code: public byte[] toBytes() throws IOException {
          ByteArrayOutputStream bout = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
          ZipOutputStream stream = new ZipOutputStream(bout);
          ZipEntry ze = new ZipEntry("async_message");
          stream.putNextEntry(ze);
          stream.write(toXml().getBytes());
          stream.flush();
          stream.close();
          return  bout.toByteArray();
      }
docs: Flattens(serializes, dehydrates, etc.) this instance to a binary representation.
  
  @return a binary representation
  @throws IOException