Conference Review: PyCon US 2025 (Pittsburgh)

I went to PyCon (Fri. 5/16/25 - Sun. 5/18/25) again this year. The more I write, the more I realize how incredible my PyCon 2025 experience really was. This is the second year in a row that I went to PyCon and it was lovely overall because the conference was held in Pittsburgh again. Pittsburgh is only a five-hour drive from where I live, so there was no way that I was going to miss PyCon. Next year it will be held in Long Beach, CA and I’m not sure if I will be able to go. Therefore, I had to make the most of this opportunity. I stayed with a friend in North Oakland right near Carnegie Mellon U., which is a really nice school with a fantastic campus. Loved walking around the campus, which was very modern. Moreover my ticket was paid for by my work, so overall it was very cost-effective for me to go.

I felt that the conference was much smaller than last year and it was not nearly as well sponsored this year. Yes you had your big tech companies there (i.e. FAANG and FAANG-adjacent companies), but overall it just felt smaller in scope. I remember last year there were so many people that you would meet someone and never see them again. This year however, you’d meet someone and then run into them one or two other times at the convention center and you’d start talking again, which shows the much smaller scope. I submitted an abstract to speak at PyCon, but was not selected to speak. I felt disappointed, but I have to constantly remind myself that it’s never: you win or you lose; rather it’s always: you win or you learn. I think one of the more interesting things that happened was I was at the Jane Street table with two engineers from Nvidia. They were trying to solve a logic puzzle and unlock a box in order to win a prize. I talked to them, I tried and worked with them for a while, and then I left. I wasn’t really that serious about solving the puzzle and getting the prize. The next day, I ran into the same two engineers and the one woman told me they ended up solving the puzzle and unlocking the prize. It was awesome that they never gave up on solving the prize puzzle. The prize was a Jane Street pin (not the most exciting prize), but it was the process and problem-solving tenacity that I didn’t forget. I felt what they did was pretty cool and it certainly gave me some energy to put forth the same problem-solving tenacity whenever I encounter a challenge. I really liked the energy of the people that I was around at PyCon, and for that alone the conference was worth it! Two other memorable personal stories:

• I remember a high school student lighting speaker who stressed that with patience you can learn or do anything. He brought high energy and a youthful exuberance that was unforgettable. He’s totally right and a sage with wisdom well beyond his years!
• I remember standing right next to Guido Van Rossum, the inventor of Python. I had also seen Guido last year, so it was not as memorable this year. But the fact that Guido, the inventor of Python and a multi-millionaire, was just like everyone else there in a backpack and t-shirt speaks volumes about his character: a humble guy who loves what he does (programming) and cares little about external validation. That’s awesome!

Here is what made PyCon memorable the more I reflected on it: I was really, really sick during the whole conference and was also dealing with some really stressful personal things at the same time. I was so sick with the flu that I wasn’t even sure I would have the energy to drive up to Pittsburgh and attend. I don’t want to talk about the personal thing, but it was really, really stressful. I ended up having the flu for over a month and PyCon might have been the worst of the worst in terms of symptoms looking back. It was so bad that I could not really listen to many of the talks, even though I tried to. However, I never gave up and never stopped pressing on. I could have easily quit in the middle of the conference or said, “I’m not going to even go to PyCon.” But I didn’t and I guess that shows I have real passion for Python and for building things in Python (programming). I was really proud that I made it through the conference in one piece honestly. Yes I did not get that much in terms of learning like I would have if I was at my full health, but just surviving the conference with all the stress I was dealing with + getting to Pittsburgh and back was a win for me. I had no business being at PyCon, but I made it happen through real tenacity. I’m inspired to keep building and to work on my own Python projects. My experience at PyCon was more special than I thought looking back on it. Thank you to the Python Software Foundation!