Caktus Blog

The Caktus team arrived in DC for Djangocon on Monday evening, 9/3 and I've been keeping notes about what the presenters have been discussing and generally what the mood and experience have been like. I am taking a few minutes out of my Tuesday schedule to share with everyone how Djangocon 2012 is shaping up! I stayed in Track 1 throughout the day, so I can only report on talks given there.

Caktus is proud to announce that four of our developers will be presenting at this year’s DjangoCon. We are also happy to announce that we will be sponsors of DjangoCon, taking place in Washington D.C. on September 4th through the 7th. In addition to the four Caktus team members who will be presenting this year, our entire development staff will be in attendance enjoying the conference and city.

Caktus is currently hiring for a full time Web Project Manager to be a part of our awesome team. We’re a diverse team of smart, sharp developers and designers with a passion for creating customizable, content rich sites and web applications using Django. As one of the project managers at Caktus, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your professional skills and also get the chance to work with some very capable and nice people.

This past July, I had the pleasure of attending the UNICEF Rwanda Conference in Kigali, Rwanda. The conferences focus was on developing a comprehensive eHealth suite for numerous nations to implement.

Caktus is proud to announce that we are a sponsor of this year’s PyOhio conference taking place in Columbus, Ohio on July 28th and 29th! This is the 5th year for this regional conference and each year it continues to grow in size and scope. A great perk about PyOhio is that all of the talks are released for free online and also there is no charge to attend the conference. It is great to see more regional Python conferences throughout the nation and we are very excited to be a part of this growing trend. I will be attending the conference on behalf of Caktus, so make sure to seek me out and say hi, I will be wearing a Caktus t-shirt and would love to speak with you about what we do and of course any neat projects you’re building or working on in Python!

Caktus is proud to announce that we are now offering Django training services. This new service includes both off and on-site training for you and your team to become a Djangonaut.

On June 8th and 9th, Caktus hosted its first Django Fundamentals Bootcamp. The Caktus team developed the idea for the course, which was a crossword drill application, and has been developing the structure and content of the course over the past year. The bootcamp was designed to teach programmers who have experience in programming with different languages and introduce them to the fundamentals of building a web application with Django. We created an interactive environment where the instructors and students were able to communicate with one another which solved the issue of how to begin developing in an unfamiliar language.

I am very proud to announce that Karen Tracey, Lead Developer at Caktus and Django Core Developer, will be delivering a keynote address at DjangoCon Europe next week. This will be Karen's first speech to the Django community, of which she has been an exemplary member since 2006.

Diversity is important in a workplace environment. Having different points of view from people with different life experiences brings creative new ideas and innovative solutions to the software development process. As a team of web developers that designs and builds custom web applications, creativity and gender diversity, I would argue, are closely tied and both crucial to the success of our projects.

I’m excited to announce that Caktus is a sponsor of the first SwitchPoint 2012 conference that is being held in the Saxapahaw Ballroom in Saxapahaw, NC. It is being organized by IntraHealth, an organization that mobilizes local talent for sustainable and accessible health care around the world. The conference is bringing together a number of people from different industries and disciplines to discuss how technology and ideas can increase global health equity. There are quite a few great speakers from RedHat, USAID, WorldBank and the United Nations. The Caktus team is really excited to attend Switchpoint and sponsor this incredible event.