DOC: Updating release notes (pymc-devs#1315)

* WIP: Updating release notes

* Adding -y to the conda file (pymc-devs#1345)

* Edited and updated release notes

* Additional edits to release notes

* WIP: Updating release notes

* Edited and updated release notes

* Additional edits to release notes

* Removed all of Thomas' email addresses (except one)

Author: springcoil

RELEASE-NOTES.md

@@ -1,4 +1,119 @@
 # Release Notes
+## PyMC3 3.0 (September xx, 2016)
+
+We are proud and excited to release the first stable version of PyMC3, the product of more than [5 years](https://github.com/pymc-devs/pymc3/commit/85c7e06b6771c0d99cbc09cb68885cda8f7785cb) of ongoing development and contributions from over 80 individuals. PyMC3 is a Python module for Bayesian modeling which focuses on modern Bayesian computational methods, primarily gradient-based (Hamiltonian) MCMC sampling and variational inference. Models are specified in Python, which allows for great flexibility. The main technological difference in PyMC3 relative to previous versions is the reliance on Theano for the computational backend, rather than on Fortran extensions.
+
+Since the beta release last year, the following improvements have been implemented:
+
+* Added `variational` submodule, which features the automatic differentiation variational inference (ADVI) fitting method. Much of this work was due to the efforts of Taku Yoshioka, and important guidance was provided by the Stan team (specifically Alp Kucukelbir and Daniel Lee).
+
+* Added model checking utility functions, including leave-one-out (LOO) cross-validation, BPIC, WAIC, and DIC.
+
+* Implemented posterior predictive sampling (`sample_ppc`).
+
+* Implemented auto-assignment of step methods by `sample` function.
+
+* Enhanced IPython Notebook examples, featuring more complete narratives accompanying code.
+
+* Extensive debugging of NUTS sampler.
+
+* Updated documentation to reflect changes in code since beta.
+
+* Refactored test suite for better efficiency.
+
+* Added von Mises, zero-inflated negative binomial, and Lewandowski, Kurowicka and Joe (LKJ)  distributions.
+
+* Adopted `joblib` for managing parallel computation of chains.
+
+* Added contributor guidelines, contributor code of conduct and governance document.
+
+We on the PyMC3 core team would like to thank everyone for contributing and now feel that this is ready for the big time. We look forward to hearing about all the cool stuff you use PyMC3 for, and look forward to continued development on the package. 
+
+## Contributors
+
+A Kuz <[email protected]>
+A. Flaxman <[email protected]>
+Abraham Flaxman <[email protected]>
+Alexey Goldin <[email protected]>
+Anand Patil <[email protected]>
+Andrea Zonca <[email protected]>
+Andreas Klostermann <[email protected]>
+Andres Asensio Ramos 
+Andrew Clegg <[email protected]>
+Anjum48 
+AustinRochford <[email protected]>
+Benjamin Edwards <[email protected]>
+Boris Avdeev <[email protected]>
+Brian Naughton <[email protected]>
+Byron Smith 
+Chad Heyne <[email protected]>
+Chris Fonnesbeck <[email protected]>
+Colin 
+Corey Farwell <[email protected]>
+David Huard <[email protected]>
+David Huard <[email protected]>
+David Stück <[email protected]>
+DeliciousHair <[email protected]>
+Dustin Tran 
+Eigenblutwurst <[email protected]>
+Gideon Wulfsohn <[email protected]>
+Gil Raphaelli <[email protected]>
+Gogs <[email protected]>
+Ilan Man 
+Imri Sofer <[email protected]>
+Jake Biesinger <[email protected]>
+James Webber <[email protected]>
+John McDonnell <[email protected]>
+John Salvatier <[email protected]>
+Jordi Diaz 
+Jordi Warmenhoven <[email protected]>
+Karlson Pfannschmidt <[email protected]>
+Kyle Bishop <[email protected]>
+Kyle Meyer <[email protected]>
+Lin Xiao  
+Mack Sweeney <[email protected]>
+Matthew Emmett <[email protected]>
+Maxim 
+Michael Gallaspy <[email protected]>
+Nick <[email protected]>
+Osvaldo Martin <[email protected]>
+Patricio Benavente <[email protected]>
+Peadar Coyle (springcoil) <[email protected]>
+Raymond Roberts 
+Rodrigo Benenson <[email protected]>
+Sergei Lebedev <[email protected]>
+Skipper Seabold <[email protected]>
+Taku Yoshioka <[email protected]>
+The Gitter Badger <[email protected]>
+Thomas Kluyver <[email protected]>
+Thomas Wiecki <[email protected]>
+Tobias Knuth <[email protected]>
+Volodymyr 
+Volodymyr Kazantsev 
+Wes McKinney <[email protected]>
+Zach Ploskey <[email protected]>
+akuz <[email protected]>
+aloctavodia <[email protected]>
+brandon willard <[email protected]>
+dstuck <[email protected]>
+ingmarschuster <[email protected]>
+jan-matthis <[email protected]>
+jason <JasonTam22@gmailcom>
+jonsedar <[email protected]>
+kiudee <[email protected]>
+maahnman <[email protected]>
+macgyver <[email protected]>
+mwibrow <[email protected]>
+olafSmits <[email protected]>
+paul sorenson <[email protected]>
+redst4r <[email protected]>
+santon <[email protected]>
+sgenoud <[email protected]>
+stonebig <stonebig>
+taku-y <[email protected]>
+tyarkoni <[email protected]>
+x2apps <[email protected]>
+zenourn <[email protected]>
 
 ## PyMC3 3.0b (June 16th, 2015)