Open Spaces

Open Spaces are self-organizing one-hour meetup-like events which happen in parallel with the main conference. They are held in meeting rooms within the PyCon US convention center. There are actually more hours of Open Spaces than there are of talks! While most of the conference is planned months in advance, Open Spaces are created "just in time" by PyCon US attendees during the conference. Open Spaces let you self-gather, self-define, and self-organize any way you like.

One way to keep up-to-date on the latest Open Spaces schedule is to bookmark the Open Spaces board image URL: http://pycon.us/os. During the conference, the URL will display an image of the Open Spaces board, updated throughout the day by PyCon US staff and volunteers.

How do I participate in an Open Space?

It's pretty easy: Just show up :)

During PyCon US, there will be Open Spaces boards across from the Staff Office (Room 150ABC). The boards act as a time table for all the Open Spaces, so you know where and when to go for the Open Spaces you're interested in. If a topic is not listed yet, find an open time slot and add it!

What Open Spaces are there?

There are Open Spaces on many subjects a bunch of PyCon US attendees would like to discuss. Since the PyCon US attendees are a diverse bunch, so are the Open Spaces. In past years, we've had a mani/pedi party, a feminist hacking space, an AcroYoga space, and a board games room. There's also plenty of the usual suspects of technical subjects, from computer security to your favorite Python project to professional occupations like DevOps.

Where and when are the Open Spaces?

The Open Spaces are in a set of of dedicated rooms during all three of the conference days (Friday, April 29, Saturday, April 30, and Sunday May 1). Some rooms may be needed for other events during portions of some days; please consult the Open Spaces boards for the final word on what's going on where.

How do I host an Open Space?

For PyCon US 2022, we will be using blank Open Space sticky cards that will be available near the boards. Just fill in the name and a short description of your Open Space, and then stick or pin your card on the Open Space board in the room and time slot you want. It’s also a great idea to add your Twitter handle to the card in case anyone interested in attending your Open Space has a question or would like to contact you about it. In order to promote your Open Space we encourage you to tweet about it and use the hashtag #PyConOpenSpace to make sure people see your tweets.

Ideas for Open Spaces

Here are a few ideas for potential Open Space topics and activities:

  • Hacker space (maker projects) that use Python (e.g. in Raspbery Pis, iOT, home automation, robots / drones / blimps autopiloted with Python)
  • Hacking/networking/devops
  • Data visualization/science
  • Natural language processing and generation (e.g. chatbots)
  • Quantified Self
  • Diversity initiatives, for example a feminist hackerspace
  • A space for organizers - of conferences, workshops, diversity initiatives (Django Girls, PyLadies, etc.)
  • Framework specific Open Spaces, for example, Django or Flask
  • How to contribute to open source - a help / mentoring group for beginners
  • Git
  • Support - how to avoid burnout
  • Recruitment workshops

If there's a certain Open Space you'd love to see at PyCon but you don't want to host it yourself, please add it to our list and maybe someone else will take up the topic and host an Open Space about it.

Planned Open Spaces

If you have an idea for an Open Space, and a day and time when you want to meet, please email us and we will list it here on this page. Please note that you will still have to add a card to the Open Spaces boards at PyCon US to officially book a time slot for your Open Space.

Planned Open Spaces so far:

  • April 29, Room 250DE from 7pm - 8pm: Open Teams Incubator will focus on entrepreneurship, connecting those interested in learning about starting their own Python company, investing in a start-up and more.

Email us with your idea!