PyConES22, more than a conference

For APSL, going to PyConES, the annual conference promoted by Python Spain, is a special event. We have been present in all face-to-face editions as sponsors and, above all, as attendees.

We go to PyConES to enjoy the presentations and the community, to meet friends and acquaintances. Also, and how could it be otherwise, to be in a different environment with the people we work with every day.

As we are a remote first company, PyConES has also become an opportunity to see each other in person and exchange impressions. To get to know in the flesh the people with whom we interact on a daily basis. People don't look that tall when they're sitting down, I can tell you.

For this edition of PyConES, 28 people travelled with us to Granada for three days. We gave three talks, one sponsored and two more that were selected by the organisation. Bringing together so many people from different parts of Spanish geography is not easy and, as usual, there were plenty of anecdotes about the trip.

We had scheduled the departure from Palma of the main group, which had to meet the group from Valencia and the one from Ibiza. Another group was going directly from Barcelona and another from Madrid, with the scheduled departure hours later. The storms that day ensured that the adventure had its moments. There were delays in Ibiza and Valencia, which were going to prevent our colleagues from arriving, but the storm in Mallorca also played its part and that flight was delayed. To make things worse in Barcelona they told us that the bus that was taking our people to the airport had suffered a puncture, while in Madrid there was also a delay but it was not clear how much.

There followed an exertion of nervous energy coordinating all the people, to bring a happy ending, and so it was, the entire group arrived in Granada with barely ten minutes difference. Then without incident to the bus and the hotel.

Some of us went to the Django Girls event and others went on a tourist tour of Granada that our colleague Jesús, from Granada and well acquainted with the city, had prepared. Sightseeing and tapas, which we joined after the Django Girls workshop had finished.

Python Community

On Saturday "we set up our table" (like this, with quotes) at the conference. Our stand is somewhat atypical: it serves as a meeting point to meet the group and also for friends and acquaintances to locate us, but we really don't think about it at all. In the previous face-to-face PyConES, which was held in Alicante in 2019, when the organisation needed hands to moderate the talks, we left the stand and began to help. First things first.

On the table, we had stickers, pens, and ~~anti-stress~~ balls for the muscles of the hands, which we distributed until they ran out. We weren't sure if the pens, complete with screwdriver, would make it through airport security, but there were no problems and we were able to distribute them to people who hadn't found them in the conference goodie bag.

We attended numerous talks and gave our own, on reusable Django applications, time series forecasting with XGBoost, and programming project management (we do hope you liked them).

This was the tenth PyConES in Granada. Organising an event like this for so many people is a great challenge and I think they passed with flying colours. There were some minor logistical problems however they did not detract from the conference.

Everyone really wanted to be in this PyConES. We had come from two years of drought doing the virtual conference, and the need to meet again as a community was noticeable. The great work of the organisation helped everyone go home wanting more.

In our case, it is especially true. We had to leave the conference on Sunday at noon, as the number of flights to Mallorca from Granada is very limited. We would have liked to be at the conferences in the afternoon and the closing, but sometimes we have to settle for what can be and not what we would like.

We hope to be at PyConES23, visit Tenerife and meet again with the entire Python community. See you in a few months!