EuroPython Blog

Our program work group (WG) has been working hard over the last week to select the first batch of sessions for EuroPython 2020, based on your talk voting and our diversity criteria.

We’re now happy to announce the first 60 talks, brought to you by 61 speakers.

EuroPython 2020 Session List

We will have over 80 sessions for EP2020

Tomorrow, we will open the second CFP to fill the additional slots we have added for the Americas, India/Asian/Pacific time zones. This will then complete the program for EP2020, with over 80 sessions by more than 80 speakers waiting for you — from all over the world !

Waiting List

Some talks are still in the waiting list. We will inform all speakers who have submitted talks about the selection status by email.

Full Schedule

The full schedule will be available shortly after we have completed the second CFP, later in May.

Conference Tickets

Conference tickets are available on our registration page. We have simplified and greatly reduced the prices for the EP2020 online edition.

As always, all proceeds from the conference will go into our grants budget, which we use to fund financial aid for the next EuroPython edition, special workshops and other European conferences and projects:

EuroPython Society Grants Program

We hope to see lots of you at the conference in July. Rest assured that we’ll make this a great event again — even within the limitations of running the conference online.

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

After participating in several other online events in Europe, we found that there is a lot of interest in these events from other time zones as well. This is a real advantage of running an online event: without the need to travel, joining an event becomes much easier.

To make it possible for speakers from the Americas and India/Asia/Pacific regions to give talks at EuroPython 2020 as well, we have decided to extend the schedule and provide extra slots in the CEST morning and the evening hours, so that we can have almost 80 talk slots available, and run a second CFP with specific emphasis on submissions from outside the central European time zones.

Submitting a talk

We will run this second CFP from May 11 until May 24.

To submit a talk, please visit our CFP page on the website. This has all the necessary details on how to submit a talk.

We would also welcome submissions for helpdesks and posters, regardless of time zone, since we haven’t received any in the first CFP.

Results from the first CFP

The results from the first CFP will be announced on Sunday (May 10).

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

europythonsociety:

In March 2020, we had to make a tough decision on whether to cancel EuroPython 2020 or run it online. Since we did not want to lose continuity and all the work we had already put into the in-person event, we decided to go for an online version.

Now, just as many other in-person events, running the online version required a lot of research, experimentation, gaining knowledge in using online conference tools and finding a concept which would allow us to carry over as much of the in-person conference experience to the online version as possible.

This is an on-going effort, but we believe that our existing research will help other Python events go online as well and want to share this knowledge with you.

Running Online Conferences

The two central documents we have are:

• EuroPython 2020 - Online Conference Tools
  This covers research on a lot of different tools available out there, our experience with them, hints and tips on how to use them effectively (esp. for Zoom and Discord).
  
  
• EuroPython 2020 - Virtual Conference Concept
  Since we had to start afresh with the conference concept, we ran and still are running a brainstorming phase to come up with ideas and are now starting to materialize these into a concept, which we’ll use as basis for running EuroPython this year.

If you have questions around these documents and their content, feel free to contact us at helpdesk@europython.eu.

Sharing our Zoom Webinar and Pro licenses

In addition to sharing our research, we’d also like to share the Zoom Webinar and Pro licenses we have with other events, where possible. We have already shared them with:

• PyAmsterdam
• Remote Python Pizza

The only thing we ask is that some of our work group members can participate in the event as co-host to observe and help, since we need to train and gain more experience in using these tools. As a bonus, we can also help with the configuration and share our existing experience.

If you’re interested in this, please get in contact with us at helpdesk@europython.eu.

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

Reach out to enthusiastic Python developers, users and professionals worldwide by presenting your company at the first online EuroPython conference ever, from July 23-26!

Sponsoring EuroPython guarantees you highly targeted visibility and the opportunity to present yourself and your company in a professional and innovative environment.

We have updated our in-person conference sponsor packages to the new online format and lowered the prices, giving you an excellent opportunity to reach out to attendees and even run your own virtual rooms, text channels, talks and training sessions throughout the conference and sprint days.

You will also be able to post job ads on our website and the conference chat system, as well as get a mention and opportunity to give away digital swag via our virtual exhibit page.

In addition, as a sponsor of EuroPython 2020, you will directly help promote the work of a great open-source community which has become a powerhouse of technological development and innovation.

Want to know more ?

Head over to the sponsor packages page and feel free to contact us directly with any questions at sponsoring@europython.eu

EuroPython 2020 Sponsor Packages (PDF)

Special offer for early bird sponsors

Sponsors who sign up before or on May 15, will receive a special 10% discount on the sponsor package price.

Become a sponsor and support EuroPython 2020 today !
You can sign up on the sponsor packages page.

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

We have started the EuroPython 2020 online conference & sprint ticket sales today.

https://ep2020.europython.eu/registration/buy-tickets/

Simplified ticket structure

In order to keep things simple for the EuroPython 2020 online version, we have significantly reduced the ticket prices and refactored the ticket structure to just two ticket types and two categories:

Conference & sprint tickets

The conference & sprint ticket includes admission to the EuroPython 2020 main conference (July 23-24) and sprints days (July 25-26).

• Business conference ticket: EUR 175.00 incl. 0% Swedish VAT
  (for people using Python to make a living)
• Personal conference ticket: EUR 95.00 incl. 0% Swedish VAT
  (for people enjoying Python in their free time or as a freelancer)

Sprint-only tickets

Admission to the sprint days (July 25-26) is free of charge, but we still require you to register and “buy” tickets, since that way we can send out the conference details using our ticketing system:

• Business sprint ticket: EUR 0.00 incl. 0% Swedish VAT
  (for people using Python to make a living)
• Personal sprint ticket: EUR 0.00 incl. 0% Swedish VAT
  (for people enjoying Python in their free time or as a freelancer)

Full details

Please see our registration page for full details on the available tickets.

As a reminder, here’s the conference structure:

• Thursday & Friday, July 23 & 24:
  Conference talks, keynotes & virtual exhibition
  
• Saturday & Sunday, July 25 & 26:
  Sprints

Participate in Talk Voting

With conference tickets, you will also be able to participate in the talk voting which is still available until Sunday, April 26 23:59:59 CEST. Talk voting is your chance to tell us what you’d like to see at EuroPython 2020.

Sprints-only tickets are not eligible for talk voting, but if you have bought a ticket for one of the previous EuroPython conferences, you can still vote after logging in to the website.

Guido van Rossum Core Developer Grant

For Python Core Developers, we have put a special grant in place, which will allow core developers to get free tickets to the conference.

If you want to sign up, please check our grant page for details on how to apply.

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

europythonsociety:

We received the very sad news today, that Oier Echaniz Beneitez has passed away, after a long-term illness (not as a result of COVID-19).

Oier was one of the initiators for bringing EuroPython to Bilbao in 2015 and co-chaired the conference in both 2015 and 2016, together with Fabio:

Oier giving the EuroPython 2015 welcome speech together with Fabio Pliger

He was one of the most enthusiastic and engaged organizers of the conference, served on the EuroPython Society board from 2015 - 2017 and founded and chaired the local Python organization in San Sebastian (PySS, pronounced “peace”). Oier also started the pyjok.es project, together with Alexandre Savio and Ben Nuttall, inaugurating the first Python Jokes-as-a-Service of its kind.

His humour and friendly approach to everything, even when things turned bad on him, were inspiring and created a great atmosphere for everyone who worked with him. Oier’s love for pyntxos was famous and I’m sure all of you who attended the EuroPython conferences in Bilbao will never forget.

“Oier was an exceptionally funny guy with a wonderful sense of humour. He was kind, caring and considerate, and worked hard for PySS and EuroPython. I have fond, happy memories of any time I spent with him and know he’ll be greatly missed.” — Ben Nuttall

“Oier put so much enthusiasm in everything we did, in our first quests together and then doing all the activities of ACPySS. He was not only an active member of the Python community but also very involved in the local cancer research and care community. We knew his end was going to come sooner rather than later, and these last 2 years have been quite harsh on him. His amazing will to live was what kept him going for so long and we are sure that the Python community motivated him to keep on. Rest in PySS, my friend.” — Alexandre Savio

Our good friend: We’ll miss you!

May the good vibes and pyntxos always be with you.

Thank you for all the good times,
–
Your friends from the EuroPython community

Talk voting is your chance to tell us what you’d like to see at EuroPython 2020. We will leave talk voting open until:

Sunday, April 26 23:59:59 CEST

In order to vote, please log in to the website and then navigate to the talk voting page:

https://ep2020.europython.eu/events/talk-voting/

How talk voting works

The talk voting page lists all submitted proposals, including talks, helpdesks and posters. The proposals are sorted in random order.

