EuroPython Society

We are happy to announce that we have started the RFP for venues to host the EuroPython 2020 conference.

We have sent out the details to more than 40 venues.

Like last year, we also want to give the chance to other venues who were not on our list to participate in the RFP. For this purpose, we are making the details available in this blog post as well.

RFP Introduction

The EuroPython Society is the organization behind the EuroPython conference, the largest Python programming language conference in Europe, with more than 1100 professionals from IT, science and educational fields attending to learn about new developments, network and learn from experience of others in the field.

Python is a very popular open source programming language, with a large following in the web development and data science fields.

EuroPython was initiated in 2002, with the first conference in Charleroi, Belgium, and has since toured Europe for a total of 18 editions so far. For EuroPython 2020 we are looking for a new location and venue and are reaching out to potential venues.

If you’d like to participate in this process, please have a look at the RFP spreadsheet in form of an Excel spreadsheet with a quote section and list of questions, as well as our EuroPython 2019 sponsor brochure with more details about the conference, the demographics and our offerings for sponsors, to give you an idea of what we are looking for.

Please see the first tab in the spreadsheet for a description of the submission process. If you have questions, please write to board@europython.eu.

Update 2019-09-21:
We have answered the questions received by a number of vendors in the first round and put the answers into a new first round answers spreadsheet.

You can also check these other resources:

• EuroPython 2019 website: https://ep2019.europython.eu/en/
  
• EuroPython videos: http://europython.tv/
  
• EuroPython pictures: https://www.flickr.com/groups/europython2019/
  
• EuroPython blog: http://blog.europython.eu/
  
• EuroPython Twitter channel: https://twitter.com/europython
  
• EuroPython Society: http://www.europython-society.org/
  

Timeline

This is the timeline for the RFP:

First round:

• Start of RFP process: 2019-09-09
  
• Deadline for RFP vendor questions: 2019-09-16
  
• Vendor questions answered by: 2019-09-20
  
• First round submission deadline: 2019-09-27
  
• Second round candidates will be informed until: 2019-10-07
  

Second round:

• Second round RFP questions posted: 2019-10-13
• Deadline for RFP vendor questions: 2019-10-16
• Vendor questions answered by: 2019-10-20
• Final submission deadline: 2019-10-25
• Final candidate will be informed until: 2019-10-30
  

RFP Resources

• EuroPython 2019 sponsor brochure
  
• First round RFP spreadsheet
  
• First round vendor questions and answers spreadsheet
• RFP submission form for uploading the filled in spreadsheet and any additional documents, you may want to provide

Many thanks,
– 
EuroPython Society Board
https://www.europython-society.org/

For those of you who were not at EuroPython 2019, we’re happy to announce our new board for the next term:

• Anders Hammarquist (Treasurer)
  
• Angel Ramboi
  
• Jakub Musko
  
• Marc-André Lemburg (Chair)
  
• Martin Christen (Vice Chair)
  
• Raquel Dou
  
• Silvia Uberti
  
• Stéphane Wirtel
  

Together, we’ll head off into the EuroPython 2020 RFP process next month and then kick off planning next year’s conference.

Enjoy,
–
EuroPython Society

At this year’s EuroPython Society General Assembly we will vote in a new board of the EuroPython Society for the term 2019/2020.

List of Board Candidates

The EPS bylaws require one chair and 2 - 8 board members. The following candidates have stated their willingness to work on the EPS board. We are presenting them here (in alphabetical order by surname).

Prof. Martin Christen

Teaching Python / using Python for research projects

Martin Christen is a professor of Geoinformatics and Computer Graphics at the Institute of Geomatics at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW). His main research interests are geospatial Virtual- and Augmented Reality, 3D geoinformation, and interactive 3D maps.
Martin is very active in the Python community. He teaches various Python-related courses and uses Python in most research projects. He organizes the PyBasel meetup - the local Python User Group Northwestern Switzerland. He also organizes the yearly GeoPython conference. He is a board member of the Python Software Verband e.V.

I would be glad to help with EuroPython, to be part of a great team that makes the next edition of EuroPython even better, wherever it will hosted.

Raquel Dou

Linguist / Python enthusiast

Raquel befriended Python in 2013, during her MSc in Evolution of Language and Cognition, where she used Python to model a simple communication system’s evolution over time. She runs a business providing language services and often uses Python to make her work and life easier and more fun.

She was an onsite volunteer in 2018 when EuroPython took place at her doorstep (Edinburgh), and has since been helping with preparations for the 2019 conference in the support and sponsor workgroups.

