From kyutie_christian at yahoo.com  Sat May 23 09:26:58 2009
From: kyutie_christian at yahoo.com (Michelle Cayabyab)
Date: Sat, 23 May 2009 15:26:58 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: [Conferences] python
Message-ID: <318370.48529.qm@web76705.mail.sg1.yahoo.com>

good afternoon!
i just want to ask a big help (for me, it's big!) with regards to python..i am really a new one in this language.
i am using a MySQL for my database and trying to research on the connection string, i learned that i have to use or create host, user and password...but when i am using the connection i searched, which is _mysql.connect(host='localhost', user='python', passwd='python', db='python'), it returns an error sayong that, cannot connect python @ localhost...what am i supposed to do? what's the problem here?

thanks for any replies...it will be highly appreciated...it is very urgent!!!!

thanks again!


      Yahoo! Mail Now Faster and Cleaner. Experience it at http://ph.mail.yahoo.com  today!
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From ttkk1024 at qq.com  Sat May 23 09:38:34 2009
From: ttkk1024 at qq.com (=?gbk?B?dHRrazEwMjQ=?=)
Date: Sat, 23 May 2009 15:38:34 +0800
Subject: [Conferences] =?gbk?b?u9i4tDogcHl0aG9u?=
Message-ID: <tencent_3748595B1D01D833572B27F3@qq.com>

first,you should run MySQL,if not, you can't connect the database
 
  
 ------------------ ???? ------------------ 
  ???: "Michelle Cayabyab"<kyutie_christian at yahoo.com>;
 ????: 2009?5?23?(???) ??3:26
 ???: "conferences"<conferences at python.org>; 
 ??: [Conferences] python

  
  good afternoon!
 i just want to ask a big help (for me, it's big!) with regards to python..i am really a new one in this language.
 i am using a MySQL for my database and trying to research on the connection string, i learned that i have to use or create host, user and password...but when i am using the connection i searched, which is _mysql.connect(host='localhost', user='python', passwd='python', db='python'), it returns an error sayong that, cannot connect python @ localhost...what am i supposed to do? what's the problem here?
  
 thanks for any replies...it will be highly appreciated...it is very urgent!!!!
  
 thanks again!


 
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From goodger at python.org  Sat May 23 14:50:22 2009
From: goodger at python.org (David Goodger)
Date: Sat, 23 May 2009 08:50:22 -0400
Subject: [Conferences] python
In-Reply-To: <318370.48529.qm@web76705.mail.sg1.yahoo.com>
References: <318370.48529.qm@web76705.mail.sg1.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <4335d2c40905230550g2fc3bf86o3f29ae3d70843d26@mail.gmail.com>

Michelle, this has nothing to do with Python conferences, does it?
This list is for conference-related discussions.

You'll have a much better chance of a good reply if you ask on
python-list at python.org (for general programming questions) or db-sig
(database-specific).

-- David Goodger

On Sat, May 23, 2009 at 03:26, Michelle Cayabyab
<kyutie_christian at yahoo.com> wrote:
> good afternoon!
> i just want to ask a big help (for me, it's big!) with regards to python..i
> am really a new one in this language.
> i am using a MySQL for my database and trying to research on the connection
> string, i learned that i have to use or create host, user and password...but
> when i am using the connection i searched, which is
> _mysql.connect(host='localhost', user='python', passwd='python',
> db='python'), it returns an error sayong that, cannot connect python @
> localhost...what am i supposed to do? what's the problem here?
>
> thanks for any replies...it will be highly appreciated...it is very
> urgent!!!!
>
> thanks again!

From ing.cagm at gmail.com  Mon May 25 18:22:39 2009
From: ing.cagm at gmail.com (carlos Andres Gutierrez Martinez)
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 11:22:39 -0500
Subject: [Conferences] some questions
Message-ID: <1f6b42410905250922n63fd7485gf4a31bcc2a19c897@mail.gmail.com>

Regards

I've been learning about Python and now want to learn how to make a
graphical interface for some applications that want to develop but I could
not find how to do it. I wish that I could have an orientation to learn how
to do this.

I appreciate your cooperation.


