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PyCascades Welcome Wagon

Hello!

We’re your Welcome Wagon, and we’re glad you’re coming to the 2019 PyCascades conference, being held on February 23-24 2019 in Seattle, Washington, USA! Our venue is Kane Hall on the campus of the University of Washington.

Feel free to tweet at us.

A great way to meet us and fellow attendees is on our PyCascades Slack.

You can also email us at info@pycascades.com if we can help make your first time at the conference easier.

When you get to the conference, come say hello.

We’ve gathered important stuff here that will help you navigate the conference like a pro, make you feel more at home, and help you to manage the constant flow of information. Strategies and pro tips provide ways you can make the most of the conference. The FAQs strive to answer questions before you even have them.

Important Information

  • WiFi: University of Washington, ID: event0476, Password: 26Gn=48Gn=53Ej
  • Restrooms: Located downstairs and upstairs.
  • Refreshments: Located upstairs in the Walter-Ames room.
  • Quiet room: Next door, room 120. (NB: No food or drink allowed in the auditoriums)

Code of Conduct

We have a Code of Conduct. If you have any issues, please reach out:

Contribute

We welcome your contribution to the Welcome Wagon. Propose a PR on our GitHub repo.

Quick guide:
  • Fork our repo on GitHub.
  • Make your changes to your fork.
  • When you’re happy with them, submit a pull request back to our repo.

Have ideas but no time today? Or do you need ideas on what to do? Check out our issues page. Any change no matter how large or small is welcome!

Pro Tips

  • You don’t need to go to every talk. Look through the schedule of events before you arrive or while you are eating or taking a break. Figure out which talks you want to see the most. Spread out your time between talks, networking, and breaks.
  • Speaking of breaks–conferences are exhilarating, but can also be exhausting. Give your brain a break! Grab a quiet spot in the quiet room or take a quick walk. Play a board game on your lunch break. Come back invigorated.
  • Eat! You can use the energy.
  • Are you looking for a job or is there an opening at your company? Check out the job board in ??.

Other resources

Slides for PyCascades 2019

From Saturday, February 23

Lightning Talks

From Sunday, February 24

Lightning Talks

Back to the Welcome Wagon.

Seattle Dining Guide

U-District (Conference Vicinity Lunch)

The University of Washington is situated about 5 miles North of downtown Seattle.

The Ave - University Way Northeast

0.3-1 mile / 0.5-1.6 km walk

The closest food to Kane Hall is on University Way Northeast which is often referred to as The Ave. The Ave has many food options often marked by the cheapness and proximity to campus. There are also several coffee shops including Starbucks and several local spots. There are many spot just west of campus and additional options north.

Short List:

U Village

0.8 mile / 1.3 km walk

U Village is a mall just north of UW with several food and shopping options. There are a few chain restaurants here and some local options as well. The QFC here is one of the closest full grocery stores to campus.

Short List:

Around Town (Possible Dinner and Evening)

If you want to venture away from the University of Washington you have a few options. Capitol Hill and Downtown Seattle can be accessed via the light rail and are south of UW. To the west of UW there are a few neigborhoods that can be reach via buses, Wallingford, Fremont, and Ballard. These locations might be hard to get there and back for lunch but could be a good place to get dinner and/or drinks in the evening.

Capitol Hill and Downtown Seattle can be reached by the light rail which can be caught at the University of Washington Station on Montlake Blvd. This is a 0.6 mile / 1 km walk from Kane Hall. There are also buses (48/197/271/542) along 15th Ave which connect to the light rail station, this includes <0.3 miles / 0.5 km of walking.

<Bus directions to neighborhoods>

The transit timetables are integrated into the popular map apps, such as Google Maps. There is also the One Bus Away app for buses which gives you live updates as to when the next bus is due at each bus stop.

Seattle is served by taxis as well as rideshare services such as Lyft and Uber. There are also car-share services such as Car2Go and ReachNow, but street parking is limited in Capitol Hill and Downtown. Check out SDOT for streat parking or popular map apps, such as Google Maps, to find garages.

Capitol Hill

15-20 minutes via public transit

Historically the LGBTQ centre of Seattle, Capitol Hill has grown to be one of the most popular nightlife areas in the city. There are many food options here as well and bars and other nightlife. To get to Capitol Hill via public transit you can take the light rail and get off at the Capitol Hill Station or there might be buses that get you closer to a particular restaurant.

