PyTexas 2012 next weekend; paid registration exceeds 100

PyTexas 2012 is next weekend, so if you have not yet registered, please think about doing so. I believe we have reach critical mass of attendees and presentations to make it a worthwhile regional conference.

So far, I see 117 registrations for PyTexas, or which about 15 have not been paid yet. So, we have just over 100 confirmed registrations. This is lower than last year at the same time; we had around 300 registrations last year, and only about 150 showed up. So we need about 50 more paid registrations to catch up to last year's attendance.

Btw, it looks like a few more talk proposals have been added:

http://www.pytexas.org/chance/1/talks/

Hopefully soon we'll get some news about the schedule...

PyTexas 2012 T-Shirt Features Cute Doggies

Register Today or Pay the Procrastination Price

Yesterday I mistakenly thought that Aug 30 was the last day of the month and thus the final day to register for PyTexas at the $25 price, as well as the last day to submit a talk proposal. So I posted this to every relevant publicity outlet I could access. (Was this a clever plan of my subconscious mind or just an "off by one" error?)

So...you still have today, which in the US Central Time Zone gives you perhaps half an afternoon to procrastinate if you read this right away, but most readers will spot this later in the evening and suddenly realize they are out of time and need to register. right. now.

I hope we can get at least 150 attendees to match last year's attendance. It looks like so far we have 92 attendees registered at the moment, most of whom have paid. A few may be holding off just because they actually want to pay the full $50 price in order to boost the PyTexas coffers.

Others may not yet have registered, unsure of whether the cool factor is great enough. Perhaps the outstanding lineup of talks will convince them, or the prospect of prizes, but my hope is that the awesomeness of this year's PyTexas t-shirt will close the deal for the fence-sitters.

PyTexas 2012 T-shirt Front

Thanks very much to Kat Metzger from Flexible Creations for creating this image for the PyTexas t-shirt.

What's with the Cute Doggies?

The pug dog has sometimes been spotted on Python user groups (PUGs) websites over the years, but has recently by official proclamation been named the Python community mascot.  And of course, College Station locals know that the Python Pug's companion in this image refer to Reveille, the mascot of Texas A&M University.

Last day for PyTexas $25 registration and talk proposals

Just wanted to send out this quick reminder--today is the last day for PyTexas $25 registration; starting tomorrow it will cost $50.  Btw, you need to actually pay the $25, not just register.

Today is also your last day to post your talk proposals.

Btw, there is going to be a PyTexas t-shirt given away with every registration. I've seen advance drafts which are beautiful, drawn and colored by Kat Metgzer, the same artist who did the PyTexas 2010 t-shirt.  This evening after work I might be able to post the artwork.

PyTexas 2012 Call for Proposals

PyTexas 2012 is well under way, in the capable hands of Ben Liles at Texas A&M who posted this announcement to the statewide Texas Python mailing list:

PyTexas 2012 will take place this year in College Station at Texas A&M University on September 15-16. The venue on campus has been moved to the newly renovated Memorial Student Center which boasts a beautiful, 16,000 sq foot ballroom that can be subdivided for the conference. 

If there's anything you would be interested in speaking about at the conference, please post your proposal at http://www.pytexas.org/2012/.

I really appreciate the hard work Ben Liles is doing to put this together. It really shows with the new website.  I'm sure our community will pull together and have a lot of fun at this event. 

PyTexas 2011 Memories: Lighted Sign by Paul Bonsor

Paul Bonsor made a really cool lighted sign for PyTexas 2011 using a laser cutter.

More images can be found where Paul posted them on Google+.

PyTexas 2011 Schedule Firmed Up

The PyTexas 2011 schedule looks pretty solid at this point, though we are still looking for your feedback via this survey to help us to make sure we have the biggest crowds in the biggest rooms, and let us know if you plan to give a lightning talk, or want to participate in the Python Teach-In. Please take the schedule survey if you have not already done so.

Here are some notes about the schedule:

• We have two TAMU faculty for the Python in the Classroom panel discussion, and another volunteer who could be on the panel or could be a moderator. We are looking for at least one more participant who has experience with Python in classroom settings or in a university environment.
• All the speakers on the current schedule have confirmed that they will be present for the specified timeslots. Over the course of the last few weeks a couple of speakers had to drop out, but everyone currently named on the schedule will be there.
• One of the speakers, Eric Malloy, who had to drop out was going to give a talk on VirtualEnv/Pip/VirtualEnvWrapper. I believe this is an important talk for beginners and hope we can find someone else willing to give a talk. Eric has posted the presentation slides online which could be used for inspiration, if anyone wants to step forward. 
• Currently the schedule is a Google Docs spreadsheet, but soon it will be posted as part of the Django-based new PyTexas website.  Speakers interested in logging into the Django admin interface to modify their talk descriptions and bio should let me know, and I'll provide a login.
• We have added a Blender tutorial at the last minute after learning that TAMU faculty and students have a high interest in that tool because the university has a strong emphasis on data visualization. To make it fit, we had to split it across several days. Special thanks go to Gordon Fisher for agreeing to travel from Little Rock to give the tutorial.
• Unfortunately the OpenStack speaker had to drop out, and we're looking for a backup speaker for that slot.

All in all, I'm very proud of this schedule and the speakers who have stepped forward to give presentations and tutorials.  It has a nice balance of both advanced and beginner talks, and we were able to make sure every time slot has something of interest to beginners, and something of interest to advanced Python developers.

Free Food and Drinks at PyTexas

I'm pleased to announce that PyTexas has new sponsorships in the category of food and drink.

• Texas A&M College of Architecture has generously agreed to provide breakfast, snacks, and drinks for all attendees on both Saturday and Sunday. This includes that all important caffeine source, coffee, which we conspicuously failed to provide at last year's PyTexas. Never again. 
• Snoball.com, already a Platinum Sponsor and active instigator of ideas and encouragement for PyTexas 2010, has decided to go all-out by throwing a party for the whole conference on Saturday evening evening at Fitzwilly's Bar and Grille.  Everyone gets food and drinks, including free beer.  The upstairs is reserved for us with pool tables, darts, and places to chill and sit.  You'll need to pick up your invitation at the PyTexas registration desk in the form of a Snoball.com dog tag.

I'd also like to mention that members of both these organizations have contributed significantly to PyTexas as volunteers, so they both deserve our thanks for helping make PyTexas an awesome conference.