The John Pinner Award celebrates voluntary service to the Python community in the UK.
During PyCon UK, the following members of our community were presented with a medal by Sheila Pinner:
Congratulations to the recipients!
From Mario Corchero:
Join Bloomberg's engineering team and PyPA core developers for a weekend of hacking on the Python packaging tools (setuptools, pip, venv, warehouse, and more). We'll provide mentors, food, beverages, and a great environment for learning.
The event will happen in London and New York, with PyPA mentors present on both locations.
The event is Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th of October, you can register for an individual day if preferred.
Registration links:
From the PyCon UK committee:
We have now published the full schedule for PyCon UK 2018.
We're also excited to announce our keynote speakers:
On Saturday, Alex Chan will be talking to us about trust, and how to build systems that encourage trust and good behaviour. Alex is a software developer at Wellcome Collection and a PyCon UK organiser.
On Sunday, for our education track, we have Sue Sentance to tell us about programming in schools, and what’s in a teacher’s toolkit. Sue is Chief Learning Officer at the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
On Monday we are pleased to welcome Loek van Gent who is joining us to talk about social responsibility, social good, and collaborating in Python. Loek is Head of Engineering at GoodUp in Amsterdam.
And finally, on Tuesday joining us will be Nikoleta Glynatsi, who uses Python and maths to unpick the secrets of the forces that maintain the relationships between things in the world. Nikoleta is a doctoral student in mathematics at Cardiff University.
There are still plenty of opportunities to be part of the event, as an attendee or a sponsor.
The UK Python Association trustees are pleased to publish their annual report for 2017-8.
The annual report will be discussed at the UKPA AGM at PyCon UK.
Nominations for the 2018 John Pinner Award are open.
The John Pinner Award celebrates voluntary service to the Python community in the UK, and recognises those who freely contribute their time and effort for the good of the community.
Recipients of the award will be announced at PyCon UK in September.
Perhaps you can think of that person who quietly organises your local user group, runs workshops, mentors others online, or creates educational resources for others to re-use. It is the contributions of people like this who we'd like to celebrate through this award.
You can nominate any number of people and the nomination process is very simple. Full details can be found here.
Get nominating!
From the PyCon UK committee:
We've published the draft programme for PyCon UK 2018.
This will be firmed up over the coming days, and we still have to announce the keynote speakers we have lined up for the event.
In the meantime, our selection of speakers - by far the hardest we've ever had to make, taken from the nearly 250 proposals that came in - represents the breadth of interests in the Python community, and is aimed at a wide range of levels of technical expertise.
There are still plenty of opportunities to be part of the event, as an attendee or a sponsor - join us in Cardiff in September!
Tickets are now on sale for EuroPython, happening in Edinburgh from 23rd to 29th July.
Early Bird tickets sold out in under an hour, so don't hang about.
The schedule has also just been announced, and we're pleased to see the UK Python community is well represented!
The Call for Proposals for PyCon UK closes at midday on June 15th. There is always a surge of submissions just before the deadline, so to make life easier for the committee, please don't leave it until the last minute!
Read more about why you should submit a proposal, and advice about how to submit a proposal.
The conference will be at Cardiff City Hall, from 15th to 19th September. More details are on the conference website.
There are still a few tickets left for PyLondinium, which takes place in London from 8th to 10th June.
The schedule is rich and varied, and we wish the organisers the very best.
The what:
The why:
So, if you'd like to continue to receive monthly updates from the UK Python community, click here.
This year's PyCon UK will be held once again at Cardiff City Hall, 15th to 19th September.
Tickets are on sale now.
The Call for Proposals is open.
We're taking applications for financial assistance.
The website has information about travel and accommodation, with discounts available on both.
We'll have a free crèche, a live speech-to-text service, mobility and accessibility support, and more.
As well as a full programme of talks and workshops, we have a number of social and evening sessions planned.
We're also seeking commercial sponsorship. Please get in touch if you think you can help, because the conference only runs each year with the generous support it receives from its sponsors.
As usual, the conference is run by a committee of volunteers, on behalf of the Python community, and once again, we aim to make it the very best possible experience for our attendees.
If you do anything at all with Python, whatever your level of experience, there'll be a lot at PyCon UK for you.
EuroPython will be held in Edinburgh from 23rd to 29th July.
The website has been launched today, and tickets will be on sale very soon.
Keep an eye on the EuroPython blog for updates.
From Mario Corchero:
"The schedule for PyLondinium has just been published.
