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PyCon 2011 Financial Aid Deadline 1/2/2011

There's 1 week left to apply for financial aid for PyCon 2011. The deadline is 11:59 PM 1/2/2011 PST. PyCon is an excellent place to meet people using Python and to find potential employers. If you're looking for work using Python but are concerned about the costs, apply for financial aid. We may be able to help! Please see the Financial Aid Application for details & instructions. The deadline for applications is January 2, 2011.

PyCon 2011 Financial Aid Available

The PSF is happy to announce that Financial Aid is once again available for PyCon. If you're interested in attending but cannot afford it, we may be able to help. Financial aid can help cover: • Your registration for PyCon • Your hotel room at the conference hotel in a shared room • Your flight or other transportation Please see the Financial Aid Application for details & instructions. The deadline for applications is January 2, 2011.

Media Statement - Kiwi PyCon 2010

New Zealand Python User Group Incorporated Media Statement For immediate release 24 September 2010 Major IT players support Python Conference 2010 Over 150 computer programming enthusiasts are set to meet at the Kiwi PyCon 2010 conference on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 November at the Copthorne Hotel & Resort Bay of Islands in Waitangi. Python, a programming language used throughout the world, has a massive following and Python conferences are held around the globe. Kiwi PyCon is New Zealand's Python community coming together and will cover the use of Python in the scientific, web, mobile, gaming, and animation fields. The event has garnered notable support, with Catalyst IT and Microsoft as major sponsors and many other well known companies and organisations including the Python Software Foundation, Plone Foundation, Atlassian, Enthought, Tait Radio Communications, Apress, Packt Publishing, O'Reilly, ThinkGeek, Amazon Web Services, Wingware, ANZTB, Mozilla and ActiveState al

PyCon 2011 Call for Proposals

Proposal Due date: November 1st, 2010 Conference Site: http://us.pycon.org/2011/ PyCon is back! With a rocking new website, a great location and more Python hackers and luminaries under one roof than you could possibly shake a stick at. We've also added an "Extreme" talk track this year -- no introduction, no fluff -- only the pure technical meat! PyCon 2011 will be held March 9th through the 17th, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Home of some of the best southern food you can possibly find on Earth!) The PyCon conference days will be March 11-13, preceded by two tutorial days (March 9-10), and followed by four days of development sprints (March 14-17). PyCon 2011 is looking for proposals for the formal presentation tracks (this includes "extreme talks"). A request for proposals for poster sessions and tutorials will come separately. Want to showcase your skills as a Python Hacker? Want to have hundreds of people see your talk on the subject of your choice? Have some

PyTexas 2010 Breaks Out This Weekend

This coming weekend, on Sat Aug 28, the Texas region Python community holds the fourth annual PyTexas . This is a breakout year for PyTexas in organization, volunteers, and attendance as we strive to grow into a larger, more established yearly event. PyTexas 2010 is a one day event held at the Baylor University Science Building in Waco, TX, featuring scheduled presentations, "open spaces", lightning talks ...and a " Python Teach-In " to help beginners and intermediate level developers gain a learning boost through peer instruction and exercises (such as the Python Koans ). Sponsorship, Prizes, Partying, and Swag Attendees receive a nifty PyTexas pocketed t-shirt , as well as a chance at many generous prizes from Wingware , ActiveState , No Starch Press , JetBrains , and O'Reilly Media . We'll be getting swag from all the PyTexas 2010 sponsors . In addition, Rackspace plans to host a "Meet & Geek" evening party for all attendees includin

Pycon India - Talks to be announced on August 20

The list of selected talks for Pycon India 2010 will be announced by August 20 2010. The original announcement date was August 15 2010 (today), but we have decided to extend the date considering the sheer volume of talks submitted, to give more time for reviewers to evaluate talks. Please see the blog announcement on the Pycon India website for more details.

Pycon India - CFP closes today

Today is the last date for the Call for Proposals for Pycon India 2010 . We have received an awesome response from the Python community in India so far, with 61 talk proposals submitted so far. We will be accepting proposals till midnight today. If you haven't submitted a talk yet, rush to the talk submission page and submit at the earliest.

Tim Costello

On July 6, 2010, PyCon lost a friend when Tim Costello died suddenly. Tim was the uber-technician for CTE , the company that helps the PSF put on PyCon . Tim's first PyCon was Dallas 2007, where he helped run the A/V systems as a favor to Carl Karsten. He has worked at subsequent PyCons, primarily in the background, making the conference infrastructure run smoothly. If you helped set up the networking, volunteered for the A/V crew, or were involved in expo hall setup at a PyCon, you probably worked with him. We offer our deepest condolences to Tim's family, friends, and colleagues. He will be missed. If you would like to show your appreciation for his contributions to the Python Community, Tim's family has asked for donations to the American Heart Association . Tim's obituary appeared in the Chicago Tribune on July 11, 2010.

