[Inpycon] google-sponsorship update.

[Noufal Ibrahim]

On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 9:38 PM, स्वक्ष <vid at svaksha.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 18:13, Noufal Ibrahim <noufal at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 10:35 AM, स्वक्ष <vid at svaksha.com> wrote:
>> [..]
>>> 1. http://wiki.europython.eu/GoogleDiversity was something I had asked
>>> for Pycon India. Does anyone have thoughts on this? Will keep the list
>>> posted if I hear budgets for 2010 are still available.
>>
>> I'm not opposed to it but I wouldn't really consider it a priority.
>> Based on the feedback from last year, the quality of talks was low.
>
> Do you mean the talks given by women? I couldnt attend last year, so
> cant comment. However I did have some general points:

No. I mean talks in general. There were more fundamental things than
diversity wrong with the conference and I think time, energy (and
perhaps money) should be spent on those rather than on those.

[..]

> Finally, travelling to conferences has its intangible costs, Time-- a
> scarce commodity when you are balancing a career and a home, unless
> your employer sponsors you.  Or as a technical student, some  women
> may not get permission to travel outside their city for a less known
> conference like pycon-india. There may be more but I dont know all the
> issues that other women face.

This is true although there *were* quite a few female participants
last time. We did have a couple of mails from some guys in Kerala
asking for financial aid and things like that but we didn't have a
budget for that so had to turn them down.

> At this point pycon-india is establishing itself --a good opportunity
> for a new speaker to make their mark, so to speak. I would not call it
> a priority to encourage new attendees or speakers (irrespective of
> gender) but if Google (or any other sponsor) is willing to lend a
> helping hand in whatever way they deem fit, it isnt something to be
> ignored. I would be willing to help out if a sponsor expresses
> interest in sponsoring women attendees or speakers. Anyone else
> interested is welcome too.

Piecemeal thoughts. Not necessarily relevant but which occur to me.
1. I'm more interested in getting "experienced" speakers and "new"
audience. First time
    speakers are welcome but if they're green with development *and*
green with speaking, I
    don't see much value in them speaking. Last year, we had a lot of
"hello world" style
    talks by first time speakers which significantly affected the
quality of the conference.

2. If Google or whoever is giving us money, it'll have to be "no
strings attached" (except of
    course what they get for being a sponsor which is mentioned in the
formal brochure).
    The unrest which went around on the list when the list of things
from IIT-B was sent is
    something which I resonated with. It'd be a hassle if they offer
sponsorship money for
    some specific purpose like "increasing audience diversity" and
expect some kind
    of deliverable from us.

    This of course is different from us initiating it. If we all here
feel that diversity is an
    important issue and that shortage of money is the reason that it's
not there, going to
    Google or whoever to get help fixing the problem is fine.


-- 
~noufal
http://nibrahim.net.in