The PyCon US Blog

I am proud to announce a new special event to PyCon 2013. This event comes courtesy of  Lynn Root , who approached us with a crazy idea some time ago - offer an introduction to Python tutorial, free of charge to a different demographic - Young Coders (or, coders to be!). The course is called " The Young Coder: Let's Learn Python " and it is going to be great . Quoting from the page: This free tutorial will explore how to program using Python by making games. We will start with learning Python's simple data types, including numbers, letters and strings, and lists. We will also explore comparisons, if-statements, and loops. Finally, we will combined our new knowledge by creating our own game using the PyGame library. This is one of those idea that when proposed I slapped my forehead and said "Why didn't I think of that?!" - but of course the best ideas for PyCon come from our community members and those working on the forefront of outreach and educati

It is my pleasure to announce that PyCon 2013  has dropped the price of student registration  from the price it has been since 2008 - we have lowered it to $100 (USD). Part of PyCon has always been community - and outreach. One of the greatest things PyCon, the Python Software Foundation and the community can do is to always strive to lower the cost of attendance for the next generation of Python programmers. PyCon US 2012 was the biggest Python conference in the history of the language - we had more students, a more diverse attendance and more sponsors and attendees than ever. Most of all - PyCon is about the community. From it's volunteers who pour hundreds of man hours to make PyCon happen, to the speakers, tutorial instructors and poster presenters without whom, PyCon would not be possible. To the myriad of sponsors whose contributions help PyCon happen, and keep it affordable - PyCon is first and foremost a community conference. This is why I am happy to make this change -

… Or how to sell PyCon 2013 sponsorship to your team and boss! As we round up the volunteers, activate the mailing lists, and get the community hyped up for another year of PyCon, there’s another group we need to engage:  the sponsors . PyCon 2012 had an amazing outpouring of support from  a record 133 sponsors , and with your help, we’re trying make 2013 another record breaker. Sponsors are what make this conference possible. From low ticket prices to financial aid to video recording, the organizations who step forward to support PyCon in turn support the entire Python community. They make it possible for so many to attend, for so many to present, and for the world at home to watch along. Along with the benefits sponsorship gives the conference and the community, we think they come in exchange for an excellent set of benefits to our sponsors. See our full prospectus at  https://us.pycon.org/2013/sponsors/prospectus/ . Recruiting What better place to find Python developers

We're glad to announce that Community Voting Process has started for  PyCon Argentina 2012 .  You can select your preferences among more than 82 talks proposed and 11 tutorials/workshops .   This year, we're opening the Scientific and Extreme tracks, with more  than 12 proposals each! Please help us voting your prefered talks for the conference following  the next link (registration required):  http://ar.pycon.org/2012/ activity/vote Admittance is free of charge (gratis), to register, please complete  the following form:  http://ar.pycon.org/2012/user/ register PyCon Argentina 2012 Keynotes This year, the pre-confirmed keynote presenters are: Massimo Di Pierro (US) - De Paul University: web2py / FermiQCD Andrea Gavana (DK) - Maersk Oil: wx.lib.agw & 2D/3D visualization Brett Cannon (CA) - Google: python core developer: importlib py3k pypy Christophe Pettus (US) - PostgreSQL Experts: Django & ORMs Craig Kerstiens (US) - Heroku: Tools, django, Post

We are glad to announce that the registration for PyCon Japan is open . You can now buy tickets for the conference/party before the date in case we reach the fixed number. Don't miss the opportunity to meet us. The PyCon Japan 2012 will be in Tokyo from September 15(Sat) to 16(Sun) (2days). There is an English track for foreign developers and keynote speaker is Armin Ronacher . Also, PyCon JP Party will be held at night of Day 1 (September 15). One more opportunity, Sprint Day is September 17(Mon, National holiday) . Everyone can join with no fee the Sprint even if you're not able to attend the conference/party. We're looking forward to seeing all of you in Tokyo!

Do you want to help make PyCon 2013 awesome? Have time to invest before the conference? We're looking for folks that would be interested in serving on the Program Committee. The committee reviews talk proposals for talks at PyCon and select which ones will be on the PyCon program -- an extremely important task. We need your help: a large, diverse program committee is the main way we ensure a fantastic program. So if you are interested in joining the committee, we would love to have you! Serving on the program committee does require a time commitment on your part. Here's roughly what's involved for committee members: Participation on the mailing list between now and the conference. We use the mailing list to discuss policy, schedule review sessions, and generally coordinate our activity. Reviewing talks on the PyCon website as they come in. Between now and the submission deadline we'll review proposals and work with prospective speakers to help them put forth th

It is with a great deal of pride on behalf of the entire Python Community, the Python Software Foundation and all of the PyCon volunteers that we announce PyCon 2013 is a go . Today, July 9th we officially open the doors - our Call For Proposals is officially open, meaning the entire community can submit talks, tutorials and posters. PyCon 2013 will be held March 13-21st in the same Santa Clara location as 2012. We are extremely excited - last year alone saw PyCon US grow to over 2300 attendees, with 135 sponsors. This year we have set a hard cap on attendance of 2500 attendees, and we are on track to hit that. We also have a lot of surprises up our sleeves for PyCon 2013, we want to destroy all of the records set in 2012 - attendees, sponsors, talks, community - we want to make this a watershed year for the entire Python community and set the momentum for the future. We are also pleased to announce that not only is sponsorship open that includes a bunch of new benefits for sp