The PyCon blog

PyCon 2010 Financial Aid Available

2009-12-01T22:33:00.006-05:00

As the financial aid coordinator for PyCon 2010, I'm pleased to announce that the Python Software Foundation has created a fund to help people attend PyCon 2010. 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
• Your flight or other transportation

Please see http://us.pycon.org/2010/registration/financial-aid/ for details & instructions. The deadline for applications is December 18, 2009.

Registration for PyCon 2010 is open!

2009-11-24T11:40:00.000-05:00

Registration for PyCon 2010 is open! You should register for PyCon 2010 here (and don't forget to make your hotel reservations here).

We are doing a number of things this year to make this the biggest and best PyCon ever. To start with, there is more PyCon to love. We will be having five separate tracks of talks, covering everything from Python in space to Python on Wall Street. There should be something for everyone.

Interested in Java? You can see how to extend Java applications with Jython or how the military is using Jython to model real-world battlefield scenarios.

Interested in .NET? You can learn about what Microsoft is doing to support IronPython in their tools or how to use Silverlight to run applications in your browser.

Are you a scientist or do you need to crunch big data? Python is being used to crunch data from telescopes and for natural language processing with Hadoop. You can also brush up on algorithmic optimization, agent-based modeling of systems, and scientific workflow management.

If you do web-based development, you may be interested in handling geospatial data in TurboGears and in Pylons. If Django is more your flavor, you may be interested in using Pinax to speed up development, internationalizing your Django project, or even using Django in non-standard ways.

I could just list the other 81 talks that have been accepted for PyCon, but that would make this post too long. We have talks about deployment, data structures and algorithms, compilers, Python internals, NoSQL databases, concurrency, cloud computing and distributed systems.... No matter what your interest, PyCon probably has it. Until we get the schedule updated on us.pycon.org, you can view the schedule here. Which talks do you want to see?

PyCon is more than just talks, though. We have a full schedule of 32 tutorials providing in-depth training on a range of different problems:

Just starting in with Python? We have a two day training course for learning Python from the ground up.
Working in application development? You can learn more about building applications with the Enthought Tool Suite, rapid application development with Dabo, or GUI programming with wxPython.
Get up to speed on web development in Django, TurboGears (including sessions on working with SQLAlchemy) and BFG.
Go deep into IronPython development, testing your code (including testing your web applications), and implementing compilers and domain specific languages in Python.

Again, there are too many tutorials to list every one - but you can sign up for them when you register for PyCon.

Finally, I am excited about the poster sessions that will be presented at PyCon. For those who don't know what poster sessions are, they are a chance to present your work, your project, or just something interesting to all the attendees at PyCon. The call for poster sessions is still open, so there is still a chance for you to present at PyCon.

PyCon registration open

2009-11-24T11:12:00.003-05:00

PyCon registration has opened!

Registering early gets you early-bird registration rates, guarantees you the tutorials you want (here's the tutorial schedule), and helps the PyCon volunteers plan better.

We'll see you in Atlanta! Spread the word!

PyCon poster session deadline: Nov. 30

2009-11-19T16:20:00.001-05:00

The deadline for PyCon poster proposals is coming up soon - November 30!

Poster Sessions are a new PyCon feature for 2010. Poster sessions provide an alternative presentation mechanism that facilitates more one-on-one communication between the presenter and the audience. Poster sessions are particularly suited for topics of interest to a subset of the community, and we anticipate these sessions will provide an "incubator" for further discussions.

More information about the what, how, when, and why of poster sessions is at http://us.pycon.org/2010/conference/posters/cfp/.

Behind the Scenes at PyCon - Part I : Dessert Selection

2009-11-17T12:42:00.004-05:00

Last week I met Van (PyCon Chair) and Ewa (PyCon Coordination Angel) in Atlanta to get more familiar with the Hyatt Regency floor plan and the sponsor coordination issues that I am responsible for this year. While I was there I got to participate in some behind the scenes meetings. I will blog about these issues in the following weeks.

I will start with one of the really fun tasks - meeting the Hyatt Sous Chef ,who will be working on PyCon with us, and sampling the various choices for salads, entrees and desserts.

I remember the 'good ol days' when we ate box lunches in DC that consisted of ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, apple and a cookie. So, I am still blown away while sitting down to plan a nice catered lunch menu. WOW! 1000 Python developers dining together in a huge banquet room. It is amazing how far PyCon has come - and I hope PyCon attendees appreciate how well they are treated for their registration investment - and the effort by the community volunteers that goes into all the coordination and details. If you have NEVER been to PyCon or haven't been to one in years ... you don't want to miss 2010.

