An Insider's Guide to DjangoCon US 2025
DjangoCon US is happening next week in Chicago! This is my eighth DjangoCon event–six in the U.S. and two in Europe–so here are some tips for making the most out your own experience if you are able to attend.
Shout out to Jon from Foxley Talent who did a similar post on this topic and inspired me to put this one together.
Pre-Arrival
The venue for the conference is the voco Chicago Downtown, where many people are also staying, so milling around in the lobby is a good way to bump into people coming or going from events.
⚾ Baseball
If you have time on Sunday, I would highly recommend going to a Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field, one of the most famous ballparks in all of America. There is a game at 1:20pm on Sunday. Sadly I am arriving late Sunday evening or else I would take up the chance to do this.
🎉 Conference Social
Typically the Sunday night before the conference there is a social event for attendees. I don’t believe a venue has been announced yet (let the organizers know if you’d like to sponsor!), but be on the lookout for this. Traditionally this has been one of my favorite activities, a casual way to socialize with everyone before the talks begin on Monday morning.
Here is a blurry picture from 2023 where Jeff Triplett and I grabbed dinner before the social event nearby.
💬 Slack Channel
All attendees will be emailed a link to the private Slack channel for the conference. This is the best way to stay up-to-date on the schedule and any last-minute happenings you should be aware of. It’s also a way to organize dinner and other meetups.
🗓️ Review the Schedule
The full conference schedule is available online for all five days–three days of talks and two days of sprints. Often there are two talks at the same time, so planning in advance which ones strike your interest is a good idea!
👋 Reach out to Speakers
Speakers are here to meet with everyone so feel free to email or reach out on the socials to any speakers before the conference. Generally after their talk they will be more than happy to have a chat over a meal, in the hallway, or elsewhere.
For example, here is a picture from DjangoCon US last year, in Durham North Carolina, alongside Carlton Gibson. We had just gone to a local coffee shop before that day’s talks.
I’m giving a talk Monday morning on Django for AI. If you see me before then, I might act a bit distracted. But after that I will be carefree and happy to chat with anyone.
🫶 Volunteer
DjangoCons are 100% run by volunteers. One of the best ways to give back and also to meet new people is to sign up to volunteer during the event. There are many small roles available that typically only take an hour or two of time, from stuffing swag bags before the event, helping with registration, introducing speakers, and more.
The Conference Itself
There are three full days of talks followed by two days of sprints. Registration starts at 7:30am on Monday morning and there are talks until 5:25pm as well as a Board Game Night from 7:00 - 10:00pm. It can be a long day.
🚴 Stay Active
Here are a number of tips on ways to stay active during the conference. There is a 2025 Conference Strava group you are welcome to join. In past years, members have self-organized for bike rides and runs on the mornings before the conference.
Here is a photo from DjangoCon US 2022 in San Diego with Carlton Gibson and Drew Winstel. Every morning we left the hotel at 6am to take a long bike path down to the ocean and back.
🧘♀️ Pace Yourself
All of the talks will be posted on YouTube after the conference, so don’t worry if you can’t attend every one you want to. Also, it’s better to be an engaged attendee than to just take notes the whole time. Yes, I’m a fan of noting things for further study or sometimes taking a photo with my phone of a particular talk slide, but in general, it’s a far better experience for the speaker and the listeners if people are paying full attention.
Kojo Idrissa has popularized the term Self Care Sprint to describe taking mini breaks, as needed, during a conference to fully recharge. Take this advice seriously! DjangoCon can be an intense experience and there is nothing wrong with taking an afternoon or an evening off to recharge.
🚪 Hallway Track
If this is your first conference welcome to the term “hallway track,” aka the conversations and meetups that happen outside of the talks themselves. These are often some of the best experiences so it can be tough to choose between yet another talk and continuing a conversation with someone you’ve just met. Use your judgment but don’t be afraid to keep talking to someone. After all, that’s why we are all there!
🍴Meals and Pac-Man Theory
There are regular breaks throughout the schedule for meals, coffee/tea breaks, and so on. These are another good way to meet people. There is a “Pac-Man theory” that applies at DjangoCons, which is whenever you are in a group, always leave an opening so someone else can come up and join in.
🌩️ Lightning Talks
Each day during lunch there are Lightning Talks, very short (~5 minutes) talks on a wide variety of topics. There will be a signup posted on the Slack conference channel and elsewhere if you’d like to participate. This is a low-stakes way to garner feedback or share thoughts on a topic. They are a highlight for many attendees and happen all three days of the regular talks.
🦺 Code of Conduct
Django prides itself on being a safe, inclusive community. If you are being harassed or see that someone else is, there is a formal way to contact the Code of Conduct committee. This is rare but it can happen. Know that there is a way to report any such behavior and it will be swiftly handled.
😷 Masks
This year masks are recommended but not required for attendees. There will be N95 masks available at the conference upon request. In previous years, a recent Covid test and masks were required but both are optional this year. Use your judgment.
🦣 Socials
If you are active on the socials, make sure to post pictures, thoughts, shoutouts about your experience. There will be official conference hashtags announced during orientation. This is a great way to share your experience with those unable to attend and help raise awareness generally about the event.
Sprints
If you have the additional time, the last two days of the conference–Thursday and Friday–are dedicated to contribution sprints from 9:00am to 5:00pm. This is a way to collaborate, discuss, and even code on any number of issues in the Django community.
In 2023, Paolo Melchiorre led a small breakout session on uDjango and other micro Django efforts.
In past years, Carlton Gibson has given a brief workshop on how to tackle any of the current tickets for Django. There are usually quite a few experienced Django core contributors around ready to help. Many people also take the time to work on their own community-related projects, such as Eric Matthes’s django-simple-deploy and other related works.
Last year Carlton, Simon Willison, and I attended King’s Sandwich Shop for lunch during the sprints.
I have come to appreciate the Sprints as perhaps my favorite part of the whole conference as it is a chance to slow down, mingle in a smaller group, and have wonderful in-depth conversations or just social hangouts. Usually the group will split out for lunch and then assemble again for various dinners around the city.
Personally, I’m staying until Friday morning and the Thursday sprints are what I’m most looking forward to.
Final Advice
DjangoCons are what you make of them. I attended my first in 2018 out in San Diego literally not knowing a single person. I was extra nervous because I had a talk to present as well on User Authentication in Django REST Framework.
Despite my shyness every single person I met was welcoming, friendly, and encouraging. From that first experience I’ve become ever-more intwined with the Django community, giving further talks, running a podcast, writing a newsletter, and even building an entire website focused on Django education and courses.
This picture was taken last year at DjangoCon US 2024 by Bartek Pawlik, who often is the official photographer for DjangoCons in the U.S. and Europe. You can see a list of all DjangoCon photo albums on Flickr.
I hope you have as wonderful experience as I did. And if you see me in the hallway or at an event, come and say hi!