Anders Hammarquist

Pythonista / Consultant / Software architect

Anders brought Python to Open End (née Strakt), a Python software company
focusing on data organization, when we founded it in 2001. He has used
Python in various capacities since 1995.

He helped organize EuroPython 2004 and 2005, and has attended and given
talks at several EuroPythons since then. He has handled the Swedish financials of the EuroPython Society since 2016 and has served as board member since 2017.

Marc-André Lemburg

Pythonista / CEO / Consultant / Coach

Marc-Andre is the CEO and founder of eGenix.com, a Python-focused project and consulting company based in Germany. He has a degree in mathematics from the University of Düsseldorf. His work with and for Python started in 1994. He became Python Core Developer in 1997, designed and implemented the Unicode support in Python and continued to maintain the Python Unicode implementation for more than a decade. Marc-Andre is a founding member of the Python Software Foundation (PSF) and has served on the PSF Board several times.

In 2002, Marc-Andre was on the executive committee to run the first EuroPython conference in Charleroi, Belgium. He also co-organized the second EuroPython 2003 conference. Since then, he has attended every single EuroPython conference and continued being involved in the workings of the conference organization.

He was elected as board member of the EuroPython Society (EPS) in 2012 and enjoyed the last few years working with the EPS board members on steering the EuroPython conference to the new successful EuroPython Workgroup structures to sustain the continued growth, while maintaining the EuroPython spirit and fun aspect of the conference.

For the EuroPython 2017, 2018 and 2019 editions, Marc-Andre was chair of the EuroPython Society and ran lots of activities around the conference organization, e.g. managing the contracts and budget, helping with sponsors,  the website, setting up the conference app, writing blog posts and many other things that were needed to make EuroPython happen.

Going forward, he would like to intensify work on turning the EPS into an organization which aids the Python adoption in Europe not only by running the EuroPython conference, but also by help build organizer networks and provide financial help to other Python conferences in Europe.

Silvia Uberti

Sysadmin / IT Consultant

She is a Sysadmin with a degree in Network Security, really passionate about technology, traveling and her piano.  

She’s an advocate for women in STEM disciplines and supports inclusiveness of underrepresented people in tech communities.

She fell in love with Python and its warm community during PyCon Italia in 2014 and became a member of EuroPython Sponsor Workgroup in 2017.  
She enjoys a lot working in it and wants to help more!

What does the EPS Board do ?

The EPS board runs the day-to-day business of the EuroPython Society, including running the EuroPython conference events. It is allowed to enter contracts for the society and handle any issues that have not been otherwise regulated in the bylaws or by the General Assembly. Most business is handled by email on the board mailing list or the board’s Telegram group, board meetings are usually run as conference calls.

It is important to note that the EPS board is an active board, i.e. the board members are expected to put in a significant amount of time and effort towards the goals of the EPS and for running the EuroPython conference. This usually means at least 100-200h work over a period of one year, with most of this being needed in the last six months before the conference. Many board members put in even more work to make sure that the EuroPython conferences become a success.

Board members are generally expected to take on leadership roles within the EuroPython Workgroups.

Enjoy,
–
EuroPython Society

We would like to invite all EuroPython attendees and EuroPython Society (EPS) members to attend this year’s EPS General Assembly (GA), which we will run as in-person meeting at the upcoming EuroPython 2019, held in Basel, Switzerland from July 8 - 14.

Place of the General Assembly meeting:

We will meet on Thursday, July 11 2019, at 16:05 CEST in room Boston of the Congress Center Basel, Messeplatz 21, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.

There will be a short talk to invite volunteers to participate in organizing EuroPython 2019 in preparation for next year’s event at 15:30 CEST in the same room, right before the General Assembly. You may want to attend that talk as well. In this talk, we will present the EuroPython Workgroup Concept, we have been using successfully for the past years now.

General Assembly Agenda

The agenda contents for the assembly is defined by the EPS bylaws. We are planning to use the following structure:

• Opening of the meeting
• Selection of meeting chair, secretary and 2 checkers of the minutes
• Motion establishing the timeliness of the call to the meeting
• Presentation of the annual report and annual accounts by the board
• Presentation of the report of the auditor
• Discharge from liability for the board
• Presentation of a budget by the outgoing board.
• Acceptance of budget and decision on membership fees for the upcoming year
• Election of members of the board
• Election of chair of the board
• Election of one auditor and one replacement. The auditor does not have to be certified in any way and is normally selected among the members of the society.
• The optional election of a nomination committee for the next annual meeting of the General Assembly
• Propositions from the board, if any
  
• Motions from the members, if any
  
• Closing of the meeting

In an effort to reduce the time it takes to go through this long list, which is mandated by the bylaws, we will try to send as much information to the members mailing list before the GA, so that we can limit presentations to a minimum.

