Dayton Python Workshop

What it is
The Dayton Python Workshop for women and their friends is a free, friendly, hands-on, beginners' introduction to computer programming.

Who it's for
The workshop is designed for true beginners to programming - absolutely no experience is assumed.

The primary target audience is women of all ages and backgrounds. Men can participate as the guest of a female attendee - that's where the "women and their friends" part comes in. If you're a man who wants to take part, ask a woman you know to join you. Don't underestimate the power of a personal invitation - you'll never know which of your friends just needs a nudge to try it until you give her that nudge.

Current status
We are just beginning to plan the workshop for Dayton! Once we've selected a venue and a date, information about registering will be posted here.

In the meantime, though, go ahead and [mailto:catherine.devlin+pwfw@gmail.com write Catherine] to save a slot for yourself or someone you know!

Schedule
The specific dates are still to be set, but the workshop's general plan is:

 Friday evening: Set up everyone's laptop to run Python programs, then go through self-paced tutorials (with each other's help) on the very basics. Saturday morning: Mix of short lectures and self-paced work to flesh out your knowledge. Saturday afternoon: Do a real programming project! Afterward: Join the Central Ohio Python User Group for Project Nights, where you can continue your work on projects that interest you and keep learning from other Python programmers. 

Past events and history
The workshop's format and materials were pioneered in Boston, and since then workshops have spread to Indianapolis, Portland, Chicago, Kansas City, and now Ohio. It's a proven series that has successfully brought programming skills (and a lot of fun) to hundreds of women all across the country.

Why are we doing this?
Our goal is to increase Python community diversity through programming outreach events. Basic programming skills are so empowering and useful that we think everyone should have them, whether those skills lead to a career, a new hobby, or just a better understanding of the computers that surround us.

Read about other OpenHatch events &raquo;

With every workshop we get to dozens of women and their friends to programming in Python. We also strive to:

 Show new programmers and the Dayton Python community examples of smart, confident, capable programmers of all backgrounds. Bring new, awesome, diverse people into local Python programming communities through diversity and outreach events. Inspire other people to run their own introductory workshops and outreach events, and to get more user groups thinking about diversity and outreach.</li> </ul>

Huh? Python? Snakes?  What?
Python is the name of the computer language that you'll learn to program in. It's a great programming language for beginners because it's easy to understand and use, yet it's also widely used for huge projects and serious professional work - it's a language you'll never outgrow.

Get involved
<ul> join us on the | OpenHatch events list, where this and other workshoppers meet to share and plan outreach events.</li> Say hello in #openhatch on Freenode.</li> Follow us on Twitter and Identi.ca.</li>

Also see the Columbus Python Workshop</li> </ul>

Organizers
The workshop is being led by Catherine Devlin, a veteran of the Indianapolis Python Workshop and a founder of the PyOhio Python programming conference. We're still looking for assistant teachers, so [mailto:catherine.devlin+pwfw@gmail.com write Catherine] if you've got a passion for code and a love for the community.

We're always looking for help in organizing and teaching Python workshops across the Midwest - if you're interested, join our mailing list and introduce yourself. We'd love to have you!

Sponsors
Would you like to sponsor the workshop? It's a great way to let the community see your organization's commitment to the growth and future of the technology industry. [mailto:catherine.devlin+pwfw@gmail.com Ask us] about how you could help provide lunch, a venue, publicity, or other help.

The workshop is presented by [PyOhio], and donations will be tax-deductable.