Skip to main content

The Hatchery Returns with Nine Events!

Since its start in 2018, the PyCon US Hatchery Program has become a fundamental part of how PyCon as a conference adapts to best serve the Python community as it grows and changes with time. In keeping with that focus on innovation, the Hatchery Program itself has continued to evolve.
Initially we wanted to gauge community interest for this type of program, and in 2018 we launched our first trial program to learn more about what kind of events the community might propose. At the end of that inaugural program, we accepted the PyCon Charlas as our first Hatchery event and it has grown into a permanent track offered at PyCon US.
PyCon US 2019 presented three new hatchery programs, Mentored Sprints, the Maintainers Summit, and the Art of Python. Those events were quite different from one another, but they all foreshadowed trends we are seeing now.
For PyCon US 2020 there were a dozen proposals, which set us to thinking about how we could accommodate as many events as possible. In addition to the return of the successful offerings from last year we received several other proposals which seem to show three general directions - summits, code events, and artistic presentations. In response to those trends, we decided to tweak the structure a bit, and starting in 2020 the Hatchery will reflect those three broad areas.
While we will always be open to new and innovative proposals, this framework will allow us to better plan for coming years. Within our venue's limits to the space available, thinking in terms of these categories will make us better able to provide resources for as many events as possible. We're excited to see this year's hatchlings!
Here are the Hatchery areas and their events for 2020

The Hatchery Codes

Events where members of the community come together to teach, learn, and practice the art of coding in Python.
This year there will be three events in this area:

Mentored Sprints for Diverse Beginners

A newcomer’s introduction to contributing to an open source project. These are mentored sprints for individuals from underrepresented groups willing to start contributing to Python projects. This event will provide a supportive, friendly, and safe environment for all the attendees and partner open source projects.To achieve this goal, we are seeking to work with a number of Python projects and their maintainers interested in providing mentorship to these individuals. In return, we will provide guidance and advise on how to prepare the projects for the day and to better serve a diverse range of contributors.
To learn more about how to take part in this event see https://us.pycon.org/2020/hatchery/mentoredsprints/.

Trans*Code Hackday

Trans*Code aims to help draw attention to trans/non-binary issues and community through a topic-focused hackday. Any person is welcomed to participate, regardless if they are from tech or not. This event is free of expectations, and free of schedule. You can come, present an idea that you have, or listen to other ideas, or just get together with other participants to explore a new technology, or brainstorm something.

Beginners Data Workshop for Minorities

Would you like to learn to code but don’t know where to start? Learning how to code can seem like an impossible task so we’ve decided to put on a workshop to show 60 beginners how it can be done and get them excited about the world of technology! Join us on 18th April 2020 for a workshop where you’ll learn the basics of programming in Python, as well as how to use tools such as Jupyter Notebook to analyze data.

The Hatchery Summits

There are many smaller sub-communities within the larger Python community that struggle to find a dedicated time and space to meet and discuss their issues. PyCon, as one of the largest gatherings of Python folk in the world seems like a great place to offer this option.
This year there will be four summits as part of the Hatchery:

Regional PyCon Organizers' Summit

The Regional Conference Organizers’ Summit is a place for people who run or are interested in running Python conferences to gather to share knowledge, seek advice, and work together to help build better Python conferences throughout the world. The Summit is a half-day “unconference”-style event. That means we aren’t calling for prepared presentations. Instead we’ll have moderated discussions where anyone attending can contribute: from experienced organizers offering advice, to new and interested organizers asking questions about where to start. To guide the day, we will have a set agenda, so you can prepare questions, or come along with ideas.

Python Trainers Summit

This summit seeks to forge connections within the trainers from all practices to formalize their community of practice and connect them with others working within education contexts. This summit will provide the space and platform for professional trainers to engage with the more formal education practices, and those educators to connect with the needs of corporate and professional development audiences.
To learn more or submit a talk proposal visit https://us.pycon.org/2020/hatchery/trainers/.

Maintainers Summit

Python is much more than a programming language. It is a vibrant community made up of individuals with diverse skills and backgrounds. Maintainers Summit at PyCon USA is where the community comes together to discuss and build a community of practice for Python project maintainers and key contributors. Come and learn from your peers how to maintain and develop sustainable projects and thriving communities.
We are inviting Python community members to get on stage and share their insight and experience with the PyCon 2020 audience. Talk proposals from first-time speakers and Pythonistas from the underrepresented groups within the tech community are strongly encouraged.

Python Packaging Summit

The Python Packaging Summit is an event primarily to people contributing to the python packaging ecosystem, any interpreter or distribution (CPython, PyPy, Conda, and so on) to share information, discuss our shared problems, and — hopefully — come up with solutions to tackle them. These issues might be related to any of the python packaging projects, independently if it’s hosted or not under the PyPa umbrella. The Summit focuses on discussions and consensus-seeking on problems faced, and how we should solve them.
We welcome developers who maintain any of the python packaging tools, or active contributors to these tools.
If you want to tackle some problem in the world of Python packaging please visit https://us.pycon.org/2020/hatchery/packaging/ to learn more about how to submit your topic, and sign up to attend.

The Hatchery Presents

Finally, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the Python world is full of creative people, and that PyCon is a natural place for them to express that creativity. Building on the success of The Art of Python last year, this year we will have two events with an artistic flair:

The Art of Python

The event this year will be roughly 2 hours, the evening of Friday, April 17th. The first half will be composed of five 5-15 minute performances. The second half will involve creative exercises to inspire and workshopping new pieces. There are lots of performances and venues for code that creates art. However, Art of Python is a venue for technologists to create creative works from their experience of working in technology. Remember, the goal of this festival is to impart perspective about the emotional and challenging work of programming Python through the medium of entertainment.

No Signal: Python for Computational Arts

The purpose of this project is to showcase the artistic possibilities that exist when creative coders leverage Python and computer science. Making art with code is an engaging way for beginner technologists to start learning new skills, and also allows folks with existing skills to express themselves in new ways. Python has become a prominent language for scripting in game engines and 3D creation suites, graphic design, sound design, and circuitry; along with its active user community and so many additional add-on libraries, Python is an approachable tool to use for artistic purposes. We hope to give pythonistas, career computer scientists, and all patrons of the conference a chance to see exciting work and projects, and in turn find inspiration for their own projects and learning.
To find out how to submit your project go to https://us.pycon.org/2020/hatchery/computationalarts/.

Comments