Election of the members of the board

The EPS bylaws limit the number of board members to one chair and 2 - 8 directors, at most 9 directors in total. Experience has shown that the board members are the most active organizers of the EuroPython conference, so we try to get as many board members as possible to spread the work load.

All members of the EPS are free to nominate or self nominate board members. Please write to board@europython-society.org no later than Thursday, July 4 2019, if you want to run for board. We will then include you in the list we’ll have in the final nomination announcement before the GA, which is scheduled for July 5.

The following people from the current board have already shown interest in running for board in the next term as well (in alphabetical order):

• Martin Christen
• Silvia Uberti
• Anders Hammarquist
• Marc-André Lemburg

We will post more detailed information about the candidates and any new nominations we receive in a separate blog post.

Propositions from the board

• None at the moment.
  

The bylaws allow for additional propositions to be announced up until 5 days before the GA, so the above list is not necessarily the final list.

Motions from the members

• None at the moment.
  

EPS members are entitled to suggest motions to be voted on at the GA. The bylaws require any such motions to be announced at least 5 days before the GA. If you would like to propose a motion, please send it to board@europython-society.org no later than Friday, July 4 2019, so we can announce the final list to everyone.

Enjoy,
–
EuroPython Society

europython:

We are pleased to announce the EuroPython 2019 schedule. We will again have more than 130 sessions in total, held by more than 130 speakers. 

Schedule for EuroPython 2019

Please note that the schedule may still change in details, but the overall layout is fixed now.

Book your EuroPython 2019 Ticket

Please make sure you book your ticket in the coming days. We will switch to late bird rates next week.

If you want to attend the training sessions, please buy a training pass in addition to your conference ticket, or get a combined ticket. We only have very few training seats left.

Travel & accommodation tips

Since we’re close the conference, Basel is in high demand. If you’re having problems finding a hotel, please also consider searching for apartments on the well known booking sites.

We have collected a number of recommendations for accommodation and travel to Basel on the EuroPython 2019 website. If you get a hotel or apartment in Basel, you will additionally get a BaselCard for your stay, which allows you to use public transport in Basel for free. Please see our accommodation page for details.

Enjoy,
–
EuroPython 2019 Team
https://ep209.europython.eu/  
https://www.europython-society.org/

europython:

As you may know, the EuroPython Society (EPS) has extended it’s mission to not only run the EuroPython conference, but also provide help for the Python community in Europe in general.

As part of this, we would like to get to know, and help create closer ties between organizers of other European Python events.

Organizers’ Lunch

We would like to invite representatives of all European Python conference to EuroPython 2019 to join us for an organizers’ lunch. We’re planing the lunch for Thursday or Friday. Details will be announced closer to the event.

Our aim is to get to know each other, exchange experience in organizing events and to find out how we, as EPS, can most effectively help other conferences going forward.

Free Tickets

To support and facilitate this, we are giving out one free conference ticket per conference team, so that each team can send a representative to the organizers’ lunch.

If your team wants to send someone to join, please write to board@europython.eu, mentioning the conference you’re organizing and some background on your team.

Enjoy,
–
EuroPython Society
https://ep2019.europython.eu/  
https://www.europython-society.org/

europython:

The EuroPython Society (EPS) does not only run the EuroPython conference, but also aims to provide help for the Python community in Europe in general.

Let’s all meet at EuroPython

In addition to the Python Organizers Lunch (see previous post), which focuses on conference organizers, we are also establishing a program to support attendees of Python user groups and conferences in Europe.

We’d like to invite all of you to EuroPython 2019 this year. Of course, we cannot give out free tickets to everyone, but we can at least recognize your participation in the Python community by giving out discounts for the conference.

Discounts for EuroPython Tickets

If you are running a Python event (conference or user group) in Europe, please reach out to board@europython.eu to request a coupon code for your group, which you can then pass on to your group members or attendees.

If you are not running a user group or conference, but a regular attendee of one, please contact your organizers to have them submit a request. We can only distribute codes at the user group and conference organizer level.

The coupon codes are valid for conference tickets bought starting today and will give you a 10% discount on the ticket price (both regular and late bird prices). The codes are setup for user group sizes of between 30-50 members, but we are also extending this to organizers and attendees of larger conferences. If you need a code valid for larger groups, please mention this in your email.

Enjoy,
–
EuroPython Society
https://ep2019.europython.eu/  
https://www.europython-society.org/

europython:

We are happy to announce a complete PyData track at EuroPython 2019:

PyData EuroPython 2019

The PyData track will be part of EuroPython 2019, so you won’t need to buy an extra ticket to attend. 

The PyData track is run in cooperation with NumFocus.

There are two full tracks featuring more than 30 talks and 4 trainings:

• 4 trainings on Monday and Tuesday (July 8-9)
• 34 talks on Wednesday and Thursday (July 10-11)
• no PyData talks on Friday (July 12)

The full program is available on our PyData EuroPython 2019 page.

If you’d like to attend PyData EuroPython 2019, please register for EuroPython 2019 soon.

Dates and Venues

EuroPython 2019 will be held from July 8-14 2019 in Basel, Switzerland, at the Congress Center Basel (CCB) for the main conference days (Wed-Fri) and the FHNW Muttenz for the workshops/trainings/sprints days (Mon-Tue, Sat-Sun).

Please see our website for more information.

Enjoy,
–
EuroPython 2019 Team
https://ep2019.europython.eu/
https://www.europython-society.org/ 

europython:

We are happy to announce the start of our financial aid program for this year’s EuroPython.

As part of our commitment to the Python community, we are pleased to announce that we offer special grants for people in need of a financial aid to attend EuroPython.

Financial Aid Sponsor for EuroPython 2019:

The EuroPython Society (EPS) is sponsoring financial aid with 15,000 EUR this year.

We offer financial aid conference grants in these 2 categories:

• Free ticket. Get a standard ticket for the conference for free (including access to conference days (Wed-Fri), Beginners’ Day workshop and sprints.). Note: training passes are NOT included in the free conference ticket.
  
• Travel / Accommodation. We will cover the travel costs pro rata, depending on what you are applying for. You can get partial refund for the accommodation.
  

Grant Eligibility

EuroPython is a wonderful place to meet and share your experience with other Python developers from Europe and all around the world. Our goal is support people which want to make Python community better: conference speakers and tutorial presenters, active people from small Python communities and open source contributors.

Our grants are open to all people in need of financial aid. We will specifically take into account the following criteria in the selection process:

• Contributors: potential speakers/trainers of EuroPython (people who submitted a proposal) and all who contribute to EuroPython and/or Python community projects.
  
• Economic factors: we want everybody to have a chance to come to EuroPython, regardless of economic situation or income level.
  
• Diversity: we seek the most diverse and inclusive event possible.
  

How to apply

Please see our financial aid page for all details:

https://ep2019.europython.eu/registration/financial-aid/

Become a Financial Aid Sponsor !

Even though the EPS is already sponsoring finaid, we can always use more budget to increase the number of people who can benefit from the program.

You or your company can support our diversity and finaid initiative by becoming a sponsor. We have a special options “Financial aid sponsor” and “Financial aid donation” in the list of sponsor options, that can be booked separately or be included in the sponsor package.

Please check our sponsor brochure for more information and contact finaid@europython.eu or the sponsor work group directly sponsoring@europython.eu.

Bring new sponsor and get free ticket for EuroPython 2019 !

Enjoy,
–
EuroPython 2019 Team
https://ep2019.europython.eu/
https://www.europython-society.org/ 

europython:

Our program work group (WG) has been working hard over the weekend to select the sessions for EuroPython 2019.

We’re now happy to announce the first batch with:

• 112 talks,
  
• 12 trainings,
  
• 6 posters,
• 1 interactive session and
  
• 5 helpdesks
  

brought to you by 129 speakers.

More advanced talks than in previous EuroPython editions

We are glad that the Python community has heard our call to submit more advanced talks this year. This will make EuroPython 2019 even more interesting than our previous edition.

Waiting List

Some talks are still in the waiting list. We will inform all speakers who have submitted talks about the selection status by email.

PyData EuroPython 2019

As in previous years, we will have lots of PyData talks and trainings:

• 4 trainings on Monday and Tuesday (July 8-9)
  
• 34 talks on Wednesday and Thursday (July 10-11)
  
• no PyData talks on Friday (July 12)

Full Schedule

The full schedule will be available early in June.

Training Tickets & Combined Tickets

If you want to attend the trainings offered on the training days (July 8-9), please head over to the registration page in the next couple of days. Sales are going strong and we only have 300 tickets available.

Combined tickets are new this year and allow attending both training and conference days with a single ticket.

Enjoy,
–
EuroPython 2019 Team
https://ep2019.europython.eu/
https://www.europython-society.org/