The photo was taken when we were presented the dessert choices by the Hyatt's Pastry Chef. Each of us at the sampling was served one of these beautiful plates - with coffee. The upper left was a Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake (Van's favorite). The upper right was a fresh-fruit pastry tart that was D-lite-ful. And lower left was a strawberry shortcake parfait. I enjoyed the chance to sit around with other Pythoners and sample the treats and debate the choices.

The Pastry Chef earned many +1 kudos from us by writing "Welcome Python Software" in chocolate on the plates. It was amusing when the Sous Chef alerted him to the simple fact that writing on 1000+ plates would require overtime, followed by the Pastry Chef wondering aloud "what did I get myself into".

I hope you see this photo when you are hungry and think about how well you will be treated at PyCon. Registration is open now . Just consider that for $300 you will be surrounded by other like minded Python devotees for 3 days of Python only talks - and eat very well with bfast and lunch included. This is like our own Python Community Stimulus Package.

See you in Atlanta in February.

PyCon 2010 talks announced

2009-11-12T19:52:00.003-05:00

The PyCon program committee has announced an unprecedented program of 95 talks for PyCon 2010. Talk abstracts can be browsed at http://us.pycon.org/2010/conference/talks/.

With a record-breaking pool of submissions to choose from, the committee has assembled a program of enormous variety and quality, representing topics across the whole range of Python programming. Talks cover not just Python's traditional CPython implementation, but newer Python implementations on a variety of platforms, including Java, .NET, Parrot, and Python itself.

As always, scheduled talks are only the tip of the PyCon iceberg, which also includes tutorials, Open Spaces, keynotes, Lightning Talks, poster sessions, development sprints, hands-on lab, exhibit hall, and no end of unscheduled discussion and fun. PyCon 2010 takes place Feb. 17-25 in Atlanta, GA; see us.pycon.org.

RuPy '09 Conference - Agenda is Complete

2009-10-29T10:36:00.001-04:00

RuPy is the strongly dynamic conference concerning mostly Ruby and Python programming languages (7 & 8 November, in Poznan, Poland). Registration has been open for some time, and now we have also completed the agenda. There will be a load of talks and many stars of the geek world will come to talk about their experiences.

After the first day of talks, we invite all attendees to join the Geek Party on Saturday night, where one can discuss Ruby and Python-related issues while holding a glass of cold beer.

The list of speakers and talks include:

Michael Dirolf - "An Introduction to MongoDB"
Obie Fernandez - "Rapid Application development with Rails and MongoDB"
David Goodger - Community-oriented talk
Charles Oliver Nutter - "JRuby: Pushing the Boundaries"
Paolo Negri - "RabbitMQ"
Tarek Ziade - "The Python Packaging Ecosystem"
Scott Chacon - "Mastering Git"

Check out the complete list of speakers at http://rupy.eu/speakers/. We still have some places left, so do not hesitate if you don't want to miss any of these talks and register now for just 59 EUR.

All the details can be found at http://rupy.eu. See you at RuPy '09!

Invited speakers

2009-10-19T11:01:00.004-04:00

The vast majority of talks at PyCon go through a challenging submission process where they are weighed against the other submitted talks - 179 submissions this year. A few speakers, however, have been so consistently and overwhelmingly popular at previous PyCons that this year's program committee has invited them to skip the usual review process, reserving talk slots for topics of their choice.

The PyCon 2010 invited speakers and their topics are

Ian Bicking, On The Subject Of Source Code
Jeff Rush, Interfaces, Adapters and Factories
Jack Diederich, Python's Dusty Corners
Mike Fletcher, Debating 'til Dawn: Topics to keep you up all night
Raymond Hettinger, Mastering Team Play: Four powerful examples of composing Python tools
Bob Ippolito, The other kind of testing
Alex Martelli, Powerful Pythonic Patterns
Joe Gregorio, Threading is not a model
Ned Batchelder, Tests and Testability
Holger Krekel, The Ring of Python
Ted Leung, A Survey of Concurrency Constructs

Introducing the PyCon US Poster Sessions!

2009-10-17T23:00:00.003-04:00

Starting at PyCon 2010 in Atlanta, GA, we're excited to announce the addition of organized poster sessions during the regular conference days.

Every year, PyCon US has tried to highlight new, interesting, and noteworthy things going on in the Python Community... and every year, we've been amazed by the variety and depth of interesting projects that have been presented. Up until now, that information has been formally presented using a combination of invited and reviewed talks, lightning talks from attendees, and open-space events. While these are all good in their own right, we've decided that perhaps one more presentation model would be a good fit with PyCon...

