WordPress Meetup Orientation Script

There’s been some discussion around the ‘bug’ in the 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. orientation script whereby if you enter the password you still cannot access the content. What started out as a discussion around the problem turned into a deeper discussion around why that content is password protected in the first place.

The main reason behind keeping it hidden stems from preventing Meetup applicants ‘gaming’ the system and knowing how to answer questions before the time, thereby possibly gaining official Meetup status for the wrong reasons (self promoting, promoting their business and not WordPress etc). However it has been pointed out that in doing so we are actively distrusting any new applicants, which does not go hand in hand with the ideas of inclusiveness and inherent trust that are part of the open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. concepts of WordPress.

One suggestion is to simply make that content public, another suggestion by @andreamiddleton is that in making that content public the meetup orientation meeting is more a discussion around their plans/concerns/hopes/dreams for the Meetup programme instead of a ‘Q/A’ session.

In making that content public there would probably also have to be some restructuring of the content, as it is currently a script the deputiesProgram Supporter Community Program Supporters (formerly Deputies) are a team of people worldwide who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about program supporters in our Program Supporter Handbook. use to run a meetup orientation and should possibly become more of an ‘how to’ article that can be referenced in the meetup orientation.

What do you think of making this content public? Does the Meetup orientation need a ‘private’ script to follow or could it be more of an open discussion. Let us know your thoughts on the topic in the comments below.