There are still tickets left. Don't miss out, and buy your tickets here."
The Python Software Foundation have launched a donation drive, and are aiming to raise $20,000 by the middle of May.
Donations support sprints, meetups, community events, Python documentation, fiscal sponsorships, software development, and community projects.
We all benefit from the critical work the PSF does to support the language and the community, and we encourage you to consider donating (and to ask your employers to do the same).
More information here.
From Daniel Pope:
"Pyweek is a week-long games programming challenge, run online at https://pyweek.org/.
The next Pyweek competition will run from 00:00 UTC on Sunday 15th April to 00:00 UTC on Sunday 22nd April.
Participants are challenged to write a game, from scratch, in a week. You can enter as a team or as an individual, and it's a great way to improve your experience with Python and express your creativity at the same time.
There will be five themes announced on the 8th April, and participants can vote on their preference order for these in the preceding week. The winning theme will be announced at the moment the contest starts, and your game must involve this theme somehow.
If creating a game alongside a number of other teams sounds like a fun challenge, register at https://pyweek.org/register/ and then add an entry at https://pyweek.org/25/entry_add/."
From Mario Corchero:
"The sale for PyLondinium tickets is open! The full price of the ticket you pay will go directly to the Python Software Foundation. Tickets are meant to be affordable but we would like to encourage you to buy donation tickets as well to raise thre amount we collect for the PSF. There is also still time to submit proposals for talks! See PyLondinium.org."
From Ian Ozsvald (of PyData London fame):
"I run a jobs email list focused on Data Scientist and Data Engineer jobs for Pythonistas. A jobs email is sent every 2 weeks containing 7-10 jobs, there's a focus towards London and the jobs reach across the UK and into Western Europe. Currently there are over 900 people on the list and a set have found new roles via this list. Advertising companies range from start-ups to the BBC, Cambridge University and Last.fm. Your email is never shared with anyone else, the list is controlled by mailchimp so you can unsubscribe at any time.
Here's a quote from one of the list members (Frank is a co-founder of PyDataBristol).
I’m very grateful for Ian’s job list as it enabled me to find a Data Science job in an interesting and meaningful domain, and furthermore connected me with likeminded folk. Strongly recommend. – Frank Kelly, Senior Data Scientist @HAL24K
Click here for more details and a link to sign yourself up."
From Mario Corchero:
"A new conference for Python developers and users is happening in London from 8th to 10th June. The CfP and ticket sales will open soon. Further information is on PyLondinium.org. Keep an eye on @pylondinium on Twitter for announcements, and reach out to pylondinium@gmail.com for any questions, or if you are interested in sponsoring."
The Reading Python Dojo returns on March 13th. You can sign up here.
A date for your diary: PyCon UK 2018 return to Cardiff from Saturday 15th to Wednesday 19th September.
Keep an eye out for more details over the next few months.
The Call For Proposals for PyData London (27th-29th April) is open until 2nd March.
First time speakers are welcome and encouraged, and there is a mentorship programme to support new speakers.
It's very exciting to see two new PyData user groups starting up in Bristol and Edinburgh. They will have their first meetings in February.
We wish the organisers all the best!
PyData London 2018 will take place in London over 27th-29th April 2018. More details to follow.
The conference photographer has made his photos available on flickr. Do take a look!
And Tim Williams has been hard at work getting videos of talks from the conference online. Many are already on our YouTube channel, with more to follow in the next few days.
The first meeting of the UK Python Association board of trustees was held during PyCon UK on Sunday 29th October.
Daniele Procida was appointed as the Conference Director for 2018 and thus also joins the board of trustees.
The first AGM of the UK Python Association was held during PyCon UK on Saturday 28th October.
The following were elected by acclamation to serve as trustees of the board:
From Mario Corchero:
"For the first time, London is hosting a Startup Row Pitch Event on November 27th at Bloomberg LP's London office.
This is a contest (organised by the Python Software Foundation) for startups who use Python, where the winner gets a booth at PyCon US in May 2018.
This is has proven extremely useful for startups as it is a great way to attract funding, and there is a really useful networking event at PyCon US for all the winners.
Alumni include companies like Docker and Lambda Foundry."
The John Pinner Award celebrates voluntary service to the Python community in the UK.
During PyCon UK, the following members of our community were presented with a medal by Sheila Pinner:
Congratulations to the recipients!
We are delighted to announce the full schedule for PyCon UK 2017!
We're hosting a huge number of talks, workshops, and other sessions. Speakers are coming from all over the world to share their experiments, discoveries, probelms, solutions, achievements, failures, and other adventures.
