[Chicago] First time Pycon questions

[Feihong Hsu]

My responses are below.

--- Scott Nelson <sirgnip at gmail.com> wrote:

> Greets...
> 
> I've lurked on ChiPy for awhile and am breaking my radio silence to
> ask a question about PyCon08.  I'm thinking of attending this year
> and
> one of the things I want to do is learn how Python is being used in
> the Chicago area.  So, concrete questions:
> 
> #1 - Tips for meeting ChiPy people at ChiPy, in addition to
> BeerBoF?

I was in a similar position last year, where I didn't really know
anyone before the conference, but I quickly found out that ChiPy
people are really friendly. Besides  BeerBoF, I would just recommend
reshuffling your schedule to come to meetings on a regular basis.
It's a 3-hour round-trip to Chicago for me, but I think it's totally
worth it.

> #2 - Where do the informal, hanging out kinda things happen at
> PyCon?
> Lightning Talks?  Open Space?  lunch?  hallway?

During the lunch break, after the lightning talks, Birds of a Feather
events, etc.

> #3 - I remember reading somewhere that there is going to be a ChiPy
> meeting the Thursday of PyCon?  Will this be at the Crowne Plaza?

I don't know any details, but since I will be there on Thursday for
the tutorials, I'll definitely show up for it. Just stay tuned to the
mailing list, I guess.

> #4 - The site mentions that people are hiring on the expo floor. 
> Can
> someone give me an idea of the scope of this?  Is it just Google
> and
> MS?  Or, are there more?

People who are recruiting are not shy about advertising about it.
It's not just big companies, it's also random dudes handing out
business cards. Just keep your eyes and ears open. Especially catch
all the lightning talks, because all the sponsors are entitled to a
lightning talk, and presenters usually mention whether their company
is hiring or not.

> I'm askin' these questions because I've never been to PyCon and not
> sure what to expect and I'm thinking about a career change (closer
> to
> Python, edging away from c++) and figured PyCon would be a great
> way
> to do some initial research.
> 
> Thanks for any tidbits you can throw my way...
> 
> -Scott
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