DjangoConUS 2023: A Wish Fulfilled

I first heard of DjangoCon US in 2021. DjangoCon is a series of international conferences that brings together django enthusiasts, developers and anyone interested in the framework together to learn and network. I was particularly interested in the one being held in the US. I had not attended one before and I volunteered to help organize to get to know what happens and to help out as much as I can.

I did not get a response back but that did not deter me from wanting to attend the conference one day at any capacity. That was my wish.

I followed the conference everywhere, I did not want to miss any announcement. Fast forward to this year I decided to make an application to speak. It was a gutsy move however, I would rather deal with rejection than struggle with what ifs.

In June 22nd I got THE email. I was screaming on top of my lungs, calling everyone who knew how much I wanted to speak at this conference.

Pre-Conference

A tradition I have before every conference I attend, I like to know who is attending and how to get in touch before the conference. The speakers list and schedule came in handy. I got to select what talks I would attend and who to have conversations on certain topics.

Also, a lot of folks who attend conferences announce it on other socials so its also easy to pick up other people who are attending. I Had my list of folks I wanted to talk to and made room for other unexpected interactions.

Black Python Devs

I had ice cream with folks from the Black Python Devs community at The Parlour. I got involved with the community earlier this year, after I saw Jay's Tweet on granting people early access to the community. I have been an active member and recently got into the team to help move things along. I got to meet Abby, Jay, Kojo and Dawn for the first time in person. Additionally, I made new friends like Ron who were learning about the community at that point. You can be part of the community by using this link

Django Social

Later that same evening we headed to the Django Social meetup.
Django Social is an easy to run social event for the Django community, pioneered by the Foxley talent team . It was a good way to socialise before the conference.

The Conference

The conference was beyond my expectations. The talks were detailed, informative and fun. Specifically the keynote made by my friend, Abby. A little back story, Abby and I were involved with the Twitter Developer Community Pre-Musk era. We knew of each other and had interacted virtually on socials talking about open source. This conference would be my first DjangoCon, which meant I was all over the place looking for all information about what to expect. The first place to check was the schedule. I was looking for other speakers who looked like me and wishing that one of the keynote speakers was an African. In my book that would be a top-tier level of impressiveness. And it really was. Abby delivered the best keynote.

We also had other folks giving amazing talks like Ron, Abigail Afi and Felipe. I also enjoyed the lighting talks. This was a new thing I experienced. Five minutes lightning talks. I was used to lighting talks being a solid 15 minutes.

The conference was a weeklong event, divided into three parts: tutorials, talks and sprints. One of my goals this year was to contribute to as many Python projects as I could including Django itself. That is exactly what I did during the sprints. I helped improve the Django documentation in particular. I had the opportunity to work with Daniele, Natalia and Lance, which lead to a lot more insights and discussions in terms of technical documentation.

My Talk

The good, the nerve racking and the support. I did a test run previously to check if everything works on screen and it did. When I got on stage I had an issue. Murphy's law came into play. The screen was flickering in an annoying way. It did not make sense because the point of testing was to ensure it worked. There I was on stage looking good ready to deliver my talk, but waiting awkwardly as the support team figures it out. I should really look into being a stand up comedian because I could have easily entertained the audience.

I am grateful to my cousins who really stepped up. Jay and Filipe were helping me with their laptops to set up the container that had the code plus presentation while Kojo was talking me through how long I would have to finish my talk because the conference must go on. Abby was already on stage to introduce me. I really felt supported. This was my moment no matter what happened I was going to give a good talk and enjoy myself while at it.

I did a good job and actually got to walk through the code later with Aman and Anthony who also got to make their first open source contribution to my code. I was exhilarated because it showed that I was clear and I got to help other folks understand how to build APIs and other factors to consider.

You can watch my video here and get the slides too

The playlist for all the videos for DjangoCon US 2023

Penny For My Thoughts

I got to interact with people who I was not naturally predisposed to. I got to interact with authors like William Vincent and Eric Matthes who answered the numerous questions I had about writing a book. They were kind enough to give me access to them in case I had any more questions come up as well.

I also got to talk to and interact with the people who were present when Django was on its early stages and people who got involved after like Frank Wiles, Jeff Triplett,Jacob, Tim Schilling and Dawn Wages.

The organisers of DjangoCon US were so kind, friendly and always willing to help throughout the conference. They are the real heroes.

I belonged. What does that mean? My initial fear was not fitting in. Being a first time attendee is nerve wracking and adding that I would be speaking makes it double. Everyone was so warm and kind. I forgot that I was just meeting all this people for the first time. I loved it. I affirmed the statement that many of those who came before me did, "I came for the framework and I am choosing to stay for the community". I gotta spread the warmness to all Django folks.

If you can attend dinners and games or activities at the end of the conferences that is where friendships are made and built.

I had a great time and loved each and every moment. This conference will always have a special place in my heart. I look forward to attending more DjangoCons.