-- 
__
Suministros Industriales E Ingenierias Ltda
__
att:                    CAGM
Carlos Andr?s Guti?rrez Mart?nez
Ingenier?a Electr?nica
Especializaci?n Electr?nica Industrial.
Cel:3116745927-3175144227
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From ziade.tarek at gmail.com  Mon May 25 18:30:56 2009
From: ziade.tarek at gmail.com (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Tarek_Ziad=E9?=)
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 18:30:56 +0200
Subject: [Conferences] Live-translation for talks
Message-ID: <94bdd2610905250930s42986b99ta1b71811edc8f1d1@mail.gmail.com>

Hi,

Thanks for creating this list.

I have a proposal for the pycon.org front page. I am not sure how the
news are generated there,

What about a specialized feed of all news from the various conferences
(a planet-like). The only requirement
would be to ask the people to provide an english only feed to avoid
language mixes.

I am volunteering to reach the right people and to build the feed (and
to include it if needed)

Regards

Tarek (PyconFR organizer)

-- 
Tarek Ziad? | http://ziade.org

From ziade.tarek at gmail.com  Mon May 25 18:33:33 2009
From: ziade.tarek at gmail.com (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Tarek_Ziad=E9?=)
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 18:33:33 +0200
Subject: [Conferences] Live-translation for talks
In-Reply-To: <94bdd2610905250930s42986b99ta1b71811edc8f1d1@mail.gmail.com>
References: <94bdd2610905250930s42986b99ta1b71811edc8f1d1@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <94bdd2610905250933n1cdc2c04v5b45e0e9a26a2399@mail.gmail.com>

Please don't look at the mail title, that was for another mail, I messed up

Tarek

From lac at openend.se  Mon May 25 18:33:32 2009
From: lac at openend.se (Laura Creighton)
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 18:33:32 +0200
Subject: [Conferences] Live-translation for talks
In-Reply-To: Message from =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Tarek_Ziad=E9?=
	<ziade.tarek@gmail.com> of "Mon, 25 May 2009 18:30:56 +0200."
	<94bdd2610905250930s42986b99ta1b71811edc8f1d1@mail.gmail.com> 
References: <94bdd2610905250930s42986b99ta1b71811edc8f1d1@mail.gmail.com> 
Message-ID: <200905251633.n4PGXW9w015781@theraft.openend.se>

In a message of Mon, 25 May 2009 18:30:56 +0200, Tarek Ziad? writes:
>Hi,
>
>Thanks for creating this list.
>
>I have a proposal for the pycon.org front page. I am not sure how the
>news are generated there,
>
>What about a specialized feed of all news from the various conferences
>(a planet-like). The only requirement
>would be to ask the people to provide an english only feed to avoid
>language mixes.
>
>I am volunteering to reach the right people and to build the feed (and
>to include it if needed)
>
>Regards
>
>Tarek (PyconFR organizer)
>
>-- 
>Tarek Ziad? | http://ziade.org

Why do you want to avoid language mixes?

Laura


From noufal at gmail.com  Mon May 25 18:41:58 2009
From: noufal at gmail.com (Noufal Ibrahim)
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 22:11:58 +0530
Subject: [Conferences] some questions
In-Reply-To: <1f6b42410905250922n63fd7485gf4a31bcc2a19c897@mail.gmail.com>
References: <1f6b42410905250922n63fd7485gf4a31bcc2a19c897@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <9963e56e0905250941p6ff7ed80m2075d426b1710fb6@mail.gmail.com>

Hi,
  Your question is more suited to the python tutor list
http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
  This list is meant to discuss python conferences

Thanks
-- 
~noufal

From ziade.tarek at gmail.com  Mon May 25 18:44:20 2009
From: ziade.tarek at gmail.com (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Tarek_Ziad=E9?=)
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 18:44:20 +0200
Subject: [Conferences] Live-translation for talks
In-Reply-To: <200905251633.n4PGXW9w015781@theraft.openend.se>
References: <ziade.tarek@gmail.com>
	<94bdd2610905250930s42986b99ta1b71811edc8f1d1@mail.gmail.com>
	<200905251633.n4PGXW9w015781@theraft.openend.se>
Message-ID: <94bdd2610905250944p30523b74w7307b7b4624286d3@mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 6:33 PM, Laura Creighton <lac at openend.se> wrote:
>
> Why do you want to avoid language mixes?

