[python-uk] EuroPython Reboot

[John Pinner]

Hello Fellow European Pythonistas,

This year's EuroPython in Berlin was a grat event, enjoyed by over
1000 Pythonistas and the biggest EP to date.

What most of us would have been unaware of was that under the surface,
there had been major problems with relations between the EuroPython
Society (EPS) board and those heading up the local organising team.

These problems could be serious enough to put the future of EuroPython
itself at risk and already have resulted in plans for a repeat of
EuroPython 2014 Berlin in 2015 being abandoned.

Now I (John Pinner) like many others feel passionately about our
Python community, and this is part of the problem : people throw
themselves into organising our events, put in *lots* of work, and
don't necessarily see the bigger picture : constructive criticism may
not be taken, or given, as intended. Then relationships deteriorate
and positions get entrenched, this was apparent (to me, I don't know
about anyone else) at the EPS General Assembly in Berlin.

Believe me, I have been involved in voluntary organisations for over
30 years, and this is common and all the more sad as it stems from the
same basic passion and desire to serve the community.

As someone who has been involved in EuroPython from the early days,
and a past organiser, I don't wish to see the current problems
continue and put the future of EuroPython at risk. I don't think it's
too late to do something about it.

PyCon UK 2014 starts tomorrow in Coventry, and quite a few EuroPython
fans will be attending, so this is an opportunity to join together and
see if we can resolve some of these problems. This is quite
appropriate as, for sad historical reasons (which we have learnt from
and put behind us, let's do the same on a much smaller scale for
EuroPython) Coventry is the City of Reconciliation

So I'm setting up a "EuroPython Reboot" meeting at PyCon UK 2014, at
11:00am local time (I believe that's 10:00am European time). Some of
us will be able to attend this meeting in person, for those who
cannot, we'll set up a video call on either https://appear.in/epreboot
or Google hangout.

I'll put this up on the PyCon UK wiki at
http://pyconuk.net/EuropythonReboot and when we finalise the details,
they'll be there.

One thing I will stress, this is my idea as an individual who cares
about the future of EuroPython, it is *not* being done at the behest
of, or under the influence of, either the Berlin organisers or the EPS
Board.

If you too care about EuroPython, please join us at this meeting.

Thanks,

John
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