EuroPython 2020: Going virtual EuroPython 2021: Dublin, Ireland

In our blog post on the COVID-19 last week, we were still hopeful that the situation would improve in time for the event in July. The last few days have shown us that we need to have a more realistic view on how things will develop in the coming months.

Right now, we are at a point in the conference organization where we have invested a lot of time into the preparation of the conference, but have not started ticket sales, entered sponsorship agreements or ordered conference and marketing material.

We also had discussions with the venue and caterer on possible options to address the risk of not being able to hold the event in July due to government regulations preventing indoor gatherings.

EuroPython 2021

In our EuroPython Society Board call last night, we discussed the situation, looked at the options and decided to take the offer of the venue to postpone the in-person conference to next year.

EuroPython 2021 will be held in Dublin, Ireland, from July 26 - August 1.

How about a virtual EuroPython 2020 ?

Since we all love EuroPython, the community and good vibes coming from such gatherings, we are now considering turning this year’s EuroPython 2020 conference into a virtual event.

For this, we’d like to gather some feedback and have created a form for you to let us know what your thoughts are on such a virtual setup:

EuroPython 2020 going virtual feedback form

If we go for the virtual setup for EuroPython 2020, the dates will likely change a bit, so ticket sales will start a little later. For now, we will leave the EuroPython 2020 Call for Proposals (CfP) open. Please note that those talks will then have to be held from your notebook/desktop without face-to-face audience contact. On the other hand, many more people could join in, since there’s no travel involved. We will aim to make the virtual event as interactive as possible.

Code name: EuroPython Winter Edition

While we’re at it, we’d also like to use the form to gather some feedback on the idea to have a winter EuroPython event, one where we run a BarCamp/Sprint/Hackathon style setup in a smaller setting.

Thanks,
–
EuroPython 2020 Team
https://ep2020.europython.eu/
https://www.europython-society.org/