Short List:

Downtown Seattle - Pike Place/Westlake Station

20-25 minutes via public transit

To get to Pike Place take the light rail to Westlake Station then walk towards the water (lower street numbers) on Pine or Pike. There are a few sit down options here but mostly quick eats to grab and go. There are a variety of bars here as well as some late night food.

Short list:

Westlake station has additional food and happy hour locations within walking distance. There are a few cocktail bars and restaurants close to the station around the shopping area. If you are up for a walk there are several hip bars around the Amazon Campus (0.3 mile / 0.5 km walk from Westlake Station) or in Belltown on 1st and 2nd Ave (0.5 miles / 0.8 km).

Short list:

Downtown Seattle - University Station

20-25 minutes via public transit

The University Station is the next stop on the light rail. It is the closest station to the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) and situated in the business district of Seattle. There are many fast eats that serve the downtown workforce. As well there are bars and evening restaurant nearby that often have happy hours. The vibe is often more upscale and serving to business professionals after work.

Downtown Seattle - Pioneer Square

25-30 minutes via public transit

The next stop on the light rail is Pioneer Square. Pioneer Square is going through a revival and has many new and established restaurants and bars. There are several cute shops and food options.

Downtown Seattle - International District

25-30 minutes via public transit

International District has a lot of great food. If you are looking for dim sum this is where you want to be. There are lots of great authentic cuisine here along with bubble tea, and karaoke.

Fremont

25-30 minutes via public transit

Fremont is known for its quirky, artistic flair. It’s home to the Fremont Troll sculpture, the most-frequently opened drawbridge in the United States (which doubles as an art studio for the current artist-in-residence) and a number of dining spots and bars. The easiest way to get to Fremont from the U-District is to grab either the 31 or 32 bus. Fremont, like the UW, also lies on part of the Burke-Gilman Trail.

+Fremont is something of a nexus of tech companies. Google, Tableau, Getty Images, Olis Robotics, and Adobe (among others) are there.

I am especially fond of Schilling Cider which has one of the finest selection of hard ciders in the area [Full disclosure: my daughter works there]. Must be over 21. Dog friendly.

Short list:

Ballard

30-35 minutes via public transit

Ballard is the Scandinavian cultural center of the city and has recently been the focus of a lot of new development. The easiest way to get to Ballard from the U-District is to grab the 44 bus.

There are a lot of shops and nightlife in the historic center and the formerly industrial-centric area is exploding with breweries. Ballard alone has 11 breweries, a cidery, a distillery and a winery and the adjacent neighborhoods have even more!

Short list:

Back to the Welcome Wagon.

Seattle Travel Guide

Public Transport

The University of Washington is situated about 5 miles North of downtown Seattle.

Light Rail

Seattle is served by the Link Light Rail. The nearest station to Kane Hall is the University of Washington Station at the northern end of the line. NB: Don’t get confused with the similarly named University Street Station, which is downtown!

Our venue is about a 10 minute walk from the Light Rail station, over a pedestrian bridge and slightly uphill through campus.

There are trains running every 10 minutes, and the line starts south of SeaTac airport. It takes about 70 minutes to get from the airport to the venue.

Tickets can be bought at the station (either one-way, or returns) at automated kiosks. You can also purchase Orca Cards, which let you tap-on and tap-off to pay as you go.

Buses

There are regular bus services run by King County Metro to the University district. There is a stop on campus, and many other buses stop on Campus Parkway which is a 5 minute walk away.

The timetables are integrated into the popular map apps, such as Google Maps. There is also the One Bus Away app for buses which gives you live updates as to when the next bus is due at each bus stop.

Ride Shares & Taxis

Seattle is served by taxis as well as rideshare services such as Lyft and Uber. There are also car-share services such as Car2Go and ReachNow, but there may not be much public street parking near the University.

Driving

The University is accessible from the I-5, at the 45th St exit. Follow directions to central campus. The conference is in Kane Hall on Red Square. There is parking both on campus and on the street near the campus. Parking on campus is the best option Saturday. Both locations are free on Sunday.

The closest on campus lot is the Central Plaza Garage underneath Red Square and it the best option. It is $10 for Saturday if arriving before noon and free on Sunday. Other campus lots are $5 on Saturday. When entering campus stop at a gatehouse to purchase a pass and get directions to a lot (ask for something near Kane Hall).

