[PyAR2] pyArkasas 2010

[Brad Allen]

I took the PyArkansas survey. :-) Say, what's the difference between teh

Feedback:

* We wasted a bit of time knowing where to go for lunch. Does UCA
allow chalk marks on pavement? A few well-placed arrows pointing to
the cafeteria could have saved several people 15 minutes of looking at
maps.

* Have you thought about reserving a single big room for plenary
sessions? I missed the prize drawing, so maybe it happened there, but
it seems like a good idea to have a keynote or something similar. A
good keynote topic would be "Building the Arkansas Python Community"
or something similar.

* I've heard that the new PyCon software will be designed to work for
regional conferences. Do you think that might be useful for
PyArkansas? I'd like to investigate that for PyTexas as well.

* Make a PyArkansas t-shirt! A front pocket would be nice. I know
someone who might like to do the graphic design.

* It might be worth thinking about to recruit corporate sponsorships
and let the PSF handle the money. This could be a fund raiser for the
PSF but also fund moderate conference costs (like the t-shirt!).

* More swag!!! Swag bags would be nice too.

On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 8:38 AM, Greg Lindstrom <gslindstrom at gmail.com> wrote:
> Good Morning,
>
> Saturday morning finds me at Chick-Fil-A once again and it's amazing the
> difference between the weeks leading up to pyArkansas and post pyArkansas
> (although, I'm the tutorial coordinator for the national conference, PyCon,
> next Match and it's ramping up, already!).  I'm very happy with how things
> went last week and want to thank everyone who helped out in front of and
> behind the scene.  The classes this year were very well received and I have
> heard a lot of positive comments.  I had to chuckle when reading what people
> wanted to see covered next year when I saw "Ruby" ("Hey, get your own
> conference!").
>
> I had the opportunity to take a couple of days off this week with a rather
> nasty stomach virus that's been going around so I don't have all the
> comments summarized.  Kelley has put a survey up on the web page and I may
> send out a request to everyone to fill it out.  The main point today, other
> than thanking everyone, is to start thinking about what you would like to
> see for next year.  What did you see this year that worked?  What didn't
> work?  What could we do better?  When I work with clients to design software
> I often tell them to "dream bigger" meaning that I want to know their
> wildest dreams because, quite often, we can meet them (or, at least, start
> in their direction).  With that in mind, I'm going to list some of my
> ideas.  YMMV.
>
> Have a 2-day conference with Friday being for "professionals".  This would
> entail bringing in teachers, finding meeting space (I assume UCA holds
> classes on Friday), and other details but, I think we could bring in a
> sizable audience.  We may even be able to charge for this to cover the
> expenses of the Saturday event.
> Webcast classes to other Universities.  One of my main desires for
> pyArkansas is to introduce students to programming in general; particularly
> programming as a means to an end, not just for programming sake.  I also
> like the idea of showing our young ladies that it's OK to be a "nerd".  I
> have been told that there is a State-wide video system in place for this
> type of thing; could we have remote locations where we show the
> "introduction to Python" class where they could ask questions?  Gloria
> Jacobs has experience with this sort of thing and may be willing to help us
> out.
> Have classes targeted specifically at teachers (High School,
> College/University, Tech Schools) to help them get Python introduced in
> their schools.  Show them how Python can be used to enhance their
> curriculum.
> Have a "presentation track" consisting of 30-minute talks.  There is a
> classroom at UCA with desks (no computers) just begging to be used by people
> to tell the cool things they have done with Python.  This would be a great
> way for students to get experience preparing and presenting a paper.
> Do we open the conference up to other technologies?
> I'd also like to have quarterly meetings this year.  Do we have them at UCA
> or rotate them around the State?  I don't see these being near the effort of
> last week, though they could be if "a local" would want to do most of the
> work (I'd be happy to help out with all I've learned over the past 3
> years).
>
>
> Those of you who do not know Chenyi Hu (C.S. Department Head, UCA) may not
> know of his intense -- and intense is correct word -- commitment to
> developing young professionals for not only graduate studies but for the
> business world, too.  My dream is to develop talent in Arkansas to the point
> of bringing business into the State.  I really want to get into some of the
> "poorer" areas of the State where, I think, we can make a substantial
> difference in many lives.  The possibilities are real and just waiting for
> someone to take them on.  Why not us?
>
> Again, thank-you to everyone who helped this year.  Now, what do you want to
> see for next year (or, next quarter)?
>
> --greg
>
>
>