Stories of a speaker (7 part series) Speaking online at EuroPython 2020 The Django speaking tour 2022 The PyCon Italia 2022 multiplicity My DjangoCon Europe 2025 My PyCon Italia 2025 My EuroPython 2025 My DjangoCon US 2025 Like every time after a conference I feel the need to recharge and resume all the commitments put on hold and I end up letting too much time pass for it to make sense to publish an article about my experience.
This year however I decided to embrace the approach of not waiting to have something perfect, so I decided to publish an article with all the Mastodon posts related to my experience in Chicago. Many of the people I met and the experiences I had are missing but the main ones are there.
I could however update this article with some of my thoughts on the conference.Days 07 September 2025 03:12 I’m about to fly from Rome to Chicago to attend DjangoCon US 2025. 🇺🇸
It’ll be a long trip, but it will be worth it, as always. 🤗
See you soon 👋
FCO ✈️ ORD
08 September 2025 09:12 DjangoCon US is getting started!
09:14 🎮 First keynote alert!
“ Lateral Thinking with Weathered Technology: How The Nintendo Philosophy Applies to Modern Web Development”
Discover how gaming innovation principles can revolutionize your Django projects! 🚀
09:25 Carson Gross is delivering the Keynote “Lateral Thinking with Weathered Technology (How The Nintendo Philosophy Applies to Modern Web Development)” at the DjangoCon US 2025 in Chicago 🇺🇸
09:32 This new HTMX logo slaps DjangoCon
09:50 Carson Gross giving the keynote at DjangoCon US
“Don’t chase tech. Chase fun.”
11:08 🤖 Track 1 starting now!
“ Django for AI : Deploying Machine Learning Models with Django”
Ready to bridge the gap between AI and web development?
Learn how to seamlessly deploy ML models with Django! 🚀
11:34 🤔 Tough choice ahead!
🌱 Track 1: “Django Governance: Growing Sustainable Open-Source Communities Together”
Community building or technical deep-dive?
11:48 Governance Track:
“ Django Governance: Growing Sustainable Open-Source Communities Together”
Learn how strong governance builds thriving, collaborative communities in the open-source world! 🤝
11:48 Technical Track:
“ Django’s GeneratedField by example”
Dive deep into Django’s powerful GeneratedField feature with real-world examples and practical use cases! 🚀
12:14 Rachell Calhoun Tim Schilling talking about governance. Tons of valuable insights on establishing governance for organizations from the pros!
12:37 Adam Hill Giving a lightning talk about using SQLite in production, the dj-lite library, and BeeSocial app at DjangoCon US .
14:02 “ Wagtail. It’s wonderful! It’s beautiful! It has dark mode!” A great enthusiastic endorsement of Wagtail at DjangoCon US. Thanks for the kind words Chaim Kirby! Glad Wagtail has helped make your family’s adventure blog extra special.
14:33 “ Not having consistency in a user experience is how things start to feel bad.” Michael Trythall at Lincoln Loop shared some ways to avoid bad architecture in Wagtail CMS at DjangoCon US. Some of the system principles he recommended were:
- Avoid deep nesting. Four levels maximum.
A fantastic crash course on building “happy paths” in Wagtail !
16:46 This morning I presented my talk “Django’s Generated Field by Example” at DjangoCon US 2025 in Chicago. 🇺🇸
Thanks to all the attendees for filling the room and for all the interesting questions. 🤗
You can find the slides on my website. 👇 DjangoCon US 2025 · Paolo Melchiorre
Photo of the talk by Muhammad Abdugafarov
09 September 2025 10 September 2025 07:51 Today the Django Software Foundation is at DjangoCon US with a booth - come chat with us and ask questions! We have four Board members in attendance, two Fellows, our assistant Catherine, two Steering Council members 🤘💚
09:14 🤖 Keynote time!
“ Django Reimagined For The Age of AI ” - exploring how Django adapts and thrives in our AI -powered future!
