cymo

Title of Talk:
Tutorials make it look easy—just sprinkle some `@KafkaListener` annotations, and you’re done! But as it turns out, reality is far trickier.

Abstract:
This talk is for anyone about to embark on building a Java-based microservices architecture with Kafka, as well as for those who already have and want to compare battle scars. Over the years, we’ve navigated countless challenges and uncovered valuable lessons about what works—and what doesn’t—when integrating Kafka into a Java microservices ecosystem.

Topics include:

• Structuring your codebase for long-term maintainability.
• How to prepare for failure.
• Managing topics and schemas effectively to ensure developer productivity.
• Handling Kafka’s distributed quirks when testing.
• Keeping teams aligned in a growing microservices landscape.

Whether you’re just starting out or deep in the trenches, this talk will give you the insights, patterns, and real-world lessons to help you navigate Kafka’s inevitable bumps and build systems that last.

Bio:
👨‍💻 I’m Jonas, a Software Developer at Cymo (cymo.eu) with a keen focus on crafting robust Event Driven Architectures in Java. I thrive at the crossroads of business and technology, always keeping a pragmatic perspective on both realms.

👉 My approach is rooted in a combination of proven methodologies, including Extreme Programming (XP), Test-Driven Development (TDD), and Domain-Driven Design (DDD). I believe that these principles pave the way for scalable, efficient, and maintainable software solutions.

💡 I don’t just enjoy implementing these techniques; I’m also an enthusiastic communicator. I love sharing my thoughts and ideas with the development community. You can often find me contributing insights through articles on my blog, http://jonasg.io, or at tech conferences, where I’m always excited to engage in discussions and deliver insightful talks.

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DISCLAIMER
We are unable to cater for any attendees under the age of 18.
If you would like to speak or host our next event please let us know! community@confluent.io