Actually, I started writing this article in September, after the conclusion of PyCon China 2019 in Shanghai. However, due to the upcoming events in Beijing and Chengdu, I postponed it until now. It coincided with the end of my three-year plan and the beginning of the next one. So, I want to talk about the part that took up most of my time and was also one of the most important components: PyCon China. Yes, for the past three years, I have been associated with this familiar yet unfamiliar name.
My Introduction to PyCon China#
To be honest, a statement from Laike9M resonated with me:
Kenneth Reitz once said that he measures his year by PyCon. Despite the controversies surrounding him, this statement still resonates with me. For him, "PyCon" naturally refers to PyCon US, while for me, it refers to PyCon China.
In the years 2018 and 2019, a significant portion of my time revolved around PyCon China.
If we talk about the earliest encounter with PyCon, it can be traced back to 2016. At that time, when I was just starting to learn Python, I was amazed by a presentation by David Beazley titled A Curious Course on Coroutines and Concurrency at PyCon US 2009.
That presentation made me set a few goals for myself:
- Give a presentation at PyCon China.
- Organize a PyCon China event.
- Submit an accepted PEP proposal.
- Become the first mainland Chinese Python Core Developer (although in November 2016, angwer from Huawei became the first Core Developer, so I modified this goal a bit).
After that, I continued to follow the progress of PyCon China. However, I noticed that the reputation of PyCon China was declining year after year, which made me feel very sad.
In 2017, the reputation of PyCon China hit rock bottom. At that time, as a young and impulsive person, I vented my frustrations on the mailing list. But then, I started to consider whether my own abilities were sufficient to support the organization of a large-scale event. So, I decided to test the waters by organizing the first edition of the "Python Beijing Developer Event" under the name of the "Python Beijing Developer Community" (Event Link). With the help of Thoughtworks, I organized the event in Beijing. Based on the feedback afterwards, the event was relatively successful, which further solidified my intention to participate in PyCon China. By the way, this event also allowed me to meet many wonderful friends, such as Yao Qian, the volunteer coordinator for the 2018 Beijing event, and Liu Yulong, one of the organizers for the 2019 event.
In March 2018, I officially expressed my interest in participating in PyCon China to the organizers via email. In July, after meeting with Xin Qing, the person in charge of PyCon China, I officially joined the organizing team for the 2018 event. Once I got involved, there was no turning back. I also participated in the preparations for the 2019 event.
Reflections on PyCon China in the Past Two Years#
To be honest, I have complained to Xin Qing more than once:
I think only an idiot would participate in organizing this event.
Xin Qing replied:
You don't have to say it, we all think we're idiots.
Organizing the event is really tough... I was the person in charge for the Beijing and Chengdu events in 2018, and the person in charge for the Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu events in 2019. Honestly, after these two years, I needed at least two weeks to recover. It was a feeling of complete exhaustion.
Many people may ask, is organizing the event really that difficult?
Yes, it is. Let me briefly explain the current operation mode of PyCon China.
PyCon China is currently organized by a group of volunteers who handle the behind-the-scenes work. The preparations for PyCon China usually start around March or April each year.
Our work includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Venue selection.
- Speaker recruitment.
- Designing the theme for the year.
- Reviewing topics and providing speaker coaching.
- Sponsorship.
- Communication with domestic and international communities.
- Preparing press releases.
- On-site event management.
Starting from August and ending in October each year, everyone is in a highly tense mode. Almost every day, we have to work until 1 or 2 in the morning to complete the day's preparations (because we are all volunteers).
Once each city starts hosting the event, the organizers face even greater challenges, both physically and in terms of specific tasks. For example, in Shanghai and Beijing, I only slept for 4 hours over two days. Chengdu was even more challenging. Due to a typhoon, a Japanese speaker couldn't attend the morning session, so I had to create a last-minute presentation to fill in. As a result, I only slept for 6 hours in 72 hours.
So, organizing the event places high demands on physical endurance and various abilities.
Why?#
Actually, I don't know why. Maybe I really am an idiot?
To be honest, PyCon China has played an extremely important role in the first few years of my career. I have been loved, accepted, and taught so much by everyone here. So, I am grateful, in pain, and happy at the same time.
A friend once said, "From my limited perspective, Manjusaka is the key figure who has brought PyCon China back to life." I am truly grateful for everyone's recognition, but I have to say that I am just a small part of the past two years. Behind the scenes, many things have happened that have touched people's hearts and created a sense of belonging to this community. For example, Xin Qing, who personally covered the losses of over 200,000 RMB in 2018, and the volunteer manager Qian Yi, who silently supported us, as well as the finance manager Da Mao, and the Japanese girl Fujii Mina who came to China despite the typhoon. It is because of the existence of this group of people that PyCon China continues to progress and grow.
So, I am honored to have had such an unforgettable experience during the most important years of my life. Well, I don't know what else to say.
The Future#
As for the future, in terms of my career, I have recently been transferred to Alibaba Cloud to work on middleware development. I will probably continue on the path of technology for a long time. As for PyCon China 2020, the preparations have already begun. However, due to my own health reasons, I am not sure if I will be able to participate. But unless something unexpected happens, although I may not be able to support multiple cities like in 2018 and 2019 (because our volunteers in each city have grown!), you will still see me there.
Finally, here are two pictures to commemorate the occasion:
Lastly, PyCon China 2020 has already started its preparations. Everyone is welcome to join!