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new 83d627334d3 blog: Add Apache APISIX North America Tour post (#1778)
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commit 83d627334d39f737670ba80a2fc60b25354db1a7
Author: Nicolas Fränkel <[email protected]>
AuthorDate: Tue Mar 26 11:09:28 2024 +0100
blog: Add Apache APISIX North America Tour post (#1778)
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+---
+title: Apache APISIX North America Tour
+authors:
+ - name: Nicolas Fränkel
+ title: Author
+ url: https://github.com/nfrankel
+ image_url: https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/752258
+keywords:
+ - APISIX
+ - Security
+ - Good practices
+description: >
+ Once in a while, I write non-technical blog posts when I've something worth
sharing. Today, I'd like to write about my North America "Tour" across several
conferences and user groups.
+tags: [Community]
+image:
https://static.apiseven.com/uploads/2024/03/26/qIgl44le_globe-1311758_1280.jpg
+---
+
+<head>
+ <link rel="canonical"
href="https://blog.frankel.ch/apisix-north-america-tour/"; />
+</head>
+
+>Once in a while, I write non-technical blog posts when I've something worth
sharing. Today, I'd like to write about my North America "Tour" across several
conferences and user groups.
+
+<!--truncate-->
+
+The first leg of my journey started in Oakland, California, with [Developer
Week](https://developerweek2024.sched.com/event/1WpId). Developer Week is an
established conference with different editions in several locations and online
during the year. Though I'm on their advisory board, this is only the second
time I've spoken at one of their events. Pro-tip: Avoid being on any board of a
conference where you speak. It's bad taste and casts doubt on whether you
validated yourself.
+
+I flew from Geneva the day before my talk and crashed into my hotel bed. Of
course, I woke up very early in the morning and decided to check the demo of a
talk planned for the end of the tour. It didn't work, so I tried to remove the
stopped containers. Tired as I was, I deleted **all** my Docker images,
including the ones I'd need a few hours later for my talk on
[Open](https://blog.frankel.ch/end-to-end-tracing-opentelemetry/)
[Telemetry](https://blog.frankel.ch/improve-otel-demo/)!
+
+<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kicking off <a
href="https://twitter.com/DeveloperWeek?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@DeveloperWeek</a>
by learning about Telemetry from <a
href="https://twitter.com/nicolas_frankel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@nicolas_frankel</a>
<a href="https://t.co/rLCDPCzExV";>pic.twitter.com/rLCDPCzExV</a></p>—
Scott McAllister (@stmcallister) <a
href="https://twitter.com/stmcallister/status/1760397694282121559?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>February
21, 2024</a> [...]
+
+The talk is heavily based on a demo. When I tried to start the latter, I
noticed the issue immediately and realized my mistake, but it was too late.
Even though I had a Docker Compose file with `build` statements, one of the
components is in Rust—there was no time to compile it.
+
+Long story short, it was an epic fail. I apologize again for this to the
attendees if any of them read this post; I hope the explanations and slides
were enough for them to play with the GitHub repository.
+
+Afterward, my friend [Josh](https://mastodon.online/@starbuxman) drove me to
San Francisco for lunch and a lovely walk along the piers.
+
+
+
+The next day, I woke early to fly to Montréal, Canada. It was a pretty long
flight; the day after, I had to talks at
[ConFoo](https://confoo.ca/en/speaker/nicolas-fraenkel), one of my favorite
conferences in North America. ConFoo started as a PHP conference, hence the
elephant mascot, but has now widened its horizon _a lot_.
+
+
+
+I had two talks there: Open Telemetry (again) and
[Chopping](https://blog.frankel.ch/chopping-monolith/) [the
Monolith](https://blog.frankel.ch/chopping-monolith-smarter-way/). I had
rebuilt my images, and both talks went flawlessly this time.
+
+<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a
href="https://twitter.com/nicolas_frankel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@nicolas_frankel</a>
talking about decomposing the monolith. The first step on the micro services
journey is reorg /cc <a
href="https://twitter.com/adrianco?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@adrianco</a> <a
href="https://t.co/YU6yFR8IJF";>pic.twitter.com/YU6yFR8IJF</a></p>—
Spencer Gibb (@[email protected]) (@spencerbgibb) <a
href="https://twitter.com/spencerbgibb/ [...]
