Meet the Folks

This post originally appeared on the Data Carpentry website

Conferences can be lonely places, especially for first-timers who don’t yet have solid networks in place. The bigger the event, the worse the problem. With so many people milling around, how do you find like-minded people, much less start a conversation?

The issue can be compounded if you’re in a minority. When you’re from an under-represented group, conferences can seem even more intimidating.

At the upcoming SciPy 2017, Tracy Teal from Data Carpentry will address that and other issues around inclusivity when she speaks at the Diversity Luncheon on July 13.

SciPy 2017 will be the 16th Scientific Computing with Python Conference. It aims to advance scientific computing through open source Python software for mathematics, science, and engineering.

Held from 10-16 July in Austin, Texas, this year’s SciPy has a packed program of tutorials, hackathons, and presentations where participants can showcase projects, learn from skilled users and developers, and collaborate on code development.

That’s a lot of moving parts for newbies to navigate. To help Software and Data Carpentry people find each other at SciPy, the event has been posted on our meetups page. Some Carpenters have already indicated they’ll be attending and have provided their details. Feel free to add your own details to the list. That way, you can all find each other at the conference. Encourage others attending to sign up too. You can even indicate if you think there should be a more formal Carpentries gathering there.

If you’re looking to find people in real-time, the Carpentry Slack channel, the Software Carpentry Twitter feed or Data Carpentry Twitter feed are good places to look. Also, feel free to reach out to other people you see on the meetups page before you go to the conference. Knowing there’s at least one friendly face to look for is helpful, and that person might also have good advice on what talks to attend or where the best coffee can be found.

You can use our meetups page to flag other upcoming events. Think of it as your tool to find people to talk to, and make all your conference-going more productive (and friendlier!)