Valerio Maggio
Valerio Maggio has been wandering around the Python community for thirteen years. He started as a volunteer, somehow ended up organising conferences like PyCon Italy, PyData, EuroPython, and EuroSciPy, and has given more talks than he can remember. He's a researcher and open-source contributor who cares about open science and good software practices. Also an unapologetic nerd—the kind who plays D&D and still believes Magic: The Gathering was better when cards had proper frames and the stack was a new thing (if you're a player too, you know what I mean). He drinks unreasonable amounts of tea and coffee.
Session
"Come for the language, stay for the community." If you've been around Python long enough, you've heard this before. I don't know when I first heard it, but I know exactly when I understood it.
This talk is a personal reflection on thirteen years within the Python community—from my first tentative steps as a volunteer to organising conferences myself. It's a story about discovering that Python was always about more than code. It's about the people, the values, and the unexpected ways a community can shape a career and a life.
This isn't just my story. It's a story I've seen repeated in countless faces at registration desks, in hallway conversations, in first-time speakers finding their voice. I want to talk about what I've learned about kindness, mentorship, and the quiet power of feeling like you belong somewhere.
I'll end with an open question: as the ways we connect continue to evolve, how do we preserve what matters while welcoming a new generation?
If you're new to this community and wondering what all the fuss is about, this talk is especially for you.