​​Kafka Summit London 2024: A Classic with a Twist

It’s that time of year again––Kafka Summit London is right around the corner. On March 19 and 20, the Kafka community will gather at ExCeL London to talk about all things new and exciting in the world of Apache Kafka. If it’s anything like Kafka Summits of years past, we all know it’s going to be an incredible experience. But Kafka Summit London 2024 has some tricks up its sleeve that I think will make it our best Kafka Summit yet®.

Let’s dive in and see what you can expect from Kafka Summit London 2024!

Familiar classics

Even as the Kafka community and our events grow and evolve over time, there are some things about Kafka Summit that we’ve come to expect. This year will be no different:

• A jam-packed agenda With record submissions to the conference this year, our program committee had a challenge ahead of them. But we’re pleased to say that we’ve narrowed it down to the best of the best. You’ll find over 90 sessions on the schedule spanning a variety of topics and skill sets. From quick and consumable lighting talks to detailed use case sessions and technical deep dives, there’s something for everyone.

• Courses and upskilling If you’re new to Apache Kafka or looking to formalize your existing skills, consider checking out the Kafka Fundamentals course and the on-site training sessions. Certification exams will also be available on-site to validate your knowledge and earn you bragging rights with colleagues. More information can be found on the registration page.

• Networking Whether you’re there to meet new folks, catch up with friends and colleagues, or track down a committer to discuss a KIP, you can expect to have plenty of time for conversation between sessions at the coveted “Hallway Track.” To connect with like-minded folks, you’ll find “birds of a feather” luncheons for both Financial Services (Day 1 Lunch) and Women in Technology (Day 2 Lunch); check the schedule for more details.

• The expo hall floor Swag. Networking. Food. More swag. What’s not to love about the expo hall floor at Kafka Summit? Back again this year are the ever-popular real-time T-shirt presses, the Ask the Experts pod at the Confluent booth, and the occasional book signing. Keep an eye out!

• The community meetup hub Over the past few years, the community meetup hub has taken off at Kafka Summit. This year, we have a bigger and better space for meetups on the expo hall floor. Throughout the conference, stop by to relax with a snack and hear from your favorite community members on a variety of fun subjects. We’re working hard to assemble the very best sessions, so keep checking the conference agenda for new additions!

• Social media fun with #KafkaSummit

  You just know that there will be a ton of fun banter online during the conference; follow along with #KafkaSummit. And while you’re at it, check out and participate in a #StreamingSelfie or two!

• The Kafka Summit party Join your fellow attendees for cocktails, delicious food, and live music to close out Day 1 of the conference. We’re excited to welcome back Sam Aaron to perform music in real time with his live-coding project, Sonic Pi. You won’t want to miss it!

Like I said, everything that you’ve grown to know and love about Kafka Summit will be there in London this year. But we’re also taking it all to a new level with…

An expanded scope

Technologies don’t exist in a vacuum, and Apache Kafka is no exception. Inspired by the success of Current over the past two years, we’ve decided to take Kafka Summit London to a new level by broadening its scope with an entirely new track of content. Consider it a bonus of sorts. 😉

This “Current Track” will take place in Breakout Rooms 1 and 2 on both days of the conference. We’ve opened the door to any and all technologies that work well with Kafka and help to make our real-time use cases that much more sophisticated. You’ll find a wide variety of technologies and projects represented in this track––like Apache Spark, Apache Flink, Debezium, GenAI, and more. (And if you’ve never attended Current, this will give you a good taste of what you’re missing!)

// TODO: Build your agenda and register

Obviously, the Kafka Summit London 2024 agenda is packed. With 90 breakout sessions and lightning talks (including the two breakout rooms of Current content) as well as luncheons and talks being hosted at the meetup hub, there’s more to choose from than ever before! 

I recommend taking a serious look at the available sessions and deciding on a few must-sees before you arrive in London. If you need help jump-starting your list, here are a few talks I’m excited to attend:

• Ever heard of a passive-aggressive event? Me neither. But thankfully, Oskar Dudycz is going to teach us all about them in his session, Event Modeling Anti-Patterns.

• In Tick, Tick, Tick…Time Is Money When Processing Market Data, we’ll learn how Bloomberg engineers Madhuri Jain and Vishanth Bharadwaj make use of event time, wall clock time, and processing time in their Kafka Streams and Flink-based market data pipelines.

• You won’t want to miss the chance to learn from Kate Stanley, co-author of “Kafka Connect: Build and Run Data Pipelines,” in her session Getting the Balance Right with Kafka Connect.

The only thing left for you to do is register for Kafka Summit London! You can use code PRMBLG for a 25% discount on the list price. And for those of you who can’t attend in person, don’t worry. We’ll be livestreaming the keynote as well as one full track of breakout sessions and lightning talks; to gain access to the livestream, register for the free Streaming Pass. And, as with past Kafka Summits, every session will be recorded and available for free to everyone after the event.

Like I said, Kafka Summit London 2024 is going to be our best summit yet. I can’t wait to see you there!