For the sake of consistency :  I think that feeds with language mixes
are eventually dropped by their readers.

>From my own experience with twitter and blogs, when I follow someone
who start to write in a foreign language
I can't understand, I stop following that person even if  they are
some english or french entries from time to time,
to reduce the noise.

Plus, most people in the community understand English.

Cheers
Tarek

-- 
Tarek Ziad? | http://ziade.org

From lac at openend.se  Mon May 25 19:16:30 2009
From: lac at openend.se (Laura Creighton)
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 19:16:30 +0200
Subject: [Conferences] Live-translation for talks
In-Reply-To: Message from =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Tarek_Ziad=E9?=
	<ziade.tarek@gmail.com> of "Mon, 25 May 2009 18:44:20 +0200."
	<94bdd2610905250944p30523b74w7307b7b4624286d3@mail.gmail.com> 
References: <ziade.tarek@gmail.com>
	<94bdd2610905250930s42986b99ta1b71811edc8f1d1@mail.gmail.com>
	<200905251633.n4PGXW9w015781@theraft.openend.se>
	<94bdd2610905250944p30523b74w7307b7b4624286d3@mail.gmail.com> 
Message-ID: <200905251716.n4PHGVPc017886@theraft.openend.se>

In a message of Mon, 25 May 2009 18:44:20 +0200, Tarek Ziad? writes:
>On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 6:33 PM, Laura Creighton <lac at openend.se> wrote:
>>
>> Why do you want to avoid language mixes?
>
>For the sake of consistency :  I think that feeds with language mixes
>are eventually dropped by their readers.
>
>>From my own experience with twitter and blogs, when I follow someone
>who start to write in a foreign language
>I can't understand, I stop following that person even if  they are
>some english or french entries from time to time,
>to reduce the noise.
>
>Plus, most people in the community understand English.
>
>Cheers
>Tarek

Ah, I have the opposite feeling -- It makes me happy to see that other
people in the world are discussing things, even when it is in a language
that I don't understand.  And I get a nice sense of 'Ah, the PyCON
Italia (or whoever it is) are up and doing stuff, even though I don't
read Italian.  It gives me a happy sense of how international Python
truly is.

Laura


From goodger at python.org  Mon May 25 20:19:10 2009
From: goodger at python.org (David Goodger)
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 14:19:10 -0400
Subject: [Conferences] PyCon newsfeed
Message-ID: <4335d2c40905251119sba47cb8ua2b471316402c228@mail.gmail.com>

[was "Re: [Conferences] Live-translation for talks"]

On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 12:33, Tarek Ziad? <ziade.tarek at gmail.com> wrote:
> Please don't look at the mail title, that was for another mail, I messed up

So let's change it.

On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 12:30, Tarek Ziad? <ziade.tarek at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have a proposal for the pycon.org front page. I am not sure how the
> news are generated there,

Do you mean http://www.pycon.org/ ? The "news" there is edited
manually (and infrequently) in a static HTML file. This is not ideal.

The US PyCon main page (bottom of http://us.pycon.org/2009/about/)
pulls a newsfeed from the PyCon blog (http://pycon.blogspot.com/).

The news on http://www.python.org/ is from a manually-edited YAML file
(embedding reST).

> What about a specialized feed of all news from the various conferences
> (a planet-like).

Sure.

> The only requirement
> would be to ask the people to provide an english only feed to avoid
> language mixes.

That sounds reasonable (but my mother tongue is English, so you can
ignore my opinion). I wouldn't be too strict about it though.

> I am volunteering to reach the right people and to build the feed (and
> to include it if needed)

So you'll set up a planet-type aggregator? Instead (or in addition),
we could set up a new blog (using Blogger or whatever) and pull its
newsfeed for www.pycon.org. People can subscribe to that blog as well.

