Hello Abia Meet Python
The event was named Abia MeetPy, an acronym coined from the phrase, "Hello Abia, meet Python". This grand event was first suggested by the Python Nigeria lead Kelvin Oyanna, as a way to whip up interest for the upcoming PyCon Nigeria. It was aimed at making people aware of the Python community and the good it is doing to encourage the use of the Python language and the support for Python developers. This event was supposed to be part of a chain of events to be held collectively at various other parts of the country as a form of awareness meetup. But it became so much more... When the plan to hold a chain event failed, Python Abia, the community of Python developers in Nigeria decided to go ahead with a grand meetup that will not only raise awareness for the forthcoming PyCon Nigeria, but also grow the awareness of the Python language and the Python community. Hence, the event was now targeted to be an avenue to bring together Python developers in Abia State and give them the support and enabling environment they need to learn, grow and advance. Hence, Abia MeetPy was organized to support people who are beginning their journey into the Python language and those who may have been working with the language already.
The Python Abia
The official host of this event is the Python Developers community in Abia State called Python Abia. Python Abia was formed by Psalms Kalu and a group of other willing Python developers in February 2019. The community will soon identify the umbrella community of Python developers in Nigeria, Python Nigeria and become fully assimilated and a part of them. Ever since its formation, Python Abia has been holding weekly meetups every Friday since February 2019. Its weekly activities include a workshop where old and new members are taught Python for free. The community has been responsible for the growth of the Python language and community in not just Abia State but the South East Nigeria in general. Its first event Data Science Weekend was held in May, a two-day workshop and summit on Data Science using Python. The community has held a total of 31 weekly meetups, 2 major events (Abia MeetPy included) since its inception and has a total 54 members on record.
Structure of the event
Abia MeetPy was a one-day FREE conference that centered on the Python language. It started by 12pm on the clock with a 2 hour workshop that ended by 2pm. The workshop topics were:
- Natural Language processing with PythonÂ
(A Workshop on creating a live chatbot with Python) - Ethical Hacking with Python
(A workshop on writing hacking scripts with Python) - Introductory class
(A workshop to introduce new users to Python)
These three workshop sessions held simultaneously. After that three more general talks were given on:
- Making Your First Django Soup
- How Do I Begin?
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Demystified
Speakers for the event were:
- Mei Li Triantafyllidi
- Psalms Kalu
- Lilian Thomas
- Uba Joseph
- Ehochi Darlington
- Benjamin Okechukwu
- Alex Chinagorom
Attendance
The event was widely attended by pythonistas from across four state. There were a total of 59 distributed as follows: Umuahia (Abia State) 4 Owerri (Imo State) 3 Awka (Anambra State) 1 Ora-Ifite (Anambra State) 1 PortHacourt (Rivers State) 1 Aba (Abia State) 49 Also worthy of note is the fact that 21 of the participants were women while the rest were men. We had students accounting for majority of the attendees: Computer Science students and students from other discipline like Public Administration, Banking. There were also some secondary school graduates who aren't in college yet but are already learning how to code as a result of the wok of the community. Workers and business owners were also represented. It was a well-attended event.
Participants reactions
Today was dope @ #abiameetpy pic.twitter.com/AX1zv0aqY2
— uba joseph ugochukwu (@Ubajoseph_u) September 6, 2019
Thanks @psalmskalu for giving ne the opportunity to contibute in the amazing #python community you are building in Abia of Nigeria! https://t.co/uDXallv0zz
— Mei Li Triantafyllidi (@meilitr) September 2, 2019
Participants expressed their joy and excitement at the success of the program. They were captured by the beauty and simplicity of the Python language and many of them there and then made the decision to join the Python Abia community and start learming Python. At the end of the event, 10 new persons joined the community
Sponsorship
Python Abia hoped for some external funding from Python Nigeria, but due to the weight of demands on them regarding the upcoming PyCon Nigeria. They were unable to come through. The community did not officially reach out to the PSF for any grant to the event. Hence, the major sponsor for the event was Ashpot Ltd, a tech company based in Aba Abia State that has been a supporter of Python activities in the state. The rest of the expenses was carried by the kind donations of members of the Python Abia community. In the near future, the community hope to get direct funding from the PSF to hold bigger and larger events in the state, as there is clearly need for this. We believe that year 2020 will be a great year for the Python community in Abia State
Gratitude
Our gratitude goes to everybody who contributed to make this event a success. All the volunteers who worked tirelessly to make thing happens. All the people who tweeted and retweeted about the event. All those who gave their support in one way or the other. Thank you all. You are just too numerous to mention