Mentoring WordCamps

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. 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. are community team members who have experience organizing WordCamps and want to help other organizers have a great time planning a WordCamp.

As an event supporter (mentor), your job is the same as every program supporter (deputy) job at WordCamp CentralWordCamp Central Website for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each.:

• to help make WordCamps easier to organize and better for attendees
• to help organizers avoid problems before they become problems. We depend on supporters who are mentoring WordCamps to check in frequently with their WordCamp(s), and also keep up to date on new tools, developments, and decisions made by the Community Team.

You’re there to advise on procedure and share the knowledge you’ve gained from your experience organizing WordCamps. Event supporters (Mentors) are not on the planning team and should not have any actual planning tasks.

Qualifications and Resources

In order to become a WordCamp Event Supporter (Mentor) you must have:

• At least once, been the lead organizer of a WordCamp that was successful both financially and in team management
• No previous incidents or conflicts with the Community Team
• Finished the required training course and passed the quizzes
• Be able to chat with community members on 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/., Google Meet, and/or Zoom

Required training courses:

• https://learn.wordpress.org/course/wordcamp-mentor-training/
• https://learn.wordpress.org/course/wordcamp-organizer-training/

Recommended courses:

• https://learn.wordpress.org/course/basic-principles-of-conflict-resolution/
• https://learn.wordpress.org/course/open-source-basics-and-wordpress/

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Working With Your WordCamp

There are five primary responsibilities of a WordCamp Mentor:

1. Schedule regular meetings.
2. Follow the checklist.
3. Communicate through Help Scout.
4. Post a record of your check ins.
5. Turn to the Community Team when you need help.

1: Schedule regular meetings.

Please schedule a 30 minute meeting every two weeks with the WordCamp you’re mentoring — this can be with just the lead organizer or with the the whole organizing team — and help the lead organizer keep planning on-track.

We’ve found that a video chat goes faster, but a text chat is also fine. Frequent check-ins are important and really help everyone stay on track.

2: Follow the checklist.

Please use the checklist on your WordCamp site dashboard when you’re checking in with your WordCamp. It can be found at https://__WORDCAMP_SITE_URL__/wp-admin/index.php?page=wcm-planning-checklist.

3: Communicate through Help Scout.

Help Scout is the best way to communicate via email with the organizing team that you’re mentoring.

It allows the whole Community Team access to the emails between you and the team, which is really helpful if you have to step away from mentoring for some reason or another. Hey, it happens. Don’t worry, our triagers will notify you when an email comes in for you.

If you prefer to communicate via Slack, please use an open channel like #community-events if possible.

4: Post a record of your check ins.

After you meet with the team you’re mentoring, publish a short summary of your check-in as a comment on Make/Community. That updates the whole team on each camp’s progress.

Your summary could read something like this (more detail is better):

• Checked in with WordCamp Narnia. They posted their Call for Speakers and Sponsors last week and are setting a date for a speaker training event for 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. for 3 weeks from now. They have made a list of potential local sponsors, and each team member will take 3 companies to contact within the next two weeks. Logo design is in process, and they’ll review options in their next organizer meeting, which is this Monday. They hope to have the site design launched in the next two weeks.

5: Turn to the Community Team when you need help.

Ask for help in the #community-events channel of Slack, or email support@wordcamp.org if:

• You’re asked a question you don’t know how to answer.
• Something comes up with the WordCamp you’re mentoring that you don’t know how to advise them on.
• It’s been a month since you met with the organizing team you’re mentoring.
• You’re camp’s lead organizer isn’t responding to you

The Community Team will either help you find answers or reach out to the WordCamp to see what’s going on. We’re here to support you just as you’re here to support them.

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If It’s Not Working Out

It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes there are situations where a supporter isn’t a good fit for a particular task or event organizer, or an organizer or Community Team member has been very difficult to work with.

It’s a simple truth that not every personality fit is a good one. If you feel you’ve been assigned to an organizer or team that you are unable to work with, talk to your Program Supporter and we will find a new Event Supporter to work with that organizer.

Please do not wait for things to fall apart before alerting someone to the problem. 

Last updated: September 22, 2023