Summary Annapoornima Koppad is a director of the PSF, founder of the Bangalore chapter of PyLadies, and is a Python instructor at the Indian Institute of Science. In this week’s episode she talks about how she got started with Python, her experience running the PyLadies meetup, and working with the PSF. Brief Introduction Hello and welcome to Podcast.__init__, the podcast about Python and the people who make it great. I would like to thank everyone who has donated to the show. Your contributions help us make the show sustainable. When you’re ready to launch your next project you’ll need somewhere to deploy it. Check out Linode at linode.com/podcastinit and get a $20 credit to try out their fast and reliable Linux virtual servers for running your awesome app. You’ll want to make sure that your users don’t have to put up with bugs, so you should use Rollbar for tracking and aggregating your application errors to find and fix the bugs in your application before your users notice they exist. Use the link rollbar.com/podcastinit to get 90 days and 300,000 errors for free on their bootstrap plan. Visit our site to subscribe to our show, sign up for our newsletter, read the show notes, and get in touch. To help other people find the show you can leave a review on iTunes, or Google Play Music, and tell your friends and co-workers Join our community! Visit discourse.pythonpodcast.com for your opportunity to find out about upcoming guests, suggest questions, and propose show ideas. Your hosts as usual are Tobias Macey and Chris Patti Today we’re interviewing Annapoornima Koppad about her career with Python and her experiences running the PyLadies chapter in Bangalore, India and being a director for the Python Software Foundation. Interview with Annapoornima Koppad Introductions How did you get introduced to Python? – Tobias I noticed that you have been freelancing for several years now. How much of that has been in Python and how has that fed back into your other activities? – Tobias While preparing for this interview I came across the book that you self-published on Amazon. What was your motivation for writing it and who is the target audience? – Tobias Can you tell us about your experience with starting the PyLadies group in Bangalore? What were some of the biggest challenges that you encountered and how have you approached the task of growing awareness and membership of the group? – Tobias You recently started teaching Python at the Indian Institute of Science. What kinds of subject matter do you cover in your lessons? – Tobias What is it about Python and its community that has inspired you to dedicate so much of your time to contributing back to it? – Tobias In what ways would you like to see the Python ecosystem improve? – Tobias You were voted in as a director of the Python Software Foundation in the most recent election. Can you share what responsibilities that entails? – Tobias What would you like to achieve with your time in the PSF? – Tobias Keep In Touch PyLadies Bangalore Meetup Blog Email Twitter Picks Tobias Fluentd Annapoornina The Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Storks Food Street The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA