Team chat today topic is contributor recognition and…

Team chat today, topic is contributor recognition and web site stuff. Behind on all counts. 🙂

We’ll do a catch up and then see what we can break up into smaller bits of work to share it so I’m not the bottleneck.

#team-chat

I posted to the Accessibility team to get…

I posted to the Accessibility team to get help making WordCamp websites more accessible: https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2014/03/24/wordcamp-websites-and-accessibility/

If you’re interested in helping with this effort, please comment on that post so everyone’s interacting on the same thread. 🙂

#accessibility, #wordcamps

I’d like to schedule a WordCamp budget focused…

I’d like to schedule a WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. budget-focused hangout for next Wednesday, March 26. I don’t plan to record it unless interest is off the charts. This event is intended for new and experienced organizers who want to discuss building a WordCamp budget and managing/prioritizing expenses; we might even dip into fundraising, though that won’t be the focus.

If you’d like to attend, please fill out this poll to vote for a time: http://poll.fm/4pczl If you’d like to discuss a certain budget-related topic, please leave a comment between now and Wednesday, and we’ll make sure we cover it.

#hangouts, #wordcamps

WordCamp Mobile App We put it on the…

WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Mobile App!

We put it on the GSoC Ideas list, and there are some students interested. I want to give them all the same feature set to respond to (most wrote proposals basically just porting the WC sites to mobile). Without going too crazy, and remembering this is a summer job for one college student, what would make sense to include?

  • All the info that’s on the WC site in standardized format (location/map, schedule, etc)
  • Ability to rate sessions/speakers
  • Follow Twitter mentions and official tweets in one stream (@wchogwarts + #WCHOG), and/or full tagregator stream
  • Push notifications (opt-in) based on organizer posts to [blog? a cpt? something else?] to notify of day-of time-sensitive things like lunch being served, closing remarks starting, lost laptop, etc.
  • Take the follow up survey once event is over
  • Check in/out of event?
  • Form to contact on-site organizers (emergency, safety, code of conductCode of Conduct “A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party.” - Wikipedia, lost and found, etc)

What would like to do from your phone at a WordCamp?

#gsoc, #mobile, #wordcamps

Team Chat Agenda March 20 2014 WordCamps review…

Team Chat Agenda, March 20, 2014

WordCamps!

  • review lists of valued features by those using 3rd-party communications services for WordCamps and discussion thereof
  • check-in about other WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. discussion points: accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) reviews, orientations
  • any new business related to WordCamps

#wordcamps

Another fun WordCamp organizer orientation hangout will be…

Another fun WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. organizer orientation hangout will be held at today at 23:00 UTC (4pm Pacific) – if you haven’t already attended, this is a great chance to meet other organizers and learn cool stuff about WordCamp organizing. As a reminder, these hangouts are intended for organizers already approved for pre-planning a WordCamp. If that’s you, join us! 🙂

#wordcamps

Team Chat Agenda March 13 2014 meetup mentorship…

Team Chat Agenda, March 13, 2014

  • meetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. mentorship proposal
  • wordcampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. mentorship proposal(s)

@jenmylo has no internet access and thus won’t join us today. I’ll facilitate in her stead.

Edited: DST! UTC! Other three-letter abbreviations! We’re sticking to the 19:00 UTC schedule today, despite some countries observing daylight savings anew this week.

#agenda, #team-chat

Proposal for mentoring new WordCamp organizers

Many moons ago, we had a group that drafted this WordCamp Mentorship proposal. It didn’t garner a negative reaction from anyone, but it also didn’t give much guidance for would-be WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. mentorsEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. on what they should be discussing with new organizers.

I’d like to explore whether a mentorship period of one month might be more successful than a period of 3 months or longer, so here is my outline for what WordCamp mentors should/could cover with new organizers in a one-month period or a three-month period.

One month WordCamp mentorship checklist:

MentorEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. will be introduced when the team has been approved for pre-planning. The mentor checks in with the new organizer once a week, for the period of a month, and the pair talk over a different blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. of WordCamp practices and guidelines in each meeting. These topics might take as long as an hour for each conversation.

Week 1: Recruiting organizing team / Finding a venue / Drawing up a prelim budget

  • what you want in an organizing team
  • what you want in a venue and how to get it for free or cheap
  • budget setup: fixed vs variable expenses, “must haves” vs “nice to haves”
  • event revenue: ticket pricing, multi-event sponsorship, local sponsorship packages, in-kind sponsorship

Week 2: Website setup / Recruiting & selecting speakers/sponsors

  • how to use WordCamp.org tools for fun and winning
  • WordCamp website content management
  • what kind of schedule do you want
  • how to recruit local, diverse speakers.
  • timing: length of sessions and breaks.
  • how to make a call for speakers and review applications
  • wrangling speakers.

