Tokyo Python Lightning Talks
Celebrating one year since rebooting in-person meetups
✨ The Speakers were Stars
Thanks to everyone who came along to the Tokyo Python’s lightning talks evening last Wednesday (May 20th). This write up has taken a little longer to publish than I was hoping, partly because I had to add a blog page to this website, which was an AI job, but also because I wanted to write this post myself — so not an AI job (human em-dash 😉.)
One thing about tech meet-ups in Tokyo that always impresses me is depth of knowledge and level of enthusiasm. And, once again, I came away from last Wednesday thoroughly impressed by our speakers. We had topics from auto-threading Python chat-bots in Discord to Monty, the new Rust implementation of Python, and from code formatting to game development. Thank you to all seven speakers, you all were the stars and made the event enlightning and enjoyable.
It only takes one evening like this to realise the potential that Python packs; the eco-system is so vast, and the community is stacked with incredible people.
🎤 Why Meet-ups Still Matter
Tokyo Python has always sought to encourage people to network — this was the main motivation for the in-person “re-boot” last year. However, in the past twelve months it’s hard to overstate just how much the tech landscape has evolved, particularly with pace of AI development. If anything, I believe that in-person events are even more valuable now than they were this time last year. The depth of connection when simply being in the same room and talking is something cannot be replicated from behind a screen. Our meetups provide an opportunity to talk casually, off-the-record, about professional experience, side projects, or the important matters of the day such as whether Open-Claw or Hermes is better! Something I love is just being able to soak up all the experience in the room.
🙇♂️ Thank You to Our Members and Supporters
As a community event Tokyo Python relies on the generosity of our members and supporters. Space in Tokyo is not cheap, famously the land under Imperial Palace was once speculated to be worth more than all the land in California, so we are very grateful to Le Wagon Tokyo campus for the use of their amazing facilities. As an organiser, having an abundance of comfortable seating, a projector with all the required laptop connectors, and a sound system really helps set the atmosphere.
And for the first time, TokyoDev generously provided food for the meet-up, pizzas of course! Over the past year we have experimented with a few different ideas, including meeting earlier and then going out as a group to eat. I still like this two halves approach, but it can be difficult those working or living farther from the venue, and people (like me!) still get hungry during the event.
I am also proud to acknowledge the Python Software Foundation and their generous support of communities such as Tokyo Python. The PSF helps with the logistics of running the event, and advertises events around the world to their wider community. The next time you’re visiting a new city, I encourage you to check out the PSF’s meetup page for a local event, and if you’re visiting Tokyo, I promise a warm welcome.
🐍 Next Events
With PyCon JP in Hiroshima in August, we would like to have our next meetup in late July, and then in September. If you would like to attend please keep an eye here, or on our social networks on Discord or LinkedIn. And, if you’d like to be a speaker at one of our events please get in touch.