The PyCon Blog

These meetup-like events are a great way to learn something new or connect with others who share similar interests. Due to their self-organized nature and the breadth of topics, there is bound to be an Open Space event that can enrich your conference experience. In the past, Open Spaces have included a wide range of topics such as natural language processing, web frameworks, yoga, and playing board games. Any topic that two or more attendees are interested in could be a good candidate for an Open Space.

Open Spaces are held during the three main conference days in meeting rooms reserved for these events. Any attendee can create an Open Space event and reserve a room by adding a card to the Open Spaces boards found near the registration desk. Checking these boards regularly during the conference, subscribing to the hashtag #PyConOpenSpace, and following @openspacesbot on Twitter are ways to keep informed about upcoming Open Spaces.

Promoting your Open Space 
If you decide to host your …

With PyCon 2018 approaching, I’m excited to share some work that the PyCon staff, volunteers, and Python Software Foundation have undertaken in preparation! The Python community and thus the PyCon community is always evolving and growing. In light of this it is crucial that we periodically reconsider and adjust the way that we interact within these communities. In 2012 PyCon adopted a Code of Conduct to foster a more welcoming environment at the conference and provide policies and procedures for addressing violations. Each year since, changes have been adopted to work towards our goal of an enjoyable and fulfilling conference for all attendees. For 2018, we took a larger step and worked with a third party expert fromOtter Techto reevaluate and improve our Code of Conduct, reporting procedures, and staff response procedures. Sage fromOtter Techcame with a resounding recommendation fromNorth Bay Pythonorganizers. In this post, I’d like to summarize the changes we’re bringing this year. If y…

Foreword from the Chair: The PyCon staff, volunteers, tutorial presenters, speakers, poster presenters, and community members have been hard at work preparing for PyCon 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. Along the way, we’ve gotten a chance to have some solid discussions about what makes PyCon good as well as where it can improve.

In February one of those discussions was around the dates when PyCon 2018 will be occurring, specifically the conflict with Mother’s Day 2018. The outcome of that discussion was a commitment by the PyCon staff to better communicate what decisions and compromises were made along the way and how they were considered.

PyCon is run by the Python Software Foundation, which is a grant giving non-profit. Many misunderstand or are unaware of this relationship, but the Python Software Foundation relies on maintaining a strict budget for the operation of PyCon in order to continue its grants programs and other financial responsibilities.

The PyCon staff and Python Software Foundat…

International travel to the United States has become a greater risk for many in our community. In light of current conditions, PyCon is providing additional support for international travelers. If you are travelling internationally to PyCon, take note of the following information. Financial Aid applicants should take note of additional information specific to that process in the second section. For All International Travellers to PyCon In order to better assist our international community, we have extended the following clauses from the 2017 refund policy for Financial Aid recipients to our refund policy for all attendees of PyCon:  If despite holding a visa you are denied entry upon arrival to the United States, then after you pursue and receive whatever refund your airline might be able to offer, PyCon wants to send you enough money to cover the rest of the cost of your airfare. You will need to document that you indeed arrived in the United States and were denied entry. If despite…