On a cool February evening in Dhaka, a group of passionate Python enthusiasts gathered for something special—our city’s first-ever Python User Group meetup. What started as an idea a few weeks earlier turned into a diverse community event, laying the foundation for Python Dhaka’s journey.

Here’s how we made it happen and what we learned along the way.

Arranging the Meetup

The whole event was organized through our Facebook group. In Bangladesh, Facebook is the primary hub for tech enthusiasts to form communities and organize events. Unlike platforms like Meetup or Discord, Facebook groups often serve as the starting point for grassroots tech movements here. I launched a Facebook group for Python Dhaka a few weeks prior, and thanks to my personal network, it grew to 250 members within two weeks.

The next logical step was to organize an in-person meetup, because I want this group to be all about connecting with the local Python enthusiasts. After thinking about it for a few days, I locked in a date and venue for the first meetup.

I choose the 15th of February because it’s the mid-month, and a Saturday. In Bangladesh, Fridays and Saturdays are official holidays. Friday is the most popular day for events, followed by Saturdays. I picked Chandrima Udyan for two reasons: 1. It has easy access to the bus and metro route; 2. It’s a public park we can access for free.

I created the event on Facebook and started spreading the word on the FB group, my profile, Twitter, Linkedin, and my Instagram handle. I even created a short video announcing the event and posted it on all of my socials.

How the Meetup Went

At 5 PM local time, I waited near the park entrance, feeling a mix of excitement and nerves. Soon, one by one, attendees started arriving, their calls guiding me to them. Here’s me waiting:

As we entered the park, a cool evening breeze greeted us—washing away the stress of city life and setting the perfect mood for our first meetup.

I started the meeting by sharing the Python Software Foundation‘s missions with the attendees, and how it relates to us:

• To grow a diverse and international community of Python programmers: Organizing the Python Dhaka community is helping this mission.
• Encourage knowledge sharing, collaboration, and support devs of all backgrounds: Students from three universities joined this event. They were able to share knowledge and build future collaboration opportunities. This community is open to all levels of developer experience.
• Grow a diverse and welcoming community; support underrepresented communities in tech: One participant came from a non-computer science background, eager to transition into tech. This is exactly why Python Dhaka exists—to welcome everyone, regardless of their starting point.

I then shared how I started evangelizing Python.

I am a professional JavaScript developer with React and NextJS expertise. I use JS for my daily work. My cousin wanted to learn Python, so I got into learning it. I found Python to be easy to learn and easy to teach. I was looking for a Python community in Dhaka, but there was none. That’s why I decided to organize the Python User Group Dhaka.

I also mentioned that I don’t own Python Dhaka. I am only organizing it for the time being. As this community grows, and if in the future I have to move cities, I will pass the torch to the next person to continue organizing our community activities.

We are not strictly Python fanatics. We would love to collaborate with our friends in the JavaScript, PHP, and Kotlin communities too from time to time.

We heard personal stories from the attendees, how they got into programming, and how they are using Python. Two students are doing competitive programming with C, C++ and thinking of switching to Python for CP and ML.

Two of the attendees came from different districts just so they could attend this meetup. 

One attendee traveled over 80 kilometers from Tangail just to be here. That level of dedication reminded me why this community matters.

I shared many tech tips, and also informed them about the free GitHub Student Developer pack and how to avail it. We also discussed getting real-world experiences by putting an app out in the world.

We also announced the Campus Ambassador Program for Python Dhaka and nominated Abdullah to be the ambassador at Southeast University. A campus ambassador is a person in your college/university who will promote and evangelize Python programming language on your campus.

As the meetup was about to end, it was getting dark when we clicked this group photo.

Next Steps

Our journey is just beginning. We plan to host monthly meetups around the 15th of each month, but our ambition goes beyond that. We want to nurture the next generation of Python developers in Bangladesh, and one day, bring PyCon Bangladesh to life.

If you’re as passionate about Python as we are—whether you’re in Dhaka or anywhere in the world—we’d love your support. Find Python User Group Dhaka on Facebook, or connect with me on Linkedin, X, and Instagram. Let’s build this community together!