PyLadies Dublin May Meetup @ Liberty IT
We are delighted to be hosted by Liberty IT this month, more details about speakers will be announced soon.
TALK DETAILS
"Learning in Public, Again" by Sarah Novotny
I spent two decades building software communities. Kubernetes, NGINX, MySQL. And then I moved to Dublin and enrolled in a master's programme in political science at Trinity College.
People have asked me why I took a left turn away from a perfectly good career. The honest answer is that I kept running into questions my industry experience couldn't answer. How do open source communities actually function as political systems? What does "technological sovereignty" mean when the phrase shows up in EU regulation, national security strategy, and corporate marketing decks, all in the same week? Why is corporate investment in OSS not patently obvious?
I needed different tools. So I learned Python. Not the "I'll automate a spreadsheet" kind. The "I'm running topic models on 1,600 EU consultation responses to figure out who is shaping digital policy and how" kind. I learned statistics. I learned how to scrape legislative databases. I learned how to be bad at something in front of people half my age, which, if you've spent twenty years being the expert in the room, is its own special discipline.
This talk is about what happens when you decide the next interesting problem matters more than the comfort of the last solved one. It's about moving countries, going back to school, picking up a programming language for the first time in decades, and discovering that the willingness to be a beginner is a skill that compounds. Whether you're 25 and pivoting, 45 and reinventing, or anywhere in between, the capacity to start over is not a concession. It's a superpower.
About Sarah Novotny
I spent two decades building software communities. Kubernetes, NGINX, MySQL. And then I moved to Dublin and enrolled in a master's programme in political science at Trinity College.
People have asked me why I took a left turn away from a perfectly good career. The honest answer is that I kept running into questions my industry experience couldn't answer. How do open source communities actually function as political systems? What does "technological sovereignty" mean when the phrase shows up in EU regulation, national security strategy, and corporate marketing decks, all in the same week? Why is corporate investment in OSS not patently obvious?
I needed different tools. So I learned Python. Not the "I'll automate a spreadsheet" kind. The "I'm running topic models on 1,600 EU consultation responses to figure out who is shaping digital policy and how" kind. I learned statistics. I learned how to scrape legislative databases. I learned how to be bad at something in front of people half my age, which, if you've spent twenty years being the expert in the room, is its own special discipline.
This talk is about what happens when you decide the next interesting problem matters more than the comfort of the last solved one. It's about moving countries, going back to school, picking up a programming language for the first time in decades, and discovering that the willingness to be a beginner is a skill that compounds. Whether you're 25 and pivoting, 45 and reinventing, or anywhere in between, the capacity to start over is not a concession. It's a superpower.
https://sarahnovotny.com | https://linkedin.com/in/sarahnovotny
📚 And thanks to Packt, we have a physical book to raffle after the talk:
Python Illustrated: Not another boring Python book, learn programming the fun way by Maaike van Putten and Imke van Putten
Schedule (*subject to change)
18:30 Event Starts
18:40 Welcome and Introductions
18:50 Talk(s) & Networking after
20:30 Event Ends
💖 THANKS
Community Partners:
🔍 FAQ
Note that all our events are 18s+. Although this a social event, it's a professional networking event, please refer to the Code of Conduct, e.g. behave as you would attending a work event.
Q. I'm not female, is it ok for me to attend?
A. Yes, PyLadies Dublin events are open to everyone at all levels. We encourage non-female attendees to suggest a female friend/colleague to sign up to the event. So bring a friend! ✨
Q. Do you have a Code of Conduct?
A. Yes, you can find it at dublin.pyladies.com
Q. I am interested in giving a talk at PyLadies Dublin, where do I submit my interest, workshop, and talk details?
A. You can submit your talk details to the following form:
https://sessionize.com/pyladies-dublin-meetup
🤔 Any other enquiries (e.g. getting involved, sponsoring), email [email protected]