This is the home of the Make Community team for the WordPress 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. project!
Here is where we have policy debates, project announcements, and assist community members in organizing events.
Everyone is welcome to comment on posts and participate in the discussions regardless of skill level or experience.
Get Involved
If you love WordPress and want to help us do these things, join in!
We are currently updating the names of our contributor roles throughout our resources. The new role names are Community Team Event SupporterEvent SupporterEvent 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. (formerly MentorEvent SupporterEvent 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.), Community Team Program SupporterProgram SupporterCommunity 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. (formerly DeputyProgram SupporterCommunity 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.), and Program ManagerProgram ManagerProgram Managers (formerly Super Deputies) are Program Supporters who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule. (formerly Super DeputyProgram ManagerProgram Managers (formerly Super Deputies) are Program Supporters who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule.).
You’re applying to speak at a 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.? Great! We appreciate you offering to share your WordPress knowledge with the WordPress community. Here are some things to keep in mind when filling out the speaker application:
Yes, you can! Whether you’re a user, designer, or developer, WordCamp is an event where you can share what you’ve learned about WordPress and how you’re working with it.
Local first. WordCamps are local-focused events that are asked to shoot for an 80% local / 20% visiting speakers ratio. You might get picked as one of the few out-of-town speakers on a WordCamp schedule, but the chances are smaller the farther you get from home, unless you’re the definitive expert on your proposed topic.
Volunteers only. WordCamps are 100% organized and staffed by volunteers, and WordCamps don’t pay speakers or cover speaker travel/accommodations.
Share > pitch. WordCamps are educational events, not marketing opportunities, so proposing a product pitch will not get you very far with the speaker selection team.
No “pay for play.” WordCamps never, ever provide a speaking opportunity in exchange for sponsorship or anything else. Please don’t ask.
Make it unique. WordCamp sessions are all recorded and posted to WordPress.tv for everyone to watch, so it’s redundant to have speakers give the same talk at multiple events. WordCamps pride themselves on having unique content.
Tell a story. The web is full of tutorials, and most people won’t remember most of the instructions from your instructional talk in a few days (or hours!). The human brain is hard-wired to be engaged by stories, and WordCamp organizers are looking for sessions that will inspire attendees to do more with WordPress.
You were accepted to speak? Exciting! Keep these things in mind when putting together your presentation:
WordCamps are open to everyone. That means your audience is liable to include people of all ages, backgrounds, and inclinations. Please keep your presentation G-rated, and try not to make jokes that might alienate anyone in your audience.
Capital P, dangit! Please capitalize the P in WordPress. Every time. 🙂
WordCamps are official events. Most attendees see you, a bonafide WordCamp speaker, as someone who represents WordPress. In your presentation, you’ll want to make sure you only recommend WordPress products or companies that honor the WordPress trademark and embrace the WordPress license.
WordCamps are about WordPress. Even if your session doesn’t center on WordPress development or design, your audience is there to learn about working with WordPress. The expectation is that WordCamp speakers whose topics are not WordPress-centric will use examples from WordPress websites/admin/codebase to illustrate their points.
Prepare. WordCamps are casual events, and the audience is usually forgiving. However, you were chosen as a speaker over many other applicants, and attendees probably chose to see your presentation over someone else’s. Know your topic, have your slides ready for organizers to review a few weeks before the event, and practice your talk.