ApacheCon EU starts tomorrow, and, for the first time ever, I won’t be there.

In fact, today is my very last chance to say this – I’ve been to every (official) ApacheCon. In fact, if you don’t count 1998, I’m the only person who has been to every ApacheCon.

In 1998, there was an event called ApacheCon, in San Francisco, hosted by CNet, but that was before the Apache Software Foundation was formed. So I choose not to count that one.

Then, in 2000, I spoke at ApacheCon 2000 in Orlando. Then there was London 2000 with Douglas Adams keynoting. Since then, we’ve been a lot of places, including Santa Clara, San Diego, Las Vegas, Atlanta, New Orleans, Amsterdam, Dublin, Vancouver (Canada) and Stuttgart – not in that order.And Colombo, Sri Lanka, where I met Arthur C. Clarke. In fact, it’s the Sri Lanka one that lets me claim the honor of being the only person to go to every one, because the only ASF members there were me, Ken Coar, and Danese Cooper.

But, tomorrow, ApacheCon EU starts, in Sinsheim Germany, and I won’t be there. Already many of my friends have gathered there, and are having dinner there right now. I wish I could be there with them, and not just because it would keep my record intact. I love ApacheCon. I love giving and attending the talks. I love spending time with old friends and meeting new ones. I love the passion of the community, and learning about the new sub-communities that are joining the larger Apache family.

And I sincerely hope that the is the last one I’ll miss.

Looking forward to ApacheCon North America 2013 in Portland. I plan to be at that one. You should come, too.