The PSF’s priority is the health and safety of the community and the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic has made it unsafe to hold PyCon US this year.
Recently, the United States and the State of Pennsylvania have asked that large gatherings be postponed or cancelled until further notice. With that in mind, the PSF has worked to reduce financial exposure and develop a plan to provide content remotely.
What happens next?
PyCon US is an opportunity for the Python Community to come together every year to learn, network, and discuss great ideas in person. We’re all devastated that we’ll lose in-person interactions this year, but the health and safety of our attendees comes first.
Even though the in-person event isn’t happening in 2020, our staff and volunteers are already planning to deliver several PyCon US components remotely throughout April.
Here’s our immediate plan:
Attendees
- Registration: We will send an email by Friday, March 27th offering you a full refund, or the option to donate some or all of your registration fee, and how to join the remote content mailing list. Please allow us time to set up the registration refund process.
- Hotel/lodging: We will cancel hotel reservations booked through PyCon US’s website for you. If you booked elsewhere, please contact the booking company for cancellation details. You should be able to cancel at this time without any financial penalty.
- Airfare/transportation: Many airlines are offering options to rebook tickets or receive vouchers without extra fees. Please see our airline cancellation resources page.
Financial aid recipients
The Financial Aid team will email you about how to receive reimbursement for nonrefundable expenses.
Speakers, Presenters, Summit & Hatchery Hosts
The organizers will send an email offering options to help you present your talks, tutorials, special events, and posters to the community, if you want to, via our publicly available PyCon US 2020 YouTube channel.
Sponsors & Startup Row Participants
Next week, we will email you an outline of digital options and next steps regarding PyCon US’s cancellation policy.
What does this cancellation mean for the Python Software Foundation?
100% of PyCon US net proceeds fund the PSF’s ongoing grant-giving and operating expenses. With PyCon US cancelled, the PSF will use cash reserves built over the years. The PSF will continue regular operations including providing PyCon talks via YouTube, maintaining core Python infrastructure and Python Package Index, the grants program, and other community support.
Already, community members and organizations have posted tweets and sent private messages offering to donate their PyCon US registrations and sponsorships to the PSF. This amazing show of community support means that the PSF can fund ongoing programs, including online PyCon US 2020 content. We truly appreciate those that continue to step up to support the Python Software Foundation!
How can you help?
- Become a free or supporting member of the PSF to get involved in our future
- Donate some or all of your PyCon registration when you receive our email
- Donate directly to the PSF
- Donate some or all of your company's sponsorship when you receive our email
- Ask your employer to sponsor the PSF
- Ask your employer if they match donations to 501(c)(3) non-profits, and ask for your donations to the PSF to be matched
- Sign up for the PSF’s free newsletter to stay up to date
Look out for emails from the PyCon team regarding your registration or sponsorship and next steps.
We appreciate the community’s patience as we continue working through this situation. We’re looking forward to seeing you all in Pittsburgh at PyCon US 2021.
If you have any questions, please contact pycon-reg at python dot org.
This post is authored by the PSF Staff and Board of Directors