Poster sessions have proven to be a fantastic way to facilitate direct contact between presenters and audiences at other conferences and we're excited to be able to bring them to PyCon in 2010. We will have two designated plenary poster sessions and will be providing space for posters up to 4ft. by 4 ft. in size. During the session, speakers stand with their posters, and the audience circulate freely, seeking out the particular presentations they are interested in and talking directly to the presenter in small groups.

Like the traditional reviewed PyCon talks, posters will have their own proposal and review system. Poster proposals will be held to the same standards that talk proposals face and their content promises to be every bit as interesting. Details about the poster proposal and review process will follow soon, but we strongly suggest that anyone who's interested in proposing a poster start putting together their ideas together so that they'll be ready when the call for poster proposals is published in the near future.

ConFoo.ca 2010: Call for Proposals

2009-10-15T15:55:00.002-04:00

PHP-Québec, Montréal-Python, Ruby Montréal, W3Qc, and OWASP Montréal are organizing the first edition of the ConFoo.ca conference, which will be held in Montréal, Canada, on March 10th through 12th at the Hilton Bonaventure Hotel. With over 500 attendees expected, ConFoo.ca will be one of the largest web development conferences in North America.

ConFoo.ca is looking for great speakers willing to share their experience and skills with programmers, managers, marketers and decision makers. The conference will be divided into two parts:

A technical part, encompassing different aspects of web development: PHP, Python, Ruby, security, project management, CMSs and frameworks, databases, systems administration, web standards, accessibility and agile methods.
A decision-making part: referencing (SEO), web marketing analysis, and social networking.

Presentations can be in English or in French, and should be roughly one hour long. Presentations may be recorded for later broadcast in digital format. All relevant details concerning the conference are available here:

ConFoo.ca Call for Speakers

Even though Python can be used for a wide range of programming tasks, the Python track at ConFoo.ca will focus on web development with Python. If you use Python to do web development, be it to generate pages, to do analytics, or to manage elastic scaling, don't hesitate to submit a talk proposal for the Python track at ConFoo.ca.

Share the word!

pyTexas: Regional Conference - Oct 24/25

2009-10-14T08:46:00.002-04:00

pyTexas, the 3rd annual regional Python conference, is coming up in only ten days. It is being held Oct 24-25 Sat/Sun in Ft. Worth at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

The format is scheduled talks on Saturday morning followed by open space talks driven by the attendees in the afternoon. On Sunday there will be sprints on various projects and, in parallel, a Python Lab that tests the attendees with interesting programming puzzles.

There is no cost to attend but we would appreciate you adding your name to the registration wiki to give us a better idea of attendance.

We expect the conference to be a small, interactive gathering of the Texas community, not a big stuffy conference. It will be a lot of fun. We hope to see you there!

Jeff Rush, an organizer

Kiwi PyCon: How a programming language is changing the Web

2009-10-07T08:34:00.001-04:00

The main keynote speaker at Kiwi PyCon 2009, Joel Burton, an internationally recognised trainer and presenter, will explain how the programming language Python is becoming the language of choice for developing websites due to its simplicity and flexibility. The conference will be held at the Canterbury Innovation Incubator in Christchurch on November 7th and 8th.

Other tracks at the conference will include: GUI, Science & Math, Game, and Applications. The conference will also have a dedicated Web track, which will include presentations about many Python web technologies, such as: Django, Twisted, Zope 3, Grok, and Plone.

The conference has attracted a lot of interest from many universities throughout the country and staff and students from Auckland, Massey, Canterbury, and Otago universities will be presenting regarding how they've used Python in their research.

“As Christchurch has the reputation of being the Silicon Valley of New Zealand, its been really great to see a number of electronics companies in Christchurch support the event”, said Tim Knapp, the conference Director. Tait Electronics, a radio communications manufacturer, is a Gold sponsor for the event.

“The positive response we've received from the IT community in New Zealand has been really encouraging” commented Mr. Knapp. “Really, no matter what industry your business is in, this conference will be of benefit to you.”

Registration closes on October 23rd and registrations are limited. For more information visit http://nz.pycon.org/.

179 PyCon proposals!

2009-10-05T14:26:00.004-04:00

Talk submissions for PyCon 2010 have closed, with an astonishing 179 talks proposed. (For comparison, PyCon 2009 received 118 submissions - and many attendees called 2009 the best PyCon ever.) Thanks to everyone who submitted!

The all-volunteer Program Committee is now busy with the difficult but delightful task of selecting the very best from this huge pool of submissions. Expect a PyCon program with breadth and quality like never before!

Tutorial proposals remain open through October 18: http://us.pycon.org/2010/tutorials/proposals/

PyCon India receives fantastic response

2009-09-30T23:54:00.007-04:00

For Python language enthusiasts across India, all roads led to the Lecture Hall Complex at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore on 26th and 27th Sep. The reason - to attend and be part of the first PyCon India which was held during the week-end.

The event saw tremendous enthusiasm and participation from all over the country. Over 350 delegates and 30+ speakers attended the event. The event generated a lot of interest in the academia, with a large number of college students and fresh graduates attending it. A notable instance is the participation of 75 students from the Rajalakshmi Engg. College in the neighboring city of Chennai, who just hopped on a train to Bangalore en-masse. This is a worthy example of how Python has caught the imagination of young programmers in the sub-continent and that the language is poised for steady growth and adoption in India.

The opening keynote talk by Dr. Prabhu Ramachandran was well attended and appreciated by the crowd. Dr. Ramachandran talked about his experiences with Python and gave a very good impression upon the audience of how Python is an effective tool in quick prototyping and rapid software development from concept to the finish. He gave on to give another talk on the 3D visualizer application Mayavi which is written in Python.

There were over 30 talks in total in addition to several lightning talks towards the end of the closing day. Overall, the event was a very memorable learning and fun experience to all the Pythonistas who took part in it. The event is poised well to take the leadership in promoting Python in India in the coming years.

Reminder: 5 days left for PyCon US 2010 Proposals

2009-09-25T10:24:00.002-04:00

October 1, the deadline for submitting PyCon talk proposals, is now just under a week away. If you're planning to present, you should submit your outline now! See the proposal instructions for guidance.

PyCon India aims to bring together Python aficionados from across the country

2009-09-25T02:53:00.009-04:00

The first ever PyCon India, scheduled to start at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore on 26th and 27th Sep, 2009 aims to bring together Python aficionados, developers and companies using the Python programming language, under a common umbrella for the first time.

The event is unique in many respects. It is the first ever formal Python meet of its kind and scale ever to be organized in India. The event is fully community organized, with the Bangalore Python Users Group as the forum for coordinating activities. There are a range of talks on a variety of aspects of the Python programming language, from introductory tutorials for beginners to Python for mobile computing and Python for the Semantic web. There will also be informal sessions where individual Python developers can share their experiences on Python and how they benefited from it. Around 400 delegates are expected to take part in the event from across the country.

The event is sponsored by reputed organizations such as ThoughtWorks and ZeOmega who themselves use Python for software development. Other supporting organizations include tenXperts, Duxsoft, Navisite, Strand Life Sciences and Mahiti.org.

For more information visit http://in.pycon.org/2009.

Kiwi PyCon - Conference brings programming language of the year to NZ

2009-09-21T17:14:00.001-04:00

What do Google, YouTube, Weta Digital and the New Zealand Government share in common? They all rely on the 2009 Programming Language of the Year - Python, for their daily operations. To promote Python's use in New Zealand the NZ Python User Group (NZPUG) is holding the first Kiwi PyCon conference in Christchurch at the Canterbury Innovation Incubator on November 7th and 8th.

The event will include talks highlighting how Python has been used in web and desktop applications, in the field of science and maths, in gaming and animation, and in various other fields. The programme will also include interactive sessions with the audience and opportunities for delegates to give short presentations regarding ways they have benefited from Python.

Python is used in New Zealand by reputable companies such as Weta Digital, the company behind Lord of the Rings and King Kong, and is also used extensively by the New Zealand Government, by academic institutions throughout the country and many other commercial organisations.

"We've got a great lineup of talks prepared and we've also arranged for a couple of very talented and engaging keynote speakers for the conference" said Tim Knapp, the Director of the event, "so we really do encourage all members of the IT community in New Zealand to come along, including management, to find out how Python can be used in their organisations".

The event is supported by reputable organisations Canonical, Catalyst IT, Weta Digital, the Python Software Foundation, Unfold Limited and Tait Electronics. Other supporting organisations include Encode Limited, powerHouse, PretaWeb, VortexDNA and the Plone Foundation.

150 delegates are expected from across New Zealand and Australia and registration for the conference is now open with limited numbers. For more information visit http://nz.pycon.org or contact Tim Knapp via kiwipycon at nzpug dot org.

Reminder: 14 Days left for PyCon US 2010 Proposals

2009-09-17T14:45:00.002-04:00

October 1, the deadline for submitting PyCon talk proposals, is now just under a month away. Start thinking about your outline now, and see the proposal instructions for guidance.

