Meetup Organizer Newsletter: October 2021

Hello friends,

Welcome to the October 2021 edition of 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. Organizer newsletter! Read on for the latest updates from the WordPress Community.

Newsletter contents:

  • New Meetup.com Features for Meetup organizers
  • Proposal for the 2022 Global Sponsorship Program
  • Online Event Updates
  • News from the WordPress Community
  • Tuesday Trainings

🎭 New Meetup.com Features for Meetup Organizers

Meetup.com has announced some exciting new features to give better support to community organizers: 

  • COVID-19 safety measures for organizers: A new section has been added to the event scheduler page in Meetup.com titled “COVID-19 safety measures” where organizers can set guidelines such as vaccinations, mask policy, venue types, etc. Read more on this post from the Meetup blog.
  • Add topics for Meetup events: Previously organizers could set topics for Meetup groups, now you can add topics for individual meetup events too. Some organizers may see a list of default topics to choose from when they schedule a new event, which they can modify. The feature is still being tested and may not be available to all organizers yet. You can read all about this feature in the Meetup blog.
  • Viewing events in your preferred time zone: As many meetup groups have been gathering online, their events have been attracting attendees from all around the world! Attendees can now view online events in their preferred time zone. In-person events will continue to be shown in the event’s time zone.

If your local authority allows in-person events and if vaccines OR testing are freely available, you may be able to organize an in-person WordPress meetup. Just fill out our in-person meetup decision checklist and follow the recommendations. Check out our handbook for more.

💰 Proposal for the 2022 Global Sponsorship Program

The Community Team kicked-off discussions on the updated 2022 Global sponsorship program, and is inviting feedback. Similar to the 2021 program, global sponsors will get access to a single sponsorship package to support Meetup groups.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. sponsorship (for all camps in a quarter) will be available as an add-on, billed quarterly. The team aims to finalize the proposal by October 28, 2021.

 🌍🎪 WordPress Event Updates

As the world is slowly returning to normalcy, in-person WordPress events are also coming back. The Community Team has opened up pathways for in-person WordCamps and Meetups, in regions where it is safe to do so, even though 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. are still online. To support WordCamp organizers and facilitate hassle-free in-person WordCamps, the Community Team recently introduced additional legal protections such as ticket disclaimers and an insurance policy.

Sign up for the following Upcoming Diverse Speaker Training Events

  • Allyship for WordPress event organizers AMER/EMEA November 17, 2021 at 6-8pm UTC / 1-3pm ET / 10-12pm PT. Learn how to be a good ally and to create welcoming and diverse WordPress Meetups and WordCamps for your WordPress community.  
  • How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events Asia #WPDiversity. November 27, 2021 at 7-8.30am UTC / 1500H-1630 GMT+8 / 1230H-1400H IST.
    Aimed at community organizers from Southeast to Southern Asia, this workshop focuses on how to encourage people from underrepresented groups (in terms of gender, race, class, caste, sexuality, ability, age, etc.) to speak at WordPress meetups and WordCamps.

WordCamp US 2021 concludes
One of the biggest WordPress events – WordCamp US 2021 was held on October 1, 2021. The online event offered a unique online experience that united WordPress fans around the world. The camp, which was supported by nearly 20 organizers, sold more than 3,600 tickets, had 18 speakers, and 27 sponsors. Catch the event replay on its website. The sessions will be available on WordPress.tv soon. 

WordPress Translation Day 2021 Celebrations ran for 30 days
WordPress contributors from around the world joined hands  by translating WordPress into their own languages for the entire month of September as part of WordPress Translation Day celebrations. The celebrations consisted of a host of global and local events, translation sprints, and discussion groups. News from local events and stories highlighting notable polyglots contributors will be coming soon. Check out the WP Translation Day website for links to video recordings and more.

In-person 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. charity hackathons are back
The Community Team shared new guidelines for the return of in-person do_action hackathons in regions where local events are allowed. In short, community organizers can plan in-person do_action hackathons either in regions with reduced COVID spread OR exclusively or fully vaccinated/recently tested (negative)/ recently recovered folks in regions where vaccination and testing are freely available.

Upcoming WordPress events 

Past WordPress events

🗞 News from the WordPress Community

🛠 Tuesday Trainings

Check out our Tuesday Trainings (#TuesdayTrainings), where the Community Team publishes a different topic on our blog each week to help organizers and interested community members:

The team is currently discussing the future of weekly Tuesday Trainings. Share your thoughts as comments on the post. Is there a question you would like to answer, or a topic you would like to see discussed? Send an email support@wordcamp.org with the subject line “Tuesday Trainings”!


If you have any questions, Community Team 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. are available to help. Please send an email to support@wordcamp.org or join the #community-events SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel. Thanks for everything you do to grow the WordPress community. Let’s keep sharing knowledge and inspiring each other with our contributions! 

We will see you online soon!

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The following people contributed to this edition of the Meetup newsletter: @webcommsat, @courtneypk, @eidolonnight, @harishanker, @meher, @jillbinder