In the VRF case they can't: "This comes with a tradeoff of course and in this case is that you no longer can reach devices on the venue network, which shouldn't be a problem if you're only connected there for internet connectivity."
I also started my programming career thanks to Django, and I started using it while working at a local newspaper, so bonus points there! We built a system that our sales people could book ads, and then we could layout the newspaper through a canvas based tool (used Fabric.js for that), and then send the pages + ad stack to InDesign to be built. Was great to work with the whole process and Django was really never a limitation. I ended up moving on, but it'll always have a place in my heart.