PyCon AU is going online!

“Physical distancing… is absolutely essential, but it doesn’t mean that socially, we have to disconnect. …We want people to still remain connected, so find ways to do that, find ways through the internet and social media to remain connected, because your mental health going through this is just as important as your physical health.”

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove

Infectious disease epidemiologist and WHO COVID-19 technical lead

Hi folks.

As you might have guessed, PyCon AU will not be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre this August. Instead, we’re going to be holding PyConline AU which will be, as the name suggests, an online event.

PyCon AU is two things. It is an excellent, high quality educational event that brings Pythonistas together to teach and learn from each other, but it is also an important social event where genuine and valuable friendships are made and strengthened. The team and I are going to spend the next few months doing as much as we can to bring both of those facets to an online event. We’re still discussing ideas for exactly how, but it’s really important to us that PyConline is more than just a really long webinar.

This is also going to be a difficult and unpredictable few months for all of us. But an online event gives us a lot more flexibility compared to an in person event. Whether you’re presenting, running a track, or on the core team, one thing we absolutely do not want is for you to feel like you’re letting the team down, simply because you need to look after yourself or those you love. So we’re going to use that flexibility to structure the event so that whatever your role, whenever you need to, you can do what you need, and the show will go on.

I also want to thank the core team for being awesome, the PyCon AU Steering Committee and Linux Australia Council for having our backs, the Adelaide Convention Centre for being great to work with in a difficult time, and Buildkite for sponsoring PyCon AU 2020 early and sticking with us for PyConline AU.

To end on a positive note, I want to tell you about the things that are coming up next!

• We haven’t forgotten about specialist tracks! There were some awesome proposals, and we’re really looking forward to sharing with you the ones that we selected.
• We’ll hold our call for proposals soon! To find out when that happens, follow us on Twitter or Facebook, or sign up to our mailing list:
  Sign up
• We’ll also release a PyConline sponsorship prospectus! When we do we’ll let you know on the above channels, but you can also email us at sponsorship@pycon.org.au to express interest, or even to start sorting out a custom sponsorship package just for you!

Stay safe,
Leigh Brenecki
she/her or they/them
Conference Director
PyConline AU 2020