Kiwi PyCon 2010 Registrations now OPEN

The time has come - online registrations for Kiwi PyCon 2010 are now open! Registration fees are as follows: Regular NZD100 Earlybird: if registered before 01 Sep: NZD80 Student/Unwaged NZD60 Earlybird: If registered before 01 Sep: NZD40 This year we have a limit of 180 participants. Given the demand and huge success of 2009 you better be quick! Just head over to Registrations ( http://nz.pycon.org/registrations/ ) to secure your seat. Please note that the Paihia/Waitangi area is a very popular spot for both domestic and international visitors, so also make sure to secure accommodation ( http://nz.pycon.org/2010/about/accommodation/ ) before it gets expensive. "What am I getting for this?" - A nice venue - Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea on both days - A Kiwi PyCon 2010 t-shirt - A lanyard with the conference schedule - Wifi access to Internet (separate from the hotel) - Free giveaways including Amazon Web Services credits, discounts on Wingware

Pycon India - Call for Proposals closes July 31 2010

This is a reminder that the Call for Proposals of Pycon India 2010 closes in 10 days. We have received talks on a variety of topics from the Python community so far and express our gratitude to the Python community in India for their amazing response. If you want to take part and show case your knowledge and talent before the biggest audience of Python developers and community enthusiasts in India, go to the Talk submission page and submit your talk today!

Kiwi PyCon 2010 Call for Papers and Participation

We have another Kiwi PyCon lined up, and we're all expecting it to be as good as last year's event. This year it will be staged in lovely Paihia/Waitangi in the sunny Bay of Islands. It is on the weekend 20-21 November. Find a link below to the " Call for Participation ". We are encouraging everybody to come and to participate. Do not feel intimidated, this is a community conference, and we are hosting talks and sessions for all knowledge levels. Be it a tiny demo or show and tell (by doing a 5 minute Lightning Talk), or up to running an hour long tutorial. Or are you interested in the dynamic evolution of a session? Then the unconference like Open Spaces will give you just the platform for interaction. Please help spread the word! http://nz.pycon.org/2010/talks-cfp/call-for-papers/

Pycon India 2010 - Registrations are Open!

Pycon India 2010 , scheduled to be held at MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore from Sep 25-26 2010, is open for delegate registrations from today . This year, we are providing the facility of online payments. Early-bird registrations are open till August 31 2010, so register early to save money! Go to http://in.pycon.org/2010/register and register for the biggest Python community conference in India, today. Please spread the word among your local communities.

Become a Python contributor at PyOhio

Working in Python is awesome. Are you ready to work on Python? The quality of Python and the Standard Library depend on volunteers who fix bugs and make improvements to the codebase. If you're interested in joining these volunteers, good for you! Information on core development is right on Python's homepage ; see also "How to contribute to Python" However, if you'd like an in-person boost to get you started, come to PyOhio this July 31 - August 3. Two talks will get you up to speed on Python contribution: "Intro to Core Involvement" and " Teach Me Python Bugfixing ". Next come two evenings and two full days of Python core sprinting , so you can put your new skills to use with plenty of helpers around. It's classroom learning and real-life practice at one free event! See you there!

PyTexas 2010 Call for Proposals

PyTexas 2010, the fourth annual Python programming conference for Texas and the surrounding region, will take place Saturday August 28, 2010 at the Baylor University in Waco, Texas. A variety of activities are under consideration, including tutorials, scheduled talks,  Lightning Talks, Open Spaces, and Sprints. PyTexas invites all interested people to submit proposals for scheduled talks, tutorials, and panels. All topics of interest to Python programmers will be considered, including topics suitable for inclusion in a Beginner's Track. For more detail please see the PyTexas wiki .   

Pycon India 2010 - Call for Proposals

Pycon India 2010 is happening in Bangalore, India at MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology from Sep 25-26 2010. The conference is in its second run after a very successful first edition last year. We are again expecting a tremendous response from the Python community of India for this year's edition. We are inviting proposals from interested speakers to fill our presentation tracks. We invite proposals on all aspects of the Python language at all levels. First time speakers are invited. Pycon India being a complete community conference, we welcome contribution from everyone to make the conference a success. For finding out more about the conference proposals, visit the following URL. http://in.pycon.org/2010/cfp Please submit your proposals by 31st of July. Accepted proposals will be announced on 31st of August.

PyCon Australia Call For Proposals

Hi everyone, I'm happy to announce that on the 26th and 27th of June we are running PyCon Australia in Sydney!   http:// pycon -au.org/ We are looking for proposals for Talks on all aspects of Python programming from novice to advanced levels; applications and frameworks, or how you have been involved in introducing Python into your organisation. We welcome first-time speakers; we are a community conference and we are eager to hear about your experience. If you have friends or colleagues who have something valuable to contribute, twist their arms to tell us about it! Please also forward this Call for Proposals to anyone that you feel may be interested. To find out more go to the official Call for Proposals page here:   http:// pycon -au.org/2010/ conference/proposals/ The deadline for proposal submission is the 29th of April. Proposal acceptance will be announced on the 12th of May. See you in Sydney in June! Richard Jones PyCon AU Program Chair

PyCon APAC - Early Bird and Tutorial Registration Open

Early Bird Registration and Tutorial Registration is open for PyCon APAC 2010, happening at Singapore . The Early Bird Registration will end by April 2010. Don't miss this opportunity to meet some of the wonderful Pythonistas coming from all around the world. Sincerely, Liew Beng Keat, Maurice Ling and  PyCon APAC Organizing Committee

PyCon 2010 Poster Session Wrap-up

PyCon 2010 had a poster session for the first time ever. Out of 19 original submissions, 17 actually presented posters, covering topics from testing and clouds to Unicode and robotics. The poster session was a plenary session, running from 10:05 to 11:55 am on Sunday morning in the expo hall. Snack service was also in the expo hall at the same time. The cost of doing the poster session was relatively low. We used eleven poster boards at $70 each, so the total outlay was under $800. Overall, it went well. The room was very full and active for most of the time, with things only tailing off the last 15-20 minutes. I chatted with all but one of the presenters, and they all felt it was very successful. Some liked the ability to reach more people than a regular talk might have, and others were happy to have a way to present at PyCon without the public speaking pressure of a regular talk. From my conversations with the attendees, many enjoyed the chance to circulate through a diverse set of t

All PyCon, all the time - Atlanta 2010

We are about 16 hours away from the official beginning of PyCon 2010 in Atlanta, and there are already news to talk about. First, this from Alex Gaynor: I'm very pleased to announce The Ultimate PyCon Live stream: http://pycon.djangodose.com/ . Eric Florenzano, Brian Rosner, Greg Newman, and I have been working on putting together the best possible feed of everything that happens at PyCon, throughout the conference we'll be aggregating and streaming all the news about PyCon on Twitter, photos on Flickr, upcoming talks and uploaded slides, commits on BitBucket and GitHub (on specified repositories), and announcements via IRC. We hope you enjoy it! ...I will be talking all about the building of this in my talk, and we're looking forward to open sourcing it. Next, we have (on request) a PyCon mailing list for "the non-twittering classes." The mailing list at pycon@python.org will be dedicated to attendees for exchanging tips, opinions, open space announcments, meet

Staggering Through PyCon

If you have been looking over the PyCon schedule while packing your bags this weekend, you might have noticed that — besides flat-out offering more talks than any PyCon in world history — this year's schedule has a really interesting feature: the start of lunch time is “staggered”, with some talks ending just after noon at 12:15, and others ending fifteen minutes later at 12:30. The talks that start right after lunch are similarly staggered across fifteen minutes, starting either at 1:20 or 1:35. Just take a look at the schedule and search for the word “lunch”: http://us.pycon.org/2010/conference/schedule/ If you have ever been at a conference where you had to stand in an enormous line as everyone at the conference tried to get lunch simultaneously, then you probably have an idea about why we are excited about this change! With this staggered arrangement, there should be a shorter line for lunch, since the conference-goers will arrive in two waves. But the real win is that, for

PyCon 2010 - You should register now... and new tutorial slots!

With approximately 18 hours to go before the end of pre-conference registration, PyCon officially has 1000 registrants. Pre-conference rates are still good while it is Feb. 10th somewhere in the world, so REGISTER NOW! Even if you have already registered, we have been able to get bigger rooms for three of our most popular tutorials: Python 102: Intermediate Python Python 301: The Meaty Parts of Python , and the Django Deployment Workshop If you were not able to get into these tutorials, we have a few more slots open. Finally for those who are currently digging out from under yet another snowstorm, I also point out that PyCon 2010 will be in Atlanta, making it an ideal location for those looking for a way to escape the late winter blizzards in the northeastern United States.

PyCon online registration ends TODAY

The Long Count calendar developed by ancient Mayan astronomers predicts that the end of PyCon 2010 Online Registration falls on February 10, 2010 - this very day! Although experts differ on what will happen next, many warn of catastrophic results for those who fail to register for PyCon immediately, such as the expense and hassle of registering onsite. In other words, this is the day . If you are still waiting for employer approval to attend the world's biggest Python event, it may be time to invoke this important principle of dynamic language programming: EAFP Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. This common Python coding style assumes the existence of valid keys or attributes and catches exceptions if the assumption proves false. This clean and fast style is characterized by the presence of many try and except statements. The technique contrasts with the LBYL style common to many other languages such as C.

Pre-Conference Registration Ends Soon

Incredible though it seems, PyCon tutorials start a week tomorrow! If you are planning to attend and want to register at pre-conference prices you have just over 24 hours to do so! PyCon is the place to learn about new and existing Python features and meet Python personalities. Register now while you still have chance to save money!

PyCon Atlanta is almost here!

We are just a couple weeks away from PyCon 2010. We are making final preparations, and getting ready to travel and setup what will be an exciting conference. We have a few notices, and some exciting news. For those who are looking for a job, we have a bunch of sponsors who will be recruiting at PyCon this year. We will be sending out a pre-conference email soon with more details. However, start polishing off your resume for PyCon. As a reminder, the last day for pre-conference registration rates is this coming Wednesday, February 10th (actually, 6AM Thursday, US - EST. That is the last time when it is February 10th somewhere in the world).To lock in your conference rates before they go to the on-site rate level, make sure you visit the registrations page at https://us.pycon.org/2010/register/ before then. The on-line hotel registrations are closed, but you can still make hotel reservations at the conference rate by calling the housing bureau at +1-847-759-4277, or emailing pyco

PyCon 2010 Needs Volunteers! (Sign Up Now!)

Every year it takes an army of volunteers to help out at the conference to make everything happen smoothly. Many hands make light work (and all that.) This year we have expanded the program to have 5 tracks. This means we are desperate for Session Staff . The Session Staff are a group of volunteers whom work with the presenters to make sure the talks run smoothly. The work is not hard, and it is a fantastic opportunity to meet with amazing people. We have Session Chairs and Session Runners . Chairs sit in the conference room and make sure nothing blows up, and the runners run around pretending that nothing has blown up; acting as the legs for the chairs. Everyone has two-way radios . (What geek can resist that!?!?!?! What IS the air speed of an unladen swallow presenter? A session runner knows the answer, and is more than willing to share...) Volunteering is easy and there are a ton of open spots on the schedule . Just look for talks which do not yet have both the little clip board

Startup Riot

Startup Riot is a one-day conference taking place in Atlanta on Feb. 17. If you have an interest in business startups - and can pull yourself away from PyCon's first tutorial day - it might be a perfect opportunity to make a trip to Atlanta do double-duty. Startup Riot takes place at the Fabulous Fox Theatre, just down the street from PyCon. View Larger Map

PyCon online schedule app

Thanks to Doug Napoleone, PyCon's online schedule application is now online. Picking among all the amazing possibilities at PyCon is incredibly hard, but the online scheduler at least helps you keep track of what you've decided. If you get confused, scheduler help is here . You can (and should) also use the scheduler to volunteer as session staff ! Session staffing is an easy but important job that helps the conference runs smoothly, lets you meet the speakers you're most interested in, and gives you that open-sourcey pride of ownership in your PyCon.

Pick your "can't miss" posters now!

As has been mentioned before , this year we're adding a poster session to PyCon. For 90 minutes on Sunday, Feb 21, 18 presenters will be answering questions and receiving input from PyCon attendees on posters covering a wide range of topics. Posters are suited to interactively presenting new ideas and more specialized projects, allowing people a chance to browse the whole range and to stop and spend more time on the ones they find interesting. If you want to start thinking about which posters you definitely don't want to miss, visit http://us.pycon.org/2010/conference/posters/accepted/ and start making your picks. As for me, my "don't miss" list is here , and covers Unicode, DVCS in the classroom, robots and more. Which ones will be on your "don't miss" list?

Early-bird ends tomorrow

Early-bird registration discounts end TOMORROW (Wednesday, Jan. 6). Register now .

Free CODE for .NET programmers

PyCon has arranged a special incentive for .NET programmers registering for PyCon. (Of course, all attendees are eligible for the promotion - but it will have a special interest for those in the .NET world.) Please pass the notice on to .NET programmers you know. We'd like to see new legions of .NET users introduced to the joys of IronPython! * * * * * .NET's Dynamic Language Runtime has brought new prominence to the role of .NET dynamic languages like IronPython, and many .NET programmers are looking for ways to get up-to-date on this growing aspect of the .NET environment. PyCon, the world's largest conference of Python and IronPython programmers, is an unparalleled learning opportunity. For $450 or less, attendees can spend an entire week learning from and working with Python and IronPython programmers from raw beginners to the creators of Python and IronPython themselves. This year, PyCon offers a bonus to .NET programmers - a free one-year subscription to CODE mag