After an amazing year in Prague, we’re thrilled to announce that EuroPython 2025 is heading back to this beautiful city! 🎉 Mark your calendars for another epic week of learning, collaboration, and community vibes.
🎤 Wednesday to Friday (16th-18th): Main Conference Talks
👨💻 Saturday & Sunday (19th-20th): Community Sprints
🤔 What would you like to see at EuroPython?
We’d love to hear your thoughts! We’ve put together a short form with just three quick questions—it’ll take less than a few minutes to complete. Your input will help us make EuroPython 2025 an amazing experience for everyone!
EuroPython is one of Europe’s largest Python community conferences, and we couldn’t do it without our amazing sponsors! 🤝 Interested? Reach out to us at sponsoring@europython.eu.
EuroPython Society Fellows have contributed significantly towards our mission, the EuroPython conference and the Society as an organisation. They are eligible for a lifetime free attendance of the EuroPython conference and will be listed on our EuroPython Society Fellow Grant page in recognition of their work.
Laís has been volunteering with the EPS since 2020 and is currently serving as a board member for 2023–2024. Quoting from her nomination for the EuroPython Society fellowship:
Lais is the "superhero" of this year's EuroPython Organization. She's constantly trying to improve our processes, our way of operating, to push for diversity and inclusion, and to make things happen. Apart from that, she's always passionate about the EuroPython Society Mission, actioning on community outreach, expanding EPS communication channels and helping, in action, EPS to support the local python communities. I have no doubt that with her key contribution, 2024 will be one of the most impactful years for the mission of EPS.
Cyril started volunteering for EuroPython since 2022, He started helping with Ops and Programme teams initially and his firefighting skills proved invaluable as he supported other teams and the general organisation, making him a de facto member of the 2024 core organisers team. Quoting from his nomination for the EuroPython Society fellowship
Cyril is one of the most dedicated volunteers I've ever met. You'll argue with him, he'll care, you'll ask for his help. He will have input, he will review everything on time. Constantly trying to help, to include more people and always passionate about documenting all of our processes. Cyril is one of the people I'm very proud I have worked with and I'm sure with his contribution EPS will make a lot of steps forward.
The EuroPython Society Board would like to congratulate and thank all the above new Fellows for their tireless work towards our mission! If you want to send in your nomination, check out our Fellowship page and get in touch!
Hello and welcome to the post-conference newsletter! We really hope you enjoyed EuroPython 2024, cause we sure did and are still recovering from all the fun and excitement :)
We have some updates to share with you, and also wanted to use this newsletter to nostalgically look back at all the good times we had just last month, surrounded by old friends and new in the beautiful city of Prague ❤️.
🏛️ EuroPython Society (EPS)
This year we had a booth for the EuroPython Society at the conference. What is the EPS? The EPS is the running engine behind the EuroPython Conference. The EPS board is made up of up to 9 directors (including 1 chair and 1 vice chair). It runs the day-to-day business of the EuroPython Society, including running the EuroPython conference series, and supports the community through various initiatives such as our grants programme. The board collectively takes up the fiscal and legal responsibility of the Society.
For the next few weeks, the board is working with our accountant and auditor to get our financial reports in order. As soon as that is finalised, we will be excited to call for the next Annual General Assembly (GA); the actual GA will be held at least 14 days after our formal notice.
General Assembly is a great opportunity to hear about EuroPython Society's developments and updates in the last year and a new board will also be elected at the end of the GA.
At the moment, running the annual EuroPython conference is a major task for the EPS. As such, the board members are expected to invest significant time and effort towards overseeing the smooth execution of the conference, ranging from venue selection, contract negotiations, and budgeting, to volunteer management. Every board member has the duty to support one or more EuroPython teams to facilitate decision-making and knowledge transfer.
In addition, the Society prioritises building a close relationship with local communities. Board members should not only be passionate about the Python community but have a high-level vision and plan for how the EPS could best serve the community.
How can you become an EPS 2024 board member?
Any EPS member can nominate themselves for the EPS 2024 board. Nominations will be published prior to the GA.
Though the formal deadline for self-nomination is at the GA, it is recommended that you send in yours as early as possible (yes, now is a good time!) to board@europython.eu.
We look forward to your email :)
📝 Feedback & Numbers
Thanks to everyone who filled in the feedback form! In total, 157 attendees gave their feedback, which represents around 13% of the onsite attendees and around 11% of total attendees. One caveat when reading the results below: it’s difficult to say whether this sample was representative of all attendees as we didn’t collect demographic data.
Satisfaction with the conference
On average, attendees let us know that they were very satisfied with the conference, with a mean overall satisfaction rating of 4.3. Moreover, attendees were satisfied with most specific aspects of the conference, including the venue (mean = 4.6), food (mean = 4.0), and the social event (mean = 4.0). Prague was a particularly popular choice of location, getting a mean rating of 4.7.
We also had a look to see which of these aspects were most strongly related to overall satisfaction with the conference. Using a Spearman correlation, we found that satisfaction with the food (rs = 0.20) and the social event (rs = 0.17) had the highest relationship with overall satisfaction with the conference. However, any fellow stats nerds reading this might have noticed that these are not particularly strong relationships, likely meaning that other factors we didn’t explicitly measure are driving how much people liked the conference.
If you’re interested in seeing more of the results we got from the feedback form, we published a blog post where we deep dive into everything we found in much more detail. And we promise there will be lots of pretty graphs!
It was another successful year for our Speaker Mentorship Programme! Here are some key highlights from this year:
Each mentee had the opportunity to receive personalized feedback, support, and guidance on their talk or proposal from an experienced mentor. We successfully supported 29 mentees, most from underrepresented communities, by pairing them with 29 seasoned mentors!
Six mentees were given the opportunity to attend a public speaking workshop to further enhance their skills.
On June 3rd, we held a fantastic first-time speakers' workshop where attendees engaged with experienced speakers, receiving valuable advice and feedback for their presentations.
Last but not least, a huge THANK YOU to all our mentors who volunteered their time to guide mentees in submitting their proposals and delivering their talks
🐍 PyLadies day
EuroPython this year had an entire day dedicated to PyLadies events. We started with Moderni Soberana giving a workshop on how to establish boundaries and stop abusive behaviour in society. This was followed up by the PyLadies lunch, sponsored by Kraken Technologies, that had 120 allies joining us for a truly empowerment session.
Py
The afternoon had a #IAmRemarkable workshop hosted by Lola Onipko! We also had a Meet & Greet session where beginners and experienced PyLadies shared knowledge and insights of the tech industry.
