Since the soft launch of the new Learn WordPress video series a handful of discussion groups have been hosted. After participating in two myself and getting information from a couple of other discussion group hosts, I’ve found that the groups all seem to have one important issue in common: very few of the attendees are watching the videos prior to joining in the discussion. In both of the discussion group calls I participated in, large parts of the workshop had to be given in the discussion group in order to even begin a discussion about the content.
As the workshop presenters have been present in the groups I’ve received information from, it was still possible to continue with the workshop and discussion, but this is not the intended goal of the discussion groups. Once the program has fully launched the intention behind the discussion groups is to have a discussion lead able to manage the group for any number of workshops in their own timezone and native language.
Items I’ve noted from my own experience
- The attrition rate is much higher than we would expect for an in person event. 127 individuals signed up for the discussion I hosted – 13 showed up.
- People, largely, are not watching the video before attending the discussion. Of the 13 people who attended 2 had watched the video, 4 (including those who watched the video) understood what the discussion was about. Other discussion group leaders are having similar experiences.
- There seems to be a big need for workshops aimed at content creators and WordPress setup for beginners.
I wonder if part of the problem is the tool we are using to promote the workshops. Meetup.com seems to be something folx just RSVP to and hop on calls without much context. Perhaps this will be less problematic when we have a solution integrated into the Learn WordPress site?
Feedback
Whether you have hosted a discussion group or not, your feedback on the following items will be valuable:
- If you have hosted a group please be sure to fill out this discussion group lead survey.
- If you have attended a discussion group, what was the experience like for you? Do you feel the messaging around the intention of the group could have been clearer?
- What do you think we can do to better highlight the purpose of the groups in order for people to make sure they watch the workshops first?
