The PyCon US Blog

Microsoft returned as our top PyCon 2020 sponsor (for the 3rd year) and stepped forward to make another big investment in PyCon and its community. Microsoft not only uses Python for their own development but also offers Python as a crucial tool to empower everyone to achieve more. I recently caught up with Dan Taylor and team to talk about how Microsoft is using Python and was excited to hear what they had to say. PSF: What is the most valuable thing about sponsoring PyCon to your team? Dan: PyCon is something we look forward to every single year. Our Python team at Microsoft loves to show our support for the Python community—and we love to give teams across Microsoft the chance to learn more about the Python community and bring that deep understanding back to the work we do, building tools and services for Python users. PyCon is the largest Python conference in the world and the Python community is especially vibrant, diverse, and inclusive. We love that we can help make P...

With the in person cancellation of PyCon US 2020, the PyLadies Auction as we know, could not possibly have happened. Upon further investigation, we are deeply sad to announce we have decided to forgo the PyLadies Auction in its entirety for 2020. This decision has been a difficult one. We began the PyLadies Auction at  PyCon US 2013 in Santa Clara and have held it annually since. To not be able to celebrate PyLadies in our annual tradition together is a deep loss. 2019 PyLadies Auction Why isn't the PyLadies Auction going virtual? We considered running a virtual auction. However the mechanisms required to run a virtual auction have proven to be limited and not up to the quality that we expect for the PyLadies Auction. Additionally, we did not want to ask donors, or volunteers to violate social distancing practices by visiting a post office or other location for item shipments. In short, we want people to continue to flatten the curve by staying home and tending to themselves and th...

Dozens of presenters and sponsors prepared content for the launch of PyCon 2020 Online! We are pleased to present talks and tutorials by Russell Keith Magee, Marlene Mhangami, Eric Ma, and so many more under the  PyCon 2020 YouTube channel ! There will be new presentations and content added to the  PyCon Online  page weekly. PyCon 2020 Online would not be possible without our sponsors. This year we are highlighting sponsors via the  Virtual Expo Hall . If you are looking for a job or information about their tools and products, be sure to check it out! Read the  launch email  for more content information. Content will be released in batches, weekly. Check back next week to catch more recording and "exhibits" in PyCon's Virtual Expo Hall! If you would like to receive the latest PyCon 2020 Online emails,  subscribe to our newsletter ! They will be sent out weekly for the next 4 weeks or so. Don't forget to share your PyCon 2020 Online experiences on...

We’re thrilled to have the support of Facebook as a PSF and PyCon Principal Sponsor for 2020! Facebook would like to share with PyCon 2020 Online attendees how they are innovating ways for people to connect. Additionally, Facebook is investing in augmented and virtual reality and have released several category-defining technologies and experiences. Facebook looks forward to sharing more stories of innovation directly from the people who drive that innovation. The following was originally posted on Facebook careers. When you think about Facebook, what comes to mind first? Do you remember seeing a memory in your News Feed that made you smile? Or finding inspiration for a craft or hobby on Instagram? Or even experiencing an immersive virtual world for the first time with an Oculus headset? From the first lines of code Mark Zuckerberg wrote in 2004 to the launch of News Feed in 2006 to breaking down the barriers of distance with this year’s launch of Oculus Quest, innovation h...

Each year since 2011, PyCon has reserved a special place for early-stage startups to show off what they're working on to the Python community. As its name might suggest, Startup Row is a row of booths for startups at PyCon. Due to the ongoing global public health crisis, Startup Row, like the rest of PyCon 2020, has gone virtual. Before we get started, a quick note: Even in the best of times, starting and running a startup is very challenging. Founders and early employees take on significant risk and expansive workloads to build something new and get it off the ground. Obviously, these are not the best of times. Now more than ever, early-stage startups need support. If any of these companies seem neat to you, try their products. Get in touch with the teams. Give feedback. Work for them. Become a customer or refer them to people who might find their work interesting. We're in this together. This Year's Startup Row Companies We had a very competitive application p...

The PSF’s priority is the health and safety of the community and the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic has made it unsafe to hold PyCon US this year. Recently, the United States and the State of Pennsylvania have asked that large gatherings be postponed or cancelled until further notice. With that in mind, the PSF has worked to reduce financial exposure and develop a plan to provide content remotely. What happens next? PyCon US is an opportunity for the Python Community to come together every year to learn, network, and discuss great ideas in person. We’re all devastated that we’ll lose in-person interactions this year, but the health and safety of our attendees comes first.   Even though the in-person event isn’t happening in 2020, our staff and volunteers are already planning to deliver several PyCon US components remotely throughout April.   Here’s our immediate plan: Attendees Registration : We will send an email by Friday, March 27th offering you a full refun...