Picture by Deborah Foroni (PyLadies SP)
💬 Python Organisers Discussion
We had +35 community members joining us to discuss how the EuroPython Society can better support Python Communities.
✍️ Community write-ups
It warms our hearts to see posts from the community about their experience and stories this year! Here are some of them, please feel free to share yours by tagging us on socials @europython or mailing us at news@europython.eu
A conference that believes community matters, human values and feelings matter, and not afraid to walk the talk. And how the conference stood up to my expectations in every bit.
Year after year EuroPython shines because of the hard work of our amazing team of volunteers!
But beyond the logistics and the schedules, it's your smiles, your enthusiasm, and your genuine willingness to go the extra mile that truly made EuroPython 2024 truly special. Your efforts have not only fostered a sense of belonging among first time attendees but also exemplified the power of community and collaboration that lies at the heart of this conference. (And if you check out our blog post about the post-conference feedback, you'll see that community was the thing people reported liking most about EuroPython this year!)
Once again, thank you for being the backbone of EuroPython, for your dedication, and for showing the world yet again why people who come for the Python language end up staying for the amazing community :)
We built a page on our website to thank everyone for their effort on making EuroPython 2024 what it was! Check it out: https://ep2024.europython.eu/thank-you
And a special thank you to all of the Sponsors for all of their support!
Yay sponsors!
Special thanks to StickerApp for the awesome stickers, Evolabel for shipping, Pretalx for the partnership and Kraken Technologies for the PyLadies lunch!
🎥 Conference Photos & Videos
The official conference photos are up on Flickr! Do not forget to tag us when you share your favourite clicks on your socials 😉.
While our team edits the conference videos, we've put together a EuroPython 2024 livestream playlist with all the daily links. We hope this helps you easily find and enjoy the talks you want to catch up on Youtube.
We also have a sweet video featuring the amazing humans of EuroPython sharing why they volunteer!
The Python Software Foundation is proud to support EuroPython Prague 2024 with a grant in support of our mission to promote, protect, and advance the Python programming language and to support and facilitate the growth of a diverse and international community of Python programmers. We send congratulations and thanks to the organizers for their work to create a wonderful experience for the Python community!
The PSF is the non-profit charitable organization behind the Python language. We empower the Python community in a variety of ways including paying developers to work directly on CPython, PyPI, and security, hosting projects like PyLadies and Pallets, organizing PyCon US, and awarding community grants like this one. We welcome you to be a part of the PSF by signing up for PSF membership or supporting our mission and initiatives with a one-time, monthly, or annual donation. If your company uses Python and wants to support our community, you can find more information and submit a sponsor application on our website. We’re happy to answer any questions at sponsors@python.org.
Its been a month now since EuroPython 2024 took place and as the dust settles, we’ve gathered feedback from 157 attendees to understand what made this year’s event special, what challenges were faced, and how the experience can shape future EuroPythons. Whether you were there in person or followed along online, join us as we dive into the analysing the feedback!
The data we have represents around 13% of the onsite attendees and around 11% of total attendees. One caveat about this data is that as we didn't collect demographic data, we can't be certain that our respondents were representative of all attendees, but as you'll see we got some fascinating insights nonetheless! Also a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the feedback form - your help was greatly appreciated!
Satisfaction with the conference
First things first: how much did people like the conference? We asked people to let us know how satisfied they were with EuroPython overall, as well as specific aspects like the venue, the location, the food and the social event.
We're delighted to say: attendees really liked the conference! The mean overall satisfaction rating was 4.3 of 5. Attendees were also satisfied with all of the aspects we asked about, with the venue (M = 4.6), food (M = 4.0) and the social event (M = 4.0) all getting high ratings. Prague as a location was a particular popular choice, getting a mean rating of 4.7!
Mean and standard deviation of ratings per conference aspect
We also had a look to see which of these aspects were most strongly related to overall satisfaction with the conference. Using a Spearman correlation, we found that satisfaction with the food (rs = 0.20) and the social event (rs = 0.17) had the highest relationship with overall satisfaction with the conference. However, any fellow stats nerds reading this might have noticed that these are not particularly strong relationships, likely meaning that other factors we didn’t explicitly measure are driving how much people liked the conference. Which leads us to ...
Things that people liked about the conference
One of our survey questions was a free text field, asking attendees to tell us what they liked about the conference. Ninety-seven people gave us (invaluable!) feedback on this question.
In order to make these easier to analyse, we used a large language model to extract the topics that each attendee was discussing in their responses. This was by no means perfect, so take it as a guide rather than something totally objective (e.g., “organisation” was pretty broadly interpreted by the model), but it does give us a general sense of what sorts of things people enjoyed about EuroPython.
The top topics (where at least 5 people had mentioned them in their feedback) are listed below.
Liked topics
Number of respondents who mentioned topic
Community
37
Food
20
Organisation
19
Talks
16
Networking
14
Atmosphere
14
Venue
10
Communication
5
Location
5
We have also plotted these topics by their mentions for better understanding.
You can see that by far and away the thing that people liked most about EuroPython was community! This is such a core part of Python conferences, and as we worked hard on this aspect of EuroPython, we're thrilled this was valued so much by the attendees.
Rounding out the top five, people also enjoyed the food, organisation, talks and networking.
With a general overview of the feedback on EuroPython 2024 in mind, let's jump into specific aspects of the conference such as the food, talks, workshops, and more.
Food & Catering
As noted above in the first graph, people were overall satisfied with the food. When breaking this down by dietary requirements, satisfaction varied a bit more.
Note: we have very small samples for some of these special dietary groups.
Dietary requirement
Total respondents
Mean satisfaction rating
None
115
4.13
Vegetarian
23
3.82
Vegan
11
4.00
Gluten-free
2
3.50
Lactose-intolerant
4
4.00
Low-carb
2
3.50
Halal
4
3.00
Kosher
1
5.00
Other
2
2.50
Average Satisfaction with food grouped by Dietary requirements
PyLadies workshops
Only 28 respondents indicated that they had attended at least one PyLadies workshop, so we should interpret the below findings with caution. However, on average, attendees were very satisfied with the PyLadies events (M = 4.4).
Below is the breakdown of mean satisfaction per PyLadies event (some people attended multiple events, hence the total exceeds 28).
PyLadies event
Total respondents
Mean satisfaction rating
Wednesday evening social event
16
4.43
Self-Defense workshop
7
4.29
PyLadies lunch
16
4.38
#IAmRemarkable workshop
1
5.00
Community tutorials
Only 8 respondents indicated that they had attended at least one of the community tutorials so unfortunately this means we cannot break down the data by tutorial. However, again the overall mean satisfaction rating was high (4.0).
