In spring 2019 I was ready for change. I was tired of learning alone after spending way too much time
participating online courses about data, visualisation and machine learning. It was time to step out
and pick up a challenge. At my workplace we had Lunch & Learn now and then, an occasion where everybody
who wanted could present a topic, while the rest were eating their wrap or salad. I presented an introduction
to machine learning (ML) with a decision tree example. ML was and is still one of my major interest but I
didn’t use it in my actual work as a software programmer.
The presentation went very well and I received a lot of feedback and tips what to explore next. It even lead
through an internal project where we were using an ML algorithm for data classification, that I was leading.
Before my talk I joined PyLadies, a non-binary mentorship group for Python programmers and thought I could give a similar presentation there. I reached out to Éléonore who was organising events regularly to know if this would be a topic of interest. I had recently joined PyLadies and really liked the atmosphere of respect, curiosity and allowing members to try things out. After the presentation the Éléonore asked me if I wanted to arrange similar events in the future and without thinking I answered “Yes sure, why not?!". I didn’t know how to do that and what that means. However I had a lot of trust that I would get the support that I needed.
Easy as that, suddenly I was in. And since then I organised events and had the goal to meet at least once a month. During events I got asked by speakers that wanted to present and contacted companies that were interested in hosting those kind of events, so there was always an event up in the pipeline. I got very glad when there were new PyLadies joining the organising team, so that we can do more in the future. Through my work with PyLadies I also got in contact with PyCon Sweden, a non-profit organisation arranging an annual conference for the Python community in Sweden. The organiser team has a very welcoming group culture, where people decide which tasks and responsibilities they want to take over. Members get a lot of trust and freedom in doing their tasks. This year I joined for the second time and I was picking up new tasks and took more ownership, which makes me feel even more involved in the local Python community.
With the pandemic situations limiting the options to meet up most events have moved online. Since we don’t have the natural way of meeting and chatting at PyLadies I am now reaching out to persons that I know have something interesting to present. To adapt to that new situation and continue organising the events and keep the atmosphere of learning and exploring I explored with the concept of the “PyLadies Online Mingle” where we can talk about ideas, tech and whatever comes in mind. At one of those events I found one brave member alias magicandcode who wanted to give a talk and Alexandra who is currently organising a study group for data analysis in Python. So I have high hopes that we will continue with interesting and engaging events online at least until we are able to run face-to-face events again.
If you want to give a presentation at PyLadies Stockholm, feel free to reach out to me.
All the best, Christine