+
+Over the weekend, my friend [Anthony](https://framapiaf.org/@anthonydahanne)
invited me to ski in Sutton. The temperature was very low compared to what I'm
used to, around-10°C. Fortunately, Anthony was prepared and gave me
self-heating thingies for my hands; unfortunately, he only had one - but it was
enough nonetheless. Anthony also connected me with all the meetups I have the
pleasure of presenting at in Canada, so I'm fortunate to count him as a friend.
+
+
+
+Having survived the Canadian cold, I ran one of my favourite runs on Monday:
from the Bonaventure Hotel to the top of the Mount Royal. The slope is pretty
steep at the foot of the mount, so you either choose to use the twisty path to
the top or the multiple stairs that cut a more direct route. I managed to use
all the stairs but the last (and longest) one and caught my breath running
along the regular path.
+
+
+
+In the evening of the same day, I talked at the [Software Crafters
Montréal](https://www.meetup.com/fr-FR/software-crafters-montreal/events/298710071/)
meetup. It's interesting because though I've been a developer for a long time,
I never belonged to the "crafter" movement, though it resonates. The talk
chosen was [Evolving your APIs](https://blog.frankel.ch/evolve-apis/). The room
was packed, and I believe it was pretty well received.
+
+
+
+The next step in my journey was the [Ottawa Java User
Group](https://www.meetup.com/ottawa-java-user-group/events/299043919). I spent
most of my developer years on the JVM, so my network is quite developed among
JUGs. The organizer is [Sebastien
Pelletier](https://www.linkedin.com/in/pelletis/): he's been accommodating and
has driven me from my hotel and back again. He's trying to rebuild the Ottawa
JUG back to its pre-COVID attendance. If you're a speaker and plan to be around
Ottawa, p [...]
+
+<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I had the pleasure of
watching <a
href="https://twitter.com/nicolas_frankel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@nicolas_frankel</a>
speak at <a
href="https://twitter.com/realOttawaJUG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@realOttawaJUG</a>
this evening. The room was packed!! <a
href="https://t.co/XEotZOh95E";>pic.twitter.com/XEotZOh95E</a></p>—
Theresa Mammarella (@t_mammarella) <a
href="https://twitter.com/t_mammarella/status/1762628620193775717?ref_src=t
[...]
+
+Ottawa is located between Montréal and Toronto, so the [Toronto
JUG](https://www.meetup.com/toronto-java-users-group/events/298952265/) was a
logical step in my tour. I stayed for a couple of days, including the weekend,
so I had time to explore the city, including the CN Tower, as it was my first
time there. [Therese Mammarella](https://mastodon.social/@t_mammarella) is the
organizer there, and I'm sure she'll be happy to host you. You may have noticed
she liked my talks so much that sh [...]
+
+<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Great have <a
href="https://twitter.com/nicolas_frankel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@nicolas_frankel</a>
drop into the <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Toronto?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>#Toronto</a>
JUG on his <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/APISIXNorthAmericaTour?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>#APISIXNorthAmericaTour</a>!
<a href="https://t.co/KcRhA2nOpm";>pic.twitter.com/KcRhA2nOpm</a></p>—
Shaun Smith 🇨🇦❤️🇺🇦 (@ [...]
+
+Toronto is quite close to Niagara Falls. It would have been a shame not to go
there, but I felt sick the weekend, so I decided to skip it. Yet, some things
are just bound to happen. After the talk, a couple of us went to have dinner.
There, I met a Ukrainian guy who had moved to Toronto years before the war and
knew about me and my support for Ukraine. After talking together, we realized
we had friends in common. He offered to drive me there as he was not working
the next day. I happily [...]
+
+
+
+Afterward, I returned to the USA, namely Chicago, Illinois, to speak at
[Chicago JUG](https://www.meetup.com/chicagojug/events/299412641/). I have
known the JUG leader, [Mary Grygleski](https://mastodon.social/@mgrygles), for
over a decade. She took the time to organize the meetup despite her busy
schedule.
+
+<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our meetup with the
amazing <a
href="https://twitter.com/nicolas_frankel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@nicolas_frankel</a>
has just started <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ApacheAPISIX?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>#ApacheAPISIX</a>!
Thanks <a href="https://twitter.com/IBM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@IBM</a>-Chicago
<a href="https://twitter.com/arunavaibm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@arunavaibm</a>
for hosting us tonight, and <a href="https:// [...]
+
+[Matt Raible](https://github.com/mraible) is a familiar face in the Java
community - and beyond. He's also the leader of the Denver Java User Group. I
was lucky to know him, as he also arranged a double hit:
[Boulder](https://www.meetup.com/boulderjavausersgroup/events/299454075/), then
[Denver](https://www.meetup.com/denverjavausersgroup/events/gjngbtygcfbrb/).
