Taking a Session Break

Updates from Djangonaut Space 🚀

Hey friend,

How are you doing today? If you're reading this, you're likely a friend, someone who follows Djangonaut Space, maybe has been involved, is curious about our activities, or has been cheering us on from afar. Thanks for stopping in!

Rachell and Tim, two of the Djangonaut Space co-founders checking in with you. We wanted to share some updates about our near-future plans with our wider community.

Our Journey So Far 🌟

We love celebrating wins! This year we are coming up on 2 years of Djangonaut Space so we have a lot to celebrate. Since launching Djangonaut Space May 23rd, 2023, we've been on an incredible journey of growth and impact. We're proud of what we've accomplished together:

142 PRs Opened
101 PRs Merged
51 Blog Posts
12 Presentations
12 Django News Updates
10 Forum Discussions
8 DSF Members
6 New Sessions Organizers
⭐ Malcolm Tredinnick Award

When one wins, we all do. We've seen our members go on to organize their own groups, join DSF working groups, continue contributing, become leaders within the Django community, give talks and many more amazing things…all improving the wider django community.

"Before Djangonaut Space, I felt as though I wasn't the kind of person who could become a Django contributor; now I feel like I found a place where I belong."

— Eli, Djangonaut turned Navigator

These milestones represent countless hours of dedication from our volunteers and participants. They're the reason we care so deeply about ensuring Djangonaut Space continues to thrive for years to come.

Why We're Taking a Strategic Break 🔄

When we started Djangonaut Space, we had five enthusiastic co-founders and envisioned hosting three sessions per year. What became clear over time is that this creates an almost continuous cycle of work:

🚀6+ weeks of preparation before each session
🚀8 weeks of active session running
🚀Several weeks of wrap-up
🚀Almost immediately beginning the next cycle

As life has evolved for our founding team (new jobs, family commitments, other opportunities), Tim and I, Rachell, have found ourselves taking on more responsibilities. We've been filling gaps between sessions, supporting new organizers, and maintaining the quality experience that defines Djangonaut Space, all while volunteering in other areas of the Django community.

We've learned something important: for our community to be truly sustainable, we need to build stronger systems, not just run great sessions. The community shouldn't depend so heavily on any one or two people.

Some of you might be disappointed that we're pausing our regular sessions, and we understand that feeling. We love this community too! But we believe this break is essential to ensure Djangonaut Space can continue to have an impact for years to come.

We founded this organization with some of the goals being to keep Django sustainable, refresh the community with new contributors, and avoid burnout, so it's a great time for us to model this exact behavior for ourselves and our community.

We aren't disappearing; we'll be taking a break from organizing sessions for a few months. During this time, we'll be resting, refocusing on other priorities, and catching up on our regular work with Djangonaut Space outside of the session organizing.

A Story Worth Sharing 📖

Don't take our word for it, check a session 4 Djangonaut's story:

Philip Narteh's Experience

"If the first half of my Djangonaut Space experience was about finding my feet, then the second half was about stretching them, sometimes uncomfortably🙃, but in all the best ways.

It's hard to describe the Djangonaut Space Program without sounding overly sentimental, but honestly, this program cracked something open for me. I walked in wanting to contribute to Django and walked out as a contributor wanting to build a world accessible to everyone…"

This was more than a mentorship program. It's been amazing.

I still have a PR that hasn't been merged yet. I still google many things like "how to rebase safely"😂. But I now know that none of that disqualifies me from being part of open source.

I'm not just someone learning to contribute anymore. I am a contributor. A Djangonaut Star. ⭐"

Read Full Story

There are so many stories worth sharing from our community members and you can find many of them on our media and talks page. Hearing and seeing these experiences breathes life into me personally and is what keeps me committed to this work.

Ten years ago, I was that newcomer when I found the Django Girls community. I experienced firsthand how transformative these supportive spaces can be, and that's why I'm passionate about creating similar opportunities for others. These stories are powerful reminders of why we need to invest in building a strong foundation for Djangonaut Space's future; so these life-changing experiences can continue for many more folks in the years to come.

How You Can Help Right Now 🤝

Taking this break doesn't mean Djangonaut Space is dormant; in fact, we could use your help! There are plenty of ways you can help us:

Contribute to our website

We have several open tickets that could use some attention.

GitHub Repository

Volunteer for future sessions

Although we aren't actively recruiting, if you'd like to be contacted for volunteering for future sessions, let us know!

Sign Up

Stay connected

Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on our progress and be the first to know when sessions resume.

Newsletter

Support us financially

We could always make good use of some extra support.

Donate

Each of these actions directly contributes to building a more sustainable Djangonaut Space that can continue making an impact in the Django community.

Going Forward 🔭

This isn't just a break, it's an investment in everything we've built together and everything we still want to accomplish.

We're grateful for your understanding and support, as always! The Django community is special because of people like you who care about its future and are willing to contribute to its growth.