The us.pycon.org server also hosts the www.pycon.org page (IIRC). Some
work will probably need to be done there. It could host the planet as
well. Send me your SSH public key and I'll set up an account for you.

-- 
David Goodger <http://python.net/~goodger>

From kirby.urner at gmail.com  Tue May 26 03:50:16 2009
From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner)
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 18:50:16 -0700
Subject: [Conferences] introducing eduPycon idea...
Message-ID: <f604188c0905251850u77df8755xc3c95a682bc4015a@mail.gmail.com>

Greetings conferencing crowd:

Per this blog post below, concluding picture, if you click on, you'll see
we're in some screen shot of a slide show, I'll describe it, so no need to
actually look:

http://mybizmo.blogspot.com/2009/04/testing-jackalope.html

Yes, that's Britney with a snake, but on the left you'll see "eduPython
grows a longer tail" as an "internal development" within the Python
Community.

This results from two threads:  conversations at a BOF of people tracking
the edu-sig list especially (Python.org), and Vern Ceder agreeing to serve
as "watcher" i.e. someone awake and aware between Pycons willing to engage
in some kind of judging process whereby we sift through proposals and decide
to showcase a few in a Hyatt Regency or whatever center ring, when Pycon
next meets.  Talking about posters, devoting some floorspace to LCDs showing
off school projects (various loops).

The purpose of the above workflow is to encourage participation by younger
talents who may be legal minors in fact, yet could still get bragging rights
for having their work exhibited in a rather prestigious venue, frequented by
adult business professionals with an eye for real skill.

However, that's a rather limited way to reach out to school user groups,
other faculties, so the other idea, which I attribute the Jeff Rush simply
because that's who I got it from, is eduPycon.  We might call it that to
deliberately leverage the Pycon brand, and attract PSF support, but there'd
be real differences from Pycon itself, in particular we might be open to
college campus based meetings, a whole different atmosphere from "corporate
big spender" which is more the core Pycon flavor (not Waldorf Astoria
exactly, but not that academic either, more Silicon Valley than MIT?  More
Silicon Forest than Harvard?).

Anyway, I'm obviously not going to carry this ball on my back all by myself,
much as the ISEPP logo suggests atlas type behaviors ( isepp.org -- the
organization I was representing at Pycon this year).  I am willing to put my
shoulder to it though, especially if we start getting "I'm interested"
signals from academia, edutopia, or wherever that is (the people who want to
fork off yet preserve the culture, especially lightning talks -- if it turns
into professorial "droning for hours" nothing snappy or snakey, then PSF
should pull the plug is what I'm thinking, declare "lights out" in la-la
land, but that's just me and my biases speaking, we're obviously not there
yet).

By way of personal background, I'm a long time veteran of these campus-based
conferences staged by Friends, a certain religious society originating in
the 1600s that brought you William Penn and fixed pricing or whatever
legends we tell ourselves (Quaker Oats and blah blah).  I'm not allowed to
prostelytize (says so right in the manual) but that doesn't keep me from
organizing little coups, upsetting an applecart or two.  Here's my feeble
attempt to subvert PSF, make it be Quaker.  I failed we can say, but at
least I got some bragging rights, plus PSF is already transparent and open
and takes good minutes, so there was really nothing to do in this case,
except take a few pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315 at N00/3398042313/in/set-72157616066135225/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315 at N00/3409708717/in/set-72157616066135225/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315 at N00/3397645455/in/set-72157616066135225/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315 at N00/3398453336/in/set-72157616066135225/

Anyway, we usually do two years at a campus, then move on, though Reed
College dumped us, and we bailed on Pacific University citing ADA compliance
issues.  A somewhat ornery bunch, gets upset if we run low on coffee (we're
actually called "beanites" but that's another story I won't bore you with).
Montana this year (1 of 2), haven't filled in my reg form yet.  We're
backward, don't use Django, though we should, we really should (eat our own
dogfood).

