What a great place for informal interactions, strengthening the network, and hearing the latest news from the grapevine! Last weekend 1.-3. Feb 2019, over 8000 developers met in Brussels for FOSDEM 2019.
For the overall atmosphere, take a look at this 1:05 long video by Sofia Ek.
MariaDB Foundation was present with six staff people (Ian Gilfillan, Vicențiu Ciorbaru, Teodor Ionita, Robert Bîndar, Zak Greant and myself) and two board members (Eric Herman from Booking.com and Serg Golubchik from MariaDB Corporation). Platinum Sponsor MariaDB Corporation had sent in total six participants, one of which I’m happy to note was EMEA VP Sales Mick Carney, who co-sponsored the “MySQL, MariaDB and Friends Dinner” Friday evening. I was happy to re-connect with Giuseppe Maxia, Colin Charles, Liz van Dijk, Sveta Smirnova, Joro Kodinov, Geert Vanderkelen, and other faces I hadn’t seen in a while.
The ranking on my FAQ list got updated:
The look you’ll get from @kajarno when asking the difference between #MariaDB and #MySQL ?? #FOSDEM #FOSDEM2019 @mariadb_org pic.twitter.com/t8ampbqjO8
— Fia Fotograf | Fiasco Vision (@fiafotograf) February 2, 2019
I got to experience a near-reunion of the MySQL AB Community Team 2008.
Partisl @mysql_community Team 2008 Reunion at FOSDEM – missing @dups and @LenzGrimmer pic.twitter.com/FZ1fhV3yMa
— Kaj Arnö (@kajarno) February 2, 2019
The “MySQL, MariaDB and Friends DevRoom” was packed and filled all Saturday. I dropped off in the afternoon, and got in a good meeting with Percona’s Founder and CEO Peter Zaitsev (a close colleague at MySQL AB until 2006, frequently encountered thereafter) …
Met Percona founder & CEO @PeterZaitsev at #FOSDEM – thx for great discussion on @mariadb_org role and cooperation opportunities pic.twitter.com/4QmXlb8ypO
— Kaj Arnö (@kajarno) February 3, 2019
… with my predecessor, first MariaDB Foundation CEO Simon Phipps (a colleague from 2008-09 when Sun Microsystem Inc. had acquired MySQL AB) …
Met @mariadb_org first CEO @webmink at #FOSDEM – thx for great advice on positioning and governance, and for an insightful #brexit rant pic.twitter.com/9Jo8kWSl7D
— Kaj Arnö (@kajarno) February 3, 2019
… whereas snow chaos at home in Munich and a busy schedule resulted in me chatting with long-time MariaDB Foundation CEO Otto Kekäläinen mostly while waiting for the flight from Brussels to Helsinki.
Popped into @ottokekalainen and spoke #FOSDEM and @mariadb_org stuff at the airport – grateful for Otto’s insights! pic.twitter.com/U5yLzkIXKo
— Kaj Arnö (@kajarno) February 3, 2019
I miss talking properly with Shlomi Noach, or even saying hi to René Cannao, and would really have wanted to chat with non-attendees Jean-François Gagné and Jaime Crespo. Just to name a few. Better luck next time.
Sunday morning, the virtual team of MariaDB Foundation grabbed the opportunity of conducting an internal meetings face-to-face. Combined with good discussions during lunches on Sat and Sun, we managed to save what felt like three weeks of non-productive email debates.
The @mariadb_org #FOSDEM team 2019 signing off: @shinn0K @pipeweed @cvicentiu @ZakGreant @RobertBindar pic.twitter.com/IazRwIN92a
— Kaj Arnö (@kajarno) February 3, 2019
Next chance to meet: at our MariaDB Unconference 23.-24 Feb 2019 in New York. We have space for 50 people, and currently 42 are registered on Meetup. Our agenda is still fairly preliminary. Note that right after that and right next door in New York, MariaDB Corporation hosts MariaDB Open Works 25.-27. Feb 2019. Hope to see you there!