For Prospective Organizers#

So you’ve decided to start your own PyLadies group – YAY!

We’re excited to have people like you join our growing community and want to help you get your group launched as quickly and painlessly as possible. If our experience is any indication, your first major event will galvanize and inspire the Python community in your area and create momentum for subsequent events, so it’s crucial to start things off on the right foot!

To help you get started, we’ve created this open-source kit for starting your own PyLadies group in your city. PyLadies is part social club, part stepping stone toward the Python open-source world.

Tip

Fill in the New Chapter Request Form: when you’re ready to start a new group.

Guidelines for Starting Your Own Group#

When you start your own PyLadies group, you’ll be helping to build and grow local Python community, through meetups, or sharing info through mailing lists, twitter, etc.

A PyLadies group is not meant for a one-time event or workshop. There is an expectation for ongoing community activities through your group, at least once or twice a year. Some of our groups are aiming for monthly events.

Ideally the organizers in your group should be women or women majority. We also require at least two co-organizers in your group to help share the workload and prevent burnout from any single organizer.

When requesting a chapter, we ask that it be local and city-based. If an existing chapter already exists in your city, a second one may be allowed depending on circumstances.

Role and Responsibilities of the Organizer#

Once your group has been approved, you and your group agree to use your group’s @pyladies.com email address to conduct your business. For example, for any email communications with your members, and for creating meetup and social media accounts.

You may be asked from time to time to share any news from Global PyLadies leadership team to your members.

You will help organize or support co-organization of at least one meetup per year.

You’re not necessarily expected to be the one creating content, or giving talk or workshop. It is expected for you to invite local speakers, and create opportunities for aspiring new speakers among your members.

You may be asked to provide a report of your group activities once a year to the Global PyLadies Leadership team.

You will be responsible to notify Global PyLadies leadership of changes in your organizing team. For example, if you have new organizers, or if an organizer stepped down.

Process overview#

  1. Prior to starting your own PyLadies group, please first join our Pyladies Slack group, and head to #prospective-organizers channel. We encourage you to seek mentorship from experienced organizers, and for you to ask questions about starting your own group.

  2. Once you’re ready to start your own group, please fill in the New Chapter Registration Form.

  3. We review new chapter requests once per month. Your request will be reviewed in the following month after you filed your request. For example, if you filled in the form on March 2020, it will be reviewed on April 2020.

  4. If we approve your request, we will create your group’s @pyladies.com email address and give you the credentials.

  5. Once you receive your @pyladies.com email address, you can then use this to start activities for your group. You must use this email address to create your Meetup account and other related social media account, like Twitter, Facebook, etc.

  6. Your contact info (and your co-organizers’) will be automatically added to our Organizer Directory. You can view this by logging in using your group’s @pyladies.com email address.

Please do not purchase domains or setup email addresses; we do that for you! We need to maintain accounts (both for trademark and administrative purposes).

Questions & Contact#

If you have any questions or concerns about the process, please head to Pyladies Slack group and ask in #prospective-organizers channel.