Anna Makarudze & Humphrey Butau
How we organised PyCon Zimbabwe
Organizers: PyCon Zim, Djangogirls Harare, Djangogirls Masvingo, Pyladies Harare
@hamub @amakarudze @pycon_zim
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July 2015: The journey begins!
• Whatsapp
group
• Mailing List
• Try to
establish
meet-ups
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No content
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We are invited to PyConNa 2016
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What Daniele loves to talk about most…
Our financial assistance wasn’t enough to cover our
travel and living expenses so…
… we had to travel for almost 33hrs by road from
Harare and another 33hrs back to Harare.
That’s not something we would have repeated this
year!!!
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PyCon
Namibia
happens
and it was
awesome.
A number
of lessons
learnt
PyCon Namibia & Django Girls
Windhoek, 25th – 29th January 2016
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Django Girls Harare – 9th April 2016
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Organising Django Girls Masvingo
Reality dawned on us – sanctions
against Zimbabwe are real!
PSF could not sponsor us due to
targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Appealed to Python Africa Mailing List
for help.
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Some Extraordinary Friends – Python Africa Mailing List
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Django Girls Masvingo – 24th September
2016
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OnePercentClub Crowdfunding Project
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PyCon Zimbabwe Featured at PyCon UK
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PyCon Zimbabwe Crowdfunding Project
Fully Funded!
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Many thanks to all PyCon Zim
supporters!!!
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PyCon ZA – 6th – 7th October 2016
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Thanks to our Corporate Sponsors
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Venue: ZESA National Training Centre –
Self-contained, affordable conference services
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Speakers
2 keynote speakers from USA – Mike Place
(Saltstack) & Amanda Gelender (GitHub)
Gabriel Nhinda – UNAM, Namibia
Petrus Janse van Rensburg – South Africa
The rest – local speakers
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Organising Team
Emilda Juliana Kofi – Django Girls Harare
Charles Katuri
Brian Mukwazhi
Akim Mnthali – Great Zimbabwe University, Masvingo
Kudakwashe Siziva
Ronald Maravanyika
Anna Makarudze
Humphrey Butau
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Attendees
Target number 60 – 100 – 150 and back
to 60.
Registered participants were 59.
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Our timing – 24th – 25th November 2016
Wasn’t the most strategic timing in terms
of university exams nationwide.
Many Python/Django events had taken
place worldwide affecting international
turnout.
Dates were announced late – we were
bound by 2016.
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Challenges
Conflict of interest – community vs
entrepreneurship
Only a few committed members
African mentality of late registration
Economic hardships – most of the
attendees needed financial assistance
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Lessons to draw from our experience
It’s not always about the money
Elegance is not a key factor in
measuring event success – meeting
objectives is a better metric
Exposure & networks are far more
important
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Lessons to draw from our experience
Know the people whom you work with
It’s not about the numbers, it’s more about quality,
commitment and results
Think outside the box
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Lessons to draw from our experience
Context is important, always remember you are in
Africa (especially, Zimbabwe!)
Students actually find Python easier to learn than
C, C++ and Java!
We can make a difference in Africa!
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…and now, we can’t stop saying, yaay, we
made it!!!