Sarah Boyce - DjangoCon US 2024 Perspectives

Speaker 1: I'm here in lovely Durham, North Carolina for DjangoCon US 2024. And with me, I have our newest Django fellow, Sarah Boyce. Sarah, how are you doing?

Speaker 2: I'm doing well, thank you, Jay.

Speaker 1: Sarah, how many Django cons have you been to?

Speaker 2: Ooh, uh uh this is my first DjangoCon US. Okay. Uh but I've been to one DjangoCon Europe.

Speaker 1: Okay, how how do they differ?

Speaker 2: Ooh, good question. Um Okay, I mean I guess DjangoCon US, there's this continuity between like the organizer team and such. And so I think each DjangoCon Europe is always a little bit different because It's usually an entirely new team, so I think they put a little bit of a a different spin on it. But I think it's uh the it's largely a similar structure. So you've got you know the talks and and such I think um I'm not sure if we got breakfast in Europe.

Speaker 1: Oh we went back

Speaker 2: exactly. Uh But no, I mean I guess the uh structure is largely the same in that some talks were going on at the same time. Uh I think last time there were workshops during the conference rather than I think with this one it's it was uh the

Speaker 1: day before yeah.

Speaker 2: Yeah but a lot of the same ingredients are there but maybe ever so slight changes of

Speaker 1: choices. Yeah, it's it's been really interesting to see a lot of the practices that like DjangoCon US implemented. You start seeing them across all of the conferences, not just other Django Cons, but like PyCon US will do some things or you'll see Um even small regional conferences pick up on something and and you know, speaking of regional, um what has been your favorite part about being in Durham? Uh

Speaker 2: probably this ice cream place we went to last night. Yeah. Actually we bumped into you and a number of other people who were.

Speaker 1: I've had that a lot. I've bumped into people.

Speaker 2: I think yeah, there are a number of uh places that in fact a lot of people have talked about the different food and restaurants that they've they've been to uh after the conference and it's all like walking distance from uh you know where this is and and people were saying how lovely that is. And yeah, so it's been a really nice experience where you also just bump into other people who are at the conference and you can you can talk to them or or not.

Speaker 1: I think that's one of the really nice things about DjangoCon, and I think PyCon US does this as well, but like DjangoCon runs on kind of this two-year location rotation. So usually like they're they're in an event one year and then the next year they'll be in the same event. So unfortunately this is like the last year for Durham, but uh you know the the nice part about that is last year there was a whole lot of exploration and then the second year coming. There was like this level of excitement about going to all the places that you went to the year before. Um and you know, funny enough, like the ice cream place that we went to has so much history for me because it was the location of like our first Black Python devs meetup which really grew you know that that whole community grew out of kind of this Django

Speaker 1: Con event. So that being said, like if if you're attending in the future, it's it's a great opportunity to like Build a sense of community, but also it gives you something to really look forward to the following year. And trust me, you'll go to one and you'll absolutely want to go to future ones. So I mentioned before that you're like our newest Django Fellow. Kind of go into a little bit of detail like what it is a Django Fellow does.

Speaker 2: Right, good question. So um Carlton Gibson, who's a a former fellow, he likes to describe it that we're like the janitors and that we're supposed to do the work that other people wouldn't really want to do in their spare unpaid time kind of thing. Uh I don't think that's entirely

Speaker 1: You make it sound really wonderful.

Speaker 2: No, but um Django is a really large project. There is a lot of activity where uh people raise new tickets every day, new pull requests every day that need to be reviewed, the tickets need to be checked as to whether this is the kind of thing we want to include in Django or not, is this a bug or not? And all this kind of stuff. And then there are also security reports and they need to be validated and then if they are valid you need to do security releases. So It's mostly around greasing the wheels, making sure everything keeps working as it should. But we don't do it alone. Like there are are many teams within Django and many uh, you know, quite prolific contributors

Speaker 2: who do a lot of The work with us who also do PR reviews also are active on on track and in the forum and and all these discussions around, you know, how Django works and so yeah.

Speaker 1: Definitely. I and you get to meet some of those folks here. Yes. And have those convers how how have those conversations gone?

Speaker 2: It's been really really it's the best thing. It's it's it's the in my opinion it's the best thing about DjangoCon is I get the opportunity to to really meet a lot of the people that I've been working with. online or talking to and I can finally meet them in person. And such as Natalia, who's the other fellow who I'd ne not met in person until until this conference. So it's a great opportunity to you know, get some people in the room and you can really, you know, tell them how much you appreciate them and the stuff that they do. And yeah, it really adds a different layer of colour to what you uh you know, what you know about them as a person when you when you get to see them.

Speaker 1: I think one of the other things that is is really cool is that you kind of see people's personalities through some of the talks they've given. Has there been like a talk that kind of stood out for you?

Speaker 2: Well one of the talks that uh was happening today that I thought was just really quite beautiful and brave was uh I think it's called Developer 2. 0. Uh and it was just I was impressed with uh how Mark was sharing his personal journey uh and about you know the choices that we can make to make our lives better. And it it it's not actually a technical talk. And I I often quite enjoy the non-technical talks, uh, 'cause I come away with something that is perhaps a new perspective that I can take away in my life and and I think that's very cool.

Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I I I also agree that I think sometimes we we come into Django Khan looking for insight on like a very technical like piece and I think coming in kind of wanting to get a question answered almost puts you at a disadvantage because you're just constantly listening for that answer. But then when you come in and you're just like, I kind of just want to like absorb what's happening in that moment you you can still learn about a lot of really cool technical things. And I mean of course, you know, people have their schedules that they really want to check out. Oh, I really want to go to this talk or I really want to check this keynote out. But I think just having a really open mind, you know, like if you're coming in having a a super like whatever it is, oh I haven't I've never heard of this person before or I've never seen this person before or I don't know who they are.

Speaker 1: They're giving this talk on this thing that I've never heard about. Let me go just check it out. Um I think that's how you really get some of the different perspectives that maybe you don't hear all the time, especially not on YouTube, which also You're watching this on YouTube, so be so be sure to like, subscribe, and do all that stuff. Um But yeah, back to the conference. Um what about some of the conversations you've had with uh maybe like first timer or people who are kind of relatively new to either Django or the Django community.

Speaker 2: Um well it's been a bit bizarre as of an experience for me because some people are coming up to me No sometimes knowing who I am and I don't necessarily know who they are. Um and so it's it's quite uh I think the Django community is really welcoming and there's so many people that uh I've had so many interesting conversations, both like, you know, whether you're at the breakfast table or, you know, in the hallway or something like this. And uh yeah, also with newcomers, uh it 's always great to see them engage with the uh different people at the conference and you know, bring in their perspectives. Uh

Speaker 2: yeah, everyone's always been super friendly, so yeah.

Speaker 1: Yeah, it's It's it's scary. The first Django Con I went to um was one that I was asked to speak at and in that moment I felt like like such an imposter because I wasn't using Django in my day to day, so it it felt like I what can I what what a value can I bring to the conversation? But I think one of the the really interesting points about the Django community, this en masse, especially at DjangoCon US is that whether you've built hundreds of websites with Django, whether you've built other w other used other frameworks, even other languages. I think that everyone really just wants to learn and they want to learn from the experiences that you have, even if you've never written Python before.

Speaker 1: Um one of the things I really like that we do is there's usually a Django Girls event that's like the day before. Yes. Um and you know we we had our own little event happening and it just happened to be right downstairs from like a Django Girls event. So I got to actually see like you know, people building their first Django projects ever and then being able to take that, you know, excitement and momentum into coming into a conference like DjangoCon US just to be like Showered by like super empathetic people and people who just like absolutely care um for that individual and that good first-time like Django experience. And also you're talking to the people that like really dictate where that language is going, um, or where the framework is going. So if there were like bad experiences

Speaker 1: Those get taken to heart. It's not just like, ah, well, you know, that's Django for you. It's like, oh no, it's like, no, please tell us why. Like how how can we make this better? Yeah. Um so I I think that feedback loop is is like really wonderful.

Speaker 2: A hundred percent. I actually At lunch today, uh I sat next to a gentleman and he was wanting to uh deploy his um His Django application, it was the first time he was going to deploy it, and surprise, surprise, he was getting some problem with collect static and it was not going, you know, and it couldn't figure out And y you know, and he was asking, oh, you know, Sarah Deprece, can you sit with me and help help with this? And I'm like, actually I I don't feel massively confident with deployment, but I I can sit with you through it. And um You know, and we we tried some things and and we got it through and uh you know and as soon as it he got that that uh check mark on the GitHub actions that it passed that little little section you was like, oh

Speaker 2: Sarah, I can shake you and you're like high five and all this kind of stuff and um There's this joy joyfulness about uh, you know, doing things right for the first time and having that experience with other people. Yeah. Which It's really nice to you be reminded that and unfortunately I I didn't come early enough to get a chance to go to the Janga Girls event, but I'm sure, you know, that is also a really great way to to be with members of the community and to see them, you know, have their first experience making a Django application and and Hopefully getting some success, I hope. High fives all round.

Speaker 1: Yeah. If anything, high fives will be had. So speaking of of people coming for the first time, like I I guess you know we have some folks here that are considering going to a DjangoCon for the first time. So let folks know what they need to know to be prepared for an awesome time at DjangoCon 2025.

Speaker 2: Yeah, so uh I think there is so much to do in terms of the so many talks, there's so many people, uh like Take your time with it. Uh I think it's very easy to get quite overwhelmed with with all of this new information, new people, etc. Um remember that the talks will get recorded and they will be made available later. So don't uh beat yourself up if you decide to uh, you know, not go to a talk and you wanna take a little break. Because taking a break can help you, you know, sustain your energy throughout the conference without you feeling like too overwhelmed.

Speaker 2: further on and then yeah just really talk to people because you'd be amazed how much people actually want to talk to you and people are generally very friendly. And yeah, and if they're not, we you can report them because Django Khan has a

Speaker 1: We we don't do that. That that seems to be the the saying.

Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a safe space.

Speaker 1: Awesome. Well, I hope you you'll join us in this this very safe of spaces for all the high fives that we'll have Um Sarah, thank you for uh sitting in on this interview and thank you for attending the first your first DjangoCon US. Uh I Maybe I should make my way over to Europe and attend the DjangoCon Europe, but uh um hopefully we'll see you at DjangoCon 2025. And hopefully we'll see you too at DjangoCon 2025, but until then I've been Jay Miller and this has been my guest Sarah Voice and thank you so much for watching. Take care.