Ready to see Django’s next evolution? ✨ DjangoCon US Keynote Django AI Evolution Future
09:22 Marlene Mhangami is delivering the Keynote “Django Reimagined For The Age of AI ” at the DjangoCon US 2025 in Chicago 🇺🇸🤖
12:03 This morning we held a DSF Update session at DjangoCon US 2025 in Chicago. 🇺🇸
There were tons of new things from the Django Software Foundation for the community. 🗞️
Thank you for attending and for all the visits to the DSF booth. 🤗
Community Update: Django Software Foundation
13:53 As a Django community member from Italy, I felt truly welcomed at DjangoCon US 2025 💚
The speaker dinner was such a thoughtful way to bring us together—thank you to the organizers for creating this moment! It was wonderful to connect with the Django US community, meet new people, and share stories with speakers from around the globe. 🌍
Grateful for this chance to feel at home, even far away. ✨
14:12 I’m attending the panel “Two Decades of Django: The Past, Present and Future” here at DjangoCon US 2025 in Chicago!
An inspiring lineup of community leaders is reflecting on Django’s journey, the challenges ahead, and what it takes to keep our ecosystem thriving.
Thanks to DjangoCon US for bringing us together to celebrate 20 years of Django!
14:24 Last night at DjangoCon US 2025, thanks to sponsor Six Feet Up Six Feet Up , we had a fantastic Arcade Night at Punch Bowl Social 🎮✨
Free drinks, vintage pinball, darts & lots of laughs made it a perfect way to unwind after a full day of talks. Community, games & great vibes all in one place!
Thanks DjangoCon US for making space for these fun moments
14:36 Who knew DjangoCon US would give us the ultimate crossover episode? 🍦📸
An honor to share the legendary Ice cream’s selfies tradition with Mariatta after the Speaker Dinner, together with the amazing community.
14:44 Starting a new DjangoCon US 2025 tradition: the “too-many-selfies” series 🤳.
Yes, I take a lot of selfies (maybe too many 😅), but that’s because every picture is a reminder of the best part of in-person conferences: meeting people, making connections, and sharing community moments. 📸
Can’t wait to keep filling this series with friendly faces here at DjangoCon US 💚
14:54 🧵 Technical deep dive starting now!
“ Free Threaded Django” GIL barriers! Explore how Django is evolving for Python’s free-threaded future and what this means for performance 🚀
15:08 Attending “Free Threaded Django” at DjangoCon US 2025! 🚀
Micah Lyle is diving into the future of Python without the GIL , what it means for Django internals, thread safety, performance, and even live demos with ASGI /WSGI servers.
Excited to see what this could unlock for Django’s future!
15:12 DjangoCon US Selfie with Jacob Rief and Jon Gould
15:33 DjangoCon US Selfie with Jason, Andrew, Jon, Mario and Eric
15:36 DjangoCon US Selfie with Bartek
15:37 DjangoCon US Selfie with Carson
16:19 🚀 Deployment session starting now!
“ Automating initial deployments with django-simple-deploy”
Say goodbye to deployment headaches! Learn how django-simple-deploy makes getting your Django app live easier than ever before 🎯
16:31 Attending “Automating initial deployments with django-simple-deploy” at DjangoCon US 2025! 🚀
Eric Matthes is showing how the new stable release makes Django deployment as easy as three commands — with plugins for Fly.io, Platform.sh, Heroku, and more. Excited to see how this can shape Django’s deployment story.
Thanks DjangoCon US for hosting such insightful sessions!
16:37 DjangoCon US Selfie with Maxime
16:41 DjangoCon US Selfie with Rachell and Ryan
16:47 DjangoCon US Selfie with Justin, Will, Andrew and Eric
16:49 🎉 “What a Decade!” beginning now!
A nostalgic look back at ten years of Django evolution, community growth, and amazing achievements!
Ready for a trip down memory lane? 📸
16:53 DjangoCon US Selfie with Ngazetungue Muheue
16:59 Attending “What a Decade!” at DjangoCon US 2025.
Timothy Allen shares how his team chose Django, how community values matter more than features, and a deeply personal journey of recovery.
A reminder that Django is not only a framework, but a community shaping better humans and a better world.
17:10 DjangoCon US Selfie with Adam
17:19 DjangoCon US Selfie with Jacob
17:23 DjangoCon US Selfie with Dawn Dawn Wages
17:25 DjangoCon US Selfie with Katherine, Marlene and Jeff
17:27 DjangoCon US Selfie with Timothy
17:29 DjangoCon US Selfie with Drishti
17:32 DjangoCon US Selfie with Afi, Benjamin, Elizabeth and Timothy
17:35 Such a moving closing DjangoCon US talk from Tim Allen 💚 , standing ovation!
