Community dinners at PyCon AU

One of the best things about attending PyCon AU is meeting a bunch of new people and going out for some dinner and drinks. I’m Chelsea, the Community & Culture Lead for PyCon AU, and this post is about my favourite part of the conference lifestyle: dinners!

I haven’t been in the Python community forever. My first PyCon AU was in 2023 in Adelaide, and I’d like to think community dinners created a strong foundation for where I am today. At any conference, whether it’s your 1st or your 40th, meeting new people can be quite daunting. What are they into? Will they like me? Do we have anything in common? The great news for us is we already have two things in common: we’re both at PyCon AU, and we both need dinner on Friday!

So that’s all well and good, but I’m imagining you’re thinking “How do I organise dinners with new people?” First things first, if someone asks you to go to dinner, say yes and go along. In terms of organising one yourself, pick a place, find 4 or 5 people around the conference and ask them to come, then tell people about it on the Discord.¹ Try to keep things to 8 ish people though, you don’t want to DOS a venue.

The most important part is picking somewhere to go. If you take on the mental burden of thinking about where and what to eat, people will be far more likely to come along. For example, you might find a highly reviewed vegan restaurant that you want to try, and that clear idea will help others say “YES!”. It’s as simple as that! (Trust me it works, by the end of PyCon AU 2023 I managed to get at least 20 people to come along. Which is how I learned to recommend keeping your dinner group to about 8 people.)

Another thing to consider is that it’s ok if you don’t have a big group on the first night. For me I’m normally catching up with old friends, and only branching out as the conference progresses.

This year for PyCon AU we’re encouraging people to enjoy self-organising community dinners on Friday the 28th. Check out this page for more info, and if you need a hand either post in the Discord or come find me and I’ll help you get some people together!

So, to recap:

• Pick something you’d like to eat!
• Ask someone if they have dinner plans
• Keep your group manageable (5-8 people), both for conversations and to be kind to the restaurants you surprise
• Use Discord at the conference to self-organise

Conference is a few days away, so see you all there!