PyCon US 2012 Conference Schedule

Are you aware that the website has layout issues with JavaScript turned off? How about adding a few CSS rules?

Other than that it's an awesome site, though. Nice work Eldarion!

Well, the site is getting hammered. It's nearly inaccessible.

PyCon conference fees are very, very reasonable. I would take an intro tutorial or two, and enjoy soaking up all that is python. Talks range from beginner to advanced, and cover a wide range of development topics. I love this conference.

I'm biased as the chair, however I would heartily state "yes!" - there's a lot of great stuff on the program that would serve you, not to mention the stuff not on the program - the open space talks, meeting other hackers and programmers, etc.

PyCon is much more than just the talks - and given how cheap admission really is compared to other conferences, it remains a "no duh" type of decision to me.

See https://us.pycon.org/2012/venue/getting-around/

You should also check http://www.caltrain.com/ if you plan to go to San Francisco.

this is with all dates/times in a good planning format

I'm interested to hear how I personally profit from PyCon - because the fact is, I don't. I spend more hours than I care to admit stealing time from work and family, busting my ass to get things done for this conference and the Python Software Foundation.

I do this as a volunteer, as those who came before me did. I don't get fat checks, or kickbacks from sponsors, or free cars or servants. I do get a lot of heartburn, a lot of email, and a lot of stress.

So not only do I find your comment confusing and insulting, I'm honestly completely baffled.

Uhm... utter tripe. How bizarre.

'cronyism', I personally worked with jnoller (at a company) a few years ago.

Something that I have seen persisting and increasing from then until now is his passion for evangelizing Python as a valuable, open-source tool.

The personal 'profit' that I have seen him earning is simply this: a well-deserved positive reputation as a guy who invests great amounts of his own time and energy to benefit the Python language and community.

If you're going to say something specific, then say it. If you're going to make baseless accusations about people who volunteer, take it elsewhere.

I helped handle PyCon Surveys in the past. One question that got over 300 responses (a good sample) was covering historically, "overall satisfaction with PyCon" 38.4% 118 said "Very High" and 32.6% said "High".

I do not know if cronyism created that or not; if it did, then let's keep doing that. It is an amazing level of satisfaction.

If "cronyism" wants to come out of the closet and admit who he or she is then we might know how much weight to give these unsubstantiated accusations. I have received similar representations privately as PSF chairman, have asked for evidence, and have not received any.

For the record, I have the utmost faith in Jesse's integrity as PyCon chair. I have not bothered to canvass my fellow directors, but I doubt any of them feel any different. The Foundation owes him a huge debt of gratitude for the immense amount of work he continues to put into this role while holding down a full-time job and being an active parent. It is obnoxious in the extreme to slur him in this way.

So let's see "the money trail," and let's have these accusations in the open so we can see that they are, in fact, simply unsubstantiated waffle.

Everyone helping with PyCon is an unpaid volunteer. At the highest levels, like what jnoller is doing, that means roughly 1000 hours of hard, unpaid work over a six month timeframe. It is a second job.

In return, the chair doesn't even get a free ticket to the conference. Everyone pays their way to the conference - even the chair, just like everyone else.

That is part of what makes PyCon great. You go to other conferences to be catered to. You come to PyCon to contribute.

Interesting - I usually stay quiet; sitting in the background as my husband takes a lot of crap from the community he works so hard for. However at the risk of upsetting him, as well as starting a flame war let me tell you as his wife who can barely work 15hrs to take care of our infant who has special needs and who has to sacrifice quite a bit of time for him to do what he loves (the Python community is his mistress), and on the behalf of two little girls who also have to sacrifice time spent with daddy - there is no monetary payment, there is no commission, there is no sense of a monetary compensation for what he does.

Quite frankly, our family could really use the extra money and I have actually argued with him on this - embarrassing fact: at the moment because I don't make a full time income, we have gotten back to living paycheck to paycheck and barely. He works his butt off doing these things because the "personal profit" you so want him to disclose - is personal, he is doing it with a ton of hope that at the end the whole community will profit from it. Anywhere from funding other conferences, helping people via financial aide, helping smaller groups via grants… this money you think he is getting – is going to everyone BUT him.

Plain and simple, my husband is a fanatic and crazy – he does this because that is what he does… all he wants is for people to have a community that supports one another… all I want is for one day accusations like this to go away, and instead for him to wake one morning and see a thank you on “xyz” site, for what he is and has been doing.

P.S. Get some cojones and don’t hide behind a parachute account to ask questions, a few things come to mind when I see acts like this – a. you are embarrassed by it so you can’t show your face; b. you are a passive aggressive and are afraid of being called out by your name; c. you are still very young and do not understand how to handle things as an adult. Life is short; be you, don’t hide behind subterfuge.

Am I the only one who suspects this is an epic case of sour grapes?

Troll much?

You imply that there is a money trail, cronyism and nepotism, but offer nothing to substantiate those claims.

I've been involved with PyCon for years, and know jnoller and many of the other people who donate so much of their time and energy to make these conferences successful, and IMO there is not a less selfish group of people anywhere. They are a huge reason that each PyCon is better than the one before.

You're either a sick troll or don't know the man at all.

I've been to a number of conferences in my own country (India) and abroad and the PyCon in the States is my idea of a "perfect" conference. The people are nice, the prices are reasonable, the tech stuff is awesome. There is nothing I can think of that is wrong with it. It's a team effort and each and every person who contributes deserves credit but the chair who is the public face of the event is the man who is deserves the most. He has to deal with an enormous amount of stress and work. I ran PyCon India for two years and know what it's like in a small way. This kind of vitriol for some anonymous account on HN is not something Jesse deserves or needs.

If you genuinely have a problem with some aspect of the conference, I'm sure the organising committee will be willing to listen to you and do what's best. If you simply want to troll, please don't.