17:36 DjangoCon US Selfie with Mariatta and Katherine
17:38 DjangoCon US Selfie with Chris and Adam DjangoaCon
17:48 DjangoCon US Selfie with Thibaud Colas , Jacob Kaplan-Moss , Frank Wiles and Abigail Afi Gbadago
17:49 DjangoCon US Selfie with Thibaud Colas
17:50 DjangoCon US Selfie with Will
17:52 DjangoCon US Selfie with Peter
17:59 DjangoCon US Selfie with Drew
18:01 DjangoCon US Selfie with Tim and Frank
18:03 Just attended the Closing Remarks at DjangoCon US 2025 by Keanya Phelps.
Feeling deeply thankful to be welcomed into this amazing community. Immense gratitude to all organizers, volunteers, speakers, and sponsors for making this conference so inspiring.
Being here reminds me how much we grow together, share knowledge, and celebrate Django across the globe. Excited to carry this energy forward!
22:54 DjangoCon US Selfie with Tim and Colin
23:01 From 10,000 kilometers away to the heart of Chicago, I just experienced unforgettable days at DjangoCon US 2025.
Three incredible days of joy, learning, and networking at DjangoCon US 2025 in Chicago have just come to an end. It was my second time attending DjangoCon, and my first time experiencing the vibrant city of Chicago.
This year marked the 20th anniversary of Django. I truly believe Django can continue to thrive for many years, thanks to its strong and passionate community.
11 September 2025 16:42 I finally cracked the code for replacing the search field with a GeneratedField using SearchVector and language right after presenting a talk on GeneratedField at DjangoCon US 2025 🚀
DjangoCon US 2025 · Paolo Melchiorre
This PR was born from an issue I opened a year ago during the sprints in Durham, and now I’m hacking away at it in Chicago’s sprint 🇺🇸
If you want some Django history and cutting-edge code in one PR , review it, comment or just drop a meme 🔍 PR #2192 · Django Project · GitHub
12 September 2025 00:41 Today was a fantastic Sprint day at DjangoCon US 2025 🇺🇸
Started with coffee by the Chicago riverside, then joined many Django contributors working together around the table 👩💻
I focused on improving the Django website search and followed progress on django-simple-deploy 🐛
At lunch we took a short walk to enjoy classic Chicago deep-dish pizza 🍕
I wrapped up by finalizing my PR and getting valuable feedback — a truly rewarding day of coding and community 🎊
01:03 After a full day of sprints at DjangoCon US 2025, we enjoyed a wonderful evening in downtown Chicago: dinner, great beer, and of course some ice cream.🍦
We closed the night with friendly chats in the hotel lobby before saying goodbye.
Meeting people in person is the real added value of community conferences.
01:07 DjangoCon US Selfie with Ken
11:53 This morning I joined the second day of sprints at DjangoCon US 2025 in Chicago for a short while ☕
I had the chance to exchange some final thoughts with the Django Fellows, Natalia and Jacob 💬
I also supported Tobias in upgrading the PostgreSQL instance for djangoproject.com to version 17 🐘
As the conference ends, I say goodbye to the American Django community 👋
Thank you for the warm welcome 🤗
Chicago is a beautiful city, and I hope to return 🌆
13 September 2025 02:38 Just shared a short video of my favorite DjangoCon US 2025 moments in Chicago 🎥✨
It’s been amazing to meet so many Django folks in person, exchange ideas, and hack together 🤝💻
Thank you for the warm welcome, you made me feel at home! 🙏💙
Join a DjangoCon if you can — it’s community at its best 🌍
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. Highlights DjangoCon US 2025 in Chicago 17 September 2025 21:20 Ep185 - DjangoCon US Recap is out!
We’re back after the summer break, discussing DjangoCon US last week, Django 6.0 feature freeze, adding APIs to core Django, and Django on the Med next month.
DjangoCon US 2025 Recap | Django Chat
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. DjangoCon US 2025 Recap | Django Chat
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