Talks
In another free text question, we asked attendees to let us know which talks they particularly liked and those they didn't enjoy as much. One hundred and four attendees gave us feedback on the talks they liked, and 59 gave feedback on talks they did not like, with most people mentioning multiple talks. This gave us a nice dataset to analyse, allowing us to cut it by several facets.
We normalised the free text feedback by matching it up to the closest title by converting all of the titles to document embeddings, and then checking this manually. The findings are broken down below by talk level, type and track.
Level
Attendees seemed to enjoy talks across all levels equally, with around 4 times more people liking versus disliking talks at each level.
Talk level
Number of talks at conference
Number of liked talks
Number of disliked talks
Average number of likes per talk
Average number of dislikes per talk
Ratio of likes to dislikes
Beginner
65
138
35
2.1
0.54
3.9
Intermediate
93
178
46
1.9
0.49
3.9
Advanced
14
23
6
1.6
0.43
3.8
Type
By far the most popular type of talk were long talk sessions. These talks received a lot of feedback, with 15 times more attendees saying they liked these talks versus disliking them. The keynotes were also well received, with 4 times more people mentioning liking them versus disliking them.
Posters were only mentioned once in the feedback. While it is hard to say from this feedback as it does not measure attendance, it is possible that an issue is that not as many people went to see the posters as talks.
Talk type
Number of talks at conference
Number of liked talks
Number of disliked talks
Average number of likes per talk
Average number of dislikes per talk
Ratio of likes to dislikes
Talk (long session)
25.0
61.0
4.0
2.4
0.16
15.2
Keynote
6.0
84.0
20.0
14
3.33
4.2
Talk
92.0
174.0
51.0
1.9
0.55
3.4
Tutorial
16.0
9.0
5.0
0.6
0.31
1.8
Sponsored
8.0
8.0
6.0
1
0.75
1.3
Panel
2.0
2.0
1
Poster
9.0
1.0
0.1
Track
While it is hard to draw robust conclusions for this category as there are very small samples in most of the tracks, some particularly popular tracks (with a high ratio of likes to dislikes and high number of overall likes) are:
Arts, Crafts, Culture & Demos
Testing and QA
Career, Life, Health
Python Libraries and Tooling
Python Internals & Ecosystem
Track
Number of talks at conference
Number of liked talks
Number of disliked talks
Average number of likes per talk
Average number of dislikes per talk
Ratio of likes to dislikes
Arts, Crafts, Culture & Demos
3
30
1.0
10.0
0.33
30.0
Testing and QA
5
17
1.0
3.4
0.2
17.0
Career, Life, Health
4
28
2.0
7.0
0.5
14.0
PyData: Deep Learning, NLP, CV
8
7
1.0
0.88
0.13
7.0
DevOps and Infrastructure (Cloud & Hardware)
5
13
2.0
2.6
0.4
6.5
Python Libraries & Tooling
23
49
10.0
2.13
0.43
4.9
Web technologies
9
4
1.0
0.44
0.11
4.0
Python Internals & Ecosystem
24
62
18.0
2.58
0.75
3.4
Education, Community & Diversity
7
19
7.0
2.71
1.0
2.7
PyData: LLMs
10
15
6.0
1.5
0.6
2.5
PyData: Data Engineering
10
9
4.0
0.9
0.4
2.3
Software Engineering & Architecture
14
31
14.0
2.21
1.0
2.2
Security
6
4
3.0
0.67
0.5
1.3
PyData: Machine Learning, Stats
7
3
3.0
0.43
0.43
1.0
~ None of these topics
3
1
1.0
0.33
0.33
1.0
PyData: Research & Applications
6
1
2.0
0.17
0.33
0.5
Ethics, Philosophy & Politics
1
1
1.0
PyData: Software Packages & Jupyter
5
7
1.4
Special thank you to our amazing data wizard Jodie Burchell for putting together together this report!
If you have any questions, you are welcome to reach out to the team at helpdesk@europython.eu
EuroPython 2024 is set to be an electrifying event for Python enthusiasts, taking place in the vibrant city of Prague from July 8th to 14th. Whether you're a first-timer or a seasoned attendee, here are some tips to help you squeeze every bit of goodness out of the conference.
Plan Your Schedule in Advance 🗓️
Review the EuroPython schedule to spot sessions, workshops, and events that spark your interest. The week is loaded with activities: Monday and Tuesday are for tutorials and free workshops (C API Summit, HumbleData, DjangoGirls and WASM Summit); Wednesday to Friday are full of keynotes and talks, social events, PyLadies events and panel discussions. Finally, the weekend is reserved for the Open Source Sprints.
Mix and match your experience by attending a variety of sessions! From technical talks and tutorials to keynote speeches, there's a smorgasbord of content for all levels. We have talks for beginners and advanced Pythonistas including tracks like Python internals, LLMs, Ethics & Philosophy, Web Technologies, Education & Community, DevOps, and so much more.
Pro tip: Keynote speakers always drop some serious knowledge bombs 😉
Engage in Workshops & Summits 🛠️
Dive into workshops for a hands-on learning adventure. Whether you're a newbie learning to build websites with Django Girls or exploring data science with HumbleData, there's something for everyone. Discuss the state of the C API at the C API Summit or get the latest on WebAssembly at the WASM Summit.
Some of these events have limited slots, while others are first-come, first-served. Make sure to register on the website https://ep2024.europython.eu/programme and arrive early on the day of the event!
Network Actively 🤝
Sessions are packed with information, but they might not cover your particular problem. Don't hesitate to ask the speakers about anything they didn't cover. Make sure to use Discord to reach out if you cannot find them in the corridors.
All participants should join our Discord server as this is the main communication platform during the conference. The link invite will be sent via email on the following days.
Take advantage of breaks to mingle and tap into the wealth of knowledge around you. And don't forget the Pac-Man rule: always leave a spot open so others can easily join the conversation.
Engage in the Hallway & Harness the power of networking!
Chat with fellow attendees, speakers, and sponsors during breaks, social events, and open spaces. Networking can lead to new collaborations, job opportunities, and friendships within the Python community. Here are some tips to help you start a conversation
Look for lanyards with the "speaker" tag and ask them about their topic.
Approach someone with a simple "Hi, what do you think of the event so far?" or "What sessions have you found interesting?"
