New Holden Web Subsidiary to Produce DjangoCon 2010

DjangoCon 2010 had to happen. After a brilliant start at the GooglePlex the event followed up with a transition to a hotel venue. DjangoCon is "small" in some sense that PyCon isn't (it probably compares with the size of the first PyCon if the figures I have seen are close). Well, I managed the first PyCon in 2003 (and the second, and the third), so I figured I could probably manage DjangoCon. Fingers crossed, wish me luck, DjangoCon is at the DoubleTree in Portland, OR from September 7-9 this year.

It will be interesting. My close involvement with the US open source community was relatively new when I started PyCon, whose development was therefore very organic rather than being the structured product of corporate thinking.  It was really my instinctive rebellion against the exclusive nature of the corporate conferences that Python users used to have to attend.

DjangoCon's sponsorship tariff this year makes small company participation eminently practical, and serious visibility is a practical proposition for the medium-sized enterprise. I am delighted to say that HUGE Inc., besides hosting the meeting at which the announcement was made, have agreed to be our first commercial sponsor, closely followed by Clearwind as our second. If you know anybody who might want to sponsor the conference please let us know.

DjangoCon can continue to demonstrate the practicality of collaboration between the open source communities and the "outside world". Sponsorship will be shared between commercial enterprises and recognized open source organizations such as OSU OSL and the Python Software Foundation, who can mingle with and get to know all segments of the Django world. The reverse is obviously also true.

This particular venture is being run by a new organization, "Steve Holden's Mighty Python Empire," whose mission is to increase the visibility of open source technologies by running popular and profitable training and conference events. Look for more about its other activities towards the fall.

I am looking forward to getting to know the Django community better, and to working with them to give them the best possible forum to learn about the technologies surrounding this fascinating application.