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## Tickets now on sale for North Bay Python 2017

Tuesday, October 3, 2017—We are excited to announce that tickets are now on sale for North Bay Python 2017. With just two months until the conference we have a few key dates coming up:

- Tickets are available at a discount until Friday, October 20.
- Hotel rooms are available at a discount until Wednesday, November 1.
- T-shirts can be ordered until Tuesday, November 7.

Can't afford a ticket? Please email spam@northbaypython.org. We'll enthusiastically waive ticket fees for people who ask.

Need to get approval from your manager to attend North Bay Python 2017? We've outlined the business case to make it clear that North Bay Python is a wise investment.

We've prepared a basic travel guide with lodging and travel information. This resource will grow to include local restaurants and other amenities.

Currently we're reviewing 117 proposals from 82 people interested in speaking at North Bay Python 2017. We are grateful to the communities and individuals for: sharing the news, encouraging others, mentoring prospective speakers, crafting proposals, and reviewing those proposals.

Our inaugural event is going to have a fantastic program. We can't wait to announce our keynote speakers and program schedule!

Buy tickets and book hotel rooms soon to get the best rates.

## Reflecting the Bay in the North Bay Python 2017 speaker lineup

Wednesday, August 30, 2017—The organizing team wants North Bay Python to reflect the demographics of the world around us, including the speaker lineup. We are working to make that happen, and we could use your help.

We are currently seeking talk proposals for our inaugural conference in Petaluma, CA on December 2-3, 2017. The deadline to submit a proposal is September 29, 2017.

This is an opportunity for new and seasoned speakers alike, for students and professionals, for developers and researchers, for managers and hobbyists.

To aid those who are interested in speaking, we are happy to share ideas, help refine proposals, and provide mentorship to prospective speakers.

We're providing that support via email to program@northbaypython.org and chat, as needed and during the twice weekly office hours we host on Wednesdays at 3pm and Fridays at 7pm Pacific. People can tweet at us for help, too.

In order to decrease bias when selecting talks, our proposal scoring process anonymizes speaker details. Accepted speakers receive a free pre-event training. We offer financial aid for speakers on a case-by-case basis.

We are doing all we can to build a great program and help excellent people get on stage.

You can help, too:

- Take the stage! You should submit a proposal. Yes, you.
- Amplify someone else's voice. Encourage someone who's never given a conference talk to submit a proposal.
- Help submitters prepare their proposals and talks: proofread, act as a rehearsal audience, offer slide design tips...
- Pay our bills. Recommend a sponsor or throw your support behind this not-for-profit volunteer-run event as an individual donor.

Have other thoughts or ideas? Please reach out to spam@northbaypython.org.

Thank you for helping to make North Bay Python excellent. This is a volunteer-run conference running under the auspices of Software Freedom Conservancy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and none of this is possible without our advisors, our community partners, our sponsors, and you.

## Now accepting talk proposals for North Bay Python 2017

Monday, August 21, 2017—The North Bay Python team is excited to announce that the call for proposals (CFP) is now open! We are seeking speakers of all experience levels to contribute to our inaugural conference. The CFP will close on September 29, 2017.

North Bay Python is a single-track event featuring two days of presentations by members of the community. The vast majority of the conference program will come from people who propose talks in our CFP process. Whether you use Python professionally, as a hobbyist, or are just excited about Python or programming and open source, we'd love to hear from you.

Our program committee, which is responsible for reviewing proposals, is interested in building a program that reflects the diversity of people who are using Python. Never given a presentation before but excited to share? We're here to help you craft a proposal and can refer you to quality resources for making your first conference talk. Not sure what to talk about, but interested in trying? We've got ideas for presentations we'd love to see and we're happy to share them with you!

In order to ensure a balanced program, we are proactively doing outreach to new and experienced speakers alike. We are also including a blind review phase in our selection process in order to combat bias. Our goal is to have no less than 33% of our speakers be not-men, ideally 50%, and to reflect the racial diversity of United States and Bay Area demographics.

Feel free to reach out with any questions, comments, or ideas you have. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and IRC, or you can email us. Please, get started today! The call for proposals closes on September 29, 2017.

## North Bay Python joins Software Freedom Conservancy

Wednesday, August 16, 2017—We are proud to announce that North Bay Python is now a member project of Software Freedom Conservancy, a 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to ethical technology and the development and promotion free and open source software. Conservancy will act as our fiscal sponsor, allowing our team to operate without managing our own corporate structure and administrative services.

Conservancy is home to many popular free and open source software projects, like Selenium, PyPy, phpMyAdmin, Twisted, and Outreachy, some of which run their own events. North Bay Python has the distinct honor of being the first member project that is exclusively focused on organizing community events.

We couldn't be more excited. We're celebrating by donating five free tickets to Outreachy participants and will be promoting member projects relevant to the Python community at the conference. Interested Outreachy alums (past or present) should contact us. We'll also have discounted tickets available for active financial supporters of Software Freedom Conservancy.

We look forward to working with Conservancy to advance software freedom and expand the community of Python developers. If this is the first time you've heard of Conservancy, we encourage you to check out their website and give them your support.

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