Report: Allyship and Diverse Speaker Workshops April 2022

In April 2022 we held an Allyship discussion, particularly for WCEUWCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event. and WCUSWCUS WordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event. organizers. We also held a speaker workshop for Nigeria.

April 2022

Allyship for WP Event Organizers Discussion and Accountability – April 14, 2022

Facilitators: @jillbinder, @onealtr, @juliarosia

A 1.5 hour, hands-on, interactive workshop for people who have been thinking about speaking at WordPress 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. in Nigeria.

Number who attended: 18
From number of cities: 18
From number of countries: 7 (Canada, Greece, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Spain, and United States)

How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at Nigeria WordPress Meetups – April 24, 2022

Facilitator: @jillbinder

A discussion on creating welcoming and inclusive events. People were asked to bring what they’ve tried and how it has gone, ideas they are considering, and any questions. 

Number who attended: 38 (live or watched recording after)
From number of cities: 12
From number of countries: 4 (Indonesia, Nigeria, Rwanda, United States)
Self-report increase in public speaking confidence after taking the workshops: 40%

Testimonials

“My public speaking fear has reduced! The organizers were friendly and understanding. I give this workshop a 5 star rating.”
— Web Developer, Nigeria

“The session was excellently packaged.”
— Onose Oghenevwogaga, WordPress 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, Warri, Nigeria

“The facilitators gave us ideas on how topics can be generated and how we can speak on what we love to do best or what we do best. This approach of explaining and brainstorming idea with us made me feel comfortable in getting started with public speaking.”
— ALABI, Abdulhafeez, WordPress Design & Project Manager, Kaduna, Nigeria

“This session has helped to dispel my fear of feeling like I don’t know enough to give a talk.”

“My fear of public speaking is broken!”

diverse-speaker-support channel

We have a 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 in the Make WordPress Slack for:

  • workshopping talks with each other and with mentorsEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues.
  • finding out about WordPress speaking opportunities from WordPress Meetups and WordCamps
  • getting to know other WordPress speakers and organizers

Number of past #WPDiversity Workshop participants who joined in April: 4

In our first month of focusing on community engagement in the channel (lead by @juliarosia and @kcrockett), conversations and wins have been taking off!

Wins this month: 10!

  • 5 members applied to speak at WCUS
  • 1 member applied to give a workshop at WCUS
  • 2 members got feedback on their WCUS applications and outlines from the channel
  • 1 spoke at an in-person 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.
  • 1 got accepted to speak at another WordPress-related online conference

Thank you

A lot of people contribute to making these workshops successful. Thank you to each and every one!


Upcoming: May 2022

Organizing Diverse & Inclusive WordPress Events

(Was: Allyship for WP Event Organizers)

Join us Tuesday, May 10, 2022 or Saturday, May 14, 2022 at 2pm-3pm Eastern (6pm-7pm UTC) for a discussion of videos on Learn WordPress. This discussion is for WP event organizers and contributors. The focus will be on what actions you can take now.

Register on Eventbrite 

WPDiversity is Expanding to APAC!

Members of the #WPDiversity team are starting up a second meeting that will be more accessible to those in the APAC time zones. The first meeting will be Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Read more and express your interest here: https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/04/22/wpdiversity-is-expanding-to-apac/

#diversespeakerworkshopsreports, #wpdiversity