Humans of EuroPython: Jake Balas

"Every year, thousands of Python enthusiasts gather at EuroPython to share knowledge, forge connections, and celebrate our vibrant community. But behind the seamless workshops, engaging talks, and memorable networking sessions stands an incredible team of volunteers who transform this vision into reality. Today, we're thrilled to introduce you to Jake Balas, one of the dedicated individuals who makes EuroPython possible. In addition to being a member of the Operations Team, Jake led onsite volunteers at EuroPython 2025."

"Once you enter the conference, the first people you see are those in yellow t-shirts. They're our on-site volunteers. Those are the folks who assist attendees, chair sessions, and hand out badges. Coordinating this group is no small feat-in 2025 it included over 50 individuals working across 7 days of the conference, switching among 10 different roles few times a day."

"I was predominantly managing on-site volunteers. In the days before the conference, the focus was mostly on building a rock-solid on-site team - lots of emails and meetings. During the conference itself, the days were a bit of a blur; many things were happening, usually all at the same time 🙂 Coordination was the name of the game, and luckily the team was pretty much self-managing, so I could focus on corner cases."

Jake Balas led the on-site volunteer team at EuroPython 2025 and served as a member of the Operations Team. The on-site volunteers, identifiable by yellow t-shirts, assisted attendees, chaired sessions, and handed out badges across seven conference days. Pre-conference work concentrated on recruiting and preparing a rock‑solid team through extensive emails and meetings. Over 50 volunteers rotated among ten different roles, often switching roles multiple times per day. Coordination focused on addressing corner cases while the largely self-managing team handled routine tasks. The payoff came when attendees arrived and operations ran smoothly on the first day.

Read at EuroPython Blog