Need advice on starting a Python group

[Jonathan Gardner]

On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 6:57 AM, gb345 <gb345 at invalid.com> wrote:
>
> And even when we've had volunteers, hardly anyone shows up!
>
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>

Two things: One, only you and your friend really care. Let that sink
in. No one is going to carry the group but you two, at least
initially.

Two, there's a lot of people at movie theaters and the county fair.
Why? Because it is interesting and fun. Scientists work the same way.
Yes, a lot of people are interested in Python. Why don't you do a bit
of snooping around and see what people want to know about?

Let me give some examples:

* Interactive numeric programming with Python
* Rapid website development with Pylons (Trust me, everyone wants to
make a website.) Show how you are showing off data from one of your
experiments of projects and how easy it is to organize and manage
data.
* How you used Python on your latest and greatest project

Don't expect the audience to participate, except to show up and ask questions.

If you want to build a Python support group, then form an informal
group with your friends. Start a public mailing list and offer Python
advice and support for free. Integrate whatever code your org has with
Python, and manage and maintain that code so others can use it.

Finally, advertise. The more people see "Python", the more they will
be interested. Coca-cola and Pepsi are really good at this!

-- 
Jonathan Gardner
jgardner at jonathangardner.net