Last Wednesday, Tampa Devs led a meetup of Tampa Bay technology meetups, and it was a hit! My thanks to Nelson Yee for helping put this event together (and very quickly, too) and for James Gress for his presentation on the state of AI.
I took some photos of the event and am sharing them here. You can find even more photos in Nelson’s post on LinkedIn.
In case you missed organizer Joe Blankenship’s announcement, he’s become quite busy with his new venture, A Valid Company, and won’t have the bandwidth to run Tampa Bay Python.
As not only the organizer behind Tampa Bay Python, but also the Chief Data Officer of Certus Core and one of the people behind the Data4 conference, he’s a tech powerhouse, and we should expect to see great things from A Valid Company! I’d like to thank Joe for all the work he’s done for the local Python and tech communities.
…that would be me.
In case you’re not aware, I’ve been programming in Python since 1999. I had to learn it while on vacation the week before a Python programming job, and said vacation was at Burning Man ’99.
My favorite way to describe Burning Man is like a circus-meets-rave in the desert, and it’s up to you to provide the entertainment. The motto at the time was “There are no spectators; only participants.”
It turns out that most of the partying happens at night, and mornings at Burning Man are relatively mellow. The mornings were when I learned Python, armed with my trusty Toshiba Satellite 4015CDT (Pentium II running at 266 MHz; I’d boosted the RAM to 96 MB) and a paperback copy of Mark Lutz’s book, Learning Python (first edition, of course). I fell in love with the language — after all, any language that you can learn amidst the chaos of Burning Man has to be a good one!
Since then, I’ve been using Python for all sorts of things, including generating the weekly tech events list that appears on this blog every Friday. I’m honored to be the new organizer for Tampa Bay Python!
I’m already working on ideas for upcoming Tampa Bay Python meetups, but if you have suggestions for topics that Tampa Bay Python should cover, I’d love to hear them — just drop me a line at joey@joeydevilla.com or via any of my social media accounts.
PyLadies is an international mentorship group whose goal is to encourage more women to become active participants and leaders in Python’s open-source community. There are PyLadies chapters all over the world, including one right here in Tampa Bay: TampaBay PyLadies.
The problem is that the TampaBay PyLadies Meetup group doesn’t have an organizer, and if one doesn’t step up, Meetup will automatically close that group.
We need a PyLadies group here. Python is expected to be a high-demand programming language for some time (it’s still at the top of the TIOBE Index), and let’s face it: programming is a sausage party. We guys are pretty good at things, but we need the knowledge, wisdom, and perspective that women provide.
If you’re a woman in the Tampa Bay area and would like to help keep TampaBay PyLadies up and running, please consider becoming an organizer for TampaBay PyLadies Meetup. You don’t need to be an expert at Python; all you need is to be interested in Python and have enough organizational know-how to run a Meetup (it’s relatively straightforward) and the time to do so. And if you need help, we in the Tampa Bay Python community — myself included — will gladly provide it.
Want to step up and become TampaBay PyLadies’ organizer? You can do so on the TampaBay PyLadies page!
Here’s what’s happening in the thriving tech scene in Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for the week of Monday, May 5 through Sunday, May 11, 2025!
This list includes both in-person and online events. Note that each item in the list includes:
✅ When the event will take place
✅ What the event is
✅ Where the event will take place
✅ Who is holding the event
Tuesday at 10 a.m., online: Computer Coach’s session, Landing Job Opportunities Through Community: Unconventional Networking, looks at power of community support in finding job opportunities and shows how to leverage unconventional networking strategies.
Find out more and register here.
Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Buffalo Wild Wings in Oldsmar: Tampa Bay Generative AI Meetup is holding their regular gathering of generative AI enthusiasts to meet and talk about AI over chicken wings and beer. There’s no set agenda; just good company, interesting discussions, and a chance to meet like-minded people who love AI.
Find out more and register here.
Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. at Green Bench Brewing: The Cyber Ohana Project is holding a mixer! Join, as cybersecurity professionals and tech enthusiasts come together for an evening of networking, community, and great brews. Whether you’re a seasoned cybersecurity expert or just beginning your journey, this informal mixer offers a fantastic opportunity to connect, share insights, and build lasting relationships.
