Logos in Slide Decks and WordCamp Videos

A while ago, there was a discussion about the use of logos in slide decks and 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. videos. A consensus was reached as to what the permitted guidelines should be, but this was never documented in the handbook and has not been made clear to both organisers and speakers.

So, to bring that discussion full circle, here is how the discussion concluded regarding logos appearing in WordCamp videos:

  1. Speakers are allowed to include their company logo in their slides, but only in an optional opening/closing informational slide and not throughout the presentation. This is fine even if their company is not a sponsor of the event.
  2. Sponsor logos at the venue (banners, podium, etc.) that are captured on video are fine to leave in the published video.
  3. Similarly, a speaker can wear clothing with their company logo on it, even if their company is not a sponsor.
  4. No company logos of any kind are to be added in post-production. This includes the speaker’s company, event sponsors, the post-production company, or any other company logos.

With that in mind, we now have two additional pages in the handbook – one for speakers with the full slide deck guidelines and one for organisers specifically focussing on what can be included in videos.

Going forward, all organisers will be expected to ensure that speakers follow these guidelines with their slides. You can do this by making them aware of the guidelines and vetting their slides before the event.

This rule will apply from today only, so it will not affect to any videos filmed before today (Monday, 8 April 2019).


UPDATES FROM THE COMMENTS:

The intention of these new rules was clarified:

To clarify the intention here – this isn’t to stop companies from gaining exposure (that happens naturally when someone is speaking), but rather to make the content the main focus and intent of the slides rather than any kind of company promotion. It’s also worth noting that WordCamp speakers are chosen based on their knowledge and experience as individuals and not their company affiliation, and company promotion throughout a slide deck suggests that the opposite is true. An informational slide with the speaker’s company makes sense as information about who is speaking, but the rest of the slide deck should be dedicated to the content being presented.

A few other points were clarified from questions:

  1. “Logo” also includes plain text names of the company and social media handles.
  2. Personal names are fine to include on every slide if you wish, even if you are a freelancer and your name is your “brand”.
  3. These rules do not (currently) apply to presentations at 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..
  4. Contextual mentions of your (or any) company are still fine as they will be a part of the talk content, which is what this rule is designed to enhance.

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