Book Club Revival

Data Management DM Notifications
#1

Lately there has been a lot of discussion and confusion about the state of the python book club, including where are we now, what are the plans, and comments from new team members who are sad that they are coming in near the end of the book. In one such discussion it was suggested that someone should come up with a new plan, and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. So here is what I am proposing.

We start the book over for the benefit of new team members, but with the benefit of hindsight. I will come up with a condensed reading list (with input from anyone who want to give it) that covers just the parts of the book that we found to be useful/interesting. This means that a given week of discussion may cover sections of a few different chapters. We will then spend 4-6 weeks on this crash course for new people, before resuming where we stopped before. Past members of the club are welcome to join (I know not every person could make every week before), but need not feel compelled to.

I am at a conference this week and was not able to get this proposal out sooner, so I suggest that we put of this Fridayā€™s book club pending discussion on this thread. This will give me a few days (and an airplane ride) to come up some suggested topics. Hopefully in this week the word can spread to any new members as well. By Monday of next week I will have a proposal for the first section of the next reading, if everyone thinks this plan is a good one.

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#2

I like this idea and would definitely be interested in joining the bookclub. I am not available between 12pm-1:30pm on Fridays, so as long as the group meets outside that time I plan on attending.

#3

Sounds like a great idea but check that we have enough newcomers signing on that itā€™s worth your time.

#4

I think this is a great idea. Weā€™ve got several new people at UW who have expressed interest. I think it might be good for everyone who is interested in joining the bookclub to say so here (or, at minimum, ā€œlikeā€ Nateā€™s post above), so we can get a rough count.

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#5

+1 Iā€™d join in restart or not, but would prefer restart.

#6

What is the currently proposed time for the revived book club? There have been some recent discussions, but Iā€™m not sure they were conclusive.

#7

@timj told me the book is Fluent Python. I would participate with great enthusiasm! Iā€™ve had that book in digital form for some months already.

#8

hi there- iā€™m also interested in joining, and after 2pm PT on Fri would work best (though i know thatā€™s already 5pm ET) - maybe it will have to go to a Doodle Pollā€¦? thx, M

#9

As per the last doodle poll, the time that worked best for a lot of people was 3pm EST on Fridays. Past 1 pm PT is hard for any of the east coast people, who might have obligations past 5pm (2pm PT). If this does not work for a large number of people please speak up, otherwise we will be preceding with what time slot we currently have.

#10

Please see the new thread here for the list of topics each week.

#11

Nate- i have a standing mtg on Fri at 12.30 PT (with J.Swinbank, Simon et al.) but - if we start right at 12, i could at least join in the first half hr, and can catch up with e.g. Josh Meyers about what happens in the second half of it.

Your topic selection for the first mtg looks good to me, iā€™ll read those sections.

#12

I would enjoy listening to the book club - sadly Iā€™m non-DM, hopefully no one will hold that against meā€¦ and Iā€™m not at a site that will be participating. Is it possible to get the connection info (Iā€™m assuming you are using BJ)?

#13

We deliberately created the Slack room without a dm prefix so you are welcome to participate.

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