Pay attention to the stickers on people's badges indicating their preferred level of contact: "no contact," "happy to hug," or "handshake only." Always respect these preferences.
Remember it's normal to feel shy, many people do, but the Python community is known for being extra nice :) Don't miss out on the chance to connect with others, this is the perfect place to try and reach out.
Visit the Sponsors Hall 🛍️
Stroll through the Sponsor's Hall to check out the latest products and services from exhibitors. It's swag central and a goldmine for discovering new tools and technologies to boost your Python projects. A lot of our sponsors are also actively hiring in case you are on the lookout.
If you are attending remotely, Sponsors will have channels where you can chat and find out more. Remember to also keep an eye on the Virtual Swag and Job board on our website for extra gifts.
These events are perfect for connecting & sharing ideas with like-minded individuals in a relaxed setting. Plus, they are a whole lot of fun! 🎉
Take Care of Yourself 🧘
Conferences are a marathon, not a sprint. Stay hydrated, eat well, and get plenty of rest. We will help by serving light lunches, snacks and coffee during the breaks throughout the day. Take breaks to recharge and keep your energy levels high.
Seize the chance to explore the enchanting city of Prague. Dive into the local culture, savour the cuisine, and visit the landmarks. The Prague Congress Centre is conveniently located, making it easy to venture out.
We hope it helps you and your companions to have a great time in Prague 😃
Share Your Experience 📢
After the conference, share your newfound wisdom with your community. Write a blog post, give a presentation, or organize a meetup to spread the knowledge. It reinforces what you've learned and helps those who couldn't attend.
Make sure to tag us on socials @EuroPython or use #EuroPython2024. We will be reposting the coolest community posts during the event!
Conclusion
EuroPython 2024 promises to be an enriching experience brimming with learning, networking, and fun. By planning ahead, engaging actively, and taking care of yourself, you'll make the most of this incredible event.
🐍 EuroPython 2024: The Ultimate Python Party Awaits! 🎉
Hello Pythonistas,
Get ready to code, connect, and celebrate at EuroPython 2024! We’re thrilled to bring you an unforgettable conference experience filled with enlightening talks, engaging workshops, and a whole lot of fun. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting your Python journey, there's something for everyone. Let's dive into the details!
⏰ THREE DAYS LEFT TO BUY YOUR TICKETS!! 🎟️
Don't miss out on the Python event of the year! Secure your spot today and be part of the magic.
The Late Bird prices kick in this Saturday (June 22nd).
SCHEDULE 📅
The schedule is OUT! Check out all the awesome stuff we have planned for you in Prague this year.
🎤 Keynote Speakers
We're excited to announce our stellar lineup of keynote speakers who will inspire and challenge you with their insights and experiences:
Carol Willing - Developer Advocate at Noteable and core developer of Jupyter and CPython.
Tereza Iofciu - Data Science Lead at Free Now, co-founder of PyLadies Hamburg.
Anna Přistoupilová - Bioinformatician and researcher.
Armin Ronacher - Creator of Flask and Director of Engineering at Sentry.
Łukasz Langa - Python core developer and Release Manager for Python 3.8 and 3.9.
Mai Giménez - Senior research engineer at Google DeepMind, specialising in large language and multimodal models.
🥳 Social Events
Boat Trip: Set sail on Friday with us for a scenic boat trip to enjoy an evening of networking and relaxation. Make sure to reserve your spot early! Sign-up will be available soon.
EuroPython Social Event: Join us for a fantastic evening in Prague. This event promises great food, drinks, and the opportunity to connect with fellow attendees in a beautiful setting. You will be invited to bring your favourite games and musical instruments. Stay tuned!
Speakers’ Dinner: An exclusive dinner event for our speakers to network, share insights, and enjoy a relaxing evening before the conference kicks off. More information here.
🍽 PyLadies Lunch
PyLadies Lunch at EuroPython 2023 at the Prague Conference Centre
On Thursday, 11th July 2024 12:30 to 14:00. Join us for a special lunch event aimed at fostering community and empowerment among women in tech.
Thank you to our sponsor 🐙 Kraken Tech 🐙 for supporting the lunch event.
We’re excited to announce a range of events for underrepresented groups in computing this year! 🎉 Whether you’re new to PyLadies or a long-time supporter, we warmly welcome you to join us and be part of our supportive community.
Self-Defence Workshop: Learn to defend yourself against inappropriate behaviour in this supportive session. Facilitated by a professional therapist, you'll gain practical skills and mutual support.
#IAmRemarkable: Empower yourself in this workshop designed to help women and underrepresented groups celebrate their achievements and enhance their self-promotion skills.
Meet & Greet with PyLadies: Network with seasoned members of the PyLadies community. Gain valuable insights, advice, and inspiration for your Python journey.
On Friday (July 12th) at 1 pm. A great opportunity for community leaders to network and discuss strategies for success. This lunch will include an Open Space discussion about Python Organizations and how we deal with challenges.
Sign up for the Community Organiser’s session here
👩💻 Learn to Build Websites With Django Girls
Are you interested in learning how to build websites and belong to an underrepresented group in computing? Join us for a one-day workshop!
No prior programming experience is required. The workshop is open to everyone, regardless of participation in EuroPython. For more information, click here
👶 Childcare
This year, we're once again partnering with Susie's Babysitting Prague to offer childcare at the main conference venue (Prague Conference Centre).
If you're interested, please let us know at the latest two weeks before the event by filling out this form.
You will be asked about the Childcare add-on when you buy your ticket.
💻 Sprint Weekend
EuroPython 2024 Sprints will be during the weekend of the 13th and 14th of July. This year, the event will happen at a different venue from the conference and it will be free for anyone with a conference ticket to join!
As per our tradition, the EuroPython will provide the rooms and facilities but the sprints are organised by YOU. It is a great chance to contribute to open-source projects large and small, learn from each other, geek out and have fun. 🐍
Lunch and coffee will be provided.
When: 13th and 14th July 2024 (09:30 - 17:00)
Where: To be determined
🤭 Py.Jokes
~ pyjoke
There are only two hard problems in Computer Science: cache invalidation, naming things and off-by-one-errors.
Among the many wonderful workshops at EuroPython this year, we are pleased to announce we will be running the Humble Data workshop in person on Tuesday 9th July 2023, at the Prague Congress Centre (PCC). This is following successful deliveries of this workshop at PyCon US, Ghana, Namibia, Africa, Germany, Italy, PyData Global and of course, EuroPython 2022 and 2023!
How is the workshop?
Curious about the event? Read on.
Humble Data workshops are designed to get those from underrepresented groups started in both Python and data science, in an inclusive, laid-back and empathic environment. The workshops are designed to help people with zero experience with coding to learn some of the most fundamental operations in Python, and in turn, use these to get started with reading, transforming and visualizing data.
Humble Data at EuroPython 2023
The workshop will happen on 9th July 2024 for 6 hours, from 09:30 to 17:00 at the Prague Congress Centre (PCC), Room Club C
As part of the workshop, participants will work through a series of approachable tutorials with the help of a mentor. For 3 hours (breaks included) we will have teams that will work together with mentors to do plenty of exercises, quizzes and games, to go from Zero to Hero in Python data science. All that participants will need to bring is a laptop with internet access - we will help them get started with the rest!
Let us help you get started on your Python data science journey. You can read more about the workshop here.
How can I get involved?
Like the idea? Join us as a mentor or mentee!
If you’re new to coding or data science, and want to learn more in a supportive environment, apply to join us at the Humble Data workshop by filling in this form (attendees) or this form (mentors). Participation is free for anyone with a EuroPython Conference Ticket or Combined Ticket. Please note that you will need a conference ticket to participate in this workshop - we thank you for your understanding!
If you’re interested in mentoring, we would love to have your help! It is no issue if you're not the most experienced programmer or data scientist: rather, we are looking for people who are respectful, patient, friendly, curious, and able to explain technical concepts in a way that is approachable for beginners. In return, you will receive the eternal gratitude of the organisers and attendees, the chance to meet people outside of your bubble, and in turn show that you don’t need to fit a certain mold to “look like” a developer or data scientist.
Our wonderful Humble Data mentor at EuroPython 2023
Finally, if you know anyone attending EuroPython this year who you think would like to either attend or mentor Humble Data, please encourage them to apply!
With the number of Python-related conferences around the world, many people might wonder how the selection process is configured and performed. For the largest and oldest European Python conference, EuroPython, we wanted to share how this process works.
The Programme team for each EuroPython conference changes every year. There are mechanisms in place to carry on some of the processes and traditions when dealing with proposals for the next event, although you can still find some differences each year. These differences are not large enough to make a significant impact.
The 2024 Process
In this post, we highlight how the 2024 process was conducted and your role in it, whether as a submitter or potential contributor in future versions.
Opening the Call for Proposals
This year, the Call for Proposals (CfP) configuration was based on the 2023 version, with minor modifications. For example, two new tracks were added to enable more people to categorise their proposals:
PyData: Research & Applications
PyData: LLMs
This change was motivated by the popularity of these topics at other global conferences. In addition, other tracks were merged or removed to keep the number manageable.
For many people, having a configuration with both an Abstract and a Description is confusing. Not everyone knows what to write in each field. To address this, we decided to be clearer: we dropped the Description field and asked explicitly for an Outline section. The intention was that to submit a proposal, one would require an Abstract and an Outline for their session.
Reviewers from the Community
We opened a form to get help from the community for reviewing the talks and decided to accept most (if not all) of them to nurture our review results as much as possible. We had more than 20 people helping with reviewing proposals on Pretalx.
We created a few “track groups” containing related categories that the reviewers could choose from. This way, there was no pressure to have an opinion on a topic one might not be familiar with.
We had an average of six reviews per proposal, which greatly helped us make a final decision.
Community Voting
Another way to receive input is through Community Voting, which allows participants who have attended any of the EuroPythons since 2012 to vote on the upcoming programme.
Using a separate simple web application, people participated by voting for the proposals they wanted to see at EuroPython 2024. We were fortunate to have enough people voting to get a good estimate of preferences.
Fun fact: Around 11 people were able to review all of the nearly 640 proposals we received this year.
We are very grateful to everyone who participated!
My reaction when I saw a good proposal to be voted at EP 2024.
Programme Committee
This year the programme committee was mostly formed by a group of new people to the conference, helped by a few people familiar with the process from last year. In total, around 11 people were actively participating.
Like most Programme teams, we did our best to get people from different areas to have a more diverse general mindset, including skills from Data, Core, DevOps, and Web technologies.
It was important for us to have local people on the team, and we are very happy to have had two members from the local Czech community helping, while the rest were spread across Europe.
Selection Process
Based on the reviewers' results from Pretalx and Community Voting, we generated a master sheet that was used to perform the selection process.
Track by track, the Programme team went through each proposal that had good Pretalx and Community Voting results and voted (again) for the talks they believed were good material for the conference.
During the selection process, we felt that we did not have enough expertise in a specific area. Therefore, we are very thankful that we could add four more members to the selection team to remedy that.
After three calls, each lasting around 2 hours, the Programme team had the first batch of accepted proposals. The speakers for these proposals were notified as soon as the decision was made. Following a similar process, we did the same for the second (and final) batch of accepted and rejected proposals.
To ensure the acceptance of proposals from most tracks and topics, many plots and statistical analyses were created to visualise the ratio of accepted proposals to submitted ones, the variety of topics, and the diversity of speakers.
Plots from pretalx visualising Proposals by Submission date, Session type, Track & State
Even though it sounds cliché, there were many good proposals we couldn't accept immediately since the high volume and quality of proposals made it challenging to make instant decisions. We kept debating whether to place them on the waiting list.
Ultimately, we created another category for proposals that "could be accepted" allowing us to manage and organise high-quality proposals that required further deliberation.
Programme team trying to figure which talk to choose from the waiting list
What about sponsored talks?
Each year, the conference offers sponsors with certain packages the perk of hosting a sponsored talk, meaning that some of the talk slots had to be saved for that purpose. Slots not taken were filled by proposals on the waiting list.
Is selecting the talks the end of the story?
No. After proposals are accepted/confirmed, special requirements emerge, mainly about "I’m sorry, I cannot be at the conference, can I do it online?" Which, in our opinion, is unfortunate news—not because we don’t like it, but because we have learned that remote talks are not as popular with attendees.
Even though there are some special cases that we fully understand, we noticed a few cases not being convincing enough. In those cases, we had to encourage people to give up their slot for other in-person proposals. This is a tricky process as we are limited in the total amount of remote talks possible, the specific reasons for the change, and the overall scenario for the conference.
What is needed to get accepted?
Most rejected proposals are rejected because they have a weak abstract.
We have tried many means to encourage people to ask questions and seek feedback about their proposals, and we have hosted calls providing the details of good proposals. Still, every year we get proposals that have a poorly structured, incomplete abstract, etc.
For us, a good abstract contains the following:
Context of your talk or problem
Definition of the problem
Why is it important to find a solution to that problem?
