As we all work to make meetups, WordCamps, and other events successful, one tactic we have yet to try at scale is engaging with influential users who are local to these events. All regional WordCamps take place in major cities, where plenty of businesses, creators, influencers, and even celebrities use WordPress (some of them are even in the Showcase). Let’s make sure these folks feel welcome.
Objective: Increase flagship WordCamp 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. attendance by engaging and connecting with local WordPress users.
Strategy Overview
Utilize the influence of local businesses and creators (such as authors, photographers, filmmakers, and artists) who actively use WordPress but have not yet engaged with WordPress community events like meetups 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. or WordCamps. By connecting with these WordPressers, we can introduce the WordPress community and events to audiences who may be unfamiliar with these aspects of the project. This approach expands awareness, fosters community growth, and attracts diverse participants who resonate with the creators’ fields of interest.
Who to Invite
With millions of WordPress sites in the world, and even more users, here’s the kind of person we should specifically look for.
- WordPress user: Actively uses WordPress to showcase, publish, or sell their work, even if the site is managed by someone else.
- Close geographic proximity: Resides within a convenient and affordable travel distance (ideally a short, inexpensive flight or driving distance) to the event location.
- Prominent online presence: Possesses a significant online presence, preferably with a follower base exceeding 10,000 followers across verifiable social channels OR a website/ad spend exceeding $10,000/year (suggesting an investment in visitor experience).
Reminder: Everyone is welcome at WordCamps. This persona is merely to narrow the scope of potential work for organizing teams.
Action Plan
Step 1: Identification and Outreach
As soon as we know the location of the event, we can start finding and contacting people.
- Identify users: Conduct research through social media platforms, local publications, and industry databases to find suitable WordPress users matching the desired profile. Verify that their sites are using WordPress using a tool such as BuiltWith.
- Personalized invitations: Reach out individually, highlighting mutual benefits: enhanced exposure, networking opportunities, learning, and introduction to the WordPress ecosystem. If need be, offer reasonable ticket discounts for those who express interest, but let’s not rely on this tactic.
Example outreach email (customize and make it your own)
Subject: An invite to connect at WordCamp [Region]
Hi [Creator Name],
I recently came across your profile on [platform] and noticed you’re using WordPress for your [website/blog/shop]. I’m a volunteer organizer for WordCamp [Region], a community-driven event where you’ll find hands-on WordPress workshops, inspiring sessions about content creation and design, and plenty of opportunities to connect with other creators and professionals.
I’d like to invite you to attend and possibly collaborate—whether that’s joining a panel, sharing your story with our audience, or just exploring what the event has to offer. You’d get to connect with other creative professionals, learn more about the platform, and expand your network.
Would you be interested in participating? I’m happy to answer any questions or provide additional details.
Looking forward to your reply!
Best,
[Organizer Name]
Step 2: Content and Promotion
For those who choose to sponsor and/or attend, let’s show them some love.
- Feature spotlights: Publish interviews, guest blog posts, and creator profiles on event websites and promotional materials.
- Co-created content: Collaborate with selected creators on exclusive event-related content such as behind-the-scenes stories, tips, or tutorials related to their use of WordPress.
Step 3: Event Integration
As the event allows, and depending on who chooses to participate, here are some ideas for how to more deeply integrate these folks. These would benefit both the business/creator and the event.
- Panel sessions and workshops: Incorporate interested creators into the event programming through panels, keynote speeches, or specialized workshops relevant to their fields.
- Networking events: Host dedicated networking sessions, allowing attendees to interact personally with these users.
- Showcase booths: Offer a booth or dedicated showcase space for creators to exhibit their work and share their WordPress journey.
Step 4: Amplification Post-event
At the end of the event, we should also have a bunch of great collaboration content to share and feedback from a diverse set of sponsors and attendees.
- Follow-up engagement: Produce post-event content (video highlights, interviews, creator testimonials) that creators can share, sustaining momentum and building future event anticipation.
- Feedback loop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop: Gather feedback from invited attendees to continually refine outreach, event integration, and collaborative opportunities.
Success Metrics
We already saw some promising data in our showcase of Tata Motors showcase and Prime Minister of India showcase for WordCamp Asia. Assuming this all works out, here are the metrics we should expect to see improved.
- Event Attendance: Increased attendance from first-time WordCamp attendees.
- Social Engagement: Growth in event visibility and engagement across social platforms.
- Feedback: Positive feedback and testimonials from participating creators and their audiences.
Next Steps
As I mentioned in Marketing Lessons from WordCamp Asia, @bjmcsherry and I are working across flagship WordPress events (WordCamp Asia, WordCamp Europe, WordCamp US, and State of the Word This is the annual report given by Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress at WordCamp US. It looks at what we’ve done, what we’re doing, and the future of WordPress. https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/.) to provide event-to-event recommendations in a world where each event may be in a different location and have a different set of contributors. We’ll help provide lists of potential contacts for each event. I’ve already shared lists of local WordPress sites with the organizers of all 3 flagship WordCamps this year. It will be up to the local organizing teams to decide when and how to best do any outreach.
