Unless I find something else interesting to report.
I pretty much went with the notion that the talks were going to be the centerpiece of my PyCon. But it’s pretty clear, that while the talks are solid, they should not be what one goes to the conference for. It should really be about interacting with the larger community of Python enthusiasts. Let me give you an example.
Despite my miserable condition, I did make it to a few talks. One, by Frank Wiles, was on the uses of plpython, a Python embedded in the PostgreSQL database. I have a little knowledge of the subject from a project at work.
Frank did a great job, but I thought he left out one key potential use case. PostgreSQL supports the notion of “table functions”, which allows a procedural function to return multiple, multi-attribute values. Said results are treated much like an SQL table, and can be used anywhere a table expression can. This means you can do fun things like joins against the results of a procedure call. The utility is awesome.
After Frank’s done, I feel it’s my public duty to let others know about this awesomeness. So I shamble up to a mic, grunt out a few hoarse sentences that include the phrase “table functions” and nod my head at the response.
After that, a couple of other seasoned PyConners, Charlie Clark (all the way over from Europe!) and Catherine Devlin, spend some time chatting me up. If I was feeling better I would have tried to arrange to meet one or both for a drink later. Charlie was kind enough to almost instantaneously send me a couple of interesting papers on sophisticated PostgreSQL usage.
There was a lot of stuff like that at PyCon. A lot of opportunity to do stuff (besides watch a presentation) with others: tutorials, parties, expo hall, open spaces, poster sessions, programming sprints, programming contests, a 5K run, the hallway track.
To maximize your time at PyCon all you have to do is make the effort to speak up a little. It can even be as simple as saying “Hi!” to someone you’ve never met before.