The PyCon US Blog

Oh man. It seems that every time we turn around that we're blowing out all the limits - real or perceived that we had for PyCon 2012. This time, we've booked - and I mean booked the Hyatt - our primary venue hotel. The good news is that we have all pending hotel requests, and are working with the Hilton Santa Clara (right next door) to get you the same rates as the ones we have at the Hyatt. We are working around the clock to get this set in place and to process all pending requests. I sincerely apologize for this blip in operations - but we will have rooms for you, and we will continue to provide the absolute best customer service you have come to expect from us. If you have any issues, you can contact pycon-reg@python.org or contact our excellent customer service team at  pycon5-reg@cteusa.com or by phone at  847-759-4277 Once again, I apologize - and don't worry - you'll all have rooms! Even if I have to build a hotel myself. Jesse, Chair - PyCon 2012

Our hosting provider has informed us that the DNS problems have been resolved.  Thank you for your patience and understanding while this problem was being addressed.

The PyCon website is currently experiencing DNS resolution problems. We are working with our hosting company and their upstream provider to resolve this issue. We hope to have this problem resolved soon. Due to all your interest in the conference and the community help, this will be the best PyCon in history. Thank you all for your patience while we resolve this issue. UPDATE 9:55am Saturday (GMT):  The DNS resolution issue has been fixed. Some problems may exist for the next hour while the DNS update propagates.

If you haven’t already done so, now would be a good time to register for PyCon 2012 ! You know why? It’s cheaper if you do it soon - by the end of January 25. We already think PyCon is an extraordinary value with ticket prices that haven’t changed in years, but we want to take that a step further. With discounts as high as 25%, the clock is ticking to get the deal of the 2012 conference season. If your company is sending you to the conference, they can get you in the door for $450, with that rate going up to $600 after Wednesday. Another thing your company might be interested in is sponsorship , which among other benefits, helps PyCon keep these great low rates year after year. If you’re paying for yourself or are employed by a non-profit, the regular $350 rate is reduced to $300 and gets you a one-way ticket to awesome. If you don’t believe me, check out this schedule . We think think you’ll love it. In fact, we think you’ll find slots in the conference where every single talk is on

17, 31, 50... PyCon 2012 marks the third year of the Poster Session.  The Poster Session has been training in the off-season and is back, bigger and better than ever.  This year we have 50 posters for your PyCon enjoyment with the full list of accepted posters coming soon to the site.  We've grown a lot since the original 17 posters of the inaugural session2 years ago! Wondering how you'll manage your time and make it to all the posters that call to you? Wondering what's on the list?  We'll have Robots that test mobile applications and play Angry Birds in their spare time... You can learn how people are using Python Power to increase student engagement... You can find out how Python helps keep the Chandra X-ray Observatory operating safely... You can get tips on Python Community development and the details of PSF Sprint Sponsorship... Innovative uses of Django, doing Bioinformatics, Packaging, Cython and much, much more! So be prepared - the PyCon poster session

Wow. It feels like only a few days ago I was still in the midst of helping wrap up PyCon 2011. In reality, PyCon 2012 is under 50 days away . At this point I feel like a deer in the headlights! For example - Early Bird registration rates end on January 25th - that's only  7 days away ! With the Early Bird discount, and attendance capped at 1500 attendees - now is the time to get registered! Registration includes breakfast, lunch and snacks too! We have an amazing list of tutorials you can attend, a jam-packed line up of main conference talks ,  the Poster session is going to be awesome (the full list of accepted posters is coming), our Keynotes and Plenary speakers are amazing (and I haven't even added Guido to that line up yet!). We'll be holding a PyCon 5k Fun Run for charity, Startup Row has returned , and we're raffling off a robot ! If you need it - the room sharing page is live - and we're just beginning to organize the list of sprints for the confe

This is the strangest announcement - one that I never dreamed of making. Ladies and Gentlemen, PyCon (sponsorship) is full. The Expo Hall, anyway. At least close enough that we need to do the unthinkable - we need to announce that sponsorship applications for PyCon 2012 will be closing (unless you don't want a booth!). The Python Software Foundation, and the entire PyCon US 2012 team would like to thank all of our current (and pending!) sponsors . We have an unprecedented 94 sponsors and other partners (such as PyLadies , OSU/OSL and others) not including pending sponsor applications . This is amazing. It is a huge milestone for PyCon and the foundation and we can not thank all of the sponsors enough. On a personal level, I would like to thank each and every one of them - it has been an honor and privilege working with them and seeing their support for PyCon and the community as a whole. Therefore I am announcing that we will close the conference to any new sponsorship as of

The preparations for PyCon 2012 are moving into their final phase. The talks have been announced, the tutorials are on the books, just about the only thing that remains is to submit a poster proposal! Do you want to share your latest Python coding experiments? Or build interest in a budding project? Do you want to present something at PyCon, but don't feel that a talk is for you? Now in its third year, the poster session has become a part of the PyCon tradition. Praised by presenters for being both an excellent opportunity to interact with interested people and a lower pressure, more accessible venue than regular talks, the poster session lets you reach more people at PyCon with less fuss than any other type of presentation. So if you have an idea that you want to get out there, or a project you want feedback on, submit a poster. For more reasons why you simply must present a poster, see Brian Curtin's earlier post and for more information on the poster sessions and how

If finances are what's keeping you away from PyCon, the Financial Aid Committee is there to help make it possible. The deadline for applications is tomorrow - January 7, 2012 - so hurry up and get your application filled out. It's a very quick process thanks to their online application . Filling out the application requires that you know a few things up front, but will take you no more than a few minutes to complete. I just did a test run right now and it took me three minutes to click through and enter a few pieces of information. What you need to know: Do you need assistance with conference registration? This covers your ticket into the show. If you say no here, you will need to buy your own ticket. If you say yes here, don't go off and buy your own ticket to then be reimbursed for. If your application is accepted your ticket will be handled by the committee. Do you need assistance with a hotel room? If yes, how many nights do you plan to stay? Keep tutorials an

Many Pythonistas are active runners; many more are just looking for an excuse to get out there and start. From beginners to lifelong runners, we hope you'll join us at the inaugural PyCon 5K. Runners and walkers of all abilities are welcome! As a bit of background: last year I attended GitHub's CodeConf. One of the activities at that conference was a 5K fun run, and it was a blast. Ever since then I've been thinking about holding a similar run here at PyCon. I asked my friend, fellow Pythonista and ultra-marathoner (!) Nick Lang to direct the race, and now it's going to happen! You can find all the details on the PyCon website , but here's the short version: the race will be Saturday, March 10th, running 5K (3.1 miles) along a trail beside the conference venue. Registration is "pay what you want" (including free); all proceeds will go to charities: Autism Speaks , the American Cancer Society , and the Epilepsy Foundation . If you pay at least $20 you'

Need or want to share a room at PyCon 2012? The PyCon 2012 room sharing page is live - all valid site users can now add themselves to  https://us.pycon.org/2012/community/roomsharing/ in order to coordinate room sharing. Room sharing is a great way to get to know others in the community - and also offset hotel costs. Remember, room sharing is a required for those applying for financial aid coverage of hotel costs.

This morning, PyCon's fearless leader Jesse Noller tweeted that  early bird registration rates were ending in a week on January 10. He shortly followed up with good news: early bird registration has been extended and the discount rates will be available until January 25 ! Yesterday was the original financial aid deadline , but don't worry if you missed it - there's still time! A few weeks ago we moved that deadline to January 7. If you're interested in the PyLadies grant for women , that deadline is January 31. We still have open slots for the poster session and will be accepting proposals through January 15. Financial Aid: January 7 Posters Due: January 15 Early Bird Registration: January 25 PyLadies Aid Grants: January 31

One of our most successful experiments last year was Startup Row . We knew that a lot of startups used Python, but we were astounded and excited to see the number and quality of new companies that were eager to participate at PyCon and show off what they were doing. At PyCon itself, we got a lot of comments from attendees that Startup Row was their favorite part of the Expo Hall. From meeting and talking with the founders of so many great companies, it was obvious that they would go far. A number of them have even grown into full sponsors this year (congratulations Eldarion , DotCloud , and Olark !). This year, we have our eye on the startup world even more. With Paul Graham of YCombinator as a keynote speaker , and PyCon being held right in the heart of Silicon Valley , it seemed right to bring back Startup Row for PyCon 2012. We will be highlighting some of the most promising new companies that are using Python to build their businesses - including possibly yours. If your startup

The following was an email sent to all known Python local user groups -- a list totaling 108 locations around the world. If you're in a user group and *haven't* seen this information, please email brian@python.org or comment on the post if your group would be interested in receiving this type of "newsletter" format. We don't send them often and we won't spam you, we just want to reach the community for which PyCon exists to serve. We are now 63 days away from PyCon 2012 in Santa Clara — it's hard to  think about how quickly time has flown since PyCon 2011! We've lined  up some great keynote and plenary speakers, announced the tutorial and  talk selections, opened ticket sales, and have expanded financial aid  opportunities. The community and our amazing array of sponsors have  helped us break several records already, so we hope you're as excited  about PyCon 2012 as we are. The conference runs March 7-15 at the  Santa Clara Convention Center