[Chicago] Survey Results from Q1

Amber Doctor amberdoctor at gmail.com
Sun Mar 2 06:57:37 CET 2014


Hi everyone,

I want to make ChiPy a better place and I thought that I could help do that
by volunteering to be a point person for community outreach (something I've
heard a few requests for).  As a starter point, I had assembled the survey
Brian Ray sent out and I'd like to share the results with you.  The
organizers of ChiPy can't take action on everything in the survey but I
encourage the community to see if there are things here that you can do to
help make ChiPy better.

Thanks you to everyone who participated in the summary.

The results are in and I've summarized the information we received below.
 I've tried my best to represent the good as well as the areas that we can
strive to be better at without including anything that might be personally
identifiable.

Here goes!

*What best describes your interest in Python?*
(% totals are greater than 100% as multiple answers were possible per
person)

 Web Programming
 70.89%
Database Operations / Information Retrieval
53.16%
System Admin
43.04%
Scientific Computing
39.24%
Hobby
32.91%
Computer Science
31.65%
Desktop applications
20.25%
Mobile applications
20.25%
Academic
20.25%
Robotics
11.39%
QA
11.39%
Games
8.86%


*How many times have you attended ChiPy?*

0
 8.64%
1-10
53.09%
10-24
24.69%
more than 24
13.58%


*Rate the Venues*

Overall each of the venues got a few votes for being people's favorite
although a handful of the venues got a few extra beyond that.

Out of respect to the companies that were gracious enough to host, I'm
omitting more details than this of people's favorite and least favorite
venues.


*Rate the Following*
*(out of 5)*
Presentations  3.72
Locations        3.91
Organization   3.68
Food               3.67
Community      4.18
Discussion      3.92


*What changes do you think would improve ChiPy?*

Keeping Free
 55.71%
More Diversity
34.29%
More Networking
31.43%
More Talks
30%
Better Planing
20%
More small group discussion
20%
More informal
17.14%
More Sponsors
15.71%
Different Meeting Time
14.29%
More use of social media
14.29%
Better Food
12.86%
Fewer Head Hunters
11.43%
New Venues
11.43%
Better Website
10%
No RSVP required
7.14%
Shorter Meetings
7.14%
Fewer Job Seekers
4.29%
Less Talks
4.29%
Smaller groups
2.86%
More Formal
1.43%
Adding Dues
1.43%
Fewer Sponsors
1.43%
Less Introductions from Organizers
0%

*Comments Provided with Other Check-box:*
Alternate Community Engagement (beyond a meeting with talks and a mailing
list) 8.58%
Some presentations could use more polish 7.14%
More Shorter Talks (or enforce time limits?) 2.86%
Increase the number of times we meet 2.86%
Need a code of conduct  1.43%
More meetings with a theme 1.43%
Better Beer  1.43%


*Please describe what would cause you to attend more ChiPy meetings? &
Other comments*

A lot of comments saying nothing to improve and/or great job.  A bunch more
comments thanking those people who volunteer their time to ChiPy to do
organization, record talks, support the website, etc.  While this might be
a small portion of the summary, *at least half of the "other comments" were
a resounding thumbs up to ChiPy.  *

For improvements we have suggestions grouped by category.  Popular replies
are marked.

*Talks:*
Avenue for suggesting talk topics (popular) Some specifics:
    Science (really popular)
    More relevant to my work*
    Things I need to learn*
    Python for Sys Admin
*    *Not everyone one specified what was relevant to them when saying more
relevant, please help in the future by being more specific and tell us
exactly what areas are relevant :) *

Better preparation on the talks (super popular)

A few more beginner level talks -- at least 1 per meeting?

Bring in High Profile Speakers


*Timing/Location:*
The timing and location suggestions were incredibly varied more often than
not we got an "it's me, not you" kind of answer. (popular)

Most of the rest of the comments directly conflicted with each other and
were relatively equally represented.  For example a tie in start earlier vs
start later suggestions.  Another example: Meetings outside the loop are an
issue VS Please have more meetings outside in the loop in the X (pick
north/south/west) direction.

In the non-conflicting categories people agree that the weather should be
friendlier to us and that parking could be more readily available (or
cheaper).

We had a mention that people felt like they would be more interested in
coming if they could step out early.
*****I just wanted to address this one right now:  You Can Step Out Early.
 Come late, leave early, or whatever works for your schedule.  We just love
having you out for whatever portion of the night that you can make it.*

Some of the venues feel too crowded


*Format:*
Alternate Kinds of Events (popular)
More chatting with peers between talks  (both time and promotion of
mingling)


*Diversity:*
Diversity can be tricky to accomplish but it's worth looking into (popular)

One of the venues locked the women's restroom - we need to be more careful
about that

It can feel hard at meetings when you are new to engage talking to other
people
*****I'd also like to address this one right now.  My name is Amber.  I'm
fairly friendly, often at the meetings, and would love to meet you. I'll
often get caught up in conversations at meetings so I don't make the rounds
as much as I'd like; so just walk up and wave at me even if I'm talking to
other people.   I've typically got hair sticks (also sometimes called chop
sticks) in my hair so I'm pretty easy to spot. This might not be sufficient
to address all of the concerns people have expressed with Diversity and
engaging new members but it's something I can offer personally.  I'd love
to see others on the list who have similar concerns volunteer similarly.  *

Corrections on pronouncing ChiPy is off putting.

It's uncomfortable when people treat ChiPy as a place to pick up a date.

*News & Announcements:*
Event announcements get lost in the list: A specific subscription list
dedicated to meeting and event announcements
Google Calendar of Events to subscribe to could be good
The recent activity on the ChiPy mailing list detracts from the generally
positive community vibe
Less politics on the mailing list


*Food & Drink:*
Better Beer
Foods to accommodate various dietary restrictions
Have Hard Liquor
Sparkling Water
Sometimes venues run out


*Organization:*
Put a code of conduct in place
Have an easier way to find other members (LinkedIn profiles, Git repos, etc)
Have a treasurer
Have a group to hare overseeing organization


*Is there anything else we could be doing to promote ChiPy and/or Python in
Chicago?*
Reach out to Universities and Schools (really popular)
Coordinate with other groups (popular)
Greater variety of activities (popular)
Python Flash Mob!!!
Stickers
ChiPy at conference booths/trade fairs
New Members Meeting
Charity Hackathon
Point of Contact for group outreach
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