In order to vote, have a look at the title/abstract and then indicate your personal interest in attending this session. We have simplified the voting process and you may choose between these four options:

• must see
  
• want to see
  
• maybe
  
• not interested
  

The talks you haven’t voted for are marked “No vote”. Your votes are automatically saved to the backend without the need to click on a save or submit button.

Who can participate?

Any registered attendee of the current EuroPython (*) as well as any attendee of one of the past EuroPython conferences going back to 2015 can vote. If you have submitted a proposal this year, you are also eligible to vote.

Talk Selection

After the talk voting phase, the EuroPython Program Workgroup (WG) will use the votes to select the talks and build a schedule.

The talk voting is a good and strong indicator what attendees are interested to see. Submissions are also selected based on editorial criteria to e.g. increase diversity, give a chance to less mainstream topics as well as avoid too much of the same topic.

In general, the Program WG will try to give as many speakers a chance to talk as possible. If speakers have submitted multiple talks, the one with the highest rating will most likely get selected.

(*) We will start ticket sales in the coming days to give you a chance to participate in talk voting as well.

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

Since we had started the CFP under the assumption of running an in-person conference and are now switching EuroPython 2020 to an online event, we will extend the CFP for another two weeks until April 12, to give everyone who would like to participate in this new format, a chance to submit a session proposal.

EuroPython 2020 Online - Call for Proposal

The online event will have this layout:

• July 23 - 24 (Thursday, Friday): conference days
• July 25 - 26 (Saturday, Sunday): sprint days
  

Presenting at EuroPython

For the conference days, we are looking for the following session types:

• Talks of 35- or 45-minute duration (including 3-5 minutes for Q&A)
• Posters
• Help desks / Panels / Interactive sessions

We will give out free tickets to the event for all selected speakers.

For posters, we are planning to collect them on a gallery page, together with PDF versions to read during the event. The speaker will then be available during the poster session to answer questions and present more details using screen sharing.

Help desks, panels and interactive sessions will be run using virtual rooms we’ll make available during the conference days.

We will also have lightning talks for the online event, but those will be collected closer to the event using a separate form or Google sheet - similar to how we run this at the in-person conference.

For submitting sprints, please check our sprints page. Note that unlike the conference days, the sprints day won’t require buying a ticket.

Let’s make this an engaging event for everyone

Even though we’re running an online event, our aim is to make the online event as engaging as possible, so we will provide ways for direct interaction with the speakers after their talk in separate virtual rooms and additionally a chat system for asynchronous interaction.

The conference system will also allow live polls and text or audio/video based Q&A sessions, so please consider this when preparing your sessions and add any polls you’d like to run in the submission notes section (“Additional information for talk reviewers”).

The conference will be held between 09:00 CEST and 20:00 CEST on the two conference days. We will try to schedule talks based on location and timezone of the speaker. Please indicate your timezone in submission notes.

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

In the last two weeks, we have discussed and investigated concepts around running this year’s EuroPython conference as an online conference. We have looked at conference tools, your feedback, drafted up ideas on what we can do to make the event interesting and what we can accomplish given our limited resources.

Today, we are happy to announce that we will be running

EuroPython 2020
from July 23 - 26 2020
as an online conference

We are planning the following structure:

• 2 conference days with keynotes, talks, lightning talks, poster session
  (Thursday and Friday)

• 2 sprint days with multiple sprint teams
  (Saturday and Sunday)

Attending the conference days will require a ticket, participating in the sprint days will be free.

We will publish additional information on the new format as it becomes available. A few updates for today (more details will follow in separate blog posts):

Call for Papers (CFP)

With the new plan in place, we will extend and retarget the CFP we had been running in the last three weeks to the online setup.

Please note that we will not have training sessions at EuroPython 2020. We will have keynotes, 30 and 45-minute talks, panels, interactive sessions, as well as try to come up with a format for doing posters and lightning talks.

Unlike for our in-person event, speakers will get free tickets to the event, since we don’t have to cover catering costs.

We need your help

Given that we had already put a lot of work into the in-person event organization, a lot of which we’ll now have to adapt or redo for the online set up in the few months ahead of us, we will need more help from the community to make this happen.

If you would like to help, please write to board@europython.eu. We are specifically looking for people with experience using online conference tools to help host tracks during the conference days.

Sponsoring

As for the in-person event, we will have sponsorship packages available for the online event as well. Because the format is different, we’ll have to adjust the packages we had intended for the in-person to an online setup.

If you are interested in sponsoring EuroPython 2020, please write to sponsoring@europython.eu. We will then send you more details, as they become available.

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

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/