What will be discussed and what will attendees learn?
Previous requirements or additional comments on your talk
You can also imagine a proposal like an elevator pitch. You need to describe it in a way that’s striking and motivates people to attend.
Don’t Forget About the Outline!
This year, we introduced an “outline” field for you to paste the outline of your talk, including the time you will spend on each item. This is essential to get an idea of how much you will be talking about each topic. (Hint: add up the expected times.)
The outline might sound like an obvious topic to you, but many people failed to provide a detailed one. Some even copied the abstract here, so you might understand the importance of this field as well.
Why Does It Feel Like the Same People Are Speakers Every Year?
The main reason for this is that those people followed the proper abstract structure and provided a descriptive outline. Having experience being rejected certainly helps. So we hope that after giving you detailed selection process standards, you know how to crack the selection process.
What about AI?
We discussed a few proposals that “felt AI written” and even used external tools to assess them. In the end, we didn’t have a strict ruling against people using Artificial Intelligence tools to improve their proposals.
When a proposal felt like it was AI-generated, we went deeper into the proposal and the speaker's background. For example, by analysing the bio from the speaker and checking if the person was giving talks somewhere else. Most importantly, if the “speaker” was a real person.
Independently of how the Programme team feels towards AI tools, we cannot completely ignore how these tools are helping some people with structure and grammar, as well as overall assisting them in their writing process. This might change in the future, but currently, we have not written regulations against the usage of AI tools.
The 2025 Process and Final Words
As described before, the team and process can change a bit next year, but we expect the same critical aspects of a good abstract and outline to be essential to the process.
We encourage you to ask for feedback, participate in sessions teaching how to write good proposals, participate on our Speaker's Mentorship programme. These can truly help you to get accepted into the conference.
Having said all this, each conference has a different selection process. Maybe the reason your proposal was not selected is due to a better proposal on the same topic, or too many similar proposals in the same track, or your proposal just did not fit this year's Zeitgeist (i.e. Community Voting).
Please don’t be discouraged! We highly recommend you keep working on your proposal, tweak it, write a new one, and most importantly, try again.
Submitting Several Proposals Doesn’t Help!
We value quality over quantity and will compare your proposals against each other. This is extra work and might even give you less of a chance because of a split vote between your proposals. So submitting more than 10 proposals to get accepted is the wrong approach.
The Call for Proposals will likely be open earlier next year. We hope you can follow the recommendations in this post and get your proposal to accepted for EuroPython 2025.
And remember: Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback!
Thanks for reading! This community post is written by Cristián on behalf of EuroPython 2024 Programme team
Welcome back to our cosy corner of community & code!
It's absolutely fantastic to have you here again, especially as we countdown the days until our reunion in Prague! 🎉 It’s been months since our last gathering in this magical city, and we couldn’t be more excited to be back.
A lot of things have happened since our last catch-up. Let’s dive right into it!
📣 Programme
As you might know, we reached a record number of submitted proposals this year. After analyzing 627 submissions, we are glad to announce a sneak peek of what you will see at EuroPython this year.
If you are still not convinced to join us, we have another big announcement! Here are the keynote speakers we have lined up. 🌟
Carol Willing - Three-time Python Steering Council membership, Core Developer status, and PSF Fellow
Tereza Iofciu - Seasoned data pro with 15 years experience, Python community star, won the PSF community service award in 2021
Łukasz Langa - CPython Developer in Residence, Python 3.8 & 3.9 release manager, original creator of Black, pianist, dad
Mai Giménez - Google Deepmind senior engineer specializing in large language and multimodal models, former Spanish Python Association board member 🐍
Armin Ronacher - Creator of popular Python libraries such as Flask, Jinja, and Click, Armin is currently the VP of Platform at Sentry.
Anna Přistoupilová - Bioinformatics scientist focused on genome analysis techniques and their applications in understanding rare genetic diseases. She received the Bolzano Award for her doctoral thesis.
The schedule is gonna be packed with all your amazing talks, tutorials and posters. The official schedule with the dates and times will be posted soon! Keep those eyes open on our social media channels and website! 📅✨
All of this wouldn’t be real without the great efforts of the EuroPython programme team. Many volunteers from all teams spared their time to reach out to people and review the proposals. ❤️
🙌 Big cheers to those who helped shape the EuroPython programme making EuroPython 2024 the best one yet! 🚀🐍
🗃️ Keynote Speakers
Let us better introduce the listed EuroPython 2024 keynote speakers! ⚡️🐍❤️
Keynote speaker #1: Carol Willing
Carol Willing
Don't miss your chance to hear from Carol Willing, who is a three-time Python Steering Council member, Python Core Developer, PSF Fellow, and Project Jupyter core contributor. 🔥
In 2019, she was honoured with the Frank Willison Award for her outstanding technical and community contributions to Python. Carol played a pivotal role in Project Jupyter, recognized with the prestigious 2017 ACM Software System Award for its enduring impact. Being the leading figure in open science and open-source governance herself. Carol serves on the advisory boards of Quansight Labs, CZI Open Science, and pyOpenSci.
She’s committed to democratizing open science through accessible tools and learning resources, and most recently served as Noteable's VP of Engineering.
Get ready to be inspired by Carol's insights at EuroPython 2024!
Keynote speaker #2: Tereza Iofciu
Tereza Iofciu
Get ready to be inspired by Tereza Iofciu, a seasoned data practitioner and leadership coach with over 15 years of expertise in Data Science, Data Engineering, Product Management, and Team Management. 🔥
Tereza's dedication to the Python Community is unmatched; she has worn numerous hats over the years, serving as the organiser for PyLadies Hamburg, board member of Python Software Verband, steering committee member of NumFocus DISC, and team member of Python Software Foundation Code of Conduct. Not stopping there, Tereza is also actively involved in promoting Diversity & Inclusion as a working group member, while also taking the roles of the organiser for PyConDE & PyData Berlin, Python Pizza Hamburg, and co-leader of PyPodcats (If you haven't heard, PyPodcats is a fantastic new podcast dedicated to highlighting the hidden figures of the Python community. Led by the PyPodcats team—Cheuk Ting Ho, Georgi Ker, Mariatta Wijaya, and Tereza Iofciu— aimed to amplify the voices of underrepresented group members within the Python community). 🐈🐱
In recognition of her outstanding contributions, Tereza was honoured with the Python Software Foundation Community Service Award in 2021. Now, if that's not a sign to catch her awesome keynote, I don't know what is!
