No More Spreadsheets! Building PyLadiesCon Infrastructure with Python and Django

Description:

PyLadiesCon is a global, 24‑hour online conference run entirely by volunteers — and for years, nearly every part of it was managed through spreadsheets. Volunteer sign‑ups, scheduling, sponsorships, logistics… if you needed information, there was a spreadsheet for it. While spreadsheets are great for capturing data, they quickly became a source of confusion, version drift, and collaboration headaches across a distributed volunteer team.

In 2025, the PyLadiesCon organizers decided it was time for a change. This talk shares how the team began building an open‑source conference infrastructure using Python and Django, replacing a maze of spreadsheets with a unified, maintainable web application.

Mariatta will discuss:

Attendees will gain insight into the realities of running a global online conference and how open‑source tools can transform volunteer workflows.

Target Audience: