2009 AMQP Conference
I spent the last 3 days in La Jolla Shores near San Diego for the AMQP Conference. Microsoft joined the AMQP Working Group in October 2008 and I’m our representative in the AMQP Project Management Committee. This was my first opportunity to meet many of the working group members face-to-face; it was good to put faces to the disembodied voices that I’ve been talking with on the phone every week.
The setting for the conference, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, was just perfect; right on the beach with the sun shining and sound of waves crashing in the background. Many thanks to Matthew Arrott and Rita Bauer for making us feel so welcome.
The first day of the conference was open to the public and I’m pleased to say that we were full to capacity. Representatives from a broad range of companies came to hear about AMQP and the details of the upcoming 1.0 version of the specification. John O’Hara (JPMorgan), the originator and Chairman of the AMQP Working Group, began with an introduction to AMQP that covered the motivation and real-world use cases that it’s designed to address. Mark Blair (Credit Suisse) then presented the findings of the User SIG - the features and characteristics deemed necessary by the end-users participating in the working group. Next up was an “AMQP in detail” session presented by Rob Godfrey (JPMorgan) and Rafi Schloming (Red Hat) that covered the new AMQP 1.0 messaging model and wire-level transport. The vendors of the main three AMQP implementations, iMatix, Rabbit Technologies and Red Hat, then described how their products were being used in real-world deployments today. Finally there was a chance for the audience to provide feedback. I’m pleased to say that response was uniformly positive.
The slides from the session are available:
The remaining two days were a closed session of the AMQP Working Group. Good progress was made on a range of subjects. I was impressed how a group of people with diverse opinions were able to work together productively and reach consensus on a range of issues.
The next few months are going to be a busy time for the Working Group as we finalize the 1.0 version of the specification. The pressure is on as if this event is anything to go by, there’s a real demand out there.


You’ve got to see this. It’s a U2 concert movie filmed over several shows on their recent tour of Latin America…and it’s filmed in 3D! We saw it on the huge screen at the IMAX in Seattle and it is just jaw dropping. One minute you’re on the stage, next you’re in the mosh pit, next you’re flying over the stadium. You’re all sat there with your oversized glasses on, looking a little like Bono himself, grinning from ear-to-ear as Edge plays his guitar solo right in your face or Adam’s bass lines thump your chest. It’s just an amazing experience.