With a month until PyCon US 2020’s scheduled start, the Python Software Foundation Board and Staff are working through our options for PyCon US 2020, and will keep you updated as decisions are made. In the meantime, remember that PyCon US will refund any tickets with no questions asked. You do not need to commit to travel to PyCon US at this point in time if you do not want to. The Foundation is currently exploring options to re-schedule or cancel the conference. Any final decision to cancel or reschedule PyCon US will be made early enough to give you time to cancel or defer your travel plans. We continue to monitor advice from the Federal, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, and Pittsburgh Governments, and our planning is taking this advice into account.

PyCon continues to closely monitor the Coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) situation. As of March 6, PyCon 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is scheduled to take place. As of this morning, there have been two presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. These cases are in Wayne and Delaware Counties, in eastern Pennsylvania. They are not near Pittsburgh, which is in western Pennsylvania, some 300 miles (480km) away. At the time of writing, travel or event restrictions have not been put into place anywhere in Pennsylvania. Our staff continues to work with sponsors, vendors, and speakers. We are proactively planning safety precautions that will be implemented onsite. We are also working to ensure that people who cannot travel to PyCon will still be able to meaningfully participate: this includes work to convert one talk, tutorial, and sponsor track to handle remote presentations (either live or recorded) as a backup plan. It is worth reiterating PyCon’s cancellatio...

Read our most recent update on COVID-19:  https://pycon.blogspot.com/search/label/COVID-19 The coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) is a new virus that causes respiratory illness in people and can spread from person-to-person. Since PyCon US 2020 is scheduled in April, we want to give our community an update on our status and more information about our policy for attendees pertaining to COVID-19. As of March 2, PyCon 2020 in Pittsburgh, PA is scheduled to happen. The staff and board directors are actively watching the situation closely, as it continues to change rapidly. We plan to reassess the situation weekly and more frequently as we get closer to the event. This includes checking in with our Pittsburgh team for updates including from vendors and local authorities. Currently, there have not been any COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania and conferences continue to happen at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. On February 28th, the Pennsylvania Department of Health state...

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 ad...

Exciting News! PyCon US 2020 Tutorial Registration is open! Tutorial schedule is now available at us.pycon.org/2020/schedule/tutorials . To register, you can add the tutorials to your existing registration or add them to a new registration by using the link on your dashboard . Tutorials do sell out quickly, if you are planning to attend be sure to register early.   Sponsor Workshops  Registration and schedule for the Sponsor Workshops will launch in the next few days.  The Sponsor Workshops are held on Thursday, April 16, 2020 and we are glad to be offering an additional 4 workshops for PyCon US 2020.   Conference Talk Schedule The Conference Talk Schedule is in the final phase and will be posted online within the next week.  Watch the PyCon 2020 site for the schedule to post.

International travel to the United States has become a greater risk for many in our community. In light of current conditions, PyCon would like to highlight the support we provide 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 the following refund policy for PyCon attendees:  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 holding a visa you are denied entry upon arrival to t...

The PyLadies Auction is returning to PyCon 2020! If you haven't attended one previously, you're missing out! There's charity. There's competition. There's laughter, food, and drinks. There are auction paddles flying in the air as people graciously  give money where it has impact. The PyLadies auction holds a special place in my heart – I attended my first PyCon in 2015 thanks to financial aid from PyLadies . If you haven't heard of PyLadies before, we are an international mentorship group with a focus on helping more women become active participants and leaders in the Python open-source community. Last year, the auction raised over $44,000 from the 58 items auctioned off. For a glimpse into what a night at the PyLadies Auction is like, check out Lacey Williams Henschel’s live-tweet thread from last year . The Details Date & Time: Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 6:30pm Location: Westin Hotel, 1000 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA (This hotel is connect...

PyCon US 2020 Call for Proposal deadline is December 20, 2019 AoE! If you have a talk, poster or education summit idea, don't wait, submit your proposals this week! To submit your proposal start by creating an account on us.pycon.org/2020 . Details on submitting a proposal can be found here .   Remember that you can edit or update a previously submitted proposal until the deadline by accessing the submission on your dashboard . December 20, 2019: Deadline to submit a PyCon Talk proposal, Poster proposal, Education Summit proposal, and Las PyCon Charlas proposal January 3, 2020: Deadline to submit Hatchery proposals January 17, 2020: Deadline to submit Startup Row  applications  January 31, 2020: Deadline to submit applications for Financial aid PyCon US 2020 Conference Registration Our Early Bird tickets are going quickly. If you are hoping to purchase your Student, Individual, or Corporate ticket at our discounted rate, then your ti...