Kudzayi Bamhare - DjangoCon US 2024 Perspectives

Speaker 1: We're in Durham, North Carolina for DjangoCon U. S. twenty twenty-four. I'm getting some of the perspectives of some first-time and longtime attendees, and with me is one of my personal friends, and I Guest kind of first time attendee. Yeah. Uh good Zay. How's it going?

Speaker 2: Good, Jay. How are you doing today, man?

Speaker 1: I'm I'm doing good. You know, last day of the conference. I'm I'm like ready to go back into the world and tell everybody all the things I learned. We've had a bunch of really great talks and stuff. But like yeah, this is like your first time in Durham, right?

Speaker 2: Yeah, it's my first time in Durham, first time at Dunkon US I attended Jenkon Africa last year, which is my first JengaCon in Zanzibar. And I also did Jenkon Europe this year in Vigo. So

Speaker 1: So so you got like the the Thanos gauntlet of of Django Con events now. Yeah. And that was all for like the twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four season, like And uh, you know, we're looking forward to DjangoCon Africa happening next year, I think, also in uh Tanzania, right? Yeah. Or is it in Namibia?

Speaker 2: It should be in Tanzania next year.

Speaker 1: Okay, Tanzania. Yeah. Um cool. So like what were some of the differences that you noticed between the different Django cons?

Speaker 2: Yeah. That's a good question. So I feel like DjangoCon Africa was very uh I think that that was our first Django Con in Africa

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: So I'm from Zimbabwe, uh, which is in Africa. And uh that was the first time the community really got together and just like You know, we're trying to figure out how our Gen Con is gonna look. So it was really good to just meet other people and like see, you know, the type of culture you want to sit for it. Whereas with JamCon Europe and US, I feel like there's already a set culture and I'm coming into an and you feel that in the way the compass is organized and you know, just like the branding and everything just feels like, okay, we've been doing this for a long time and you know. Uh but yeah, but they've all been like really great and different and Their own ways.

Speaker 1: Yeah. What what stands out between you know from DjangoCon US specifically?

Speaker 2: Yeah. So DjangoCon US, um It's felt so I was I'm also an organizer for Jencon US and it's had this feeling of like just like a high level of organization. Like it feels like uh like I said, people really know what they're doing, what their roles are. And even like with some of the talks we've had, they've been like really great. It just it's very consistent with what I felt about the conference. Just like very organized and very um Just like confident and as assured of what it is and what it's trying to do.

Speaker 1: So when you look at the idea of being a first-time attendee but also an organizer like How do you and also you helped me at the Black Python devs booth? So like how how did you balance like going to talks working the booth, like doing some of the duties that you have to do as an organizer. Like how did you find balance in doing those those things?

Speaker 2: So uh one thing I always made sure to do is to have uh a tab open on my laptop with the schedule of the different talks. So if I was working the Black Python devs booth, I'd have my laptop open and I would like check, okay, who's coming up next? Like is there anything I want to see, anything I'm interested in If there wasn't if there was something that wasn't really like something I'm like looking into, like Django wise, I would stay at the booth and like work on that. Maybe I'll try network, have conversations with people Um, but if I'm like, okay, this is a talk I really want to attend, yeah. Then I'll tell AJ I'm out. I'll go inside and

Speaker 1: Yeah, lu luckily our booth is pretty like Flexible, like we always try to make sure we can like let people go and like see the talks they really want to see.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Um so it definitely helps to just be a way of like What's happening? Like what talks are there? Like what do you want to attend? What are you trying to get out of the conference? And yeah.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I I think it also helps that, you know, in both organizing and in like booth duty, you're not the only one there

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Um I think that's one of the things where I'm I tend to be more favored of like the hallway track. So I don't necessarily go to a lot of talks Um but like I also like that's just my style of going to conferences like this. Like I get restless, my feet get like all twitchy and stuff. So like it's really hard to sit down and like go to talk back to back to back to back to back. Yeah. But it is nice to be able to like check in a talk that I really want to see. Go work the booth, you know, and and again, like, you know, people who are attending for the first time, you're probably not going to have a booth that you have to work, but there are things like the quiet room and like you know Wherever the event will be, it it won't be in Durham next year, but there will be places like you can just go outside, you can get some fresh air, um

Speaker 1: go to the local coffee shop, grab you something to drink. Usually like the there's like a snack area in the at the conference as well. So like you don't have to feel like you're rushed to really be just constantly hitting talks.

Speaker 2: Yeah. And I think it's also really good to just be uh Just aware of how your body is feeling throughout the conference because you can get burnt out like if you feel like I need to attend every talk like you're gonna get tired. You're gonna get tired of Networking and having conversations, so the quiet rooms like you mentioned are great. And like going outside, getting like some coffee or some ice cream.

Speaker 1: I think even even if you're not like going to every talk, like eventually your body's gonna wear down over the there's there's always a lot of things going on. Like what what were some of the things outside of like The conference itself that you you took part in?

