IN-PERSON: Apache Kafka® Meetup - Mar 2026

Join us for an Apache Kafka® meetup on March 5th from 6:00pm hosted by Salesforce!

📍 Venue:
Salesforce
333 Seymour St #700, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A7
Social Lounge

IMPORTANT: Please arrive on time so that we can check you in, many thanks!

🗓 Agenda:

• 6:00pm - 6:30pm: Doors Open, Networking, Pizza and Drinks
• 6:30pm - 7:00pm: Yaroslav Tkachenko, Founder, Irontools
• 7:00pm - 7:30pm: Katie Forbes, Software Engineer, Confluent & Luyi Xiao, Software Engineer, Confluent
• 7:30pm - 8:30pm: More networking, Q&A

💡 Speaker One:
Yaroslav Tkachenko, Founder, Irontools

Talk:
Making Kafka Serialization Fast Again: Stop Trusting Defaults

Abstract:
Serialization is often the slowest part of your data streaming stack, especially in systems with a lot of components and moving parts.

Using binary formats like Avro or Protobuf is a great improvement over JSON, but the commonly used serialization libraries are not always the fastest option.

Last year, I went on a mission to build the fastest Kafka deserializer for Apache Flink data sources, targeting JSON and Avro formats. I learned about the two main techniques for optimizing performance in data systems: vectorization and code specialization. I’ll share how these learnings can be practically applied to serializers and deserializers. And these learnings are applicable to any Java Kafka client!

Bio:
Yaroslav Tkachenko is a Software Engineer, Consultant, and Advisor specializing in Data Streaming & Data-Intensive Applications. Currently, Yaroslav is a Founder at Irontools, building tooling for Apache Flink and consulting companies in the Data Streaming space.

Previously, Yaroslav was a tech lead at Shopify, Activision, and several startups.

💡 Speaker Two:
Katie Forbes, Software Engineer, Confluent & Luyi Xiao, Software Engineer, Confluent

Talk:
TBA
Abstract:
Bios:

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DISCLAIMER
NOTE: We are unable to cater for any attendees under the age of 18.
If you would like to host or speak at a meetup, please email community@confluent.io