[python-advocacy] lunch with a manager

[Jeff Rush]

Carl Karsten wrote:
> I was having lunch with the owner of a 20 employee company (so like a manager..) 
> and the topic of programing languages came up.  "I hear python is good.  Why 
> should I send the 6 people who do some programming (currently Informix and php) 
> to Python training?"  So now I needed to justify it, which this time wasn't too 
> hard, given the relation I had with this guy.  weather it happens or not is to 
> be seen, cuz there are other factors (none of the 6 are just programmers, they 
> manage servers, ship equipment, talk to clients, spec out 30 page equipment 
> lists, etc.)  so I can understand if the 'tech manager' nixes the idea.
> 
> But it got me thinking, "how can this be optimized?"  What if I had just met 
> this guy, and only had 5 minutes to "sell him"?    That isn't enough time to 
> "land the fish" but it is enough to "set the hook."
> 
> I looked over python.org from the viewpoint of someone who wasn't sold on 
> python, but was interested.
> 
> http://www.python.org/about is pretty good, but I think it may be a good idea to 
>   distill it into a 2nd page that is higher level - that caters to an audience 
> that would stop reading when they hit "strong introspection capabilities" (2nd 
> bullet of p.o/about)
> 
> I am thinking maybe a new URL, like whyPython.org, that I can put on a business 
> card, or scribbled on a napkin.  The content would be limited to answering that 
> question. It could have different sections targeting different audiences.  Once 
> someone was 'sold' they would never hit this site again.

Hi Carl.  This idea has recurred before.  I'd been developing something like 
what you want, a new site targeted at those considering Python, can provides a 
way for visitors to get a targeted message for their circumstances.  It's set 
up at http://advocacy.python.org.  However, the concensus among the PSF, for 
the next six months, is to stop development on that site and focus on the user 
groups and not the IT managers.

See my next email for a proposed task list for the next six months.

-Jeff