Planning a Python Event​

Helen Sherwood-Taylor

PyCon Namibia

January 2016

Django Girls at PyCon Namibia

25th January 2015

Ola Sitarska and Ola Sendecka

Founders of Django Girls

Cardiff, June 2015

Django Girls at Pycon UK

June 2015

Application Form

Attendees

• Usually complete beginners
• Work through tutorial at own pace
• http://tutorial.djangogirls.org
• Create a blog site deployed to the internet
• Some continue to get programming jobs

Coaches

• 1:3 coach/attendee ratio
• Know python, git, command line
• Dedicated and patient people!

Dealing with people

Be proactive about communicating information!

Venue

• Enough space?
• Enough power?
• Enough internet?
• Is it accessible?

Food

Sponsors

Tools: Google apps

• Gmail
• Calendars and hangouts for meetings
• Google Docs for spreadsheets

Trello

• Simple task management
• It's free
• https://trello.com

Inkscape

• Vector graphics
• It's free
• https://inkscape.org/

Other tools

• Slack for chatting (http://slack.com/) 
• Django Girls application system
• https://github.com/DjangoGirls/djangogirls

Challenges

• Dealing with multiple currencies
• Shipping
• Long summer break
• Spreading the word

Spreading the word

• Local schools and universities
• Namibians on Twitter
• Tweet series
• Meetup groups
• Searching for feminist groups

It's never perfect...

So, how did it go?

• People dropped out
• Extra people came
• Internet wasn't very good
• We lost electricity!

What happens next?

• Lagos workshop in February
• Harare workshop in April
• Other African countries...

Fill the gaps

How?

• Organisers Manual - http://organize.djangogirls.org/ 
• Email hello@djangogirls.org
• Talk to other organisers on Slack
• Talk to us!

Thank you!

Twitter: @helenst

http://helen.st/