Find out more and register here.
Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. at OCC Road House & Museum: Agile Lean Beer (St. Petersburg) is about sharing and networking among professionals with a passion for Agile Product Development. Come drink and explore anything Agile. Whether you’re a Scrum enthusiast or just curious about Agile practices, this is the perfect platform to exchange experiences, network, vent, and foster your Agile knowledge. All this while drinking beer together!
Find out more and register here.
Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.: I’m going to check out Ybor Game Night at Retro House, get some Asian fusion food and try out some board games!
Find out more and register here.
Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. at PopStroke: Tampa Bay New-In-Tech is a meetup group for people new to the tech world and trying to find their footing or for experienced techies looking to meet new people and share their experiences. They’re holding a social event over mini-golf where you can have asual conversations with other tech newbies, pros, and everyone in between, with food, drinks, and plenty of opportunities to blame the wind for that last terrible shot.
Find out more and register here.
Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at Embarc Collective: Tampa Bay Women in Agile is hosting their May In-person Networking Event! It’s an opportunity to network with like-minded professionals, gain valuable insights, and empower yourself to excel in your career. All are welcome who support Women in Agile.
Find out more and register here.
Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at Magnanimous Brewing: Tampa M365 and Tampa Power Platform are hosting a social evening where you can enjoy beers, socialize, and network with awesome local techies. Whether you’re new to Microsoft 365 or Power Platform or are experienced, this event is a great opportunity to meet new faces and get to know your local counterparts.
Find out more and register here.
Friday at 5:30 at LECOM Park: Celebrate National Small Business Week in grand slam style at LECOM Park, home of the Bradenton Marauders, with the Florida SBDC at USF team! This exclusive event is your opportunity to mix, mingle, and network with fellow entrepreneurs, our business champions circle partners, and industry experts—all while enjoying America’s favorite pastime.
Find out more and register here.
How do I put this list together?
It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list?
I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
It’s been a while since we’ve had a “meetup of meetups” for Tampa Bay — let’s fix that. Join us this Wednesday, April 30th for Tech Groups of Tampa Bay’s Happy Hour Networking + AI Lightning Talk!
The event will be an opportunity to mingle with fellow and aspiring technologists, enjoy refreshments and an engaging lightning talk on the latest in Artificial Intelligence.
Connect with Tampa Bay professionals, share ideas, and explore the future of AI in the vibrant community setting of the coworking space known as Thrive DTSP!
In addition to networking, there’ll also be a quick talk on AI, delivered by James Gress, Director at Accenture for Leading Emerging Technologies!
This will be a meetup of meetups, and the participating meetups will be:
…and more groups will be participating!
It’ll be an opportunity-rich environment for to network ing with like-minded individuals and connecting with recruiters and professionals who can help advance your career or support your transition into a new field!
Thanks to these sponsors…
…there’ll be food provided for free. The beverage sponsor will be announced shortly!
Is it really a Tampa Bay tech event without it?
Meet up with your peers, make new friends and catch up with old ones, and create some opportunities this Wednesday at the Tech Groups of Tampa Bay’s Happy Hour Networking + AI Lightning Talk!
Here’s what’s happening in the thriving tech scene in Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for the week of Monday, April 28 through Sunday, May 4, 2025!
This list includes both in-person and online events. Note that each item in the list includes:
✅ When the event will take place
✅ What the event is
✅ Where the event will take place
✅ Who is holding the event
Wednesday evening at Thrive DTSP (St. Pete): Join Tampa Bay’s tech meetup groups in a much-needed social gathering at Thrive DTSP with networking, a quick AI talk by Accenture’s James Gress, all your favorite meetup groups including Tampa Devs and Tampa Bay Techies, and of course, the accordion. In addition to good company and good discussions, there’ll also be complimentary food and drink.
Find out more and register here.
How do I put this list together?
It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list?
I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
Here’s what’s happening in the thriving tech scene in Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for the week of Monday, April 7 through Sunday, April 13, 2025!
This list includes both in-person and online events. Note that each item in the list includes:
✅ When the event will take place
✅ What the event is
✅ Where the event will take place
✅ Who is holding the event
How do I put this list together?
It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list?
I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories: