I consider myself to be very fortunate. I have had the pleasure of working with great people, being in the right places at the right time, and saying "yes" when I could.
One of my recent YES-es was to submit a talk proposal this year's North Bay Python. It's the ninth year of the event. I became aware of it through Adrianna Tan, someone who I had connected with in the Eleventy community. I had seen the video of her talk, titled "From Fintech to Fin Tech" where she covered her career trajectory from finance to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I was both impressed by the talk and realized that talks at this unique event didn't have to necessarily relate to the Python language.
The conference, though more like an un-conference, ran for two days, Saturday and Sunday, Apr 25th and 26th.
Not only was the range of talks expansive, the range of people was equally expansive and interesting. I met a bunch of local people, in addition to those who traveled from afar. And I've already got a lunch set up with one of the Petaluma locals. Others have suggested that a group of us meet.
I came away from the event quite energized. And being on Mastodon today and seeing posts from people who I have met in real life is genuinely awesome. Thank you to all of those who I was able to chat with over the weekend.
The organizers, Chris and Robin, are wonderful hosts. The and the rest of the team made all of us feel welcome. The event location, the barn at the Reis River Ranch, was special, beautiful, and laid back.
Regarding my talk...while I had done a practice run or two while sitting at my desk, it seemed to run well short of the 25-minute slot. Me being me, nervous as I got on stage, managed to extend it into a 35-minute talk. I just watched the video (that was mighty fast turnaround Andrew) and it is now posted on the North Bay Python YouTube channel along with some of the other talks.
Anyway, here is a link to it on YouTube or you can watch it below. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did presenting it.
If you can find yourself in the Bay Area in April of next year, be sure to put North Bay Python on your calendar for what I expect will be an extra special 10th anniversary event.
More importantly, if you are a fan of Python, the North Bay, or just like supporting incredibly wonderful and unique events like this one, please go ahead and make whatever contribution you can to support it. Events like these are volunteer-driven and need to cover venue, equipment, and furniture expenses. Any little bit helps.
UPDATE: In my talk, I failed to say that my friend Marc, who I mentioned, is an accomplished artist and you can find his work at Marc Marvin Fine Art.
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