Kirby
PSF '09
edu-sig
usa.or.pdx
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From ziade.tarek at gmail.com  Tue May 26 08:31:10 2009
From: ziade.tarek at gmail.com (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Tarek_Ziad=E9?=)
Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 08:31:10 +0200
Subject: [Conferences] Live-translation for talks
In-Reply-To: <200905251716.n4PHGVPc017886@theraft.openend.se>
References: <94bdd2610905250930s42986b99ta1b71811edc8f1d1@mail.gmail.com>
	<200905251633.n4PGXW9w015781@theraft.openend.se>
	<ziade.tarek@gmail.com>
	<94bdd2610905250944p30523b74w7307b7b4624286d3@mail.gmail.com>
	<200905251716.n4PHGVPc017886@theraft.openend.se>
Message-ID: <94bdd2610905252331k29e2cf5dn19ba2525a19af37@mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 7:16 PM, Laura Creighton <lac at openend.se> wrote:
>
> Ah, I have the opposite feeling -- It makes me happy to see that other
> people in the world are discussing things, even when it is in a language
> that I don't understand. ?And I get a nice sense of 'Ah, the PyCON
> Italia (or whoever it is) are up and doing stuff, even though I don't
> read Italian. ?It gives me a happy sense of how international Python
> truly is.

I hear you. Maybe I have an excessive 'reduce-the-noise' habit when it
comes to feeds...


Tarek

From ziade.tarek at gmail.com  Tue May 26 08:34:30 2009
From: ziade.tarek at gmail.com (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Tarek_Ziad=E9?=)
Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 08:34:30 +0200
Subject: [Conferences] PyCon newsfeed
In-Reply-To: <4335d2c40905251119sba47cb8ua2b471316402c228@mail.gmail.com>
References: <4335d2c40905251119sba47cb8ua2b471316402c228@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <94bdd2610905252334o54be5e6oeacfa2b99ca6d1ac@mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 8:19 PM, David Goodger <goodger at python.org> wrote:

>
> So you'll set up a planet-type aggregator? Instead (or in addition),
> we could set up a new blog (using Blogger or whatever) and pull its
> newsfeed for www.pycon.org. People can subscribe to that blog as well.

Sounds good,

>
> The us.pycon.org server also hosts the www.pycon.org page (IIRC). Some
> work will probably need to be done there. It could host the planet as
> well. Send me your SSH public key and I'll set up an account for you.

Ok, I'll go ahead and contact the various organizers,

here's my key,

Thanks
Tarek

-- 
Tarek Ziad? | http://ziade.org
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From catherine.devlin at gmail.com  Thu May 28 19:48:26 2009
From: catherine.devlin at gmail.com (Catherine Devlin)
Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 13:48:26 -0400
Subject: [Conferences] finding sponsors
Message-ID: <6523e39a0905281048k494d9bebg53f52e6259f0ae9e@mail.gmail.com>

We've cooked up the following text for a sponsorship prospectus for
PyOhio; I'd be interested in getting comments on it from any of you.
(If you like it, feel free to imitate.)  It's intended for conversion
to PDF with rst2pdf.

I'd also like thoughts about how to contact and interest semi-random
software companies in the conference.  We have a fair number of
.NET-centered companies here in Ohio... very little else.  IronPython
means that they have good reason to get involved - and their smartest
programmers will definitely be interested - but how do we make
contact, catch their attention, and let them know that?  I'm afraid
that unsolicited emails to each company's general contact email
address will go straight to the Trash folder.

It sounds snotty, but the fact is, mediocre programmers are the ones
who say, "I just do VB (Java, C++, whatever) - not interested in
anything else".  The best programmers - the ones companies need to
recruit and nurture - are the ones who, regardless of their day jobs,
perk up at chances to learn new things, especially things as awesome
as Python.  I know that, you know that... how do we get that message
to potential sponsors?

One solution would be to go on the road to .NET groups with an
IronPython presentation, making company contacts as we go.  We'll
hopefully be doing that, but that's a slow process (more likely to get
us sponsors for 2010 than 2009).

Ideas?

Thanks, and good luck with all your conferences!

-- 
- Catherine
http://catherinedevlin.blogspot.com/
*** PyOhio * July 25-26, 2009 * pyohio.org ***


.. image:: pyohio.jpeg

-----------------------
PyOhio 2009 Sponsorship
-----------------------

PyOhio is a regional conference for people interested in the programming
language with the biggest bite: Python! If you are considering sponsoring
any technology events in Ohio or the Midwest, please consider PyOhio!

