
So we are aiming to have a meeting the last Saturday of this month, the 26th. The idea of structuring the meeting around lightning talks seems to have legs, so let's try that. At ChiPy they seem to aim for 4 lightning talks per monthly meeting - let's see if we can line up 3 for this one!
You only have to spend 10 minutes talking about something you're working on, some technology you've been using, or anything Python-related that interests you.
Anyone?
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So, turns out I'll be in town. (though, the 26th is a Friday, so I'm assuming we're talking the 27th?)
I could give a quick talk on one of these things:
1. SQLAlchemy's "Expression language" layer (closer to SQL than ORM)
2. Overview of Pylons web development framework
3. Using WingIDE to code python (seems that most people are just using text editors... I like Wing, and can show why)
4. Using Mako to make "static" websites and why. (This should probably come after I show off Pylons)
5. Virtualenv. (if you're not using it, you probably should be. This might be more like 5m than 10m)
So, you guys can vote; otherwise, I'll just pick one as the week wraps up.
Has anyone been to PyCon this year? I'd love to see a "Best of Show" talk about what you saw there.
— Matt

Yeah, I did mean the 27th, good catch.
Matt, thanks for all these ideas - but unless we're going to demand 3 talks from you, it seems like this whole month has been pretty bad for people, and we should start planning for an April meeting, at a time when we can get a better turnout.
A couple of follow-on administrative type questions for everyone:
- right now we're trying to make sure that, before having a meeting, we have at least 3 people lined up to give short talks, and a reasonable expectation of good turnout. Do people like this, provided we can keep everyone in the loop via this list/Web608/Facebook, or would it suit people's needs better if, like before, we set a regular meeting schedule, and met come rain come shine - if no talks get lined up, it can be a social meeting. - speaking of Web608, as a third alternative, how would people feel about splitting social meetings from technical meetings?
--- On Sun, 3/21/10, Matt Feifarek matt.feifarek@gmail.com wrote:
From: Matt Feifarek matt.feifarek@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Madison] March Meeting Planning To: "Madison Python Users' Group" madison@python.org Received: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 3:48 PM
So, turns out I'll be in town. (though, the 26th is a Friday, so I'm assuming we're talking the 27th?) I could give a quick talk on one of these things: 1. SQLAlchemy's "Expression language" layer (closer to SQL than ORM)
2. Overview of Pylons web development framework 3. Using WingIDE to code python (seems that most people are just using text editors... I like Wing, and can show why)
4. Using Mako to make "static" websites and why. (This should probably come after I show off Pylons) 5. Virtualenv. (if you're not using it, you probably should be. This might be more like 5m than 10m)
So, you guys can vote; otherwise, I'll just pick one as the week wraps up. Has anyone been to PyCon this year? I'd love to see a "Best of Show" talk about what you saw there.
— Matt
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My vote goes to focusing on technical meetings. This may be a personality thing, but I don't like the idea of planning social gatherings. Seems like that should just grow out of meeting regularly.
Hey Matt, if you're itching to do a presentation, how about the next MadLUG? We're going to try out the lightning talks format there.
The next MadLUG is Sunday, April 4. Perhaps you could fire up a shell and show people how to setup a simple Pylons webapp?
Benet Devereux wrote:
Yeah, I did mean the 27th, good catch.
Matt, thanks for all these ideas - but unless we're going to demand 3 talks from you, it seems like this whole month has been pretty bad for people, and we should start planning for an April meeting, at a time when we can get a better turnout.
A couple of follow-on administrative type questions for everyone:
- right now we're trying to make sure that, before having a meeting, we
have at least 3 people lined up to give short talks, and a reasonable expectation of good turnout. Do people like this, provided we can keep everyone in the loop via this list/Web608/Facebook, or would it suit people's needs better if, like before, we set a regular meeting schedule, and met come rain come shine - if no talks get lined up, it can be a social meeting.
- speaking of Web608, as a third alternative, how would people feel
about splitting social meetings from technical meetings?
--- On *Sun, 3/21/10, Matt Feifarek /matt.feifarek@gmail.com/* wrote:
From: Matt Feifarek <matt.feifarek@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Madison] March Meeting Planning To: "Madison Python Users' Group" <madison@python.org> Received: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 3:48 PM So, turns out I'll be in town. (though, the 26th is a Friday, so I'm assuming we're talking the 27th?) I could give a quick talk on one of these things: 1. SQLAlchemy's "Expression language" layer (closer to SQL than ORM) 2. Overview of Pylons web development framework 3. Using WingIDE to code python (seems that most people are just using text editors... I like Wing, and can show why) 4. Using Mako to make "static" websites and why. (This should probably come after I show off Pylons) 5. Virtualenv. (if you're not using it, you probably should be. This might be more like 5m than 10m) So, you guys can vote; otherwise, I'll just pick one as the week wraps up. Has anyone been to PyCon this year? I'd love to see a "Best of Show" talk about what you saw there. — Matt

On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 2:25 PM, Benet Devereux benetd@yahoo.com wrote:
it seems like this whole month has been pretty bad for people, and we should start planning for an April meeting, at a time when we can get a better turnout.
Fair enough.
- right now we're trying to make sure that, before having a meeting, we
have at least 3 people lined up to give short talks, and a reasonable expectation of good turnout. Do people like this, provided we can keep everyone in the loop via this
I think 3 people / 3 talks is a little ambitious.
What if we do 2 talks and allow for Q&A and discussion afterwards; at most, each block being 30m (10-15 talk, 15-20 follow-up).
Of course there is a natural tension between ease of entry (5 minute lightning talks easier to prepare) and quantity. I would hope that 10-15m wouldn't be too much harder.
list/Web608/Facebook, or would it suit people's needs better if, like before, we set a regular meeting schedule, and met come rain come shine - if no talks get lined up, it can be a social
I'd defer to you others on this; I have so little experience with the group, I don't know what might be the reason for attendance, getting-the-word-out etc.
I think that the "social meetings" seems to be a natural extension of the technical meetings, but again, I'm new, so don't really know the patterns that you guys have established.

On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 5:32 PM, James Jolly jolly@cs.wisc.edu wrote:
Hey Matt, if you're itching to do a presentation, how about the next MadLUG? We're going to try out the lightning talks format there.
The next MadLUG is Sunday, April 4. Perhaps you could fire up a shell and show people how to setup a simple Pylons webapp?
I'm not "itching" per-se, I just wanted to contribute.
I haven't been to a LUG; I'd like to attend sometime.
April 4th seems to be Easter; maybe that's a problem for some people... not really for me. I may be able to do a Pylons demo; I'll get back to you.

On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 10:47 AM, Matt Feifarek matt.feifarek@gmail.com wrote:
On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 5:32 PM, James Jolly jolly@cs.wisc.edu wrote:
Hey Matt, if you're itching to do a presentation, how about the next MadLUG? We're going to try out the lightning talks format there.
The next MadLUG is Sunday, April 4. Perhaps you could fire up a shell and show people how to setup a simple Pylons webapp?
I'm not "itching" per-se, I just wanted to contribute. I haven't been to a LUG; I'd like to attend sometime. April 4th seems to be Easter; maybe that's a problem for some people... not really for me. I may be able to do a Pylons demo; I'll get back to you.
I think the MadLUG people would really like that. There has been a lot of Python talk lately, and so I'm sure it would be well-received. If you do decide to do it, just drop a message to the MadLUG list: madlug@madisonlinux.org
Thanks!
participants (4)
-
Benet Devereux
-
Christopher Wilson
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James Jolly
-
Matt Feifarek