Week 3: Registration / Food and parties / Recruiting & scheduling volunteers

  • setting up registration with Camptix, coupon codes, managing sell-outs
  • planning lunch, coffee, snack for the event
  • planning (speaker and after-) parties/events
  • how to make a call for volunteers that attracts reliable people & how to set a volunteer schedule
  • tips for wrangling volunteers

Week 4: Designing swag & badges / Day Of: best practices and back-up plans

  • badge design best practices
  • swag design best practices
  • before-event emails to attendees, speakers, sponsors
  • back-up plans

Three month WordCamp mentorship checklist:

Mentor will be introduced when the team has been approved for pre-planning. The mentor checks in with the new organizer once a week, for the period of three months, and the pair discusses the new organizer’s weekly progress in organizing the WordCamp. These weekly conversations might last 15-30 minutes.

  • Week 1: recruiting the organizing team
  • Week 2: finding a venue: what you want and how to get it for free or cheap
  • Week 3: budget setup: fixed vs variable expenses, “must haves” vs “nice to haves”
  • Week 4: setting up your revenue: ticket pricing, multi-event sponsorship, local sponsorship packages, in-kind sponsorship
  • Week 5: setting up your WordCamp site: how to use WordCamp.org tools for fun and winning, content management
  • Week 6: programming: what kind of schedule do you want, how to recruit local, diverse speakers, length of sessions & breaks, how to make a call for speakers and review applications, wrangling speakers.
  • Week 7: fundraising: fielding sponsorship inquiries, wrangling sponsors
  • Week 8: setting up registration with Camptix, coupon codes, managing sell-outs
  • Week 9: designing swag and badges, planning lunch, planning (speaker and after-) parties/events
  • Week 10: how to make a call for volunteers that attracts reliable people & how to set a volunteer schedule, tips for wrangling volunteers
  • Week 11: working with WordCamp CentralWordCamp Central Website for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each. to get your vendors paid
  • Week 12: before-event emails to attendees, speakers, sponsors, day-of best practices and backup plans

I’ll echo @andymci‘s invitation for beating up. 🙂

I think some of the infrastructure included in the proposal might not be necessary, but please weigh in on that and everything else. 😀

This video is in English but the description…

This video is in English but the description is in French.

Sara Rosso: WordPress Agencies – Facing Challenges for the Next 10 Years

If someone can check the description and make the title camel case I can finish it up. Just let me know when you are finished.

It also has producer info at the end that I need to edit before publishing.

#wordpress-tv

Proposal re: mentoring new meetup organizers.

Here’s my first pass at how we could tackle mentorship in the Meetup.com chapter program.

Please beat it up. 😛

Audiences

IMO there are two major groups that we can help through the mentorEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. program:

  1. Primary audience = Completely New Organizers. They’re pumped up and excited to get goin’, but they don’t know where to start.
  2. Secondary audience = Existing Organizers: They’ve run some meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. before, but still stand to gain from the opinions/experiences of others. e.g. ideas for different meetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. group activities.

Mentor/Mentee Google Hangouts

The first big piece is similar to what Andrea’s been doing with WordCamps. We’ll provide new Meetup organizers with a series of orientation sessions spread over four weeks. Topics to cover:

1. Meetup.com 101 (Ninja Edit: Focus on the tools in this step, friendly reminders about the Spirit of WP + level of commitment.)

  • Representing WordPress: Embrace the spirit of WP!
  • Commitments: Friendly reminder that Meetups take a lot of effort.
  • Using Meetup.com: The tools at your disposal.
  • Organizer Levels: Co-organizers, event hosts, assistants, etc…

2. Planning & Preparation

  • Selecting a Venue: Transit, parking, capacity, directions, accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility), et al.
  • Content & Activities: Presentations? Social? Workshops? What’re you doing?
  • Setting RSVP Limits: The delicate balancing act.
  • Supplies & Equipment: Making a list and checking it twice.
  • Handling Expenses: Saving Cami from going insane with receipts.
  • Communication: Keeping your members in the loopLoop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop..

3. Day-Of

  • Signage & Access: Where’s the door, and how do I open it?
  • Registration/Signing In: Identifying the no-shows.
  • Welcoming Attendees: e.g. Tell them where the washrooms are.
  • Recording/Streaming (if possible): More good stuff for WordPress.tv.
  • Follow-Up House Cleaning: e.g. post video, send out slides, contact the no-shows.

4. Ongoing

  • Growing & Adapting to Your Local Community
  • Diversifying Activities: Something for everyone.
  • Bringing In Other Organizers: Share the load!
  • Larger Initiatives: Getting involved with the WordPress project.

Support Material/Documentation

Think of this next piece as a “Starter Kit” for organizing meetups.

These are assets that we’d create. They should be short n’ actionable. Some ideas to start:

  • Organizer’s Checklist: A “cheat sheet” that helps you prep for a meetup.
  • Templates: For Meetup groups & individual event pages. Could include:
    • Image Templates (headerHeader The header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. art, group image, images for event pages)
    • Boilerplate text (for harassment policies and other such things)
    • Project spreadsheets (similar to the budget template for WordCamps)
  • Organizer Tips: Advice from other organizers, clean n’ simple. (Inspiration)

There’s more that we can do, but this list seems long enough for now. 🙂 (I once joked with a friend about preparing Meetup.com tote boxes, but the shipping costs might make that a bit unreasonable.)

Thanks!

/am