Pycon is gone
So the first PyCon Russia 2013 conference was held. 250 developers came to snowy Yekaterinburg to discuss the latest trends in python development and talk with each other over the course of two days. We gathered literally from all over the world: from Chile, Australia, USA, England, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus. The list of Russian cities is also impressive: Yekaterinburg, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk, Kazan, Yaroslavl, Chelyabinsk, Miass, Ufa, Perm, Berezniki, Krasnoyarsk, Vologda, Khanty-Mansiysk, Tomsk, Odintsovo, Kemerovo, Kaluga, Irkutsk. 
In the photo: Alexander Koshelev (Yandex, Moscow) David Cramer troll (Disqus, San Francisco)
Foreign speakers are a separate issue. As it turned out in the backroom conversations, they agreed to come in many ways in order to visit Russia for the first time (the organizers paid for the flight, accommodation and meals). And, of course, they had a lot of impressions.
So, Holger Krekel, founder of the PyPy Project, author of py.test and tox tweeted:
"First day at PyCon Russia in some forest 200 km from where the meteorite hit."
Or, for example, the Django evangelist Russell Keith-Magee saw snow for the first time in his life:
By the way, did you notice the logo on the cap with earflaps? We presented such hats to all headliners - as a keepsake of the trip. (By the way, this is a recursive hat with earflaps ...)
The program was very rich: reports in Russian and English, round tables, master classes and workshops. Traditional for PyCon lightning talks blew up the hall - there were a lot of comers and a lot of meaningful speeches. In the evening, after dinner, you could choose your own entertainment. In addition to traditional behind-the-scenes communication, the participants were offered free billiards, bowling, a championship on board games and the mafia (the mafia was international) and a bathhouse. Those who are more inclined to intellectual leisure - went to a roundtable on porting and after - to a workshop on this topic. The workshop was led by Mikhail Korobov and he literally subdued us by baking cookies for the participants with his own hands, so they ported tea and cookies from ten in the evening to one in the morning :) Actually, that's why we chose a suburban format,
The sponsors were also great. We have already convinced those who have been working with us for a long time that the best promotion is not a flyer in a handout, but something non-standard and therefore memorable. So, for example, Naumen prepared and handed out branded popcorn at the conference (take popcorn, go listen to the reports):
Aydeko had a wonderful game library, and also brought their bartender and prepared alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails.
From the organizers (IT-People company) as a gift to the developers were our traditional fruits with stickers, and also - for the first time in the arena - a girl dancing with a live python:
Here are the first reports that we google the day after the conference:
Andrey Svetlov's report: asvetlov.blogspot.ru/2013/02/rupycon2013.html
Report by Andrei Fefelov: afefelov.ru/post/44055961152/pycon-russia-2013
Report by Sergey Matvienko: plus.google.com/102612720075670395425/posts/BdBExBSJHcV
Report by Konstantin Lopukhin: chtd.ru/blog/pycon-ru-2013
But here are short Twitter reviews:
umi @umirra
Returned with #pyconru. I want more!
lensvol
Thanks to the organizers of #pyconru for the minimum number of jambs and a great time! # Barsdesant
dair_targ
Many thanks to all the organizers and participants! It was interesting;) #pyconru
Chodex
When will the next #pyconru be? :)
olebedev
Thanks @gerasimovich_yu, apatrushevand to all the organizers for #pyconru. Useful reports, interesting people. Time passed with benefit!
@yumatov
This PyCon is awesome! #pyconru
How do I determine if a conference is successful or not? For our organizational taste, the event took place if after it you immediately want to take a laptop and realize any idea heard from the conference participants. We will be happy if you write to us about such your experience!