My First PYCON India 2023 Recap!

As I sit down to write this, I can only think of some amazing conversations and experiences that I've had over the last weekend. I feel grateful to have attended Pycon 2023, which took place in Hyderabad this year from September 29th to October 2nd. As a part of this, a 2-day conference, workshops, and DevSprints (completely dedicated to various open-source contributions) were organized. More details on the projects and workshops that were hosted can be found at " Workshops and Projects ". I've been a part of the 2-day conference of Pycon India 2023. And let me tell you, it was an incredible experience. It felt really good to have met so many Python developers, community leaders, and students from diverse backgrounds and industries from all over different states and cities. I'd like to share some of the highlights (a few of my favorite talks) and some really good keynotes from the conference that happened this year.

DAY 01:

The first day of the conference kicked off with a really good keynote speaker from Berlin, Jessica Greene. Jessica is a software engineer and the lead community organizer of the Pyladies chapter in Berlin. Her journey through tech, the imposter syndrome, and how being part of the tech communities and contributing to them has opened up new doors and possibilities for her were very inspiring. My favorite lines from one of the slides she presented:

"For a long time, I felt like I did not belong in tech. On the way, I met many people who felt as I did. This motivated me to try my best to make others feel included in the Pyladies community. Through building a community, I've found my way to belong as well." - Laysa Uchoa

Well, I personally could resonate a little with this because, at first, it might feel a little intimidating for anyone when you're just getting started— reaching out to people, asking for help, growing your network, etc. But hey, at the end of the day, nobody really cares. The world doesn't care as much as we think it does. So, just own the space and be curious.

Well, right after this, some talks and sessions happened on different tracks. You could pick a talk of your choice that you would want to attend. So, I chose to attend "Unlock the Power of Automation: Codify AWS Infrastructure with Python CDK" by Dheeraj Choudary. The reason I chose this is because it's closely linked to the project that I was working on. Post-talk, after a few interactions, I got to know about this repository on GitHub: Awesome CDK, which is open-source, and at that point, I was just figuring out repos on AWS CDK that I could contribute to. So, it was pretty helpful to have found one :)

And then comes my favorite part of the conference. It was time for Pyladies lunch, which was more about celebrating diversity and women in tech while also addressing gender biases at work. I can strongly say that it was one of the highlights of the conference. As I mentioned, when you're a female who's just getting started in tech, it could feel pretty intimidating in a room full of men at a tech meetup or conference when you try to voice your ideas and opinions. I feel this is something that should be addressed more often and at the very root level. Knowing there are now more spaces and communities for women to feel appreciated, celebrated, and safe is a relief. Well, this went a little off-topic. Anyway, as I was saying, I've got a chance to meet and interact with some inspiring women who've been in tech for quite some time and who've shared their learnings and experiences from their journeys so far. All in all, it was a super refreshing and enriching experience throughout. Oh, and also, if you'd like to join the " Global Pyladies Slack " for more events, collaborations, and discussions.

There were also quite a few software exhibits by RedHat, GoogleCloud, HappyFox, etc., which had quizzes, games, and goodies. And just like that, after attending a few more sessions, the day has come to an end.

DAY 02:

Well, the second day of the conference started out well. There were some really good sessions and talks lined up for the day. And I chose the ones that piqued my interest. Some of the talks that took place on day 2:

1. OpenAI Whisperer and its amazing power to do fine-tuning demonstrated in my mother tongue (Malayalam) by Kurian Benoy

2. Kubernetes + Python: Unleashing the Power of Python Controllers by Yash Mehrotra

For more details on the talks, please check out the link. I've attached the YouTube links to the two days of the conference; yes, it's recorded. Watch them at your convenience ( Pycon 2023, Day 1. and Pycon 2023, Day 2. )

And here comes the second highlight of the conference, one of my favorite talks from day 2. "How did I restart my career by contributing to open source?" by Bowarna. Ah, what an inspiring journey! For someone like me who's just getting started with their open-source journey, this is something I need at this point. Bowarna, if you are reading this, just so you know, I stayed back that day to only listen to your talk, and it was all worth it. Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your journey at the conference. I'm sure it'd have inspired many more folks out there to just get into open source and start contributing, as well as many women to come out and share their journeys. Please watch her talk in case you've missed it.

One of my other favorites from the second day was the panel discussion on "Diversity and Inclusion in Organizations and Academia.", I found it pretty empowering throughout. How important and necessary it is to promote diversity in every workplace was quite evident through the discussion. Again, you can still find it at the links above. There were still some really good talks and sessions that took place at the conference. But that's all for now.

It's getting a little bit on the long side, and it's been a pretty long one. If you're still here, thank you so much for reading! I've also posted the same on LinkedIn: " PyconIndia2023 " Feel free to check it out, and we can connect there!

See ya :)