Behind the Slides: My Journey from CFP to the PyCon Stage

Hello everyone, I am Kader. Have you ever thought about applying to PyCon but then decided not to? This is for you!

Today, I want to share my personal journey with PyCon events. I still remember the moment I received the news that my proposal was accepted. I was very excited and honestly a little surprised too. It felt like a big step for me.

I have attended PyCon four times and each experience brought something different into my life. Every event taught me something new not only about Python but also about myself and the community.

A few days ago, the PyCon Greece event where I joined for the first time shared a post about my talk. When I saw it, it reminded me of many memories. It also made me realize that I had been thinking about writing this story for a while. So I decided to finally put it into words.

In this post I will share how I choose my talk topics, explain the CFP process and briefly tell my story from each PyCon I attended. At the end of the article I will also share the open PyCon CFPs that are still available.

So, let’s get started.

Choose Perfect (!) Topic

When I decided to apply to PyCon, I think the hardest part for me was choosing a topic. I felt that none of my ideas were good enough and I believed I should talk about more complex problems that everyone already knew.

But… we don’t always have to solve complex problems. Sometimes, a topic we think is simple can still catch people’s attention. Sometimes, it is enough to look at the problems we use and solve every day.

I am working as a backend engineer and I mostly use Django and FastAPI. Every day I write tests, check endpoint performance and try to improve it. In one project, we tried different ways to improve performance in Django. We used common methods like select_related and indexes and also explored other techniques.

That was it. It was something I had experienced myself and saw the results clearly. I asked myself ‘Why not apply with this?’. And this is how my first PyCon submission started.

I was writing tests in every project that I worked on. So I thought why not give a talk about Pytest, Hypothesis and Faker?

Cache systems are very common in backend projects. Sometimes we use Redis and sometimes Python’s built-in caching methods. I had already written about these methods and had some experience with them. So I thought: why not turn this into a talk? (You can read my article here.)

Nowadays, LLMs are used in many applications and evaluating their performance and outputs has become very important. At work, I was already using Langfuse for this. While working with it and seeing the challenges in real projects, I started to think more about evaluation and improvement. That’s how my last talk topic came up.

These were my talk topics.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

• Leonardo da Vinci

You don’t need to think too complicated when choosing a topic. Just take a step back and look at what you do every day.

CFP Process

Now that we have chosen our topic we can move on to the application stage. I think this is the easiest part of the process. Most PyCon applications are collected proposals in the Pretalx platform (some events also use Google Forms). Here, we explain our topic with an abstract and a description.

In my opinion, it is very helpful to clearly explain the problem, the solution and what people will learn from the talk. This also helps the reviewers understand the idea better.

From my personal observation, the review process can be different for each event. Sometimes talks are voted on by people who attended past events or by participants of that year. Sometimes they are reviewed by volunteers.

The review process is completely anonymous. That is why it is very important to write a clear and detailed abstract and description.

After submitting the application, you just need to wait (and be patient 🙂).

PyCon Greece (29–30 August 2025)

My first-ever PyCon proposal accepted! Yeyyy!

Then one day, I got an email. At first, I couldn’t believe it. I still remember how I felt. There was a mix of doubt, happiness, excitement and nervousness. I was going abroad for the first time. It was also my first time giving a talk in English.

I am living in Türkiye and I needed a visa. The organizers were very helpful with this process. They prepared a letter for me. At first, I accidentally gave the wrong passport number but I sent an email and they quickly fixed it. They were very kind and supportive.

Special thanks to Lysandros Nikolaou for their help.

The day before the event, Python: The Documentary was released. We watched it together and it was a really nice experience. Watching the story of how Python started with people from the community made it feel more special.

A photo of us watching the Python documentary at PyCon Greece on LinkedIn

Until the event I prepared my slides and practiced my talk several times with my friend Etkin Yiğit Özdemir.

Before the event, I recommend practicing your talk from start to finish, either alone or with someone else. It really helps reduce stress.

A photo of me from my talk

You can find my presentation here.

During the conference, I attended many great talks and met very kind people. The atmosphere felt warm. Greece and Türkiye are neighboring countries. In the past, we used to live together in the same region. That’s why I still felt a sense of home there.

I also met another speaker from Türkiye which made the experience feel even more special. It was nice to share that moment with someone from my own country in a different place.

Efe Öğe and me. He is another Turkish speaker.

We also had lunch with the PyLadies during the event. This was actually my first time meeting PyLadies from the global community. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo from that moment but everyone I met was very kind and friendly. I truly hope to see more women in tech in the future.

PyCon Greece on August 29–30, 2025 was the first-ever edition of the event and it was also my very first PyCon. After this event, I started to feel much more confident speaking English. I also realized that meeting people from different cultures and talking with them makes me very happy and gives me energy.

