[python-advocacy] OSCON: preliminary report

[Aahz]

Howdy,

I'm starting my new job tomorrow, and I don't know when I'll have a
chance to make a final report about the Python booth at OSCON.  So this
is the short version.

First I thank the other volunteers who helped staff the booth:

Brent Tubbs
Edward Cherlin
Casey Duncan
Anna Martelli Ravenscroft

Edward deserves a special mention for bringing a couple of his laptops,
including an OLPC XO.  They got a lot of attention.

It's hard to say whether the booth was a success on any kind of absolute
scale, but we seemed to get about as much traffic as most of the other
free booths.  I'm glad I chose to make a large three foot by six foot
banner (it was visible from the front door of the exhibit hall).  We got
a fair number of people who had never used Python asking questions; we
also got some people who were Python newbies wanting advice on improving
their knowledge and even some long-term Python users looking for expert
advice.

Overall, I think it was a good use of the PSF's money.
-- 
Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/

"Many customs in this life persist because they ease friction and promote
productivity as a result of universal agreement, and whether they are
precisely the optimal choices is much less important." --Henry Spencer