PyGotham: a Python Conference at the United Nations
United Nations Headquarters I've never had to take my belt off to get into a Python conference before. This is the fifth year I attended PyGotham, here in New York City. In past years we held the conference in a standard convention center or, memorably, on a couple boats moored in the Hudson River. But this year PyGotham gathered in the United Nations. What first struck me about the new venue was its vigilant security, of course. Guards in blue uniforms sent us through metal detectors and x-rayed our bags. Once I got through security and put my belt on, I entered the UN Conference Building. The lobby is full of inspiring posters about anti-poverty summits, scientific committees, global peace initiatives. In the conference rooms themselves every seat has its own microphone and an earpiece for simultaneous translation. Sound-proof booths surround and overlook each room, with signs in their thick glass windows saying "English", "French", "German". Along a...