PyCon SK 2016

The famous PyCon came to Slovakia for the first time. Quite frankly: I’m impressed. For those who don’t know: PyCon means Python Conference, and it’s meant for anyone interested in the programming language. I can’t say I have much experience with community-organized dev events, but the organizers clearly did their homework.

I’m not exactly an avid tweeter, but I couldn’t resist:

It was obvious immediately after entering #PyConSK that I hadn't seen this many nerds in one place in quite a while. I've missed it.

— zblesk (@zblesk) March 11, 2016

That was prompted by two things: Firstly, there was a single registration queue, and the organizers wanted to split it into two, one for people with names in A – L, other for M – Z. So a guy shouted “everyone whose first letter of the surname is bigger than L, go over there.”
Secondly: Everyone complied without missing a beat. :)

Everything seemed well-organized, there was plenty of coffee and water (which is appreciated even more, because it’s too easy to forget to dink when you’re engrossed in the talks), the schedules didn’t slip much, and any minor imperfections will surely be ironed out by next year. Everyone I talked to was friendly and communicative.

On Friday there was a single track in Slovak. Saturday brought two parallel tracks in English, with speakers from Slovakia or abroad. There even were speakers like Martina turdíková – a Slovak living in the US who came home to support the local community. That was quite heart-warming. Sunday brought various workshops, including DjangoGirls.

The turnout was surprisingly good, and after such a stellar start, I’m sure the next year will be even more awesome. Thanks to the PyCon organizers for their hard work.

full auditorium at #PyConSK pic.twitter.com/rwUbGjlV91

— SPy – Slovak Python (@pyconsk) March 12, 2016