[Inpycon] RFC: Workshop Format

[Vijay Kumar]

Hi Everyone,
I would like to solicit feedback on an alternative workshop format for 
PyCon India 2019.

The objective of workshops compared to talks is to provide an 
environment where people can try things hands-on. This could be about 
learning a language feature, a library or a tool. The workshop format so 
far has been a 3 hour session, where the speaker discusses a language 
feature / library / tool and in-between provides opportunities for the 
attendees to try things out.

In the few workshops that I have attended so far, I have found the 
hands-on part to be lesser than expected. The hands-on part is usually a 
clone this repo and run the programs, or get this IPython notebook, or 
sometimes the speaker is not prepared to deal with the hands-on part. I 
think that a more involved approach, where people take time to type in 
code / commands, execute them, make mistakes, fix them, gain 
understanding, and when in trouble ask for help, will be more useful to 
the attendees.

In this regard, I would like to point people to an alternative workshop 
format practiced at PyCon APAC 2018 https://pycon.sg/workshops/  The 
format at PyCon APAC 2018, inverts the workshop, with a hands-on first 
approach. People read instructions and try things out and only ask for 
help when they run into trouble. This way the hands-on is not left at 
the mercy of the speaker, with the attendees still being able to 
leverage the knowledge of the speaker / table-host. The other benefits 
are listed below:

  * Multiple topics can be accommodated in a large room, increasing the
    no. of topics that can be presented in a workshop format, and
    increasing the no. of speakers that can engage with the attendees.
  * Instructions given to attendees, or a part of it can be reviewed as
    part of the CFP process, which makes the workshop selection easier
    and the final workshop implementation more predictable.
  * Ticketing is simplified, workshop day ticket will be an add-on to
    the conference day's ticket.
  * Conducting a workshop does not require excellent oratory skills, to
    keep the attendees engaged for a 3 hour session.

Please share your thoughts on this. Also if people have been to the 
workshops at PyCon APAC 2018, please do share your experiences.

Regards,
Vijay

PS: Would like to thank Ramanathan Hari for pointing out this workshop 
format, last year. It was just too late to try this out a PySangamam 
2018 though.