Santa Clara, CA (PRWEB) September 20, 2012
After the sell-out success that was PyCon 2012, the PyCon organizers have opened early bird ticket sales for the March 2013 rendition of the conference, a full three months earlier than past years. The conference returns to Santa Clara, California for a second year, kicking off two days of tutorials on March 13, three days of conference talks starting March 15, and a week of sprinting to wrap up beginning March 18. Attendance will be strictly limited to 2500 people, so be sure to get your tickets as soon as possible as the organizers expect another quick sell out.
New for this year is that early bird sales have moved from a time-based window to quantity-based, with the discounted rates applying to the first 1000 tickets sold. This years early bird individual and corporate rates remain at the levels seen in recent years, costing just $ 300 and $ 450 USD respectively. Even at their regular pricing levels of $ 350 and $ 600, the value for this three day conference is unparalleled in the technology world. All tickets provide access to the talks on March 15-17 as well as breakfast, lunch, and several coffee and snack breaks.
New for 2013 is a 50% discount on student tickets, coming in at just $ 100 during the early bird period and $ 125 for the regular rate. When pairing up the highest quality talks the community has to offer with any of the excellent tutorials the PyCon schedule includes, the value to students is tremendous. Growing the base of the community at an affordable rate is a high priority for the conference organizers and the Python Software Foundation.
The conference is even including a free tutorial for those 12 and older called The Young Coder: Lets Learn Python, providing an opportunity for children to learn how to create games with Python via the Raspberry Pi. All attendees of the tutorial will receive a copy of the book Hello World! Computer Programming for Kids and Other Beginners
Improvements have also been made to the PyCon financial aid program, with an increased budget for assistance to match the increase in requests from the community. The committee has removed the need for multiple applications for those applying to the PyLadies grants, which are back again this year. Theyve also revamped the payment process, removing the need for reimbursement via receipts and will instead offer grants. As with years past, conference registration and hotel booking will continue to be handled directly by the committee.
As ticket sales open up, the 2013 Call for Proposals nears its end, with proposals for tutorials and talks being accepted through September 28, 2012. Proposals for posters are accepted through January 15, 2013. With a record 519 proposals received last year and even more expected for the September 28 deadline, the program committee will be hard at work through the fall shaping another fantastic conference schedule.
One aspect of that fantastic schedule has already been announced: the keynote speakers. This years lineup includes PyCon first-timer Eben Upton, founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, whose Raspberry Pi device prominently features the use of Python. Joining him is Jessica McKellar, a community leader whose efforts in outreach with the Boston Python Workshop and elsewhere have greatly impacted and involved countless members of the ever diversifying Python world. Guido van Rossum, Pythons creator, and one of the great minds of the Python world, Raymond Hettinger, are sure to pack a punch with their always informative presentations.
No PyCon would be complete without the ever generous sponsors. Sponsorship allows the organizers to build the blowout successes that PyCon has become, and it allows the year-after-year increases that the conference has enjoyed across many areas. This years sponsorship is lead by Diamond sponsor Google, and Heroku, Milo, New Relic, and Eventbrite at the Platinum level. Disney Animation Studios, Wingware, Linode, PlaidCloud, dotCloud, Revolution Systems, Web Cube CMS, Stratasan, Twilio, JetBrains, RedHat, Leapfrog Online, Consyl, 2ndQuadrant, Continuum Analytics, Project Evolution, Cyan, Nebula, Optimizely, Amazon Web Services, Wiser Together, Caktus Consulting Group, ActiveState, SendGrid, Spotify, and Canonical represent the Gold sponsorship level.
Python Academy, Thumbtack, Mailgun, AWeber, net-ng, devsAr, DreamHost, Olark, MeetMe, American Greeting, gocept, AllTreatment.com, FreshBooks, ZeOmega, WebFilings, SwiftStack, Lucasfilm, Piston Cloud Computing, Netflix, Toast Driven, Finite Loop Software, and Cox Media Group have all pledged support at the Silver sponsorship level.
If youre interested in sponsoring PyCon, check out the Why Sponsor PyCon page as well as the sponsorship prospectus. Any sponsorship inquiries can be directed to conference chairman Jesse Noller at jnoller (at) python (dot) org.