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Proposed 2024 Global Community Sponsorship Program
If your company is interested in global sponsorship, please indicate your interest by emailing support@wordcamp.org by November 30, 2023.
After deliberation and conversation with current Global Sponsors, we have the proposed draft for the 2024 Global Community Sponsorship Program. If you know a company that you think would be a good candidate for global sponsorship, please suggest they review this post, provide feedback, and email support@wordcamp.org for more details!
TL;DR
In 2023, the in-person WordCampWordCampWordCamps 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. number increased by 60% compared to 2022. With the new Next Gen Events, we expect the number of events to keep growing in 2024. Package rates will increase from 2023 to 2024 to reflect that growth, as well as the rising cost of hosting events.
Highlights from 2023 that will be kept in 2024
One package for the whole program, with three tiers: Gold, Silver, and Bronze.
For top level sponsors (Gold), the option to have one brand as the global sponsor, and select affiliated brands for representation at each WordCamp (one brand per WordCamp). This is in reflection of the high number of mergers and acquisitions in the WordPress space in recent years.
Questions? Feedback?
If you have any questions, observations, or critical feedback about the program in general or these proposed changes, please comment on the post! Thank you for the diligent work in creating this year’s program, @kcristiano, @sippis, @harmonyromo, @angelasjin, @cbringmann, and thank you to our current Global Sponsors for their input.
The Details
43% of the web is powered by WordPress, the free and open sourceOpen SourceOpen Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. software built and maintained by thousands of volunteers worldwide. The WordPress contributor community comprises developers, designers, writers, photographers, freelancers, agency professionals, and hobbyists, many of whom gather regularly around the world at locally organized monthly and annual events. Official WordPress community events are exclusively volunteer-organized, and each reflects the interests and expertise of the local community.
In 2023, the WordPress community maintained its efforts to:
Reactivate the MeetupMeetupMeetup 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. groups that had gone dormant during the pandemic
Bring in-person WordCamps back
Inspire new event types.
As a result of the Meetup Reactivation project that started in July 2022 and ended in June 2023, 270 dormant MeetupsMeetupMeetup 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. started hosting events again. Today, we have 729 WordPress Chapter Meetups in 107 countries and over 500,000 members globally. In the first 7 months of 2023, the WordPress Community has held 27 WordCamps, and another 29 are scheduled before year-end.
After overcoming a global pandemic, the world has seen a shift in people’s needs and priorities, and our community also saw the need to respond with new event formats. To address these challenges, the community team has proposed different ways of meeting and has revamped our purpose:
WordPress events spark innovation and adoption through accessible training and networking for users, builders, designers, and extenders. We celebrate community by accelerating 21st-century skills, professional opportunities, and partnerships for WordPressers of today and tomorrow.
Since the WP Community launched the Next-Gen of WordPress Events, the response from the community leaders has been enthusiastic: 15 pilot events have already been confirmed, 11 of those for 2023.
What’s a WordCamp?
WordCamp is the annual conference for local WordPress communities; it’s a casual, non-commercial, educational event about WordPress. Events range from intimate 50-person unconferences to multi-track conferences attended by over 3,000. Conference session topics include WordPress development, design, business, social media integration, blogging, and marketing. WordCamp tickets are sold at an extremely low price ($25 – $50 USD per person per day) so that events are accessible to people of any financial background. Online WordCamps are always free of charge to attend.
Please note that the Global Community Sponsorship program does not include current or future flagship events such as WordCamp Europe, WordCamp Asia, the Community Summit, or WordCamp US, even though they’re listed on the official schedule.
WordCamp Program Data
At the time of writing, 36 local WordCamps have been held in 2023, and another 25 are scheduled before year-end. We anticipate finishing the 2023 year with at least 60 WordCamps, compared to 22 last year.WordCamps confirmed for 2024 can be found on the official schedule.
What’s a Meetup?
WordPress Meetups are locally-organized user groups that meet for face-to-face events regularly to discuss WordPress (commonly once a month). These events take many formats: presentations/lecture series, hackathons, social gatherings, workshops, coworking, running a WordPress help desk, contributor sprints/drives, and others. Groups hosted on meetup.com can become an official WordPress chapter group and receive financial and organizational support from the WordPress Community team.
Meetup Program Data (as of 28 September 2023)
729 groups
107 countries with a meetup group
507,796 group members, program-wide
2,998 meetup events scheduled in 2023 to date, and over 340 more scheduled through the end of the year
Next-Gen of WordPress Events
The Community Team has been inviting organizers to experiment with new event formats, including more regional and local events, specialized content for different audiences (such as developers or students), and a range of events to create much-desired connections online and in person.
