During the ApacheCon Europe 2009 in Amsterdam, some Apache projects are hosting what we call "Apache Meetups".
A Meetup is defined as:
- Organized by the members of the project community itself
- Covering an Apache project (like Wicket, Cocoon, Jackrabbit, Portals, etc)
- Having an open agenda, for which anyone can propose a talk, covering a wide range of subjects
- Bring together a diverse crowd: committers, users and people merely interested in a specific project
- Free or 'real cheap' for attendees (depending on sponsoring)
Also, Meetups generally:
- Happen during evenings or in off-peak hours
- Come with beers
- Are supposed to be fun
Some basic rules apply:
- Talks are 15 to 30 minutes in length
- Adhere from becoming either a Hackaton (too much hacking, which scared away newcomers) or an ApacheCon (broad, covering many projects)
Very successful Meetups were
- The Cocoon GetTogether 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
- Wicket Meetup 2007
- Apache Meetups 2008