The Python Community

Python is not just code, but a community. The Python community members contribute in many ways and in many forms. The obvious ones are code contributions, by maintaining or contributing to the open source library that you depend on. Other forms of contributions are in the form of documentation, tutorials, educational content, bloggers, and public speakers. Other kind of contributions that are often unseen and not obvious are community leaders who run your local Python meetups, and regional conferences.

As users of Python, we benefited from these contributions one way or the other. Other than you’ve already been using Python for free to get paid and improve your life and career, I’m sure you’ve also gained experience by watching conference talks, listening to Python podcasts, reading blog posts and newsletters.

Maybe you got a new job through connections you’ve made at a Python conference. Maybe you launched your public speaking or devrel career by meeting community members at meetups.

It is only fair that we say thanks to the Python people, who have helped us in our Python journey.

There are many ways to say thanks to our favorite Python community member.

Level 0: Actually say thanks to them

Obviously, just say thanks.

Say thanks to them when they released a new library version.

Say thanks when they scheduled a meetup/conference.

Say thanks when they posted a new blog post/tutorial/newsletter.

I’m sure you’re already doing this anyway, so please continue doing it.

Level 1: Say thanks in public

Don’t keep things to yourself. Share the joy with your friends, colleagues, and your network.

By saying thanks in public, you’re giving visibility to their work, and the recognition they deserve. You’ll also be helping to further amplify the impact of their contributions, helping their content reach more audience, helping their tools and library be discovered and used by more people.

Found a useful library that helped you at work? Tell others about it. Ok, maybe you’re already doing this by saying “thanks to library X, it makes my work easy.” Don’t stop there! Be sure to mention their name: “Thanks to A who maintains library X, it makes my work easy.”

I also want to challenge you to be even more specific, like, “Thanks to contributor B who made the PR for feature Y, it makes my work easy.”

How can you find out who the contributor or maintainer is? Thankfully, because you are using open source libraries, such info is also available out in the open. The challenge is we don’t always know where to look for such info, or worse, we take things for granted, and didn’t bother finding out.

So here are some ways to find out who the maintainers/contributors are:

  • Find the project’s GitHub repository, look at the list of contributors and pull requests.
  • Find the project’s changelog/release notes (You’re probably already reading this anyway!)
  • Go to the project’s PyPI page, the maintainers are usually listed there

Do this for community contributions too! Instead of saying “That Python conference was great, you should go next time!”, say “Thanks to the program chair X who selected great talks for the conference.”, or “Thanks to speaker Y who gave this talk about Z”.

It doesn’t take a lot of time to write up a such messages on your social media posts. Plus, you’ll look cool and well-traveled by showing off that you just went to a conference, or that you just use some cool new library. Win-win.

Level 2: Show your support

Show that you’re interested in their work, that you want them to continue maintaining the library, you want them to give more talks, or you want them to put the next year’s conference. Don’t wait until they finished doing all that before you say thanks!

You can show that you support them by subscribing to their newsletter/blog/YouTube channel, or by following them on social media.

Level 3: Contribute to their project/ Volunteer at the community

Don’t just use their library. Contribute back. Find their GitHub repo, check the contributing guide, learn their workflow, and start contributing.

Some projects can be picky about their contributing workflow, for example some projects absolutely want you to first create a ticket. Therefore, do spend time reading their contributing guide, maybe lurk in their discussion forum, and learn how other existing contributors do it.

Don’t just attend conferences/meetup. Offer to help and volunteer.

But offering to help can be tricky. There are so many things that event organizers do behind the scene. Each role has specific requirements in terms of the level of commitment needed.

When offering to help with the community events, like meetup/conferences, don’t just say “I want to help, tell me how”. Offering to help is appreciated, but at the same time, it gives them work because now they have to figure out what roles to give to you.

Here’s the trick to make it easier for them to accept your help!

Instead of saying “Tell me how to help”, I recommend you be super specific about the kind of help you want/can do, and additionally be honest about your availability. So you can say things like, “I want to help with program review, because I have experience giving talks and writing good proposals. I can be available during month X.”.

Giving them these details and showing that you can commit to the volunteer role, will make it easier for them to decide whether to onboard you into their volunteer team or not.

In order for you to successfully offer your help, you’ll need to invest a bit more time in understanding how their community work.

Just like code contribution, where you need to spend time learning their contributor’s workflow before actually contributing, you would need to spend time learning more about the community, before you can start volunteering to the community.

Level 4: Contribute money

Don’t have time to actually contribute/volunteer? You can give money instead!

Sponsor your favorite open source maintainer on GitHub, OpenCollective, become a Patron on their Patreon, buy them coffee, send them PayPal, etc. If you couldn’t find such info, then ask them. Even if they end up saying, that no they can’t accept monetary payment from you, at least you’ll make them feel valued.

If you have a favorite Python conference, be sure to check their sponsorship prospectus, and tell your employer to sponsor the event.

Level 5: Nominate them for Awards

There are many awards in the Python and open source community. I would especially recommend that you recognize those outside of North America, those underrepresented in tech industry, those from marginalized community. For them, receiving awards from well-established organizations could really improve their career.

So not only you’ll be showing your gratitude and admiration to your favorite Python person, you could directly make an impact in their life. When they don’t need to worry about their career, they’ll have more time to continue maintaining the library you depend on, or continue running the events you enjoyed so much.

After all they’ve done for the community, I’m sure you agree that they deserve to be recognized.

Maybe you’re thinking, this person is so admirable, surely someone else had nominated them for the award, surely they have received the award already. Well don’t just guess or assume. Verify that by actually checking the list of past award recipient to see if they’re there. If not, go nominate them now.

Python Community Service Award from Python Software Foundation

Given to members of the community who significantly improve the Foundation’s fulfillment of its mission.

Python Software Foundation Membership

PSF Fellows are nominated for their extraordinary efforts and impact upon Python, the community, and the broader Python ecosystem.

Outstanding PyLady Award from PyLadies Global Council

The Global Council’s Outstanding PyLady award is meant to elevate diverse Pythonistas doing amazing things, to highlight their achievements, and to thank them for all the work they’ve contributed.

Malcolm Tredinnick Memorial Prize from Django Software Foundation

The Malcolm Tredinnick Memorial Prize is a monetary prize, awarded annually, to the person who best exemplifies the spirit of Malcolm’s work - someone who welcomes, supports, and nurtures newcomers; freely gives feedback and assistance to others, and helps to grow the community.

Distinguished Service Awards from Python Software Foundation

Building on the ideals of the PSF’s Community Service Award, the Distinguished Service Award is an offer of recognition for sustained exemplary contributions to the Python community. The Foundation’s highest award is given for actions which carry significant impact that shapes the Python world, whether through contributions of code, efforts in community action, or otherwise. As with the Community Service Award, the intention is to demonstrate that such service to the community does lead to recognition and reward, rather than to provide a direct incentive to contributors.

GitHub Stars

This program thanks GitHub’s most influential developers and gives them a platform to showcase their work, reach more people, and shape the future of GitHub.

Internal corporate awards/funding

Some companies have their own program for awarding/funding external open source maintainers or contributors. For example:

If you work at such companies, be sure to nominate some Python people.

Go thank the Python People!

Thanks for reading! Now go think of at least one Python people in your life, (like, a blogger, open source maintainer, speaker, local meetup organizer, conference organizer, podcaster, etc), and thank them by doing one or more of the above!

If you can’t think of anyone, perhaps it’s because you haven’t joined the community. So go attend your local Python meetups or look for upcoming Python conferences. You can find a well-maintained list of Python conferences on this repository: https://github.com/python-organizers/conferences