Keynote speaker #3: Łukasz Langa
Introducing Łukasz Langa: a polymath whose impact on the Python ecosystem is as diverse as his array of interests!
As the CPython Developer in Residence and the mastermind behind Python 3.8 & 3.9 releases, Łukasz plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of Python. He's the original creator of Black, revolutionising the way we write Python code.
Beyond his coding prowess, Łukasz is a talented pianist and a devoted father.
When he's not immersed in Python development, you'll find him indulging his passions for analogue modular synthesisers 😍, immersing himself in captivating single-player role-playing games like Fallout and Elder Scrolls, or relishing in the complexity of a fine single malt Scotch whisky.
Brace yourself for an enlightening journey through Łukasz's experiences and insights! 🚀🎹🥃
Keynote speaker #4: Mai Giménez
Mai Giménez
Allow us to introduce Mai Giménez, Ph.D., a senior research engineer at Google DeepMind specialising in large language and multimodal models.
Mai's passion lies in crafting technology that benefits everyone, with her primary research focus being on language and the sociotechnical impacts of AI in the real world. The impact of her contributions extends beyond her work at Google DeepMind. She's a former board member of the Spanish Python Association and has played a pivotal role in organising several PyConES conferences.
Additionally, Mai proudly contributes to the Python community as a member of PyLadies. Get ready to be inspired by Mai's expertise and insights as she graces the stage at EP24! 🌟
Keynote speaker #5: Armin Ronacher
A household name in the open-source world Armin Ronacher is the creator of popular Python libraries such as Flask, Jinja, and Click, Armin has left quite a mark on the Python ecosystem, empowering developers worldwide with efficient tools and frameworks.
Armin Ronacher
He is currently the VP of Platform at Sentry and recently he started an experimental Python package and project manager that attempts to bring Rust’s modern developer experience to Python. We are so excited to hear from him at EuroPython 2024!
Keynote speaker #6: Anna Přistoupilová
Put your hands together for Anna Přistoupilová!! Anna is a bioinformatics scientist focused on genome analysis techniques and their applications in understanding rare genetic diseases. She received the Bolzano Award for her doctoral thesis!
Anna Přistoupilová
Anna holds a PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology, Genetics, and Virology and two MSc degrees: one in Medical Technology and Informatics, and the other in Molecular Biology and Genetics, all from Charles University.
She has co-authored over 25 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has presented her work at various scientific conferences.
Currently, Anna works as a Senior Bioinformatics Scientist at DNAnexus company, where she assists customers with their bioinformatics analysis. She also conducts research at the Research Unit for Rare Diseases at the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University.
🎟️ Conference Registration
It's time to secure your tickets for the conference!
We've heard you loud and clear—you don’t want to miss the opportunity to hear from our incredible keynote speakers and be a part of EuroPython 2024.
Here's the list of tickets available for purchase.👇
Conference Tickets: access to the main Conference AND Sprints Weekend
Tutorial Tickets: access to the two days of Workshops AND Sprints Weekend. NO access to the main event.
Combined Tickets: access to everything for the seven days! Includes workshops, main Conference and Sprints weekend.
Other than the types, there are also payment tiers that are offered to answer each participant’s needs. Such as:
Business Tickets (for companies and employees funded by their companies)
Personal Tickets (for individuals)
Education Tickets (for students and teachers, an educational ID is required at the registration)
Buzzing registration desk from EuroPython 2023
For those who cannot physically join us but still want to support the community, we have the remote ticket option.
Remote ticket: access to the Live streaming of the talks, Q&A with the speakers and Discord server.
Join us and connect with the delightful community of Pythonistas in Prague. Make your summer more fun!
Make sure you read all the visa pages carefully and prepare all the required documents before making your application. The EuroPython organizers are not able nor qualified to give visa advice.
However, we’re more than happy to help you with a visa support letter. But before sending your request, please note that you will need to be registered to request the letter. We can only issue visa support letters to confirmed participants.
Hence, We kindly ask you to purchase your ticket before filling in the request form.
The first round of our Financial Aid Programme received record-high applications this year and we are very proud to be supporting so many Pythonistas to attend the conference.
The second round of applications wrapped up on May 19th and now the team is actively working to individually review the applications! More information at https://ep2024.europython.eu/finaid/.
💰 Sponsorship
If you want to support EuroPython and its efforts to make the event accessible to everyone, please consider sponsoring, or asking your employer to do so. More information at: https://ep2024.europython.eu/sponsor 🫂
Sponsoring EuroPython guarantees you highly targeted visibility and the opportunity to present yourself/your company to one of the largest and most diverse Python communities in Europe and beyond!
There are several sponsor tiers and slots are limited. This year, besides our main packages, we offer add-ons as optional extras where companies can opt to support the community in many other ways:
By directly sponsoring the PyLadies lunch event
By supporting participants by funding Financial Aid
By having their logo on all lanyards of the conference
To make the conference an amazing experience for everyone, we need enthusiastic on-site volunteers from July 8-14. Whether you're confident at leading people, love chatting with new folks at registration, are interested in chairing a session or just want to help out - we've got a role for you. Volunteering is a fantastic way to gain experience, make new connections, and have lots of fun while doing it.
We're also considering remote volunteers, so if you're interested in helping out but can't make it to Prague, please mention that explicitly in your email.
We can't wait to see you in Prague! 🚀
🎟Events @EuroPython
EuroPython 2023 social event
This year, we want to make our social event bigger and better for everyone. Hence, we are planning to host a bigger party. Tickets will be available for purchase on the website soon! Stay tuned.
🎉 Community
EuroPython at PyCon Italia 🇮🇹 May 22nd - 25th 2024
PyCon Italia 2024 will happen in Florence. The birthplace of Renaissance will receive a wave of Pythonistas looking to geek out this year, including a lot of EuroPython people.
If you are going to PyCon Italia (tickets are sold out) join us to help organise EuroPython 2024!
🎤 First-Time Speaker Workshop
Join us for the Speaker’s Mentorship Programme - First-Time Speaker Workshop on Monday, June 3rd, at 19:00 CEST! 🎤
This online panel session features experienced speakers sharing advice for first-time (or other) speakers. Following the panel discussion, there will be a dedicated Q&A session to address all participants' inquiries. The event is open to the public, and registration is required through this form.
As the event date approaches, registered participants will receive further details via email. Don't miss this opportunity to learn and grow as a speaker!
