posit::conf(2023) through our eyes

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, there’s something for everyone using R or Python at posit::conf. From reporting with Quarto to putting open-source data science into production to running Python and R in the browser, you can explore a wide range of topics and discover new ways to work with data.

But what about the people behind the scenes? What are they focused on, what makes posit::conf special to them, and what can they not wait to see? From the countless hours of preparation to the excitement of seeing it all come together, there are many aspects of the posit::conf that bring joy. In this blog post, Hadley, Mine, Rachael, and Curtis from Posit share personal perspectives on what they love about our conference and why it’s a must-attend event for anyone using R or Python.

Hadley Wickham, Open Source Team

I find posit::conf incredibly energizing because I get to hang out with the people who are using and benefiting from tidyverse.

I’m the chair of the program committee, which is in charge of the talks and tutorials. We collect the talk submissions, spread them out to our internal reviewers, collate the responses, and then form sessions. It’s a lot of work, but watching the 1-minute submission videos is also a lot of fun!

One of the things that I’ve personally tried to work on really hard is the quality of the talks — we do this not just by carefully reviewing all the submissions but by providing speaker training to everyone whose talk gets accepted. My goal is for you to be able to drop into any session and hear a great talk!

I find posit::conf incredibly energizing because I get to hang out with the people who are using and benefiting from tidyverse. I love finding out what awesome things people are using tidyverse for and learning where we could help more!

Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel, Open Source Team

It’s a lot of work, but watching it all come together with clear pathways for learning for attendees from a large variety of backgrounds is incredibly satisfying!

As part of the program committee, I am in charge of organizing the workshops. This includes deciding on a lineup of workshops, recruiting instructors, and putting together the schedule. It’s a lot of work, but watching it all come together with clear pathways for learning for attendees from a large variety of backgrounds is incredibly satisfying! This year we have 30 workshops led by a fantastic team of instructors, some one-day ones that allow you to mix and match to find your happy learning place and some two-day ones that make room for a deeper dive.

One of the most unique things about posit::conf workshops is the variety of topics. You can take a course on making generative art with R or machine learning and deep learning with Python. Or you can choose to focus on a specific tool, like Quarto or Shiny, and do a day in R and a day in Python on the same tool. Or, if you’re an educator like me, you can spend a day working on your teaching (and join me for the Teaching Data Science Masterclass!) and the other day learning something you’ve been hoping to make time for all year.

I know the whole conference is going to be informative, engaging, and fun, but I am most looking forward to the lightning sessions! It’s always one of the highlights for me because it’s an hour of non-stop, incredibly cool things thrown one after another at you. I always find myself taking a lot of notes on things to follow up on after the conference is over.

Rachael Dempsey, Marketing Team

That moment when you see someone in real life whose name you’ve seen so many times on Zoom is the best.

This will be my 6th conference(!) with the company, and I’ve held various roles at each. From scheduling customer meetings, planning Birds of a Feather sessions, chairing a talk, organizing the Lounge, giving a talk, etc. – I’ve got to see a lot of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into posit::conf.

The excitement from the community is infectious. Everyone is so excited to meet and learn from each other. We may have used other attendees’ packages, read their blog posts, heard them speak at a virtual meetup, or connected in a Slack community before, and it’s so fun to finally meet in person.

Something unique about speaking at posit::conf is that every speaker gets to go through Articulation speaker training and meet other attendees in these sessions beforehand. Oh, and the talks are amazing too!

I am most excited about getting to connect with the Data Science Hangout community at the conference. Last year, I really loved chatting with people in the halls, hearing their talks, and getting to hang out at the evening receptions. That moment when you see someone in real life whose name you’ve seen so many times on Zoom is the best. If you are attending posit::conf for the first time, join us at the Data Science Hangout one week and meet other people who are likely attending too!

Curtis Kephart, Community Team

Come for the learnings, stay for the people!

I am on Posit’s community team, striving to give you as many opportunities as possible to connect with fellow data scientists – working on similar problems in the same field, geeks for the same tools – and to connect with the people who create and support your favorite tools.

I believe that the most valuable aspect of attending posit::conf(2023) will be the keynotes, regular talks, and workshops. Even now, I still remember the insightful pieces of knowledge I gained from previous conferences. It was during those events that I first discovered useful tips and packages like gt, reprex, plumber, clock, and more, which I now regularly use in my work.

Talks aside, one of the best parts of posit::conf is the people you meet along the way. Many of us, even those in large organizations, often work in a bit of a silo. We may not interact frequently with other users of RStudio, the tidyverse, Shiny, Tidymodels, Vetiver, R Markdown, Quarto, and all the other tools the people at Posit support. It blows my mind when there are thousands of us all in the same space, with all of us ready to sit down with each other and learn.

And to be honest, I’m also very excited to see all your hex stickers, art, and crafts.

Join us in September

From the excitement of curating an engaging program to the satisfaction of seeing attendees connect and collaborate, there are many aspects of conference planning that bring joy and fulfillment to those involved. 

Join Hadley, Mine, Rachael, Curtis, and many others in September to be part of the experience. We’re thrilled to provide two days of workshops, two days of conference keynotes and talks, and endless opportunities to connect our data science community. We keep saying it, and we mean it: getting together has never been better.

• Take a look at the conference website and register for the in-person conference. Early bird registration ends on March 31st or after the first 120 registrations!
• Submit a talk for consideration. Learn more in the blog post.
• Find a complete list of workshops on the Session Catalog page.

We can’t wait to see you there!