Presentation about how Python Ireland started, who we are, how we got to where we are today, the events we hold including PyCon Ireland and how we integrate with other user groups in Ireland.

1. Python Ireland
How we got here?
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2. 2004
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First meet up. Was quite successful but the group took a break for Christmas and never met
up again after the new year.

3. 2005
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Sean O’Donnell (@seanodonnell) started up meet up again. He was pretty much sitting on his
own nursing a pint of Guinness in the pub for a couple of months, he felt pretty sad about it
all until my husband, Michael, and a couple of others turned up. I also joined soon after and
there was a core six of us meeting up every month. I ended up taking over organising the
monthly event.

4. Since then...
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5. Website revamped a few times
after moving away from wiki
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6. Meet on 2nd Wed each month
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7. Events
• Small unconferences
• Pub meetups
• Talks
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It was hard to drum up new joiners, there wasn't as many tech meet up groups as there are
now in Dublin. Back then, there were ILUG, PHP UG.
Even with talks organised in city centre universities like Trinity College, we manage to double
our numbers.
Over the years, we held many events, two smalls unconferences, and many successful pub
meet ups and talk sessions. Numbers have steadily increased from a trickle to between
20-30 people turning up on a monthly basis. I was told by Steve Holden (PSF chair) that we
were the largest active Python meet up group in 2010.

8. Squee
• In 2010 - Python Ireland was one of the
largest active Python user group outside of
Seattle*
*Chat with Steve Holden at PyCon Ireland 2010
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We were lucky to have Steve Holden over to Ireland for a special event last year, it was our
very first PyCon Ireland event in Dublin. The idea of the conference was borne out of a
drinking session of a few of us (I don't drink though) at a pub in February and they thought it
would be a great idea to host our conference in July! With no sponsor contacts, no idea what
to do with venues, speakers, ticket prices, etc., we still went ahead with the plan. And it paid
off. The future plan was to gain enough experience to host EuroPython in Ireland.

9. Thursday, 26 January 12

10. Thumbs up to PyCon UK
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So big thumbs up to PyCon UK (host of EuroPython in Birmingham) who inspired and
supported us in having our own conference.

11. Thursday, 26 January 12
PyCon Ireland 2010 was successful (expected 40-70 persons) and we ended up with 98
delegates (max we could fit was 100 people physically), which surprised me and the
organisers.

12. Thursday, 26 January 12
We hosted another PyCon Ireland in October, we had around 130 delegates (approx. 25 no
shows).

13. PyCon Ireland 2012?
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14. PyCon Ireland 2012
YES! 13th - 14th October
(same venue)
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We will be hosting another PyCon Ireland in 13-14th October 2012 at the same venue in
Dublin.

15. Other cities
• Galway
http://091labs.com/tag/galway-python/
• Cork
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cork-
Python-Meetups/190784927629789
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16. Other communities
Ruby Ireland Coder Dojo Defuse Dublin
X-Cake Dublin
Open Coffee Dublin
ILUG
Dublin Javascript
And many more...!
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There are many other active user groups and events now in Dublin

17. Reaching out
• Code Retreats
• Joint Python and Ruby Ireland talks
• Invited RabbitMQ speaker
• Xmas Techie table quizes
• Code Beers
• Dublin Game Craft (dublingamecraft.com)
• Science Gallery Ambassador / Hack the City /
OpenData
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From 2010's conference feedback, people asked why we didn't integrate with other user
groups in Dublin (& Ireland). So I extended my organising of events to other user groups
which now included past successful events like
- Code Retreat (3 so far - url)
- Christmas Techie Table Quizes for charity
- Joint Ruby Ireland and Python Ireland talks
- Invited RabbitMQ speaker
And invited to participate/point of contact for:
- Python Ireland Ambassador (Science Gallery)
- Hack the City (Dublin City of Science 2012)
- Irish governments Open Data Initiative
Future events:
- Dublin Game Craft
- Science hackday
- Code Beers
- Python Coding nights

18. Idea Magazine
readidea.com
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We even have our own Irish tech magazine which just launched in early Dec - readidea.com

19. Pro-tips
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20. Same day for meetup
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21. DON’T ever take a
break!
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22. @whykay
whykay@gmail.com
Q &A
Thanks for listening.
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23. References
• Python Ireland - http://python.ie
• PyCon Ireland - http://python.ie/pycon
• PyCon Ireland photos -
http://www.flickr.com/groups/pyconireland/
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