[PyAR2] PyAR^2 Meeting Notes 2/16/2008

Chad Cooper Chad_Cooper at SWN.COM
Wed Feb 20 17:44:16 CET 2008


All...

 

First, my apologies for missing the meeting on Saturday, the wife and I
both came down with the nasty stomach bug on Friday and were laid up all
weekend. Fun times!

 

Now, on with business. Sounds like the meeting went well and was very
productive, wish I could have been there. My thoughts:

 

 

The inaugural meeting of PyAR^2 was held at San Francisco Bread Company
in Conway on Saturday, February 16th at 11:00.  Four members, and one
potential member, were present.

So, we have a Python Users Groups.  YoHoo!  Now, what do we do?
Traditionally,  groups follow the 80/20 rule, meaning that 80% of the
work is performed by 20% of the members (that's not intended to be a
slam, just reality).  We, as a group, need something *meaningful* to do
and have to generate more interest in Python.  WE have a lot of good
ideas -- maybe too many! -- but that means we can choose what interests
the group and work on those.

One way to learn any language is to work on a project.  If the project
is "real" (that is, one someone might actually want and/or use) it would
have a better chance of generating interest.  As fate would have it, our
"potential" member has a project that would not only be at a good level
for us, involving a web framework and database, but would fill a need
for an overworked/under-appreciated segment of our health care system.
>From the very brief discussion we had about it I would think that it is
perfect candidate for learning the TurboGears/CherryPy framework.



I would love to get into TurboGears/CherryPy, have yet to toy around
with either.


Classes/seminars were requested again, too.  We have many people new to
Python and classes on "the basics" and "what's next" are needed!

We talked about putting on a "mini-conference"; a one-day seminar of
classes for High School/College students (and their instructors) showing
off Python and applications written in Python (there was general
agreement that most people are unaware of Python or anything written in
it).  The Hot Springs Technology Expo was brought up as a possible
alternative for the mini-conference.  The expo is an annual gathering of
High School tech-heads; it would give us huge exposure and take the
burden of organizing a seminar off our shoulders.  In addition, since it
is a large conference, the Python Software Foundation might be willing
to fund someone to come present an introductory class (Steve Holden
comes to mind).  Greg will look into information about the conference.

 

Is this the conference: http://www.hssd.net/hsti/index.html ??

Looks interesting. I'm looking around on the site, but can't find
anything about the past conferences. I would love to present something
there myself, plus it would be good to get my companys name out there
too. Anyone been to the conference before? Do tell.


A web site was discussed.  It would be a central place to get
information about us.  A "calling card".  We need to look into hosting
(will the PSF host a site?) and think about who can help us design it.
This may be another good project for the group.

 

Could this be another TurboGears project? Hhhmmmmm.....

It was suggested that setting up virtual meetings because of the
distance between our members.  We can move the meetings around the State
if we could offer a way for others to wire in.  This would also give us
a way to handle any group project that we decide to take on.

 

I actually thought about this on Saturday as I was lying in bed sick.
I'm a big fan of Skype these days, and since SFB Co has wireless, theres
no reason I couldnt just video in. Also, if we get a project going,
could we start a chat group on IRC?

We need to think about  a PR effort.  A list of contacts at Colleges and
High Schools (including school papers) would be a great resource for
getting word out about us and our events.  Contacts at newspapers and
local publications (Sync magazine, for example) would help.  Anyone want
to step up and start this?

 

I just requested posting rights on the Happenings in Python User Groups
blog (http://python-groups.blogspot.com/), so that will get a little bit
of tha word out too.


More was discussed, but I (Greg) did not get all of it.  Frankly, there
are way too many good ideas to implement, so we need to talk about what
we want to do.  I left the meeting excited about the opportunities out
there for the taking.  What we want to do is up to us.

--greg


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