Angela Jin 10:32 am on March 4, 2020
Tags: WPDiversity ( 237 )

Proposal: Financial support for venues for Meetups that run the Diverse Speaker Training Workshop

A common challenge that faces WordCamps around the world is the lack of diversity in speakers, specifically speakers who identify as women or from other underrepresented groups. To address this, the Diverse Speaker Training working group (#wpdiversity) has worked hard to refine and promote a series of hands-on, effective lesson plans, and to train 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. organziers to run the comprehensive workshop in their local WordPress meetup. These workshops are geared towards empowering women and underrepresented groups in tech to speak at WordCamps by:

Addressing impostor syndrome and common deterrents to speaking
Helping individuals find and refine a topic
Helping future speakers create their title, pitch, bio and talk outline
Discussing tips to becoming a better speaker
Offering participants a chance to practice public speaking
Helping to build confidence

The Diverse Speaker Training working group is happy to share that this workshop has made a difference in increasing the diversity in speakers at WordCamps. Since the program began, over 20 workshops have been run around the world in 9 countries. Their 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. speaker lineups typically go from 10% or fewer speakers from underrepresented groups to 50% or more!

For more information about the Diversity Speaker Training Workshop, please visit this link.

One of the obstacles that 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. have shared with us in trying to run the workshop is the issue of finding a venue that they can afford. In order to make this Workshop even more accessible to all meetups, we propose that each meetup receives up to $250 USD to help support costs associated with running this workshop, which can be used for covering the cost of the venue as well as some light snacks and refreshments. Similar to the Meetup Venue Approval Request, the meetup group must also meet the following conditions:

Your group is on the WordPress chapter account at meetup.com.
Your group is currently following the 5 good-faith rules.
You are unable to find a donated venue.
Your proposed new venue meets minimum requirements for safety, adequate seating, and 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).

Similar to regular meetup venues, please also avoid venues with religious or political affiliations. Since one of our jobs as community organizers is to create a 100% welcoming space for everyone, we avoid holding events in venues where someone might feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. This is particularly important for the Diverse Speaker Training workshop.

In receiving this financial support, the meetup community would also need to do the following:

Complete the training for running the workshop with the Diverse Speaker Training group
Share a link to the scheduled workshop
Provide invoices or receipts showing the requested amount
Complete the post-workshop questionnaire
If a WordCamp is planned or held later on, report back on speaker diversity after the WordCamp. This can be done in the post-WordCamp questionnaire

Next Steps

We would like to hear your feedback on this proposal! Do you feel like helping WordPress groups increase the diversity of their meetup and WordCamp speaker lineups would be a good use of WPCSWPCS The collection of PHP_CodeSniffer rules (sniffs) used to format and validate PHP code developed for WordPress according to the WordPress Coding Standards. May also be an acronym referring to the Accessibility, PHP, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, etc. coding standards as published in the WordPress Coding Standards Handbook. funds? Do you think the suggested amount is appropriate? Please share any thoughts you may have by Wednesday, March 18, 2020.

Jon Brown 11:04 am on March 4, 2020

First, let me cut to the chase. I don’t support funding for this.

I don’t think providing financial for specific 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. topics is a good use of WPCSWPCS The collection of PHP_CodeSniffer rules (sniffs) used to format and validate PHP code developed for WordPress according to the WordPress Coding Standards.
May also be an acronym referring to the Accessibility, PHP, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, etc. coding standards as published in the WordPress Coding Standards Handbook. funds and sets a bad precedent, regardless of the topic. Would WPCS also provide funding for coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. contribution workshops? translation workshops? theme review workshops? etc?

My biggest issue with the proposal though is the premise that 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. need additional funding to find a venue for this specific workshop and not all their meetings isn’t well supported in the proposal.

Are there really active meetup groups that are meeting regularly and specifically want to run a diversity workshop but can’t in their existing venues for some reason? If so please elaborate on how is “finding a venue they can afford” is related to the this specific workshop and not to every meetup they run?

My opinion on funding for this aside, I do want to acknowledge that I’ve seen the work the Diverse Speaker Training group has been doing the last couple years and it’s tremendous. It’s definitely work the benefits the entire community.
- Angela Jin 3:09 pm on March 5, 2020
  
  Thanks for weighing in! If I’m understanding correctly, your concern is that offering this support would call into question supporting other workshops, or the value of other 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., does that sound right?
  
  We do currently offer venue support to all WordPress meetups in the chapter program, and we do pay for venues for one off contributor dayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/. events. One of the challenges for this workshop is that the space is required for a longer period of time (4 hours total to run the workshop), so having a good location for the duration, and perhaps some drinks or snacks to keep energy levels up, will go a long way. In that light, it is similar to other types of contributor events (like do_actiondo_action do_action hackathons are community-organised events that are focussed on using WordPress to give deserving charitable organisations their own online presence. Learn more on doaction.org. or standalone contributor days), which we already support financially.
  - Jon Brown 2:15 am on March 11, 2020
    
    @angelasjin Thank you for clarifying that.
    
    Needing a venue for a longer period of time does sound like a valid reason to me to offer financial support above and beyond the norm to these workshops.
    
    Mentioning that these workshops run 4 hrs (much longer than most 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.) and that is a key reason would/does change my opinion on the proposal overall.
jillbinder 4:45 pm on March 4, 2020

I support this! Not being able to find an affordable venue for the workshop is a problem I hear from 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. frequently.
Mathieu Viet 6:46 pm on March 4, 2020

I think it’s a good idea and I support it.

I don’t believe it has something to do with “topics” but it has more to do with people. Equality has downsides, some people might not be able to do something because they are different. Injecting some equity to make sure we are more open to everyone has my full support.

About the amount, I can see cities where it might not be enough (eg: Paris, London), so I’d suggest to use the amount as a start and allow 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. organizers to ask for a bit more if needed. Especially if there’s a need to make the workshop enjoyable by people with disabilities.

Thanks a lot to the #wpdiversity working group for their involvement in making the WordPress community as diverse as possible 👍
- AmyJune Hineline 12:34 am on March 5, 2020
  
  I support this whole-heartedly.
  DIversity in our speaker lineup is good for the community as a whole.
Timi Wahalahti 11:40 am on March 5, 2020

+1 for the proposal, supporting the diversity work is really important!

But, I do think that we need to set a checkpoint where the impact of this additional financial support is reviewed and its continuation will be decided. Let’s say maybe a year?
- Angela Jin 3:12 pm on March 5, 2020
  
  +1 to tracking and evaluating the impact of this extra support in a year.
Sallie Goetsch 12:18 am on March 7, 2020

My 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. didn’t need extra funding because the workshop we held was small enough to fit into our usual space, and though I want to re-run it, I’m pretty sure it will STILL be small enough to fit into our usual space. However, I support offering if needed, because we don’t want any barriers in the way of increasing the diversity of members and speakers.
Angela Jin 10:09 am on March 19, 2020

Thank you for providing your feedback! Based on your responses, we will move forward with providing support to 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. running the Diverse Speaker Training Workshop. Since we posted this proposal, however, many things have changed for in person events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, we will plan on starting this sponsorship at a later point. In the meantime, we will provide some paid Zoom accounts for those who would like to run the training for their 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. online (which we highly encourage!). The process for requesting a Zoom account is currently being documented, and I will update this comment with that information when it is ready.