IN-PERSON; Apache Kafka® Meetup

Join us for an Apache Kafka® meetup on Thursday, November 27th from 5:00pm in Zurich hosted by mesoneer!

📍Venue:
mesoneer AG, Richtistrasse 17, 8304 Wallisellen, Switzerland

🗓 Agenda:

• 5:30pm: Doors open
• 5:30pm – 6:00 pm: Snacks, Drinks and Networking
• 6:00pm - 6:30 pm: Ivan Majnaric, Kafka PS, Lenses
• 6:30pm - 7:00pm: Ralph Debusmann, Lead Enterprise Kafka Engineer, Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund
• 7:00pm - 9:00pm: Additional Q&A, Networking and Pizza

💡 Talk 1:
Drew Oetzel, Head of Developer Relations, Lenses

Title of Talk:
How to talk about Kafka migration?

Abstract:
Kafka replication and cluster migrations are among the most time-intensive and error-prone tasks in real-time data platforms. Replication tools are often limited or difficult to operate, which is why many teams postpone migrations for months, even when new infrastructure would clearly improve performance or reduce cost.This session walks through a practical end-to-end example: migrating an application from a classic MSK cluster to MSK Express Brokers. The focus is on how a clear workflow can drastically shrink the migration effort while reducing operational risk.Attendees will see how cross-cluster replication with K2K establishes the data foundation, how an IDE-style interface makes it easy to compare source and target clusters, and how Claude Sonnet 4.5 connected to the Lenses MCP can automate verification of offset translation and consumer cutover points. Together, these steps show how a multi-week migration can be compressed into roughly 30 minutes, with predictable outcomes and far less manual work.

Bio:
Drew Oetzel is the Head of Developer Relations at Lenses, where he focuses on developer experience, Kafka-based systems, and real-time data platforms. He has a background in distributed systems and works closely with engineering teams and communities to simplify the day-to-day challenges of building and operating streaming applications.

💡 Talk 2:
Ralph Debusmann, Lead Enterprise Kafka Engineer, Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund

Title of Talk:
Kafi Streams - Complex Stream Processing on Python Without the Complexity*

Abstract:
In this talk, I will unveil the very first prototype of Kafi Streams, an Open Source stream processing libary built on top of PyDBSP, a pure Python implementation of Feldera's novel "Database Stream Processing" theory.

Why would we need another stream processing library? One whose name sounds so strikingly similar to the most popular stream processing library on the planet (ok, not for Python that is)?

Because existing stream processing libraries are complex, even Kafka Streams. You cannot easily do stream processing without understanding concepts like streams, tables, co-partitioning, windowing (hopping, tumbing, sessions...), state stores etc. You cannot possibly correctly use Kafka Streams as someone who is not a streaming expert.

On the contrary, Kafi Streams aims at making stream processing simple. As in - complex stream processing without the complexity. Anyone, even those who have never used streaming before, should be able to do it. Right from the start. Because with DBSP as our basis, streaming is not different from batch any longer. It is all the same.

Bio:
Ralph Debusmann is the Lead Enterprise Kafka Engineer at Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund, where he is driving the integration of the vast variety and volume of data generated across the organization into a real-time streaming data mesh based on Apache Kafka. His primary focus is on enabling scalable data-sharing solutions that support real-time decision-making and analytics across different business units at Migros.

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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](http://community@confluent.io/)