There are lots of sessions aimed at beginners and people new to Python, as well as lots more advanced content.
And we're particularly pleased to have whole tracks dedicated to education and to data science.
If you don't have your ticket yet, you'll need to get one now! Ticket sales close at the end of Monday 9th October.
We will be closing ticket sales for PyCon UK (except for the children's day) at 23:59 BST on Monday 9th October.
Following confirmation that a world title heavyweight boxing match is taking place in Cardiff over the weekend of the conference, we have made reservations for around 200 beds for conference delegates in hostels in Cardiff.
If you are coming to the conference and have not yet reserved accommodation, please do so as soon as possible! Ticketholders can book accommodation through the ticketing website.
For more information, see the accommodation page on the conference website.
From Barry Byford:
"Formula Pi is a racing competition for software developers to compete against each other to see how good their code is at controlling a small autonomously vehicle.
The hardware is provided and maintained by the organisers so the vehicles are identical removing that expense and complexity from competitors. This results in a series that allows software engineers to compete purely on the capabilities of their code. Competitors upload their code to vehicles via the Formula Pi website and the races are streamed live on YouTube.
When competitors register they get access to a simulator for testing their code as well as some example Python code to get started.
Registration for the third series of Formula Pi is open until 30th Septmber."
We are pleased to announce that nominations for the first ever John Pinner Award are open.
We want YOU to nominate people who freely contribute time and effort for the good of the UK Python community but who generally don't get the sort of recognition others may enjoy. To be clear, this award celebrates community rather than technical endeavours.
Perhaps you can think of that person who quietly organises your local user group, runs workshops, mentors others online or creates educational resources for others to re-use. It is the contributions of people like this who we'd like to celebrate through this award.
You can nominate any number of people and the nomination process is very simple. Full details can be found here.
Get nominating!
We're pleased to share a provisional day-by-day schedule for PyCon UK 2017.
You can find more details on our website.
There are rumours that a heavyweight boxing match may be taking place in Cardiff on the Saturday of PyCon UK, and so accommodation in the city has been snapped up much more quickly this year than usual.
If you're coming to the conference, you should book your accommodation now. Don’t delay any further! If you leave it too late, you may find that there is no more affordable accommodation available.
We have set up a wiki for people to arrange sharing of rooms or rentals, or for anybody in Cardiff to offer a room in their home. (We can offer a free conference ticket to anybody in Cardiff who can put up visitors in their home.)
Please see the accommodation page on our website for more details.
We're excited to announce the keynote speakers for PyCon UK 2017.
Tickets for the Children's Day at PyCon UK 2017 are now on sale.
We'll be hosting a Code Club, suitable for children under 13, and a Raspberry Jam for older children, or those looking to take on more advanced projects.
Tickets are just £5 and include a picnic lunch. Parents and guardians accompanying children do not require a conference ticket.
The PyCon UK CFP has closed, and we're bowled over by the number of excellent submissions we've had.
The conference committee will be mulling over the programme over the next couple of weeks, and we'll have some very difficult decisions to make. In the meantime, we'd like to thank everybody who's submitted a proposal.
From the organisers of Django Girls at PyCon UK:
"Are you female and want to learn how to make websites? Don’t know where to start? We have good news for you! We are holding a one-day workshop at PyCon UK 2017 for beginners. We believe the IT industry will benefit greatly from encouraging more women into technology. We want to give you an opportunity to learn how to program and become one of us - female programmers!
Learning how to code can seem like an impossible task, so a Django Girls workshop at PyCon UK will show 30 programming beginners how it can be done and get them excited about the world of technology.
The Django Girls workshop is a crash course aimed at total beginners. You don’t need to know anything about programming, just bring your own laptop, have a sufficient understanding of English so you’re able to follow our English tutorial and be able to commit to the all-day workshop. You will work through the tutorial in a small group of three attendees and one coach so you’ll be able to do it at your own pace.
Django Girls was born in July 2014 in Berlin and today, Django Girls is a volunteer run organisation with hundreds of people contributing to bring more women to the Python and Django communities. Our goal is to bring more amazing women into the world of technology and increase the diversity in the Django community."
To register your interest in attending, please fill in the application form.
The Call for Participation for PyCon UK closes on 10th August. The committee will aim to publish a list of selected events by 24th August.
We always see a sharp rise in ticket sales immediately after the programme is announced. To make sure you dont miss out, you should get your tickets now!