Just one week to go for PyCon India!

2009-09-16T23:08:00.004-04:00

Pythonistas in the garden city of India, Bangalore are organizing the very first PyCon India in Bangalore, India on Sep 26-27, 2009 at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

The effort is undertaken by a group of Python enthusiasts in the BangPypers (Bangalore Python Users Group) forum.

Go to PyCon India site for the most recent information and updates. For a list of talks planned at PyCon India visit here.

Please spread the word and participate to make the first PyCon India a grand success!

Reminder: One month left for proposals

2009-09-02T18:38:00.003-04:00

October 1, the deadline for submitting PyCon talk proposals, is now just under a month away. Start thinking about your outline now, and see the proposal instructions for guidance.

Display a PyCon 2010 Badge

2009-09-01T19:38:00.003-04:00

If you blog, or maintain a website, please let your readers know about PyCon 2010 by adding a PyCon graphic to your page or sidebar. Here's what it looks like:

Copy the HTML below to get a fully-functional badge.

<a href="http://us.pycon.org/"><img
src="http://python.org/images/pycon-2010-banner.png"
alt="PyCon 2010: Atlanta"></a>

Linux Outlaws, EuroPython Special edition

2009-08-19T17:19:00.002-04:00

This year's EuroPython was a roaring success, and was the biggest one ever. During the event Dan Lynch of Linux Outlaws recorded several interviews and the result is episode 106; The EuroPython Special.

The interviews are about ten to fifteen minutes each. The interviewees are:

Steve Holden, chairman of the Python Software Foundation
Laura Creighton, one of the founders and organizers of EuroPython and core team member of the PyPy project
Bruce Eckel, author and keynote speaker at EuroPython
Michael Foord, IronPython developer and author

PyCon 2010: Call for Proposals

2009-08-13T16:12:00.002-04:00

Call for proposals — PyCon 2010 — http://us.pycon.org/2010/

Due date: October 1st, 2009

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 hot button issue you think the community needs to address, or have some package, code or project you simply love talking about? Want to launch your master plan to take over the world with python?

PyCon is your platform for getting the word out and teaching something new to hundreds of people, face to face.

Previous PyCon conferences have had a broad range of presentations, from reports on academic and commercial projects, tutorials on a broad range of subjects and case studies. All conference speakers are volunteers and come from a myriad of backgrounds. Some are new speakers, some are old speakers. Everyone is welcome so bring your passion and your code! We’re looking to you to help us top the previous years of success PyCon has had.

PyCon 2010 is looking for proposals to fill the formal presentation tracks. The PyCon conference days will be February 19-22, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, preceded by the tutorial days (February 17-18), and followed by four days of development sprints (February 22-25).

Online proposal submission is open now! Proposals will be accepted through October 1st, with acceptance notifications coming out on November 15th. For the detailed call for proposals, please see:

http://us.pycon.org/2010/conference/proposals/

For videos of talks from previous years – check out:

http://pycon.blip.tv

We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta!

PyCon US 2010 Needs Your Help!

2009-07-30T15:48:00.004-04:00

Planning for PyCon US 2010 is in full swing but we are woefully short on officially filling staff positions! If you're interested, please sign up at http://us.pycon.org/2010/about/staff/ and be sure to join the PyCon US organizers mailing list: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pycon-organizers

In particular, we need to fill the Registration Manager role very soon as we're planning to open registration earlier this year than ever before. (More on that in a future posting!)

If you have any questions about any of the staff roles, feel free to ask on the organizers list or email any of the organizers individually!

RuPy 2009 Call for Speakers

2009-07-18T12:37:00.002-04:00

RuPy is a conference on the Python and Ruby programming languages, held in Poznan Poland. RuPy 2009 will be on the 7-8th November and they have just announced their call for speakers:

RuPy 2009 Call for Speakers

RuPy 2009 committee is looking for speakers willing to present a Python, Ruby, Groovy or any other related subject.

If you have an interesting talk in mind go ahead and submit a talk proposal. The talk proposal should include a talk title, brief introduction and your short resume/biography.

To our invited speakers we offer free accommodation, full board and possibility to interact with a very lively IT community.
You are also free to participate in all the extra events - ‘Geek party’ always turns out great!

You can also support us by linking to our site and informing all your friends about the event and the possibility to submit a talk proposal.

Potential speakers should submit an abstract using the following form:

RuPy ‘09 :: Speaker Submission Form

by September 30th, 2009 for consideration.

If you have any special presentation needs, let us know.