ABOUT PYCON MY 2019

Python Conferences, or PyCon, are conferences about Python usually done by grassroots volunteers within a certain geographic area. PyCon started first in the United States in 2003 in Washington D.C, and have grown worldwide and are organised annually in many regions and countries like Singapore, Japan, Australia, China, South Korea, Europe and Malaysia.

We in Malaysia had our first mini-PyCon in 2014, and in 2015 we escalated quickly to a full-fledged major PyCon MY. This year will be the sixth annual Python Conference for Malaysia. It will be held from 24 to 25 August 2019 at a venue TBA.

Last year’s PyCon MY set records for attendance and talk submissions, and we’re looking forward to an even bigger and better conference this year!

WHO SHOULD SUBMIT A PROPOSAL?

Anyone! We’re looking for as broad a cross-section of the Python community in Malaysia as possible.

We’re looking for both experienced conference speakers and people new to technical conferences; industry professionals and hobbyists; entrepreneurs, researchers, and system administrators. You’ve probably learned something that other Python users could benefit from, so come to PyCon and share your story. Maybe you’ve written the next great data mining package, or you have a case study to share, or you’ve learned something about how to start a Python users’ group, or you just want to help novices learn how to choose a Python web framework.

If you have a Python experience to share your fellow Python programmers, PyCon MY 2019 is your chance.

You don’t have to be a professional speaker to give a talk at PyCon. Presenters are volunteers from all walks of life and all levels of experience. From hardcore hackers to educators to hobbyists, anyone with something to say and the desire to say it is welcome.

If you’re looking for Python-related ideas for the conference, the list below may give you some ideas:

• Data Science/Machine Learning
• Educational usage
• Networking
• Hacking/Cybersecurity
• Python black magic or new features
• System administration
• Web related (not limited to Django)
• Cloud/Container implementation
• CI/CD, Automation, DevOps
• Community / Open-Source talks related to Python

Take the suggestions above as a brainstorm, not the be-all end-all list of what we want at PyCon MY 2019. The talks are generally 30 minutes long, however please note that the length of talk includes setup and Q&A time.

Talks can be in either English or Bahasa Malaysia.

There is no limit to the number of proposals that you can submit and as much as we want to hear all of your ideas, however we do realise that we all need to share the stage.

For information of talks from last year, see: PyCon MY 2018 – Presentation Slides.

GENERAL PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

In order to submit a successful proposal, we would like to share some guidelines to make your proposal strong and informative, hence increase the chance of acceptance.

• Title of Presentation
• Category
• Language
• Target Audience (please see below for more information on this)
• Elevator Pitch/ Audience Take-away – a brief description of your talk, what people need to know to get the most out of it, and what you will teach them or demonstrate (250 characters max)
• Total Length of Presentation
• Abstract, mainly for our website and programme schedule (2,600 characters max)
• Speaker Profile: Your name, title(s) and speaker profile in this section will be hidden from the review committee until after a review and determination of acceptance has been made
• Contact information: email and phone number (hidden from review committee)
• Optional items to increase the chance of acceptance for your proposal: A very in-depth and descriptive outline of your presentation, point by point (instead of just slides), technical details and proof to demonstrate your points, expertise, research and results, Github page or any other supplementary information

Note that the more complete this section is presented, the greater the chance of acceptance. Great presentations that are poorly outlined will unfortunately have a much lower chance.

How to Set Your Target Audience Level

A good presentation is an appropriate presentation for a specific level of Python audience. Presentations titled “Solving the Performance Issue by Releasing the GIL when the C Code Block is Executed using Cython” to a beginner/intermediate audience is not appropriate. Conversely, “An Introduction to Cython” or “A Description of a GIL” is not an appropriate presentation for advanced users.

In order to prevent such ambiguity in the definition of Python level and audience, we would like to offer you a simple guideline for those who cannot determine your target audience level.

Beginner

The presentation topics for beginner level include the experience of learning Python, and the Python programming skills needed to become an intermediate user. The contents of packages other than Python native built-in packages such as SciPy or Django are not suitable for beginners.

Intermediate User

Intermediate user knows at least how to write Python program fluently and would like to seek for some advancement in writing Python application. Possible topics that might interests intermediate level, such as web framework usage, machine learning, web traffic monitoring, and automation.

Advanced User

Advanced Users are familiar with Python technology and well-versed in general programming concepts, perhaps in improving/optimizing the performance of python standard library, or might currently maintaining essential Python libraries.

Presentation topics for advanced levels include optimization, the internal behavior of the tool, or an internal implementation of Python, or the implentation CPython and PyPy in Python libraries.

PROPOSAL REVIEW PROCESS

The PyCon selection process generally begins after the CFP announcement. As with previous years, considering timing and geographical aspects, we have decided to have the selection process based on a ROLLING basis. If your proposal is interesting, we would like admit you early so that you have time to prepare, both presentation and transportation.

Selection process

As the CFP will be conducted through papercall.io, there are few key stages in reviewing your proposal:

1. Stage 1: The programme committee will review and give feedback for your proposal
2. Stage 2: You review and modify your proposal
3. Stage 3: The programme committee will review your modified proposal once more and reach a decision if you are suitable for PyCon MY 2019

DEADLINE

Please do not delay! The sooner you submit a proposal, the more time you’ll have to put forward the best proposal! The programme committee will officially begin reviewing proposals and giving feedback as soon as the first proposals have been received and the team will reach out to you to discuss your proposal(s) prior to the close of the CFP to assist you.

Proposals will only be accepted until 30 April 2019. [Edit: Now extended to 15 May 2019 - submit your proposals now!]

THANK YOU!

Do submit your proposals pronto and thanks for helping us make PyCon MY 2019 the best one yet!

For additional information, please see: https://pycon.my/about/pycon-my-plt/