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In the last few weeks, our social media channels were filled with pictures from the first Platform Meetup we hosted. This was the inaugural edition, and we had a lot of fun in Bengaluru, India, with exciting speakers sharing their knowledge on topics ranging from virtualization of Kubernetes clusters using vCluster and cloud development environments (DevPod) to observability and other exciting subjects.
This post recaps all the good memories and updates for you on our upcoming events! :)
Where/When's
When the team was deciding on a location, Bengaluru stood out as one of the best places to host the event due to its thriving community and flourishing ecosystem. Additionally, there were a few more reasons:
Prakash Mishra and Vibhav Bobade, long-term supporters of vCluster, had given a talk on vCluster at the Kubernetes Bengaluru Meetup in March 2024. Bengaluru had the community and experts who could help this meetup skyrocket.
With all the plans in place, JFrog assisted us with the venue, and the date was set for June 15 in one of the most accessible places in Bengaluru.
Meetup by Numbers
We didn’t have many expectations for our first meetup in India. We were new and mostly unheard of. However, one thing we didn’t anticipate was the number of individuals interested in Platform Engineering and the Cloud Native Ecosystem.
However, the meetup skyrocketed with 300+ registrations and 80+ attendees eager to learn about Platform Engineering. Some of these people arrived after travelling for over an hour and a half.
The engagement was around 90% of the people participating in the fun quizzes and questions and having a lot of networking sessions in between.
From the Speaker Desk
As we kicked off the event, the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and curiosity. Seeing such a diverse group of attendees eager to dive into the world of Kubernetes and beyond was fantastic. People got their breakfast cakes with tea or coffee and waited for the meetup to start.
Welcome Note
I began by extending a warm welcome to everyone, emphasising the unique opportunities awaiting them throughout the meetup. We talked about more than just insightful discussions – there were chances to win swag and capture memorable Polaroids, all while getting a glimpse into what makes Loft Labs tick and getting these fun stats from the previous section.
I introduced vCluster, DevPod, and DevSpace, and people were curious. The best part of the meetup was that we had expert speakers from three companies covering the first two projects.
With that, these speakers took the stage to share their expertise on various topics related to Kubernetes, microservices, monitoring, and DevSecOps. Here are the sessions by our Guest Speakers:
Session 1: Unveiling Virtual Cluster
Speakers: Prakash Mishra and Vibhav Bobade
Prakash and Vibhav presented on "Unveiling Virtual Cluster." Their session targeted Kubernetes practitioners looking to optimise infrastructure with innovative solutions. They discussed the benefits of vCluster for managing multiple Kubernetes clusters and enhancing CI/CD pipelines, followed by a lengthy Q&A with the audience.
Session 2: Building Microservices with DevPod and Keploy
Speaker: Animesh Pathak
Animesh delivered a presentation on "Building Microservices with DevPod and Keploy." He explored the application areas for these tools and discussed how to put Keploy into DevPod. Pathak also highlighted the advantages of Keploy's new Zero-code Integration capabilities.
Session 3: Cost-Efficient Monitoring with Grafana, Prometheus, and OpenTelemetry for Startups
Speaker: Khushboo Verma
Khushboo Verma addressed the topic of cost-efficient monitoring for startups. Her "Cost-Efficient Monitoring with Grafana, Prometheus, and OpenTelemetry for Startups" session delved into how these open-source tools can provide comprehensive monitoring capabilities without breaking the bank.
Session 4: Seamless Security: The Next-Gen DevSecOps Platform
Speaker: Oum Kale
Lastly, Oum spoke about "Seamless Security: The Next-Gen DevSecOps Platform." His presentation focused on JFrog and its potential as a next-generation security artifactory, emphasising its role in modern DevSecOps practices.
With these sessions nearing completion, audiences learned a lot and were excited about the last part: the food and the quizzes.
More from the Community
After these sessions, we did a small quiz and distributed the prizes, including Bags, T-shirts and bottles. We had lunch, and people got their Polaroids, which we tried out to make this event more memorable.
By the evening, we had so many social posts sharing their experiences about the meetup and being excited for the next one. Here are a few of these:
With all that said, thanks to Biplab and Ishan from JFrog for helping us with the venue and all the on-ground logistics.
Additionally, I appreciate the support of my friends Ashish, Wriddhi, Vedant, and Avin, who assisted with much of the D-Day support, including registration. Alongside our fantastic speakers, these individuals made the meetup possible.
Looking ahead to Next Event
We’re honoured to have so many friends from the Loft Community who are curious about the next Platform meetup and excited to support them in different geographies. To be honest, we’re thrilled by the response, and in the background, we’re working with fantastic speakers and community members to host the next iteration in Bengaluru.
There is more platform engineering love to come from us at Loft Labs—so stay tuned and we look forward to seeing you soon!
If you want to be part of this community, feel free to join our community Slack. If you’re interested in speaking at the meetup, here’s the submission link, which you should not miss.
