con-na/contrib-fest.jpg title><img class=element-to-stretch src=/v1.21/blog/2023/istio-at-kubecon-na/contrib-fest.jpg alt="The Contribfest Istio Workshop at KubeCon NA 2023"></a></div><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p>A much-awaited panel discussion on <a href=https://sched.co/1R2ts>Service Mesh Battle Scars: Technology, Timing and Tradeoffs</a>, led by the maintainers from three CNCF Service Mesh projects, had a huge crowd in attendance, and a lot of interesting discussions.</p><figure style=width:75%><