Revision 1 as of 2006-10-16 14:46:16

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Marketing Python

Over a period of time, perhaps starting in earnest with the weblog entry [http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=150515 "Marketing Python - An Idea Whose Time Has Come"], a perception has emerged that the Python community has not been effectively communicating the benefits of the Python language and technologies. Whilst previous and existing promotional efforts at the highest levels of the community have involved ongoing advocacy activities (see ["PythonAdvocacyCoordinator"] and ["Advocacy"]), repositories of materials or links to materials (see ["evangelism_support_materials"]), events (see ["PromotingPythonBof"]), and the redevelopment of the [http://www.python.org/ Python Web site], it has been argued that the language and associated technologies are not being effectively "sold" to newcomers.

One contentious issue related to marketing activities is the identification of the target audience for any marketing exercise or message. Previously, the "executive" audience (or "management") has been considered as the primary audience, since good technology supposedly sells itself to a technical audience, but recent developments have suggested that a clear message to a technical audience can promote a "peer marketing" effect. In other words, a good (or merely new, interesting or fashionable) technology that is communicated to a technical audience can be adopted through peer influences rather than through the persuasion of a primarily managerial decision-maker using a less technical and more promotional message.

This page is concerned with ideas and initiatives which seek to improve the marketing of Python, where marketing in this context should be taken to mean the communication of the benefits of the Python language and technologies to various audiences (eg. software developers) in order to persuade them to choose Python as the basis of their activities and to reassure them that Python is a sustainable and acceptable choice.

Focus Areas

The communication of Python's benefits must take into account much more than just the existence of promotional articles and advocacy materials. Indeed, marketing should not be regarded as the use or application of merely promotional materials on top of the existing project infrastructure and work. Rather, it must consider the accessibility of the entire work and the community around it.

Areas which should be reviewed for accessibility and whose quality assist in the promotion of the work include the following:

Delivery Issues

Whilst communicating the benefits of Python, the means of communication is critical:

Marketing Resources

Resources for marketing Python include the following:

Whilst promotional activities traditionally focus on articles, presentations and events, if the whole body of Python work is to be directed towards marketing Python, all of the above should be considered in a marketing context.

The Python Web Site

The primary resource for Python marketing is the official [http://www.python.org/ Python Web site]. Whilst many of the above focus areas are addressed by the site, some reservations may be expressed about the delivery of the materials mentioned above. Consequently, it may be informative to consider the site from the perspective of particular user profiles.

Technical Newcomer

Upon learning of the existence of Python, a newcomer with a technical background may have various priorities when researching the language, including the following:

Here, the current site offers some quick answers, but omits any immediate examples of actual Python code. Whilst this might forestall any prejudicial rejection of the language based on its indentation-based syntax, the newcomer is forced to go hunting in the site for some examples.

Editorial Notes

So far, this is just a collection of thoughts about marketing Python and improving the way Python and its technologies are communicated. Moving on from a kind of position paper to concrete activities is the aim, but insights are obviously welcome to accelerate the process. -- PaulBoddie

CategoryAdvocacy

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