Program Data (as of 28 September 2023)
Total events: 15
11 events in 2023
4 events in 2024
4 events have been implemented/started
4 events are scheduled
8 events are currently in planning phase
How does event sponsorship help WordPress?
Companies that sponsor WordPress community events support the WordPress open source project by helping our volunteer-organized, local events provide free or low-cost access for attendees. WordPress community events strengthen, inspire, and connect the community that builds and maintains WordPress
Why sponsor via this program rather than sponsoring individual events?
As the WordPress community continues to grow, many companies find they don’t have time to coordinate with multiple teams of volunteer event organizers. The WordPress Global Community Sponsorship Program ensures that your support reaches WordCamps and meetups quickly and provides stability to locally-organized events. WordPress global community sponsors have a single, centralized point of contact and are billed annually or quarterly, saving companies time and trouble.
This year, we are offering three different sponsorship packages: Gold, Silver, and Bronze, each offered as an annual commitment. Each sponsorship level offers a certain level of visibility at WordCamps and Meetups. Recognizing that there have been many acquisitions and mergers in recent years, Gold-level sponsors can sign one sponsorship agreement but select one (1) company brand to be featured at each WordCamp (see section on costs and benefits for more information).
Global Sponsorship Level
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Price
$145,000
$115,000
$90,000
WordCamp Benefits
Name, logo, and company description on all WordCamp websites.*
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Inclusion in the “Thank You To Our Sponsors” blog post on each WordCamp.*
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Monthly email with spreadsheet of WordCamps in planning and on the schedule.
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A number of free tickets to each in-person WordCamp, reserved for your company representatives.**
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If available, several swag items are added to the swag table of in-person WordCamps in your region. subject to approval.
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Acknowledgment in all WordCamp “ticket purchase successful” pages (19,621 in 2023).*
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A sponsor landing page with a discount or coupon code for your product or service in your company description is posted to all WordCamps in your region. subject to approval.
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Option to represent a different company brand at each WordCamp event (subject to approval and requires company communication in advance).***
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Table at in-person WordCamps for meeting attendees, if space is available.****
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Meetup Benefits
Featured on all WordPress chapter meetup group pages (as of September 2023: 507,796 Members, 729 groups, 107 countries). This includes your logo, with a link back to the company landing page of your choice, on the chapter meetup group landing and event pages.
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Acknowledgement on all monthly Meetup Organizer Newsletters (received by 1,646 WordPress community influencers every month).
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Opportunity to list speaker topics that your employees could speak on, whether in person or remotely. subject to approval.
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Verbal acknowledgment by Meetup Organizers who make use of venue sponsorship funds.
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Program-wide Benefits
Acknowledgement on the WordCamp CentralWordCamp CentralWebsite for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each. home page (over 1,000,000 annual views).
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Acknowledgment on sponsor page on WordCamp Central (9,228 views in the past 365 days).
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Acknowledgment in one program-wide email to all (over 500k) WordPress chapter account meetup group members.
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Opportunity to list discounts or free resources that meetup and WordCamp organizers can use for new user workshops, charity hackathons, etc., on the official WordCamp Organizer handbook page for use at community events. This page will be promoted through the Meetup Organizer newsletter and received monthly by 1,675+ WordPress community influencers. subject to approval.
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Quarterly acknowledgments on WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/’s Twitter (638.9k followers) and Facebook.
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*Gold-level sponsors will be featured more prominently by the size of the logo and order, then Silver-level sponsors, and finally, Bronze.
**Free, reserved tickets will return to the general ticket pool if they are not claimed one month before WordCamp. Tickets reserved for sponsors should not be used for ticket giveaways; these are only for your company representatives who wish to attend the event. While the number of tickets offered will vary from WordCamp to WordCamp, Gold-level sponsors will be offered more free tickets, then Silver, then Bronze, and will depend on availability.
***As part of signing the sponsor agreement, the parent company will be the signor and will be asked to list all affiliated brands you would like represented at WordCamps. All entities are held to the same expectations as all global sponsors. Only one affiliated brand may be represented at the WordCamp and requires at least one (1) month advance notice to WordPress Community SupportWordPress Community SupportWordPress Community Support PBC is a Public Benefit Corporation, created specifically to be the financial and legal support for WordCamps, WordPress Meetup groups, and any additional “official” events organized within the WordPress Community Events program., PBC, and the WordCamp organizers as to which brand will be at the event.
****Not all WordCamp venues will have space to provide tables to sponsors, but if the venue has enough space to accommodate sponsor tables, then community sponsors will be offered exhibition space. If offered a table, Sponsors are asked to confirm in-person attendance at least one (1) month in advance to guarantee the space.