Speaker 2: So um there's been a lot of like social events that have happened. Like we've gone out for dinner quite a few times, like with the Black Python divs guys who've done that. There's been Augsie like organizers' dinners. But it's also like people just like saying hey let's go to an arcade and let's play some let's play some games you know or people wanting to go like to a rooftop and just hang out so the social element is like one of my favorite parts of like these conferences especially with Jancon US. I think a lot of people that attend this conference are ready and willing to like meet new people and engage and like find out about you and like what you're doing. So You don't have to be like shy about like you know going up to someone and saying, hey, this is who I am, this is where I'm from.

Speaker 2: People are pretty uh warm and welcoming.

Speaker 1: Awesome. Was there like uh a particular like talk or conversation you had while you were at the conference that kind of stands out amongst the others?

Speaker 2: So um funny enough, so Throughout this conference, aside from attending like, you know, the talks and like doing Black Python and all of that, I've also been trying to deploy a website, uh, shotgeek. com And we could remove that.

Speaker 1: No, no, no, absolutely not.

Speaker 2: Um and um it has been I've been having a lot of trouble with it, but because I'm at this conference with a bunch of developers and people who have a lot of experience, I've been able to have really great conversations with people and approach them with the problems I have. Like, hey I'm having this issue. Like do you think you can help me out? So I've learned I've had like great conversations with some really smart people who have been able to help me like troubleshoot my issues, like, you know, going through my code, going through, you know Just like the different problems and like discussing it and it's just great to know that you know you're in a place where people are so willing to help And also teach and not be like, oh, why don't you know how to do this, you know? So

Speaker 2: that's been my favorite thing of this conference and something I didn't expect as well.

Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I think one of the things that you'll find in the Django community is that like Oh, that's easy isn't really a way that we operate. Like it's not a thing that we do. Um but everyone is like super willing to help and super willing to like provide that experience and like there's no task that's too small or too easy. Um so if yeah, if you're trying to get really that first deployment of a project, like But why not do it at Django Con and you did it during the hallway track, but I mean we also have like sprints coming up tomorrow and you know for a few days like you could get your first like deployment of a project at a sprint and probably have people around you who are more than willing to just, you know, provide whatever knowledge they have.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Um so yeah, so like we mentioned before, there's you know, this is the last year that Django Khan's happening uh in Durham for now. But like What what are you hoping to get out of you know the next Django Con?

Speaker 2: Um I think that's an interesting question. So this is my first Django Con. I kinda went here Just with an open mind, like let's see whatever comes I'm gonna take.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: But for the next one I think I'll go into it with a bit more uh structure and what I wanna get out of it. I think Um it'll probably be more maybe project focused. It's like I have specific projects that I'm working on and I'm like this is what this is the support I need for this project. I'm probably going into it, like ready to engage with the people that I feel like would be really beneficial to work with on this or like get advice from. And of course always just like learning You know, it's always good to learn. I always enjoy learning and like attending the talks and like seeing what people Yeah, but what people are like working on and what new stuff like is happening in Django.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Uh we had someone uh an interview that we did yesterday. Um kind of had like the opposite side of that too where they were like, you know, I remember I had like some talks that I definitely wanted to go see.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: But I actually got more from, you know, just kinda r relaxing a little bit and having like a laissez faire kind of a attitude about it and just mean like, you know, letting letting Django Khan just kinda like

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Just flow over and like, you know, figure that part out as you get there.

Speaker 2: Yeah. I think I think that's kind of been what I Like I I think I came here initially saying, Okay, I need to attend as many talks as possible, right?

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: But then because I had this issue with deploying my website It became more of a okay, I need to have conversations with people about how to deploy this website. And that became a learning experience on its own where, you know, I have issues and even some people I spoke to had never dealt with that issue. But we like, okay, let's figure it out. And we did that together. And that was That was a great experience that I wouldn't have gotten I don't know, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere else, you know, because you're Django Con and it's like Jungcon US and there's All these different types of people from all over the world, like who work with Django, who've deployed websites, you know. So yeah, that's been I think my favorite part of the conference

Speaker 1: Cool. Last question. So what advice would you give to our friends that are considering attending DjangoCon US 2025?

Speaker 2: Um, I would say if you're even considering attending, absolutely you should just go for it. Um, I don't think um It's something that uh if you're someone that is interested, remotely interested in Python or Django, you shouldn't like rule yourself out of. Like you're never uh too inexperienced to attend one of these conferences. It's always very beginner friendly at all levels. Like you can speak to the most advanced people. You can speak to someone that says, hey, I've never actually used Django before, but You know, I just came through because I'm interested. So yeah, and if it's a financial issue, you know, they've got a lot of like uh grant opportunities. I received a grant, travel grant to get here as well. So yeah, I think go for it.

Speaker 2: Absolutely.

Speaker 1: Oh, I love it. Uh well thank you so much for you know chatting with me and uh thank you for for watching this again. You're probably watching this on our YouTube channel, so make sure you subscribe. There will be more content like this. But also we'll have probably some recaps coming from DjangoCon 2024 and until then uh or until next time in DjangoCon 2025. I'm Jay Miller and my guest with me is Kudzae Bamare. Thank you so much for checking out with us.

Speaker 2: Thanks, guys.