News from the EuroPython Community❣️
Check out our phenomenal co-organizer Mia Bajic on a recent podcast where she shared her experiences volunteering in the Python community! 🎙️ Mia is a true pillar of the Python community, she has shared her expertise and passion at multiple PyCons across the globe. 🌍 Her efforts extend beyond borders as she tirelessly works to bring Pythonic people together in Prague, hosting events such as Pyvo and the first-ever Python Pizza in the city! 🍕 Mia's dedication and contributions make both Czech Python community and EuroPython a better place, and we're beyond grateful to have her on board shaping the EuroPython experience. 🙌 Note: The podcast is in Czech. 🎧
Joana is doing a Master's in Medical Imaging and Applications. Originally from Ghana, she joined the Communications team of EuroPython this year bringing her experience and innovative thinking from PyLadies Ghana.
She wrote an article about her Community involvement and the impact it has had on her career. She says:
I met and saw women who had achieved great things in data science and machine learning, which meant that I could also, through their stories, find a plan to at least help me get close to what they had done.
DjangoCon Europe 2024 will happen in Vigo, Spain. You can check more information about Django Con Europe at their lovely website (https://2024.djangocon.eu/)
PyCon Portugal: 17-19 October 2024
Pycon Portugal will happen in Altice Forum, Braga. More information on the official website: https://2024.pycon.pt/
PyCon Poland: August 29th - September 1st
The 16th edition of PyCon PL is happening in Gliwice! For more information, visit their website https://pl.pycon.org/2024
PyCon Taiwan 2024: September 21st - September 22nd
PyCon Taiwan will introduce a new activity segment: Poster Session! The deadline to submit your posters is June 15th, through the submission form.
The unconscious influence the Ghanaian tech community has had on my career.
My name is Joana Owusu-Appiah, and I am currently pursuing an MSc degree in Medical Imaging and Applications. I am originally from Ghana, but as my colleague likes to put it, I am currently backpacking through Europe. So depending on when you see this, my location might have changed.
I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. Prior to commencing my graduate studies, I dabbled in data science and analytics, gaining experience in visualizing and manipulating data using various tools (Python, Power BI, Excel, SQL). My current research focuses on computer vision applications on medical images.
Do I consider myself a woman in tech? I guess if it means knowing how to use a computer (lol) and understanding that photo editing is based on image processing algorithms and deep learning, then I might be close.
Has it always been this way? No.
What changed
I am a first-generation university student. In my country, or how it used to be, growing up, the smarter students were encouraged to pursue General Science in high school because it ultimately ensured job security. In high school, my primary ambition was to attend medical school. However, as a backup plan, I stumbled upon Biomedical Engineering (BME), which fascinated me with its potential. It quickly became my secondary option. Interestingly, everyone I spoke to knew nothing about it. Guess who would jump at any opportunity to give a lecture about this mystery degree? Me!
Side note: My high school biology teacher mentioned that neurons (nerve cells), once damaged, could never be repaired, but he also said that they functioned like wires. I thought to myself, if I merged this pathological accident and the BME I had read about, then I could replace damaged nerves with wires (some day). I ran with this new, uninformed career goal.
Fun fact: I didn't get into medical school, but I did get into the BME program. I quickly realised that technical drawing (a requisite course for all engineering freshers) was definitely not going to equip me to fix Neurons, and that the only viable role for BM E graduates in my country was clinical engineering (maintenance and installation of medical equipment - or so I thought). Clinical engineering wasn’t something I wanted to try, so I needed an escape!
Programming looked interesting, but also difficult and meant for very smart people. However, I gave it a shot during covid. PyLadies Ghana was organising a data science boot camp, and I decided to try.
[Heads up: My undergraduate degree had programming courses like Introduction to C and Object-Oriented Programming with Java( I had collaborated with people on some projects then), but for some reason, I couldn't get my brain to enjoy it…]
The Real Reason you’re here
During the boot camp, some of the participants were absorbed into the national online community of Python Ghana because more resources and opportunities were being shared there. It turned out: I was looking for an escape without any destination. Members of the community seemed very vibrant; there was always a job opening up for grabs, a new free online course or banter on trendy tech topics. My main struggle was finding a niche to belong; what was in tech for me?
My interest in health never waned, so you would usually see me reposting information on female health, breast cancer, etc. The PyLadies Ghana Lead, at that time, Abigail Mesrenyame Dogbe noticed it and in October (Breast Cancer Awareness month) she tasked me to help organise a session for the members of PyLadies Ghana. I moderated the session and it was very successful. My very first visible interaction with the community!
Abigail asked if I wanted to keep contributing to the Communications team( the comms team is the main organising force of PyLadies Ghana ) or default to being just a member. I opted for the former. In my eyes, this was a big deal; being asked to stay on the team meant a ton, It was a validation of a certain value I had to offer. I made mistakes, I created terrible designs, and I missed deadlines, but I also learned a lot. I learned how to use tools like Canva, schedule virtual calls, MS Office tools (Excel, Docs), write official emails, organise events, etc. I was helping with social media engagements, and I didn't even have a vibrant social media presence. I was recommended to help with Public Relations (PR) and social media for a connected tech community(Ghana Data Science Summit-IndabaX Ghana) that organises annual data science conferences.
Two years later, I got the opportunity to mentor ladies in the very bootcamp that led me into the community. The ripple effects of my involvement with PyLadies Ghana are diverse, ranging from giving a lightning talk to speaking to young girls about STEM, to helping organise Django Girls at PyCon Ghana 2022, and more…
STEM outreach for teenage girls on International Women's Day 2023
Unknown to everyone, I had contemplated brushing the study of data science under the carpet as a ‘failed project’ and moving on to something else. Staying committed to the community, watching the members, and participating in events encouraged me to keep trying. I attended conferences, met and saw women who had achieved great things in data science and machine learning, which meant that I could also, through their stories, find a plan to help me get close to what they had done.
I was always fascinated by their work conversations because wow, these women work in tech?! Some community members had secured scholarships and were pursuing higher STEM degrees abroad while others worked for top tech companies.
After covid, my plan for life after school was to either hone my programming skills and get a good job in a Ghanaian tech company and/or find graduate programs that would enable me to work on my Neurons(of course I had developed other interests). I got into a specialised data science and analytics fellowship with Blossom Academy (more about the training here), landed my first tech role through it, and later began my master’s degree.
The Intro slide of the Data science bootcamp I mentored at!
The threads that sustained me in tech were the people, the conversations, and the inclusive atmosphere the Ghanaian community created for people with different personalities to thrive. My journey in STEM can be traced back to that pivotal moment in 2020 when I was offered the opportunity to belong and I seized it!
