I sat on a discussion panel at the 9th Annual International Business Rules Forum yesterday. I would not mention this if it were not for who I was sitting next to: none other than Dr. Charles Forgy, the inventor of the Rete Algorithm, which made the modern rule engine possible. It was a thrill to meet him and a huge honor to sit with him on this panel. Dr. Forgy is a soft-spoken, retiring man, who doesn't appear in public often, so this was really a unique opportunity.

Besides myself and Dr. Forgy, we had some other distinguished company: Dan Selman of ILOG, Marc Proctor from JBoss (the JBoss Rules lead), and Pedram Abari from Corticon. All heavy hitters in the Java rule engine industry. A great group of people from whom I learned a lot; I wish I had more time to spend talking with them. The session was moderated by Jim Owen, who I've known from the jess-users mailing list for years; it was brilliant to meet him in person.

Of course, I did not pass up the opportunity to have some photos taken (unfortunately, this is the only photo of the whole panel that I have, and it's not a very good one.) Here you see, left to right: me, Dr. Forgy, Dan, Marc, and Pedram. The photo is also remarkable in that I am wearing a tie, something that virtually never happens. And no, I'm not angry; that's just my face.