PyCon Namibia is coming up. I think it’s a great idea and I’m planning to go.
I’m currently somewhat budget constrained while I sort out the early days of my new business. But… I’m self-employed, right? If I want more money, I can just work more (Technically correct. The best kind of correct). So lets do that!
Of course, there are plenty of other people who want to go and are vastly more budget constrained than I am. There are travel grants, but there are a lot more people who need budget than there is budget. So if I’m helping myself go by working more, perhaps I can lend a hand with that too?
A plan emerges.
This is how it goes:
- I will be going to PyCon Namibia regardless. If this plan somehow fails spectacularly, I’ll just suck up the cost.
- I’ll be doing a Hypothesis and Python testing tutorial there, so if you want to attend that go buy a ticket.
- At any point between now and when I physically set foot on the plane to go to Namibia (currently pencilled in at 22nd of January), my Hypothesis training courses (details below) are available for the fairly heavily discounted price of £2000 (if that sounds like a lot to you, me too. It’s a sign that neither of us should be put in charge of a training budget, because for advanced software training courses this is dirt cheap).
- Of that £2000, I will be donating 50%, i.e. £1000, to the PyCon Namibia travel fund to help bring people there. I shall not further earmark it but leave it up to the judgement of the organisers as to who most needs it.
Questions
What does the training course entail?
My training courses are designed for groups of up to ten people. In theory an even number of people is better because I like to organise people to pair during it, but in practice that usually breaks down so any number up to ten people is fine.
The primary training course I am currently offering is a very hands on workshop. It’s structured around helping you test your code better using Hypothesis – there is some theory, but it is mostly going to be about your engineers working to improve the quality of your testing, with my being there to point them in the right direction, answer questions, and generally offer advice that will help them avoid false starts and dead ends.
I am in the process of developing a more theory heavy course, some material of which will be in my proposed session in Namibia, so if you are interested in something that involves a lot more theory and working through examples I provide, we can talk about that, but it’s not quite ready yet.
You can see a bit more detail on my consulting page.
Where can you do the training course?
Anywhere that I can get to, really. For now, that definitely restricts it to the UK (and, really, England). If it’s in London or within about two hours drive of Cambridge, it’s probably fine. If it involves more travel than that scheduling starts to become more complicated. If you don’t fit this description, read on to the next section for the ability to schedule a course for after the conference at a still reduced rate.
When can you do the training course?
I have a moderate amount of availability between now and PyCon Namibia. Realistically I can almost certainly fit in 5 courses between now and then, and I can probably fit in up to 10 but it will start to be tight. These will be available on a more or less first come first served basis, so getting in touch soon is a good idea.
If we simply cannot find a mutually agreeable schedule between now and the conference, I’m happy to offer the following fall back plan:
For up to ten additional clients, if you become a sponsor and donate £1500 directly to PyCon Namibia’s travel funds between now and the start of the conference, I am prepared to offer you a one day training course for only £1000 to be claimed at any mutually convenient date in 2016.
Note: Unlike the main offer, this offer is also available to people outside of the UK, but I will also require travel expenses in this case. Also if you don’t get in touch with me before donating this may turn out to no longer be an option, so get in touch first (although feel free to donate even if this is no longer available!)
How can I take you up on this offer?
Drop me an email at david@drmaciver.com with the subject line “Hypothesis training” or similar.
Are you affiliated with PyCon Namibia in some way?
Not even slightly. Until yesterday morning I wasn’t even totally sure I was going. I have talked to them a bit about this plan though.
Are you going to change any details of this plan?
I may update some of the details of how funds will be directed if things go very well and e.g. we swamp the travel fund. All funds that I’ve currently said will be going to PyCon Namibia will go to them or a charity of their choice in some capacity though.
Why are you doing this?
Because it’s a good deed, because I can, and because I’m in the right place at the right time. I like the idea of PyCon Namibia a lot, and I suddenly saw the possibility of doing a thing that helps both of us, so I decided to do it.
Have you considered this other worthy cause?
My plan is that once my business is reasonably profitable I will be donating a significant amount of its revenue to charity (probably around 10%), but plans are still TBD. For now, this is what I’m doing.
I have another question
Please either email me privately or post any additional questions in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer them and keep this post updated.