How I was invited to give a keynote in Darmstadt #

It was autumn 2009 at an ApacheCon in Oakland/ California: I asked one of my fellow ASF people what it would take to get him to visit Berlin. The flippant, not quite serious, joking answer: “Someone to fund for my flight tickets.” Fast forward six months. I got back to that lovely person with a newly created Berlin Buzzwords conference and enough sponsorship budget to pay for keynote speaker travel. The result? A first time keynote given at an inaugural Berlin Buzzwords for that person.

Fast forward 15 years. That same person reaches out to me to connect me with one of their mentees. After several lovely conversations, that same mentee Anja Pilz asks me if I would be open to give a keynote at PyCon/PyData 2025 in Darmstadt. My flippant, no quite serious, joking answer? “The conference is in the middle of Berlin Easter holidays. Can’t you find someone to host a Python workshop for kids?” The instant answer: “We’ve always wanted to do that, let me check what we can do.” And low and behold: First-Ever Kids’ Coding Workshop at PyCon DE & PyData 2025: Explore the World of Zümi!. Karma?

But there’s a tiny lesson in there that relates to the content of my keynote: Never underestimate the impact that you personally can have to make a difference out there. And never underestimate the willingness of others to help you if they understand and support your cause.

With that a huge THANK YOU to the organisers of PyCon/PyData DE 2025 - in particular Anja Pilz who sent the invitation and gracefully dealt with my answer. Thank you also to inovex who kindly sponsored the Mini Pythonistas. Thank you to the workshop educators. And thank you to everyone else who made the event a lovely experience!