Even better, [Venkat Subramaniam](https://mastodon.social/@venkats), whom I
don't need to introduce, lives close to Boulder **a [...]
+
+
+
+The not-so-fun part about the second hike: for a reason unknown, mid-way, my
head started to hurt. The headache lasted for the whole day. I checked online,
and since I had my water bag and kept drinking, it might have been mountain
sickness. It's weird since I live close to the mountains and go on top
regularly, but it's the only explanation I could find. Fortunately, it went
away the next day, and the talks went well.
+
+<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">March <a
href="https://twitter.com/denverjug?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@denverjug</a> - <a
href="https://twitter.com/nicolas_frankel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@nicolas_frankel</a>
discussing “Evolving your APIs, a pragmatic approach” at Thrive in Cherry
Creek. <a
href="https://t.co/cOksUDihVm";>pic.twitter.com/cOksUDihVm</a></p>— Greg
Ostravich (@GregOstravich) <a
href="https://twitter.com/GregOstravich/status/1768070218855612800?ref_sr [...]
+
+It was time for me to leave for the last leg of my journey, the [Southern
California Linux
Expo](https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/21x/presentations/back-basics-getting-traffic-your-kubernetes-cluster)
in Pasadena. Before that, life took an interesting turn of events: the
forecast warned about a snowstorm in the area. The airline rebooked me twice:
from 6 AM to 7 AM, then from 7 AM to 11 AM. I was lucky enough to get a seat,
and though spraying the plane with unfreezing liquid took a [...]
+
+It was my second time at SCaLE, _aka_, SoCalLinux; the first time was the year
of Covid. I need to explain why speaking at SCaLE during this journey was
necessary. At the time, I was to speak at two different meetups in San
Francisco, then SCaLe, fly to Romania, then Istanbul, get back home on
Saturday, and leave on Monday for Australia. Granted, it was not terrific
planning, but I like to think that I lived and learned since then. Anyway, one
of the meetups was canceled, and I did the o [...]
+
+Later, the Romanian conference announced they would cancel the event. I called
the Istanbul one, but they confirmed the event would occur. I rebooked to
Istanbul, then one day later, they canceled as well. When life gives you
lemons, you make lemonade; I decided to keep it that way to avoid more
rebooking fees and spend the days in Istanbul anyway.
+
+
+
+For the record, on Sunday, the whole world stopped. The Australian conference
was also canceled, and I had no chance to go there since. Thus, that was what
went in my head by preparing for my talk at SCaLE: I wanted to exorcise my
previous experience. I'm happy to say it worked!
+
+<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a
href="https://twitter.com/nicolas_frankel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>@nicolas_frankel</a>
is starting a great talk on the basics of network traffic options on
Kubernetes at <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Scale21x?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>#Scale21x</a>
in the <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/kcdla?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw";>#kcdla</a>
track in ballroom B <a href="https://twitter.com/socallinuxexpo?ref_src=twsr
[...]
+
+Before leaving for home, though, I met with my friends from Yugabites:
https://github.com/dmagda [Denis Magda] and
https://mastodon.social/@FranckPachot[Franck Pachot]. We had lunch, then
enjoyed an hour or so walking on the shore of Venice Beach. Here, you can see
them counting on their fingers:
+
+
+
+Did you notice that you count on your fingers differently depending on where
you were raised? Hint: find out how the English spies unwillingly reveal
themselves in the Inglorious Basterds movie, despite speaking flawless German.
+
+It was time to get home after this last pause on American soil. Many hours
later, I was at home, tired but happy from all those events. Many thanks to all
the organizers who made them possible, especially Anthony, who worked as my
agent for Canada. I also want to thank the people who came to my talks:
speakers are nobody if there's no audience to listen to them. Finally, I want
to thank my employer [api7.ai](https://api7.ai/), who made it all possible.
+
+See you soon [somewhere](https://blog.frankel.ch/speaking/)!
+
+PS: I tried to document my journey via #APISIXNorthAmericaTour. Find more
pictures on
[Twitter](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23APISIXNorthAmericaTour&src=typed_query&f=live),
[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=%23APISIXNorthAmericaTour&origin=GLOBAL_SEARCH_HEADER),
[Mastodon](https://mastodon.top/tags/APISIXNorthAmericaTour) and
[BlueSky](https://bsky.app/search?q=%23APISIXNorthAmericaTour).
