PyCon Italia is the Italian conference dedicated to the Python programming language. It is entirely organized by volunteers from the non-profit association Python Italia.
Every year, from September to May, a group of passionate individuals coordinates (mainly on Slack) to collaboratively build an event that each edition welcomes approximately 1,000 participants from Italy and abroad.
No prior experience in organizing a conference is required. No technical background is needed. All that is needed is a willingness to contribute.
The organization begins in September/October and concludes with the conference days, for a total of about 9 months. The work mainly takes place remotely on Slack, with a general call every two weeks open to everyone.
Each team has its own rhythms and peaks of work: you can choose to contribute continuously or only during the phase that interests you the most.
Evaluates the proposals for talks and workshops received through the Call for Proposal (CFP) and builds the conference program. The program includes over 100 sessions across 6 tracks of talks and 3 of workshops, with attention to balance in topics, difficulty levels, languages, and diversity of speakers.
The peak workload is between December and February.
How you can contribute: vote and comment on proposals, even just in the thematic areas you are most familiar with; help build the final schedule.
Keynotes are the most anticipated moments of the conference: plenary sessions where all rooms are joined to welcome the entire audience. Keynote speakers are chosen from individuals who have distinguished themselves in the Python community for their work or the topics they address.
How you can contribute: propose names with motivation and links to talks/articles/projects; assist with initial contact and follow-ups.
The Financial Aid program helps those who would not be able to attend the conference due to economic or social difficulties, offering free tickets and, in some cases, support for travel and accommodation. The team reads the applications (usually around a hundred) and evaluates them attentively and sensitively.
The peak workload is between mid-December and the end of January.
How you can contribute: read and evaluate applications; manage practical cases such as invitation letters, follow-ups, and reassignments.
Without sponsors, the conference would not exist, or it could not maintain affordable prices. The team identifies potential companies interested in sponsoring, manages contacts, proposes sponsorship packages, and supports sponsors during the conference days.
The work is distributed from the beginning of the organization, in September, until the days of the conference.
How you can contribute: look for leads; send initial emails using pre-prepared templates; participate in calls with companies; prepare contracts.
The Media Partners team is responsible for building and maintaining collaborations with communities, technical blogs, and associations that share the values of PyCon Italia. Media partners help us to expand the visibility of the conference and to reach new audiences, particularly during the launch phase and throughout the Call for Proposals (CFP).
How you can contribute: propose potential media partners with a brief rationale; manage initial contacts and follow-ups; coordinate the publication of promotional content.
The team manages communication on social channels (LinkedIn, Instagram, Mastodon, BlueSky, Facebook, X) and keeps the website updated, created with Wagtail. An average of 3 posts are published each week. Special attention is paid to accessibility, inclusivity, and clarity of information.
The work is distributed over the whole year, with a peak during the opening of the CFP and ticket sales.
How you can contribute: write drafts of posts and prepare graphics; update website pages; monitor DMs and comments, and improve the FAQs.
The conference is not just about talks. The team is responsible for organizing networking moments like PyDrink and PyDinner: finding suitable venues that can accommodate 200–400 people and planning the activities for the evening.
The conference is not just about talks and workshops. The Social Events team organizes the networking moments that make PyCon Italia a complete experience: PyDrink and PyDinner are fixed appointments for each edition, which may be complemented by other initiatives.
The job involves finding venues spacious enough to accommodate around 200 people, contacting and negotiating economic conditions with the venue. Once the location is selected, the team is responsible for structuring the evening—considering how to facilitate networking—and coordinating logistics on the days of the conference.
The peak of work occurs between February and April, but contacts with the venues often begin earlier.
How you can contribute: search for suitable venues and contact them; manage the collection and comparison of quotes; define the format of the evening; be present during the event to support the organization.
Over the years, a custom system has been built to manage and automate conference processes: proposal reviews, grant management, invitation letters, badges, schedules, and much more. The project is open source on GitHub and uses the Python programming language, Django, React, and Next.js.
There is no defined peak workload: the basic systems are established, but there are always new ideas and improvements to explore.
How you can contribute: solve bugs and improve the UX of internal tools; develop new automations and functionalities.
Handles requests from participants, speakers, and sponsors via Plain, integrated with Slack. It is the point of contact for anyone with questions or needing assistance.
PyCon Italia has a consolidated and recognizable visual identity. We are looking for one or more individuals to adapt it across different media throughout the year.
The work focuses on three key moments: the launch of the website (promotional materials to announce the conference), design of merchandise, t-shirts, lanyards, signs, sponsor panels, and all printed material needed onsite a few months or weeks before the conference.
How you can contribute: adapt the brand across various digital and physical media; produce print-ready files; collaborate with the social team to ensure visual consistency in graphics across channels.
Experience with Figma and production of both digital and printed materials is required.