Kane Hall lies on the western edge of the university’s campus. It is a short walk from University Way, Brooklyn Ave, 12th Ave NE where some street parking is available. Hourly rates range from $1 to $2.50 and may be limited in duration check sdot to discover all pricing. On Sunday, street parking is also free. There is a pedestrian overpass from Campus Parkway (south of 41st St) to campus that leads right into Red Square. Kane Hall will be on the forward left as you enter the square.

Sights

Downtown Seattle - Pioneer Square

25-30 minutes via public transit

To get to Pioneer Square take the light rail to Pioneer Square Station. Pioneer Square is going through a revival and there are many galleries, cute shops and food options.

Fremont

25-30 minutes via public transit

Fremont is known for its quirky, artistic flair. It’s home to the Fremont Troll sculpture, the most-frequently opened drawbridge in the United States (which doubles as an art studio for the current artist-in-residence) and a number of dining spots and bars. The easiest way to get to Fremont from the U-District is to grab either the 31 or 32 bus. Fremont, like the UW, also lies on part of the Burke-Gilman Trail.

+Fremont is something of a nexus of tech companies. Google, Tableau, Getty Images, Olis Robotics, and Adobe (among others) are there.

Ballard

30-35 minutes via public transit

Ballard is the Scandinavian cultural center of the city and has recently been the focus of a lot of new development. The easiest way to get to Ballard from the U-District is to grab the 44 bus.

There are a lot of shops and nightlife in the historic center and the formerly industrial-centric area is exploding with breweries. Ballard alone has 11 breweries, a cidery, a distillery and a winery and the adjacent neighborhoods have even more!

Short list:

Queen Anne

40-45 minutes via public transit

Queen Anne lies between the Fremont/ Ballard neighborhoods and downtown; unfortunately because it lies directly across the lake from the University District, there is no direct public transportation option. The simplest way to reach Queen Anne is by taking the Light Link downtown to the Westlake station and then transfer to any of the numerous northern-bound busses, depending on your final destination (routes 2, 3, 4, 13, 29, D).

Lower Queen Anne is the area closest to downtown and is the location of many of Seattle’s performing arts and the world-recognizable Seattle Center.

Back to the Welcome Wagon.

Sprint at PyCascades

Development sprints are a key part of PyCascades. It is an opportunity to contribute and give back to Python and open source projects. At the sprint, attendees get to collaborate in person with other contributors and maintainers.

Venue: The Collective Seattle, 400 Dexter Avenue. ( Map).

When: Monday, February 25th, 2019, 9am to 5pm.

Who: Those registered to Sprint. Space is limited at the venue. Please register for free ticket here.

Sprint coordinator: Timothy Crosley

Lunch and snack will be provided. We’re also working on some reward/token for each time you made a pull request to open source.

Thank you for sprinting and contributing to open source!

Projects

Propose a pull request to add your project. You can also discuss sprint on our #sprints channel on Slack.

Example:

Open_Source_Project
  • Lead: ??
  • Interested people: ??
  • Repo: ??
  • Communication channel: Slack? IRC? zulip? Twitter? email? Gitter?

<any additional info>

CircuitPython

We have a variety of things to sprint on from core C bugs, to Python library work and the CircuitPython website.

blurb-it

I plan to spend time working on adding more unittests and increase test coverage. There are also a few other issues in the repo. I’ll be happy to explain how it works. Uses Python 3.7, aiohttp, gidgethub.

FAQs

Where is everything?

Our venue is Kane Hall on the campus of the University of Washington.

The main conference takes place at room 130. Refreshments will be available during breaks at the Walker Ames Room (Room 225).

The sprint is at The Collective Seattle, 400 Dexter Avenue.

How should I dress?

  • Seattle is a casual-dress town and so is the PyCascades conference. You’ll be meeting business colleagues at this conference, though, so neat and comfortable are good dress guidelines.
  • This time of year, the Pacific Northwest tends to be muddy or raining with occasional swaths of blue skies. Layering is usually the way to go.

What’s the weather like?

The weather in February in Seattle is usually cold, but normally above freezing. You should expect grey days with light rain. On February 23, the temperature in Seattle typically ranges from 41°F to 50°F (5°C to 10°C) and is rarely below 32°F (0°C) or above 58°F (14°C).

The weather forecast for the weekend is a high of 42°F (6°C) with a 80% chance of rain.

What will I eat?

Many up and coming culinary professionals from all over the world are making Seattle a destination for launching exciting, new careers. Also native Seattlelites are returning to town after launching careers in the worlds’ food capitals. Your options are vast, generally its hard to find a bad meal in Seattle. Caveat is we’re meeting in Seattle’s U-District, on University of Washington’s campus. Students view food differently than the rest of us. Many of the reviews in the U-District may prioritize price and quantity.

Don’t despair, we’re here to help with this Welcome Wagon!

Where should I sit?

  • Some seats in the front row are reserved accessibility seating. These will be clearly marked. If you have accessibility requirements, feel free to take up one of these seats.
  • All other seats are unreserved; feel free to sit anywhere.
  • If you can, show up early to the conference each morning to grab a seat inside the theatre. Introducing yourself to your neighbors is one of the easiest way to meet people.

What should I do during the talks?

  • The time between talks is for meeting your colleagues or taking a break. During the talks, listen and take in as much as you can.
  • There is a lot of great information at this conference, but don’t worry if you miss something! All talks are videotaped, so you can review them later.
  • If you have a question during a talk, make a note of it and use it as a conversation starter with the speaker.
  • After a talk, feel free to tweet about it with the hashtag #pycascades. Try not to “watch” the conference through Twitter and other social media, though. You are attending the conference, so live in it as much as you can!

What are lightning talks, and should I give one?

  • Lightning talks will take place on both main conference days, right after lunch, from 1:50PM to 2:20 PM.
  • All lightning talks will be recorded and live streamed.
  • A lightning talk is a five-minute talk where you quickly share a concept or bit of info you find interesting. Slides are not required.
  • Lightning talks are a great way to practice public speaking, get people excited about your personal projects, and test interest in a conference proposal idea.
  • Do you have an idea, want to talk about a new tool you are learning, or review a process? Then, yes! Sign up for a lightning talk. There will be a sign-up at registration.
  • PyCascades is aiming to have a a balanced mix of speakers therefore we’ll be using two buckets where folks can self-identify their speaking experience as ‘new’ or ‘experienced’ to submit. A thoughtful title, a sentence blurb, contact info to follow up, and notes on if you have slides or not should be included in your submission.
  • Lightning talks selection will happen in a relatively tight window during the conference. It is important to be responsive, ideally through the conference Slack #lightningtalks channel, to ensure if you are selected we get your materials and order for the speaking line up situated in a timely fashion.
  • If you are interested in giving a lightning talk, be prepared! There is a great guide here.

How do I make the most out of this conference?

Make connections with other first-time attendees and get advice from seasoned pros.

The most important part of this conference (and any conference) is the people you meet. Set a goal for yourself to meet a few, new people. Here are some tips:

  • Find out who is attending the conference before you get there. Join the PyCascades Slack, follow PyCascades on Twitter, and review the list of talks.
  • Figure out which companies will be represented at the conference. If you see a job post you’re interested in, you might want to ask them a few questions. This might be a great time to better understand what it’s like to work at certain companies.
  • Make a list of a few people you would like to meet, and write down some questions for them. If you can find contact information, email them before the conference and let them know you are looking forward to chatting.
  • Most importantly, remember that you don’t have to meet everyone. In fact, you shouldn’t. You should plan to make a few, meaningful connections. That is what the PyCascades conference is about, so go for it! Introduce yourself.

Sample strategy for my first PyCascades conference

  • Join the PyCascades Slack, to start making conference connections.
  • Make a list of two people who are attending with some notes about them and questions for them. Either reach out by email before the conference to set up a meeting onsite or find them at the conference.
  • Attend the sprint and volunteer to help on one of the projects being worked on.
  • Check out the talk schedule in advance and make note of the talks you don’t want to miss.
  • Check out the lightning talks, and get excited about presenting one at next year’s conference.

Sample strategy for a second or higher conference

  • Reach out to some first-time attendees and tell them about your first conference.
  • Attend the sprint with your own project. Ask for help!
  • Check out the talk schedule in advance and make note of the talks you don’t want to miss.
  • Sign up for a lightning talk.

Say hello

We’d love to say hi when you’re at the conference. Come find us and ask any questions, or just chat about the conference!

Thanks

This document was inspired by other conferences doing great work in this area. In particular, these three documents were heavily used as a reference:

© Copyright 2018-2019, PyCascades. Created using Sphinx.