PyCon UK and PyData London are joining forces to deliver a track of talks, workshops, and other events about data science at PyCon UK in October.
Access to the PyData track is included in the ticket price for PyCon UK, and the track's organisers are still looking for proposals for talks and workshops.
The PyCon UK committee have recently registered the the UK Python Association as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation with the Charity Commission.
The UKPA is a membership organisation, and in the first instance, anybody who attends PyCon UK 2017 is entitled to membership. For now, membership entitles you to vote to elect the organisation's trustees. You can indicate that you would like to join the UKPA when you buy a ticket for the conference, or if you already have a ticket, when you fill out your profile.
We are looking to elect up to six trustees for the UKPA at the first AGM on the Saturday of the conference. The trustees will be responsible for the charity's management and administration, and will be responsible for appointing a chair for PyCon UK 2018.
If you would like to put yourself forward for election as trustee, please complete the nomination form by Thursday 12th October.
You can read more about the decision-making behind the formation of the UKPA here.
We're delighted to announce that tickets for PyCon UK 2017 are now on sale from our website. Our Call for Participation is also open, and we've started taking applications for financial assistance.
The conference will be at Cardiff City Hall Thursday 26th to Monday 30th October, and we hope that we'll see many of you there.
There'll be plenty more announcements over the coming weeks, so keep an eye out on the mailing list.
Please share this with your friends and colleagues, and if you have any questions, get in touch.
From Peter Inglesby, PyCon UK chair:
"I've been producing UK Python News since last autumn, and it's now in a state where I'd be happy to hand it over to somebody else.
There are number of different aspects to the work:
If you'd like to chat more about what taking on any of this would involve, please drop me a line at peter.inglesby@gmail.com."
Following a slight holiday-related hitch, tickets for PyCon UK 2017 will now go on sale slightly later than planned on July 2nd on the conference website.
We'll also open the Call for Participation then, and we'd like to see proposals of all sorts for talks, workshops, posters — or anything else — from all parts of the community. We're especially interested in proposals from first-time speakers, and we'll be able to provide mentorship and advice to all speakers who request it.
On the same day, we'll be opening applications for financial assistance, and we have allocated a significant proportion of our conference budget towards ensuring that attending the conference is as affordable as possible.
Finally, we're also looking for conference sponsors. Sponsoring the conference is the best way for your company to engage with the UK Python community, whether you want to recruit Python engineers, promote your products, or raise your profile. Sponsors get free conference tickets, a space to exhibit during the conference, promotion online and in this newsletter, and (for higher-level sponsors) guaranteed space on the programme. If you're interested, please take a look at our sponsorship prospectus.
Tickets for PyCon UK 2017 will go on sale on June 25th, and the Call for Participation will be launched on the same day.
The conference will take place at Cardiff City Hall from Thursday 26th to Monday 30th October. If you've never been to a PyCon before, you can take a look at what we did last year, or catch up with videos of talks on YouTube.
A new Meetup group has been formed in London for teachers, learners, and makers interested in programming the BBC micro:bit or other small computers in MicroPython.
They plan to meet monthly and their first meeting is on Monday May 8th.
UK Python News now has a sign-up form on the PyCon UK website. Please tell your friends and colleagues!
EuroPython 2017 will take place in Rimini, Italy, from 9th to 16th July. More details are on the EuroPython website, and in particular, the Call for Proposals is now open.
There will be a Django Girls workshop in London on Saturday 18th March. Applications are open until 3rd March.
From the PyData London team:
"PyData London's Call for Proposals is open, and we're seeking talks on data science and data engineering from all levels (first-timers super welcome through to those with many years of experience). The conference will run during May 5-7th in central London with 330 attendees.
Topics we'd like to see proposed include data pipelines and storage to solve data engineering tasks, machine learning and statistics to answer questions, visualisation to explain results and everything around these topics. For inspiration see our schedule from last year and the talks that we have at our monthly meetup.
The Call for Proposals runs until mid-to-late February (closing date to be confirmed), the earlier you submit the more feedback you'll get and the more likely you are to be accepted."
There will be a Django Girls workshop in Manchester on 11th February. Applications are open until 3rd January.
A date for your diary: PyCon UK 2017 will (provisionally!) take place in Cardiff from Thursday 26th to Monday 30th October.
If you were sad not to get a free t-shirt and mug at PyCon UK this year, be sad no longer! We're now selling conference swag, with proceeds going towards the 2017 financial assistance budget. Next year we'll try to make these available before the conference!