After the conference, I had some time to explore Athens. Walking around the city after such an intense and exciting event felt really nice. It is like a small reward at the end of the journey.

the Acropolis in Athens

Meeting people with similar interests and sharing things with them feels really great. Everyone at the event, from participants to organizers was kind and friendly. Right before my talk I was very nervous but the organizing team spoke to me in a warm and supportive way and it helped me a lot. During the conference, every person I talked to gave me good energy. Being part of a community like this is really special.

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.

• Helen Keller

PyCon Netherlands (16 October 2025)

After PyCon Greece, I wanted to attend more PyCons and be part of this amazing community.

This time the experience felt even more special and fun because I wasn’t alone. I applied to PyCon Netherlands with my close friend from university Özge Çinko and we were both accepted. Sharing this excitement with my friend made the whole journey even more meaningful.

A photo of me at PyCon NL

Even though it was only a one-day event, I attended many great talks. One that is still in my mind is Arie Bovenberg’s talk ‘Performance Myths and Silent Pitfalls of slots.’ It was not only technically very interesting but also very fun to watch.

Also, you can find my presentation here.

Even though I had experience, I was really nervous during PyCon NL. At some point, I even thought my talk hadn’t gone well. But after the talk, people came to me to say thank you and ask questions. In that moment, I realized that I had actually managed to touch someone’s life in a small way.

What matters is the impact you leave on others.

• Maya Angelou

I also met Aris Nivorlis there again. We had first met at PyCon Greece so it felt nice to see him again in another event. He has a very unique energy and every time we talk the conversation feels really lively and inspiring.

Aris Nivorlis, Eva from the PyCon NL organizing team, my friend Özge and me

The Netherlands is a really beautiful country. During this event, I had the chance to visit Rotterdam, Utrecht and Amsterdam. I still think about the places I couldn’t visit and I hope I can go again one day.

I don’t think I need to say that the Netherlands is famous for its bicycles and tulips. Seeing so many people riding bikes really made me want to get one too but I had to stop myself. Also, I want to mention that the weather in October was quite cold. If you go there, make sure to bring warm clothes.

In the Netherlands, I also learned a phrase “fijne dag en tot ziens” which means “have a nice day and see you later.” If you meet Dutch people, you can say it. They will be happy when you try to speak their language.

Scenic canal in Amsterdam and City Hall in Rotterdam

PyCon Sweden (30–31 October 2025)

And here we are at the last PyCon event of 2025 (at least for me). It took place in Stockholm and it was two days long. For me, it was a really intense and exciting experience.

One of the things I love most about PyCon events is meeting people again that I have met before. In this event, I saw many familiar faces and that made me feel more comfortable and happy.I also attended this event with my close friend Özge Çinko.

From the PyCon Netherlands organizing team, Sebastiaan Zeef joined as a speaker. He is a very friendly and kind person. So, if you ever see him at an event you should say hi. From the PyCon Greece team, Lysandros gave a keynote talk. He shared his first PyCon experience and talked about his journey to becoming a Python contributor. It was a really great and inspiring talk. One of the organizers of this event was also Aris Nivorlis, who I had already spoken with at two previous events.

Özge Çinko, Sebastiaan Zaaif, me and Airis Nivorlis

There were many talks I really enjoyed at this event. Without any particular order, I want to share some of them:

• AI is Having Its Moment… Again by Jodie Burchell This talk went through the history of AI, including its winters and summers and how it has changed over time. In today’s AI hype and FOMO world, it gave a fresh and grounding perspective.
• The Magic of Self: How Python Inserts self into Methods by Sebastiaan Zeeff This talk explored the “magic” behind Python’s automatic insertion of self in methods. Even though we usually just accept it as something that “just works,” there is actually very interesting behavior behind it.
• Building Harry Potter’s Mirror of Erised with Python and Generative AI by Özge Çinko This talk was one of the most fun moments of the event and really brought a playful energy to the conference.
• Empowering Geospatial Workflows with Python by Eleni Tokmaktsi One of the things I love about Python is how it can be used in many different fields. In this talk, Eleni showed me that Python can be used to automate geospatial analysis processes and help reduce errors which was something completely new and very interesting for me.
• Embeddings — LLMs — vector/semantic search — GenAI — RAG — agents — MCP (buzzword bingo) by Iulia Feroli This talk gave a quick overview of many concepts in the LLM world. It was very insightful. These days, she is also working on robotics and has a really interesting channel. If you are interested you can check it out here.

Some photos from the conference talks

Also, I had my first lightning talk at this event. A lightning talk is a 5-minute short talk where you can speak about any topic and applications are usually taken during the event. It is fast, fun and I really recommend trying it.

Multiple photos from my talks

You can find my presentation here.

Me, Teodora Simic, Özge Çinko and Eirini Ornithopoulou

During the event, I also met people from the PyLadies Stockholm community and had lunch together. It was really nice to connect with them and talk about different experiences in tech. Seeing women in the tech world and being able to talk with them always makes me very happy and motivated. I hope to see more women working in tech in the future.

