Attendee Notes
Please list changes or additions to these notes on the Python wiki.
Also see the Overview of Events.
Contents
Feedback
We need your feedback! Please fill out a conference feedback form and (as appropriate) tutorial feedback forms. Your feedback helps to improve PyCon.
We also have a short employment opportunities and sponsor feedback survey. If you're looking for info from sponsors or a new job, this is a simple way to get started.
Help Needed
We need on-site help for registration & session chairs. Wednesday and Thursday evening, we'll have pizza for volunteers!
Update: Bag stuffing is done, thanks everybody! Power strip taping will be done by the A/V crew (paid), early Thursday morning before the tutorials.
Badge Pickup & Registration
There are going to be a lot of people this year, so try to get to the registration desk early. It's open from 7:30 AM on Thursday & Friday. It will be open Thursday afternoon & evening too, and possibly Wednesday evening as well.
Time Change
In most of the US & Canada on March 9 the clocks changed to Daylight Savings Time. This means that Chicago is now UTC-05:00.
Chicago Weather
If you are planning to venture outdoors, bring layers so that you can de-layer when you get too warm. E.g. T-shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweater, jacket.
If it is ridiculously cold out, long silk underwear is nice to have beneath pants and shirts. This is probably more than people will need if it's near to above freezing.
During the conference, we recommend a light sweater for the tutorials and talks as well; hotels often keep the temperature lower than some people like it.
The Elegant Stitches booth will have Python sweatshirts for sale!
Hotel Amenities
The hotel has an indoor pool and a health center with exercise equipment.
Network
SSIDs (wireless network names):
- PyCON_G (for older machines, 802.11b/g, wireless-B & -G)
- PyCON_A (for newer machines, 802.11a, wireless-A)
The following is in dispute:
If you stay at the Crowne, you can get complimentary wireless by signing up for the "Priority Club" (which is free.) Otherwise, access in your room is $13/day. There is no complimentary wireless access in the lobby.
Update: The Crowne Plaza hotel no longer offers free wireless access to Priority Club members; that service has been discontinued. I confirmed this with the front desk upon arrival. According to the front desk, wireless access has been set up with the hotel for "our group"; I suppose that should be up on the Attendee Notes, unless the front desk was thinking of another group?
Use the wireless from the ballrooms or in the lower level (tutorial, open space, sprint rooms). We have a LOT more bandwidth anyhow.
Meals Served
Expect the following catering:
- Thursday March 13 (Tutorial Day):
- morning, afternoon, and evening breaks
- lunch and dinner
- Friday March 14 - Sunday March 16 (Conference Days):
- continental breakfast
- morning & afternoon breaks
- lunch
- Monday March 17 - Thursday March 20 (Development Sprints):
- lunch buffets
Sprints
We're hoping for more participation in the development sprints than ever. Please join in!
Hotel Shuttle from O'Hare
For attendees arriving at O'Hare, the hotel told me that one should use the "center exit 2" presumably from baggage claim, for ground transportation. Follow the arrows for Hotel Shuttles, to the building with the red awning, across from the Hilton. Look for a red Crown Plaza shuttle. It runs every 15 minutes morning to evening, every 30 minutes overnight.
The Crown Plaza phone number is 847/671-6350.
Hotel Parking and Driving Notes
The hotel's parking lot is run by a third party, and costs $18/day, even for guests staying at the hotel. The Rosemont Village parking garage is next door, and charges $11/day.
It's always a good idea to bring your car insurance certificate with you. In Illinois you may be required to provide it if pulled over.
Don't forget toll cash! In Illinois cash tolls are twice as expensive as tolls paid electronically via I-Pass or EZ-Pass transponders. The main interstates converging on the hotel from the north and south (I-294) and northwest (I-90) are toll roads. I-90 from Chicago is not a toll road.
Sponsors and Vendors
We have a ballroom and a lounge full of sponsors & vendors. Our vendors will be selling Python-related merchandise and many of our sponsors will be hiring. If you're in the job market, bring business cards & résumés. Come prepared!
Messages from our vendors:
- Come visit WearPython (a division of Elegant Stitches) in the Python Lounge in the Atrium. This year you'll be pleased to see new styles, including Pocketed Polos and a new T-shirt design. After the conference, visit www.wearpython.com for all your Python wearables and accessories.
- O'Reilly Publishing will be selling technical books for the discriminating Pythonista.
- Come visit Booth #213 and browse through book resources for Python programmers from Addison-Wesley/Prentice Hall/Sams. All titles are available for a limited time at 30% off their list price at www.informit.com/pycon2008.
Messages from our sponsors:
- White Oak Technologies, Inc. (WOTI) is proud to be a Diamond Sponsor of PyCon. Stop by our booth in the Exhibition Hall on Friday or Saturday with a copy of your resume and receive a complimentary copy of, “Mind Performance Hacks, Tips and Tools for Overclocking Your Brain.”
- Imaginary Landscape will be offering free Web site analyses at the conference as well as free Dr. Pepper and Tab. You can sign up for an analysis and get your caffeine fix at Booth 105.
- Leapfrog Online welcomes PyCon 2008 to our hometown of Chicago. Visit us at our booth (#106) to talk with some of our developers - two of whom are presenting at PyCon (Kumar McMillan and Jason Pellerin) - and to drop off your entry form to win a Wii.
Something Missing?
Please list changes or additions to these notes on the Python wiki.
If you notice that something is missing from PyCon, or if you have a great idea, please step forward and get to work on it! If you don't, who will?
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Social Software
The organizers have set up events for PyCon on several social-networking sites: