Conference Review: PyCon US 2024 (Pittsburgh)
This was the first time I attended PyCon. I was originally slated to go to PyCon in the year 2020 also in Pittsburgh, but the pandemic disrupted the conference (I had the hotel and conference ticket booked at the time). I’ve always wanted to attend PyCon and have been a Python user since I was 18. At PyCon, I was most surprised by the amount of people from all over the world who are Python developers! For example I met developers from Norway and Zimbabwe, which are two countries that I’ve never met people from. I really enjoyed some of the talks and some of the notable ones that stood out to me were:
- Storytelling in Python.
- The two extremely bright undergraduates from Singapore who are members of the Python core development team.
- Simon Willison’s keynote address.
I will also never forget shaking hands with Guido Van Rossum, the inventor of Python. I asked him for a picture, but he turned down the request (it happens, but you never get anything unless you ask!). The environment overall was electric, the food excellent, the venue (David L. Lawrence Convention Center) exquisite, and the vendors very generous with free merchandise. I really enjoyed the poster session the most where I talked with many cool people about their research and projects with Python (i.e. Ph.D. students, researchers, industry professionals, startup founders, and high school students). I was definitely very tired after the conference but glad I went this year, especially given that I got the student discount rate this year. I would definitely recommend others attend next year in Pittsburgh again!
One thing I did not like about PyCon was that there were quite a few talks that were very general and high-level. Therefore, I’ve realized that conferences are only worth attending if you are presenting a talk or a poster. It’s just different than going as an attendee. Attending a conference without presenting something is almost never worth it, unless you spend a significant amount of time at the conference networking. You may not connect with everyone, but once in a while you’ll connect with someone. It’s the connections that make a conference worthwhile. I made a connection with someone from Norway of all places, yet did not make a connection with someone from New York City even though we had a good conversation. I will continue to go to conferences, but I will be more selective about which ones I go to going forward.
- P.S. Once the recordings come out, make sure to watch ALL the recordings.