Make the most of attending DjangoCon Europe 2025

I'm writing this on the eve of DjangoCon Europe 2025. I'm getting very excited for the conference now and thinking about our previous trips and in particular what I wish someone had told me before the first one.

DjangoCon Europe is a brilliant annual event held in Spring each year. In 2025 it is being held in Dublin, Ireland - one of my favourite cities in Europe! I've been looking forward to this for 12 months and tomorrow it all kicks off.

It's probably too late to book a physical ticket but I'm sure you could grab an online pass for just €99 and watch along with the talks as you go about your day: 2025.djangocon.eu

If you are attending DjangoCon Europe this week here are my tips to make the most of your experience whether it's your first time or you are a DjangoCon regular!

📆 Plan your talk viewing schedule - DjangoCon Europe has a fantastic lineup of speakers but you won't be able to see all the talks. Make sure you take some time to earmark your "must see" talks each day.

All the talks from the Main Hall should go up on YouTube soon after the event if you do miss any. With this in mind, I would maybe prioritise the workshops if there is a clash as there's a chance you won't see these again.

⚡ Attend the Lightning Talks - held every day, these 5 minute talks can be really inspiring and a lot of fun. Go and support the people giving them, this might be their first step into public speaking! Give one if you have a project you want to share. At DjangoCon US last year there was a brilliant talk about Nano Django given on day 2 and created a lot of excitement as a new bit of tech for the community.

I've been writing one too and plan to give it during the week. It's titled "Stop applying for jobs" and I'll share it on our YouTube Channel after the conference too.

🔄 Network as much as possible - This is often referred to as the Hallway Track. A chance to speak to people during the conference talks which naturally happens in the hallways around the main hall.

Throughout each day there are breaks and meals built into the schedule. Use this time to meet new people, it can be busy especially if you have to queue up to get food. Waiting to stand with someone you want to speak to in the queue is a good idea.

Networking is encouraged and people talking in groups should actively be leaving a space for someone to join in. Take social cues as to when to introduce yourself, when to join a conversation and when to move on to the next one.

This was the "Hallway" during DjangoCon US 2024 so you get the idea of what to expect. It doesn't look like any of the sponsors took the "booth" option this year but this means there should be more space for networking.

🪩 Attend the social events - There is an official conference party on Friday night. If you are staying in Dublin for the weekend, make sure you attend this after the final day of the conference.

We are also holding a Django.Social after day one of the conference in the City Centre - no need to book/register for this, please just come along. We are planning to attend a bar in the city from 7:30pm where there will be live music, bar games and hopefully a nice cold pint of Guinness or two.

I'm sure something will be happening on the Thursday night and during the sprints too! Keep an eye out on socials and on the slack channel.

🏃‍♀️‍➡️ Get involved in the sprints - A great way to start contributing to an open source project or getting your teeth into something with a new "team" for the weekend. These happen for 2 days after the end of the official conference.

(picture taken from the sprints at DjangoConUS 2024)

💻 Join in on Slack - Everyone attending should have an invite to the slack channel for DjangoCon Europe this year (if not ask about this when you checkin on day one) - The same channel is used each year if you've attended before - join in online and keep an eye out for things going on during the conference. This is where you can plan to meet for outings or during breaks to have specific conversations. Latest news and announcements should be on there too.

🔥 Don't burn out - The temptation is to try and do everything but in reality attending a conference can really drain your batteries. Try to get outside and do some exercise each day, if there's a gap in the talk schedule where you don't see anything that you want to watch why not grab 30 minutes of fresh air. Looking at the map below there's a park near the venue and the seafront isn't far away either.

Try to sleep well, but this is easier said than done with social events each night and early starts for the morning keynote. But remember the talks are recorded, the extra hour in bed might give you the energy to do more later on in the day. Full Dad-mode activated here but you get the gist. Make sure you eat lots of vegetables too! 😉

That's about it for now. I still need to pack my bags and get an early night before the alarm goes off at 3:45am!

Hope to see some of you there! If you see us at the conference, please say Hi!