Press Information
Press Passes
PyCon 2010 welcomes editors, reporters, freelancers, webloggers, and broadcasters from interested media outlets. You may request a press pass and, if accepted, will receive a discount code that will provide free registration for PyCon. Reporters will have access to the three conference days (March 27-29 2010) and to the sprints (March 30 - April 2 2010).
To request a press pass or make any other press-related inquiry, please contact either of:
Speaker Interviews
Some PyCon speakers have been giving interviews on their upcoming talk subjects.
- MSDN Flash interviews Michael Foord on IronPython
- TheBitSource interviews Alex Gaynor on Real-Time Web Development
If you know of other current interviews by PyCon speakers, please let me know or post them here! If you would like to interview a PyCon speaker for your column or podcast, mail catherine.devlin@gmail.com.
Press Release #1
World's Largest Python Conference Comes to Atlanta
ATLANTA - December 18, 2009
The Django Pony made her sparkly public debut. The infamous Beards of PyCon were captured on film. Guido van Rossum announced the beginning of his gradual retirement as Python's Benevolent Dictator for life - then kidnapped the Django Pony. Backseat language drivers were threatened with the terribl(y silly) fate of being Van Lindberg'd.
PyCon 2009 drew nearly a thousand Python programmers from around the world, representing projects on all seven continents - including Antarctica! They gathered for serious learning, discussion, and strategizing... and for not-so-serious fun. PyCon 2010, the eighth annual conference of the Python programming community, promises even more on all counts: more talks, more education, more creativity; more work and more play.
Interest in PyCon is growing along with the use of the Python language itself. This year alone has seen a 50% increase in the number of talk proposals submitted by community members, and the organizers have added an unprecedented fifth track to the conference schedule. The conference will include 95 regular talks and panels, covering everything from language basics to deep-space astronomy to robotic submarines. PyCon also offers 32 half-day tutorials, Open Space sessions, special keynotes, Lightning Talks, development sprints, an exhibit hall, and a hands-on lab - countless opportunities for attendees to learn. This year, PyCon also introduces poster sessions for detailed, personal examination of a variety of topics with subject matter experts.
Python's growth has been partially driven by an explosion in new implementations of the language. The IronPython and Jython implementations make Python a perfect tool for .NET and Java environments, respectively, gaining full-scale use of those platforms' existing capabilities and libraries while retaining Python's ease, elegance, and dynamism. Other implementations, like Stackless and Google's Unladen-Swallow, focus on improving Python execution speed. Finally, the Pynie and PyPy implementations bring Python programs to all-new experimental execution environments. All these implementations will be examined in several PyCon talks and in PyCon's Python Language Summit and Virtual Machine Summit.
PyCon 2010 will take place February 17 to 25 at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference is organized and run by volunteer Python programmers; the users' perspective governs everything from talk selection to conference cost, making an exceptionally worthwhile conference. Registration is open now, and early-bird registration discounts apply through January 6.
About Python
Python is an open-source, dynamically typed, object-oriented programming language that can be used in nearly the entire range of technology applications. It offers an easy learning curve and access to a vast array of libraries. With implementations available for all common operating systems as well as the Java and .NET platforms, Python can be used on virtually any system in existence. Python's power and versatility have made it one of the world's most popular programming languages, currently ranked #7 in the TIOBE index. Like other open-source, dynamic languages, it offers rapid productivity and a vigorous developer community; at the same time, Python's clarity and reliability give confidence to enterprise users.
About PyCon
Presented by the Python Software Foundation and sponsored by Google, the world’s largest Python conference brings together a diverse group of developers, enthusiasts, and organizations to explore new challenges, launch new businesses and forge new connections within the Python community. PyCon provides attendees with the opportunity to delve into the dynamic programming language relied upon by institutions from MIT and NASA to Cisco and Walt Disney. PyCon helps people learn new tools and techniques, present their own projects, and meet other Python fans. Press passes to the conference are available for members of the press who would like to witness PyCon in person.
Press Release #2
PyCon 2010 Brings Speed Enhancement to Python 3
Python implementation developers cooperate at world's largest Python conference
Atlanta, GA - Feb. 10, 2010
Python 3 will zoom forward at PyCon 2010 with the incorporation of Unladen Swallow, a performance-boosting branch of Python initiated by engineers from Google. First made public at PyCon 2009, Unladen Swallow is already accelerating Python applications at several companies. Now the Unladen Swallow team plans to merge their code into Python 3's codebase, promising big speed improvements to Python 3 and a major new incentive for Python programmers to adopt the next-generation version of the Python language.
The growth of the Python language has brought about not just Unladen Swallow but a variety of other implementations of the Python language. Jython, Python's Java bytecode-generating implementation running on the Java Virtual Machine, released its version 2.5.1 in 2009. IronPython, the first-class CLR language for the .NET platform, released version 2.6. PyPy, the implementation of Python in Python, will release version 1.2 for PyCon. Leaders of all these Python implementations, plus Pynie, Stackless Python, the original CPython, and non-Python dynamic languages will gather at PyCon 2010's Virtual Machines Summit and Python Language Summit to coordinate their development and share ideas. PyCon wraps up with four days of development sprints, where these projects and others will join lead developers with ordinary attendees for intensive, cooperative coding that will push forward with the plans laid down at the PyCon summits. Python development efforts from around the world gather at PyCon, producing an unmatched opportunity for immersive learning.
PyCon's talk schedule includes a record-setting 95 talks in five tracks, describing the use of Python in everything from e-commerce to robotic submarines. PyCon 2009's talks were so popular that its videos have been downloaded over 250,000 times! PyCon 2010 also introduces an academic-style poster session and continues to feature Open Spaces, keynotes, Lightning Talks, Hands-On Lab, and the Exhibit Hall.
About Python
Python is an open-source, dynamically typed, object-oriented programming language that can be used in nearly the entire range of technology applications. It offers an easy learning curve and access to a vast array of libraries. With implementations available for all common operating systems as well as the Java and .NET platforms, Python can be used on virtually any system in existence. Python's power and versatility have made it one of the world's most popular programming languages, currently ranked #7 in the TIOBE index. Like other open-source, dynamic languages, it offers rapid productivity and a vigorous developer community; at the same time, Python's clarity and reliability give confidence to enterprise users.
About PyCon
Presented by the Python Software Foundation, the world's largest Python conference brings together a diverse group of developers, enthusiasts, and organizations to explore new challenges, launch new businesses and forge new connections within the Python community. PyCon provides attendees with the opportunity to delve into the dynamic programming language relied upon by institutions from MIT and NASA to Cisco and Walt Disney. PyCon helps people learn new tools and techniques, present their own projects, and meet other Python fans. PyCon 2010 is sponsored by twenty-one companies, including Google, CCP Games, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Net-ng, Socialserve.com, ActiveState, White Oak Technologies, Canonical, Microsoft, Sauce Labs, Rackspace, ESRI, and Oracle. Press passes to the conference are available for members of the press who would like to witness PyCon in person.
Media Contact
See PyCon 2010 press releases at http://us.pycon.org/2010/about/press/
Press Release #3
Shuttleworth, Rodriguez Keynote at PyCon 2010
World's Largest Python Conference Opens
ATLANTA, GA - Feb. 17, 2010
Mark Shuttleworth and Antonio Rodriguez keynote at PyCon 2010, the world's largest conference of the Python programming community. Over 1,000 Python programmers are gathering now at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta for eight days of intensive education, cooperation, and networking.
Mark Shuttleworth is the founder of the Ubuntu Project, which produces a Linux distribution enormously popular among software developers and end users alike for its utility and ease of use. The Ubuntu Project is often cited as an example of a well-run cooperative programming effort; it relies heavily on highly-readable Python programs which make collaboration between developers easy. Many Python programmers, in turn, benefit from the powerful, no-fuss Linux development platform provided by Ubuntu. Shuttleworth is also famous for founding the digital security company Thawte and for his 2002 mission to the International Space Station.
Antonio Rodriguez is the founder of the photo-sharing company Tabblo and has been CTO of HP's consumer imaging and printing business. Rodriguez has been a dedicated Python programmer since 2001 with a particular interest in collaborative iterative development and symbiotic relationships between hackers and users, makers and customers.
Every year, PyCon is the catalyst for ongoing development of the Python ecosystem. Key developers of all Python implementations and important Python-based software meet at PyCon's summit meetings, development sprints, and Open Spaces. PyCon is also the community's most important educational event of the year - recorded talks from PyCon 2009 have been downloaded and viewed over 250,000 times! PyCon creates an environment of continuous, intensive meeting and learning, including intensive half-day tutorials, Open Space events, Lightning Talks, a poster session, hands-on lab, exhibit hall, and countless informal meetings in and around the conference.
About Python
Python is an open-source, dynamically typed, object-oriented programming language that can be used in nearly the entire range of technology applications. It offers an easy learning curve and access to a vast array of libraries. With implementations available for all common operating systems as well as the Java and .NET platforms, Python can be used on virtually any system in existence. Python's power and versatility have made it one of the world's most popular programming languages, currently ranked #7 in the TIOBE index. Like other open-source, dynamic languages, it offers rapid productivity and a vigorous developer community; at the same time, Python's clarity and reliability give confidence to enterprise users.
About PyCon
Presented by the Python Software Foundation, the world's largest Python conference brings together a diverse group of developers, enthusiasts, and organizations to explore new challenges, launch new businesses and forge new connections within the Python community. PyCon provides attendees with the opportunity to delve into the dynamic programming language relied upon by institutions from MIT and NASA to Cisco and Walt Disney. PyCon helps people learn new tools and techniques, present their own projects, and meet other Python fans. PyCon 2010 is sponsored by twenty-one companies, including Google, CCP Games, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Net-ng, Socialserve.com, ActiveState, White Oak Technologies, Canonical, Microsoft, Sauce Labs, Rackspace, ESRI, and Oracle. Press passes to the conference are available for members of the press who would like to witness PyCon in person.
Media Contact
See PyCon 2010 press releases at http://us.pycon.org/2010/about/press/
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