Junko Nukaga 3:33 am on October 3, 2024
Tags: ,   

Community Team Meeting Agenda for 3 – October -2024

The Community Team chat takes place the first Thursday of every month in the #community-team channel 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/.. 

This meeting is meant for all contributors on the team and everyone who is interested in taking part in some of the things our team does. Feel free to join us, even if you are not currently active in the team!

Asia-Pacific / EMEA friendly meeting: Thursday, [3 October] 2024 at 12:00 PM UTC
Americas friendly meeting: Thursday, [3 October] 2024 at 21:00 PM UTC

You will find a preliminary agenda for the meeting below. 

If you wish to add points to discuss, comment on this post or reach out to one of the team reps: @peiraisotta, @Shusei, @leo, or @nukaga. It does not need to be a blog post yet, the topic can be discussed during the meeting nevertheless. We use the same agenda for both meetings.

Call for meeting host and notetaker
If anyone is available to host this month’s or next month’s Community Team meetings and/or write the recap notes , please reach out to one of the team reps: @peiraisotta, @Shusei, @leo, or @nukaga.

Check-ins: Program and Event Supporters / Contributors

  • What have you been doing and how is it going? 
  • What did you accomplish after the last meeting? 
  • Are there any blockers? 
  • Can other team members help you in some way?

Highlights to Note

Here are a few things everyone should be aware of.

Open Posts

Check out these new and ongoing discussions needing review, feedback, thoughts and comments.

Announcements / Newsletters

Open Floor

This is your chance to discuss things that weren’t on the meeting agenda. 

We invite you to use this opportunity to share anything that you want with the team. If you currently have a topic you’d like to discuss, add it to the comments of this post and we will try to update the agenda accordingly.

Hope to see you on Thursday, either in the Asia-Pacific / EMEA (12:00 UTC) or Americas-friendly version (21:00 UTC) of the meeting!#agenda, #meeting-agenda, #team, #team-chat, #team-meeting

#community-team, #meeting

Sumit Singh 6:09 pm on September 25, 2024
Tags: , , WCLatam   

Community Team September Meeting Recap

Attendance: @nukaga, @_dorsvenabili, @zinanga, @matteoenna, @patricia70, @nilovelez, @harishanker, @ioanahasaquestion. @devinmaeztri, @sumitsingh, @enricosorcinelli, @juliarosia

Notes: This recap is a summary of the Community Team monthly meeting. It will cover the discussion points, ideas, and decisions that came up during the meeting. The aim of this recap is to provide a quick overview for those who were unable to attend as well as an overview for everyone. These meetings were based on the Agenda for September and are held in our #community-team 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 on Make WordPress.
You can find the meeting chat log here:

Please leave your comments if you have any feedback.
Additionally, each agenda item discussed may have its own Make post related to its topic with more information and you can add to the discussion directly to that post.

Chat Summary

  • What is your .org username? (Please always include it, so we don’t miss to mention you in the recap notes)
  • What have you been doing and how is it going?
  • Anything you’ve accomplished since the last meeting?
  • Are there any blockers?
  • Can other team members help you in some way?

@nukaga: I did the following in August – Organizer of 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. Asia – MentorEvent 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. for WordCamp Kansai – A little vetting.

@_dorsvenabili: I’m back this week from some summer vacations and I’ve been catching up, handling HS tickets, 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. applications and a bit of maintenance of the Meetup tracker, gave feedback to some drafts (GatherPress, etc.), supporting event organizers, attendeed the Supporters Office HoursOffice Hours Defined times when the Global Community Team are in the #community-events Slack channel. If there is anything you would like to discuss – you do not need to inform them in advance.You are very welcome to drop into any of the Community Team Slack channels at any time. and discussed next steps with inactive Supporters and how to simplify our Events’ applications processes (vetting, group orientations, etc.), had some check-ins with some Supporters, WC Madrid budget review, and more…
We need help vetting applications as the queue is long right now, if any Supporter is interested, please let me know, thanks! I’m mentoring the following events: WordPress Day for Developers Lisboa 2024, WordCamp Youth Hackathon Skopje,WordCamp Sevilla, Spain WordCamp Skopje, North

@zinanga: August was a bit about vacations and also community preparations for fall. Organizing final details for WC Griñón program. Opening new group in Spain Castilla La Mancha now in September. Continue with meetp reactivations And last, but not least, participating in WC Bogotá as attendee and witnessing an amazing reactivation there, not only for the country but also for others who also attended from Costa Rica, Guatemala, México, Nicaragua, Spain. Great leadership, #WCLatam support and lovely contributor dayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/., just amazing 🙂

@matteoenna: He currently launching first do_actiondo_action do_action hackathons are community-organised events that are focussed on using WordPress to give deserving charitable organisations their own online presence. Learn more on doaction.org..

@patricia70: August: mentoring 4 upcoming WC (2 are in 2025). first venue visit for WCEU2025 in Basel with lead organisers + Local team work started lot of things with GatherPress. preparing the Contributor Mentorship Program (esp the BuddyPress/bbPressbbPress Free, open source software built on top of WordPress for easily creating forums on sites. https://bbpress.org. project)
September:WCEUWCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event. teams selection started.preparing the Mentorship Program (most of the vetting have been done when I was away in Basel by amazing peeps @nilovelez @jdy68 @estelaris @harishanker etc :thank-you:) published the GatherPress project update. Blocker: I need another sponsor 🙂 (Themeisle sponsors 1/4 of my contribution time).

@harishanker: Working on facilitating the contributor mentorship program as well as a couple of other projects: Project dashboards and Five for the Future. All good, and no blockers! Excited to be here.

@nilovelez: Mentoring/organizing Trabajo remoto: transformando el futuro con WordPress. Mentoring WordPress Valencia Diversity day. Working on the vetting of the mentorship Program. And preparing for a lot of Spanish WordCamps.

@patricia70: @nilovelez Intrigued by the “preparing for a lot of Spanish WordCamps“, depending on money I would love to come back to Spain for a WordCamp! It was so great last year at WCMAD :es:.

@ioanahasaquestion: Activity: so far, just getting familiar with the channel / great work you’ve been doing.

@devinmaeztri: Tasks: WC/WP Events and do_action applications and tracker maintenance, events and supporters mentoring, 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. inbox triage. Projects: Meetup Reactivation, Supporters Offboarding & Onboarding. Events: WCAsia Organizer, WC Port Harcourt and WC Sydney 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.. ID community: Polyglots LM & GTEGeneral Translation Editor General Translation Editor – One of the polyglots team leads in a geographic region https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/. Further information at https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#general-translation-editor., Meetup Organizer groups, following up on unapproved videos for WPTV from events in Indonesia with @kharisblank.

@zinanga: @patriciabt Regarding Spanish WordCamps we have until end of the year: 20-22 September WC Pontevedra, 26-27 October WC Granada, 23-24-Nov WC Griñón for ECommerce, 13-14 Dec WC Madrid (pending for final details I heard). So u cnan choose or come to all of them Additionaly in Spanish, there is alsoWC Costa Rica 11-12 October, WC Guatemala city 26 October.

@nilovelez: 28 September Valencia WordPress diversity day, 19 October Denia “Trabajo remoto: transformando el futuro con WordPress” (online), 9-10 November WordCamp Sevilla.

@sumitsingh:  he working for Training and community team to write post/review meeting post.

 @enricosorcinelli: I’m enricosorcinelli on WP org and I’m currently co-organizing Rome Core Days event.

@juliarosia: I’ve been working nonstop on WordCamp US organizing – and it’s now just 1.5 weeks away!

Highlights to Note

Moving forward: new and ongoing discussions needing review, feedback, thoughts and comments. Even commenting +1 or something short to these posts is really valuable and helpful!

 In case you missed them, here are the latest announcements and newsletters. Take your time to read them now, or save it for later. Make sure you catch up whenever you can!

Last but not least, it’s time to open the floor!

Is there anything you’d like to say or talk about? Did we miss something on our agenda today?