The first PyOhio was a one-day event, held in July, 2008
at the main branch of the Columbus Public Library. We drew over 90 people
from Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, and beyond - as far as New Hampshire.

This year, PyOhio is expanding to a two-day event, July 25-26, 2009.  It will
be held at Ohio State University's Knowlton Hall, with a variety of lecture
halls, breakout rooms, and other spaces to accomodate more attendees
and activities.

You can visit PyOhio?s online home at `www.pyohio.org <http://www.pyohio.org>`_.

What is PyOhio?
---------------

PyOhio is a two-day conference focusing on the Python programming
language. The conference will include seminars, workshops,
tutorials, panel discussions, open spaces, and lightning talks on all
aspects of Python, with components covering introductory to advanced
skill levels.

For 2009, PyOhio will be held on Saturday, July 25th, and Sunday, July 26th.

What is Python?
---------------

Python is a general-purpose programming language usable on every common
operating system, alone or under .NET or J2EE.
Python is applicable to all types of programming problems, including
web programming, system administration, desktop applications, and others;
it has become a key element in IT infrastructures worldwide.
Many programmers who are proficient in several languages strongly
prefer Python for its clarity, ease of use, and maintanability.

Why sponsor PyOhio?
-------------------

PyOhio attendees are a variety of working professionals, students,
academics, and others who are passionate about technology and passionate about
keeping themselves up-to-date - so much so that they'll take a weekend
of their own to immerse themselves in their favorite (but not their only)
language.  This makes them the acknowledged leaders in their fields, the
ones their peers look to.  Sponsoring PyOhio lets the attendees know that,
like them, you stand out - that your organization shares their love of
excellence in technology.  This is your chance to influence an exceptionally
influential group of professionals with your sponsorship message!

PyOhio is run entirely by a group of volunteers, and is not yet an officially
registered non-profit organization.  Your PyOhio sponsorship should qualify as
a pre-tax business expense, however.

Sponsorship Levels and Benefits
-------------------------------

Anaconda ($1,000)
  * Full-page advertisement in conference program

  * 150 x 300 pixel click-through logo/advertisement on PyOhio website

  * Table in conference common area

  * Right to display banners in common area and primary lecture hall

  * Right to include literature in attendee handouts

  * Mention in emails to attendees and wider programming community

  * Inclusion of your message in opt-in follow-up email to attendees

Rattlesnake ($500)
  * Half-page advertisement in conference program

  * 150 x 150 pixel click-through logo/advertisement on PyOhio website

  * Table in conference common area

  * Right to display banner in common area

  * Right to include literature in attendee handouts

  * Mention in emails to attendees and wider programming community

  * Inclusion of your message in opt-in follow-up email to attendees

Garter Snake ($100)
  * Small advertisement in conference program

  * 150 x 75 pixel click-through logo/advertisement on PyOhio website

  * Right to include literature in attendee handouts

  * Mention in emails to attendees and wider programming community

PyOhio works by combining the creativity of its attendees... and its
sponsors!  If you'd like to propose a sponsorship arrangement of your
own design, we'd like to hear about it.  Please contact us by email.

Sincerely,

| The organizers of PyOhio 2009
| pyohio-organizers at python.org

From rasky at develer.com  Thu May 28 22:11:11 2009
From: rasky at develer.com (Giovanni Bajo)
Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 22:11:11 +0200
Subject: [Conferences] finding sponsors
In-Reply-To: <6523e39a0905281048k494d9bebg53f52e6259f0ae9e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <6523e39a0905281048k494d9bebg53f52e6259f0ae9e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4A1EEFDF.3060403@develer.com>

Hi Catherine,

I'm an organizer of PyCon Italy, nice to meet you!

On 5/28/2009 7:48 PM, you wrote:

> We've cooked up the following text for a sponsorship prospectus for
> PyOhio; I'd be interested in getting comments on it from any of you.
> (If you like it, feel free to imitate.)  It's intended for conversion
> to PDF with rst2pdf.
> 
> I'd also like thoughts about how to contact and interest semi-random
> software companies in the conference.  We have a fair number of
> .NET-centered companies here in Ohio... very little else.  IronPython
> means that they have good reason to get involved - and their smartest
> programmers will definitely be interested - but how do we make
> contact, catch their attention, and let them know that?  I'm afraid
> that unsolicited emails to each company's general contact email
> address will go straight to the Trash folder.
> 
> It sounds snotty, but the fact is, mediocre programmers are the ones
> who say, "I just do VB (Java, C++, whatever) - not interested in
> anything else".  The best programmers - the ones companies need to
> recruit and nurture - are the ones who, regardless of their day jobs,
> perk up at chances to learn new things, especially things as awesome
> as Python.  I know that, you know that... how do we get that message
> to potential sponsors?

This is called the "Python paradox":
http://www.paulgraham.com/pypar.html

Feel free to get some inspiration here:
http://www.pycon.it/pycon3/work-python/

> One solution would be to go on the road to .NET groups with an
> IronPython presentation, making company contacts as we go.  We'll
> hopefully be doing that, but that's a slow process (more likely to get
> us sponsors for 2010 than 2009).
> 
> Ideas?
> 
> Thanks, and good luck with all your conferences!

I think the "Why sponsor PyCon" part is a little unimpressive -- you 
probably want to mention more direct forms of ROI to possible customers, 
like:

  * Recruiting opportunities
  * Visibility of developer-targeted products
  * Visibility of the brand

I would cut a little the introduction and focus more on this kind of 
stuff. You should probably customise the mail to every company you send 
it to, depending on what kind of opportunities you think they would be 
more interested in.

Also, I'm not sure how it works in US, but in Italy it would be a large 
disincentive not to be a registered no-profit association: both 
psicological ("where is my money going?") and tax-wise.

As for the e-mail recipient, rather than going straight to the front 
door (info at foobar.com), we found out that it usually works better to get 
a technical contact first, and ask him/her to be introduced to the 
marketing manager or whoever is in charge of sponsorship agreements. 
Given a company website, you can try and find technical contacts through 
mailing lists, blogs, etc. You could also evaluate e-mailing last year's 
attendees and ask for help in form of contacts with companies.

Good luck!
-- 
Giovanni Bajo
Develer S.r.l.
http://www.develer.com

From goodger at python.org  Sat May 30 22:20:58 2009
From: goodger at python.org (David Goodger)
Date: Sat, 30 May 2009 16:20:58 -0400
Subject: [Conferences] finding sponsors
In-Reply-To: <6523e39a0905281048k494d9bebg53f52e6259f0ae9e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <6523e39a0905281048k494d9bebg53f52e6259f0ae9e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4335d2c40905301320k3656c4c4sc641d7144584fe09@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 13:48, Catherine Devlin
<catherine.devlin at gmail.com> wrote:
> We've cooked up the following text for a sponsorship prospectus for
> PyOhio; I'd be interested in getting comments on it from any of you.

Some comments below.

>?The best programmers - the ones companies need to
> recruit and nurture - are the ones who, regardless of their day jobs,
> perk up at chances to learn new things, especially things as awesome
> as Python. ?I know that, you know that... how do we get that message
> to potential sponsors?

Say it directly? The first sentence above ("The best programmers...")
is a good start. Why not include it? Maybe a new section, like "Who
Attends PyOhio?".

> Why sponsor PyOhio?
> -------------------

I agree with Giovanni that the benefits should be listed directly.

> PyOhio is run entirely by a group of volunteers, and is not yet an officially
> registered non-profit organization. ?Your PyOhio sponsorship should qualify as
> a pre-tax business expense, however.

Hopefully the PSF will be able to do something here. But I don't know
if it will be soon enough for PyOhio 2009.

> Sponsorship Levels and Benefits
> -------------------------------
>
> Anaconda ($1,000)
...
> Rattlesnake ($500)
...
> Garter Snake ($100)

Cute, but maybe too cute? Does it send the right message to
businesses, compared to the standard Silver/Gold/Platinum?

-- 
David Goodger <http://python.net/~goodger>