The PyCon US Blog

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

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!

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/ .

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 voluntee

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 .