PyCon US needs a favour. A very specific one.

I don’t usually write posts like this. But I need to.

I’m on the PSF board. That means I help make decisions about how we spend money, manage risk, and keep the infrastructure running that supports the global Python community.

We’re still working through the financial situation the PSF has been navigating since last year.

The PSF published a post: PyCon US 2026: Why we’re asking you to think about your hotel reservation today with more detail about the situation and what it means for PyCon US this year. If you read it, you’ll understand why hotel bookings this year matter more than almost anything else in keeping PyCon US stable and accessible.

If you’re coming to Long Beach, booking the official hotel before APRIL 24th is one of the most direct ways you can help.

You can do it through your PyCon US attendee dashboard.

But beyond all of that, beyond budgets and contracts, there’s another reason.

There’s a version of PyCon you only get if you stay in the hotel. It doesn’t show up on the schedule.

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Where PyCon actually happens

It looks like this:

• running into someone in the elevator and realising they’re sneaking out to a heavy metal concert (winking at Pablo and Łukasz)
• a “just one drink” night turning into a hallway debate about packaging that somehow changes how you think
• breakfast conversations that feel more useful than entire conference talks
• that moment when you’re too tired to network but you’re already there, so you do anyway and yes, my infamous Orange Espresso breakfast, to which friends are always invited

It’s messy, unplanned, and a little chaotic. It’s where a lot of the real conference happens.

I get it though. Hotels are expensive. I agree. It’s rational to optimise, split rooms, find something cheaper a few blocks away.

But distance doesn’t feel like much, until it quietly starts stealing your energy. Every “I’ll head back later” becomes “maybe tomorrow.” Every extra 15 minutes becomes a reason to skip one more thing. And suddenly, you’re attending PyCon but orbiting it. Like Artemis.

Staying in the conference hotel collapses all that friction. You don’t plan encounters, you trip into them. You don’t schedule networking, it just happens. You fall into the same rhythm as everyone else: the early coffee crowd, the hallway track, the late-night wanderers.

That’s the version of PyCon I come back for every year.

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Something unique for you.

Here’s a small nudge from me personally.

I’ve made a limited run of 200 stickers. With my kind of humor.

If you’re staying in the official hotel and you find me, show me your booking and I’ll hand you one. First come, first served.

PyCon US has given a lot to a lot of us. This is a small, concrete way to give something back.

So let’s make this a great conference instead of spending it lamenting what could have been.

Either way, I’ll see you there.

But if you’re in the hotel, I’ll catch you in the elevator. Just maybe skip the beans beforehand.

Pythagoras believed fava beans steal a piece of your soul. Pythonistas believe the same. Except it’s whoever is standing next to you in the elevator.