On the 10th anniversary of PyCon HK, I deliver a keynote in a 5-minute video to share the short story of PyCon HK.
I took 10+ hours to prepare this 5-minute presentation, and my script was changed several times: adding more content, feeling too long, removing and re-arranging, and doing this loop again and again. LOL
Hereby is my script:
It is also a story of passion.
I was a tech company founder, and I have been using Python for 20 years. Looking back on my 28 years of volunteering in the open source community, I realize that my passion for contributing to open source comes from a calling to serve the open community
In 2013, while preparing for the first Hong Kong Open Source Conference, I also attended PyCon APAC in Tokyo and sat in a session for PyCon organizers in the APAC region. During a round of self-introduction, I noticed that many APAC cities hosted their local PyCons, but no PyCon was being held in Hong Kong. So, I proposed to the volunteers in the local community that we host PyCon Hong Kong 2015. As the founder and volunteer for both conferences, I spent more than half a year preparing for each one. For some people, it may seem like my role as a conference organizer for both PyCon HK and HKOSCon is my primary paid job, but in reality, it is unpaid. LOL.
I have always had big plans for the Python community. When I plan each Python conference in Hong Kong, I refer to the processes of PyCon US and PyCon APAC to sustain and improve the Python community. Typically, PyCon is a pay-to-attend conference to cover the minimum costs. Unfortunately, we sometimes have to cut costs from our budget, but we have also had better outcomes that allowed me to propose donating part of the conference profits back to the Python Software Foundation (PSF). We have a Code of Conduct to create a comfortable, positive, and safe environment for everyone to join the Python community.
In the last 9 years of PyCon Hong Kong, in addition to one-way presentations like keynotes and talks in a multiple-track format, we also have interactive activities for the Python community. Participants can follow step-by-step guidance in workshops to get started with Python applications. We also run several development sprints, where participants can meet with Python contributors and easily get involved in Python open source projects. We host several education tracks to invite educators and students from around the globe. And don’t forget that we have hallway discussions, sponsor booths, and community booths. At night, we have wonderful PyCon parties, and for overseas visitors, we offer sightseeing tours.
Hong Kong has been an international city for the last 50 years, which also makes the PyCon HK conference particularly special, attracting more than 20 overseas visitors each year out of 200 participants, which is over 10% of our attendees. We also have 20% of participants from the financial industry, including major investment banks. Therefore, I have proposed twice to the local team to submit proposals to host PyCon APAC in Hong Kong over the past 10 years, and I always hope this dream comes true now.
In the last 2 years, I started my next journey to solve the next challenge that will benefit society and people, and I will continue to fight for and support an open community for everyone—both tech and non-tech people. Certainly, I am always a Pythonist and will keep my contributions to the Python and open source community.
I hope you can see the passion in the community and find your own passion to give back. If you are interested, I am happy to talk with you and share more in the near future.
I hope all of you attending PyCon this year enjoy the conference and have a good networking experience with others today.
Thank you for watching this 5-minute keynote.