Pyladies Stockholm Lunch

I also solved the ElasticSearch quiz and won this cute toy.

After the event, we also had a small after-party with the participants. It was a great chance to get to know other speakers more closely, like Iulia and Jodie. We had some really nice and interesting conversations.

A few years ago, my friend Özge had written a post about Spotify codes. At that time, she had met Ege Su Çetin and years later they got back in touch. Thanks to that connection, we somehow found ourselves visiting the Spotify office in Stockholm. She was also kind enough to show us around the city. She took us through places like the Old Town. Our conversations about the city, tech and many other things were really fun.

Me, Özge and Ege Su Çetin

Stockholm felt like a city full of art. Walking through its metro stations felt like being in an underground gallery, each one telling a different story. In late October, the weather was already very cold.

When I left, I didn’t just leave a conference behind. I left with many new experiences, memories and a feeling that I had gained something meaningful.

In tech, community is what turns learning into sharing and growth.

PyCon Lithuania (8–10 April 2026)

And here we are in 2026. This year, I started my PyCon journey with PyCon Lithuania. I spent three full and exciting days in Vilnius.

When applying, you can submit more than one proposal. For PyCon Lithuania, I applied with two different topics. Both of them were accepted but one of them was much more special to me. I was going to give that talk together with my close friend Özge. We prepared this talk by combining our knowledge and strengths and it turned out to be a really great presentation. Back in our university days, we used to work on assignments and give presentations together. And now, we were sharing the same PyCon stage.

Multiple photos from my talks

Before going deeper into this story, I want to go back a few days. A few days before the event, I got sick. Probably because of the weather. I tried to recover with lots of vitamins but during the event I was still not feeling well and my voice was weak while I was presenting. Also, my friend Özge was sick too. Even with all of this, being on that stage was an amazing experience.

If you’re going through hell, keep going.

• Winston Churchill

You can find the first day presentation here and the recorded video on YouTube here.

You can find the third day presentation here and the recorded video on YouTube here.

The event was three days long: Python Day, Data Day and AI Day. It was really nice to see the event divided into topics so people with different interests could enjoy it more. Here are some talks I really liked (in no particular order):

• What is the Python? (lightning talk) from Rodrigo Girão Serrão a very fun and memorable talk. From now on, whenever something works in a strange way: because the Python 🐍🐍
• Beyond Basic RAG: Boosting Accuracy with Hybrid Search and Fusion Algorithms from Piti Champeethong very interesting ideas on how to improve RAG systems with better search methods.
• Creative Data Storytelling with Python from Purva Porwal focused on data visualization and how to present data in a clear and meaningful way.
• An Art of Privacy from Denis Filiakin a great talk about the history of cryptography, from the Caesar cipher to today. Also still curious about the hidden encrypted message shared on LinkedIn 👀
• Your Python has a public roadmap. Most engineers never read it from Mia Bajić talked about Python versions, the community and how the language evolves.

Also, talks by James Donahue were always very fun, he brought a different kind of energy to the event.

Some talks that I liked

During the event, there was also an activity called an “egg hunt.” We visited sponsor booths and collected stamps. It was a fun way to meet different companies and learn about what they do.

There was also a city tour in Vilnius for the speakers. Even though the weather was very cold, it was great to walk around the city and learn about its history. It made the whole experience even more special.

After the city tour, we joined a dinner organized for the speakers. There, I had the chance to talk with many different people. Everyone came from different countries some were attending their first PyCon, some their second and some their third. It was really nice to share this experience together.

A photo from our city tour

Vilnius Cathedral and St. Casimir’s Church

There were also lightning talks every day. On the last day, I decided to give one as well. During the event, the organizers asked the speakers: “If you could choose a song for Artemis 2, what would it be?” That question made me think why not create our own song as the PyCon Lithuania community?

So, together with the audience we first chose a music genre and then some words that described the event. After that, we used Suno to turn it into a song. I think it was a really fun and nice way to end the last day. You can watch my lightning talk here and listen to our song.

Looking back at all these experiences, one thing is very clear to me: community is everything.

PyCon is not just about Python or technology. It is about people, sharing and learning from each other.

Every event gave me something new. It isn’t only technical knowledge but also confidence, new friendships and new perspectives.

Python brought us together, but the community is what makes it special.

I am really happy to be part of this community and I hope to join many more PyCon events in the future. If you also want to join events like this, don’t hesitate. Just give it a try.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. And if we meet at an event one day, please come and say hi. See you in next article!

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. — African proverb

Here are conferences with open CFPs:

• PyCon Greece 2026 until May 17
• PyCon Spain 2026 until May 17
• PyCon Japan 2026 until Jun 1
• PyCon Sweden not open yet, but you can follow updates on LinkedIn
• PyCon Netherlands not open yet, but you can follow updates on LinkedIn
• PyCon Wroclaw not open yet, but you can follow updates on LinkedIn