[jMyles]

Being in the crowd during this talk was seriously like being at a rock concert.

Beazley was 'playing' the keyboard like an instrument. Every square inch of floor space had someone sitting or standing. The crowd was incredibly invested - nary an eye nor ear wavered. Even Guido looked on with a hawk eye.

I was in a small circle on the floor of people who had just smoked some amazing herb before the talk. I was hanging on his every word and every expression. I've rarely felt so engaged by a conference talk. I'll never forget this one.

He received a raucous standing ovation that is not evident from the conference video.

I asked a question at the end, and I was so giddy I had trouble getting it out. :-)

As a core contributor to an async framework, I felt that this talk gave me a lot more enthusiasm and confidence about my work which has lasted to this day. I think about it often. Definitely a track for the PyCon greatest hits album.

[dgrant]

> I was in a small circle on the floor of people who had just smoked some amazing herb before the talk.

This is a thing at software conferences?

[jMyles]

I think it's a thing anywhere people gather, no? It's probably more a thing at community conferences than corporate conferences.

[astrange]

Did you stand in the designated smoking area?

[SourPatch]

The people who really know what they are doing make the complicated stuff seem dirt simple. I had Dave as the instructor for my undergrad compilers and operating systems courses back in 2000-2001. His lectures then were every bit as enlightening as his PyCon talks today. Those courses were demanding but extremely fun.