@_dorsvenabili I’d like to invite all Event and Program Supporters to help us with vetting Meetup applications, there is a long list right now and we need all the help as possible :pray::skin-tone-2:
https://github.com/orgs/WordPress/projects/176

@enricosorcinelli Feel free to add your feedback on the little ideas I proposed for the Five of the Future

@patricia70 is there any advancement or ideas about using a CRM (I’m not sure if I already mentioned during last month meeting) for the Community team, WordCamp organization? @Steve recommended one, that would allow easy follow up for everything related to emailing, and I believe was ready to help for implementation?

Call for volunteers

The Community Team Monthly Meetings happen on the first Thursday’s of every month. These meetings can be facilitated and run by any member of the community team, and is a great opportunity to engage with the rest of the community and team.

If you are interested in facilitating any of these meetings in the future, please feel free to comment or get in touch with any of the Community Team Reps.

If you wish to add points to discuss, comment on this post or reach out to one of the team reps:@lio, @st810amaze, @leogopal, or @nukaga.

#community-team, #meeting

Rocio Valdivia 3:51 pm on September 16, 2024
Tags: ads, advertising, ,   

Important Update: New Marketing/Advertising Guidelines for WordCamp and WordPress Events

Hello Event Organizers and Community members!

I am excited to announce that the marketing and advertising guidelines have been updated in the WordCamp/WordPress Events handbook! If you are organizing a 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., KidsCamp/YouthCamp, or any other innovative WordPress event, you now have the opportunity to allocate a portion of your budget for marketing and advertising.

The goal is to help event organizers reach wider audiences, especially first-time attendees while ensuring efficient use of resources. For full details on how to use these funds, including important information about the WordPress/WordCamp trademark, please review the newly added Advertising/Marketing Expense Guidelines.

Please note that the final amount for marketing and advertising will be approved by a Program ManagerProgram Manager Program 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. during your budget review. If your event is upcoming but your budget review has already taken place, you can still request to add marketing/advertising expenses. Simply send an email to support@wordcamp.org with your proposed amount for consideration and a Program Manager will follow up with you via email.

Thank you, and please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further assistance!

Note: Thank you to everyone who participated in the public discussion and made it possible for this change to happen!

#ads, #advertising, #marketing, #new-guideline

Devin Maeztri 11:18 am on August 15, 2024
Tags: ,   

Announcement: Sunsetting North American Camera Kit Rental Program

Historically, our Camera Kit program has been essential to recording videos for WordPress.tv at minimal cost. Eight camera kits have been allocated in North America and eight in Europe.

Usage Statistics

The community’s interest in camera kits reflects their usage over the years. We can identify how frequently these kits have been utilized by examining the request data. As our in-person events resumed in 2022, we analyzed the requests from 2022 to the present.

North America

From 2022 to 2024, the request data shows limited utilization of the camera kits:

  • 2022: 1 request
  • 2023: 2 requests
  • 2024: 0 request

This represents a low number of requests, indicating a limited interest from the community.

Europe

The European kits, despite being newer and refurbished in late 2022, also reflect a limited number of requests:

  • 2022: 1 request
  • 2023: 5 requests
  • 2024: 1 request

While there was a slight increase in interest in 2023, the overall number of requests remains low, also suggesting a limited interest from the community.

Financial Expenditures

Maintaining, replacing, and shipping camera kits involves considerable expenditure annually. Here’s an overview of the financial details for both regions.

North America

The details regarding the initial purchase, ongoing maintenance, and shipping costs for North American kits are difficult to obtain due to the age and outdated nature of the equipment. However, the following points are worth noting:

  • The current state of the North American kits indicates a need for refurbishment if we want to continue the program.
  • Shipping and maintenance records are sparse, making it challenging to quantify the exact financial outlay over the years.

Europe

For European camera kits, more detailed financial records are available:

  • Refurbishment Costs (2022): €11,866
  • Shipping Costs (Nov 2022 — Present): $1,690.87

These figures clarify the ongoing investment required to keep the European kits operational and available for community events.

Current Locations and Management

The camera kits are located and managed to facilitate easy access and deployment:

  • North America:
    • Five camera kits are in America.
    • One kit was transferred to Europe in 2022.
    • Two kits are currently unaccounted for.
  • Europe:
    • All eight camera kits remain within Europe.
    • The exact current locations and the tracking record are managed by our Program ManagerProgram Manager Program 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., Timi Wahalahti (@sippis).
    • Additionally, there is one kit that was received from North America, although its exact status, and whether it is the same kit sent in 2022 are unclear.

Analysis and Consideration for the Future

Given the current state of usage and financial investment in these camera kits, it is essential to consider the efficiency and impact of the program:

  • Decreased Demand: The data from 2022 to 2024 highlights a notable decline in requests for camera kits. This trend suggests reduced needs or interests from the community, raising questions about the continued viability of maintaining these kits.
  • Financial Burden: The ongoing costs for maintenance, refurbishment, and shipping are substantial, especially when weighed against the limited usage observed recently.
  • Outdated Equipment: Particularly in North America, the kits are outdated and likely in need of replacement or significant upgrades to meet current standards and expectations.
  • Storage Resources: Especially in North America, we are facing challenges in finding storage that can be easily accessed by event organizers.

Conclusion

The camera kits in North America and Europe have historically played a vital role in the WordPress event ecosystem. However, the declining usage and significant financial outlays necessitate reevaluating the program. The lack of efficiency and diminishing impact indicate that it may be time to consider closing the camera kit program or exploring alternative solutions to meet the community’s needs in a more cost-effective and impactful manner.

Moving forward, we announce the end of the North American Camera Kit program, we will update the relevant documentation, and continue the EU Camera Kit program and involve more contributors to manage the program. 

Thank you, @_dorsvenabili and @naokomc, for contributing to this post.

#camera-kits, #community-team
Hari Shanker R 11:16 am on August 14, 2024
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Contributor Working Group/Mentorship Chat Agenda | August 15th 07:00 UTC (APAC/EMEA) and 16:00 UTC (AMER)

Hello friends! It is time to host the next Monthly chat of the WordPress Contributor Working Group. We’re meeting this August (tomorrow – August 15th) to continue our work on improving the contribution experience of WordPress and to continue our work on mentorship programs. For more information on the working group and its plans, check out our launch post and past chats.

Meeting times

We will hold these chats in multiple time zones to accommodate as many participants all over the world as possible. These chats will continue to be held on the Third Thursday of every month.

The chat will be held on the #community-team channel of the Make/WordPress Slack. Here’s the link to a handy `.ics` file containing calendar entries for our upcoming chat so you won’t miss it. These chats have also been added to the Make/Meetings calendar. Everyone interested in improving the contributor experience in WordPress and building future mentorship programs is welcome to attend!

Pinging some of our active working group members:

@adityakane, @aion11, @alexcu21, @alexdeborba, @askdesign, @casiepa, @chaion07, @coachbirgit, @colorful-tones, @courane01, @devmuhib, @estelaris, @foosantos, @gusa, @hellosatya, @javiercasares, @josepmoran, @juliarosia, @kafleg, @kirasong, @leonnugraha, @lighthouse79, @lumiblog, @matteoenna, @meher, @milana_cap, @mrinal013, @nao, @nhrrob, @nilovelez, @oglekler, @onealtr, @onemaggie, @patricia70, @pooja1210, @ratneshsonar, @rcreators, @realloc, @rogermedia, @sancastiza, @st810amaze, @sumitsingh, @tekNorah, @thehopemonger, @tobifjellner, @topher1kenobe, @unintended8, @voboghure, @webtechpooja, @yoga1103

Agenda

1. Welcome, introductions, and check-ins
How is everyone doing? New members joining the group can also introduce themselves.

2. Mentorship Program Updates
We’ll be discussing our formal call for mentees, and steps towards finalizing the next cohort.

3. Mentorship Program Cohort #3 (Q4 2024) Implementation Steps
With our cohort formally starting in less than two months, let’s start working on setting things up! Since this is a big topic, let’s use most of our time towards this.

4. Working Closely with the Sustainability Team
Social Sustainability is a big part of what the Sustainability team does, which aligns with our group’s work. In fact, many of our group members actively participate in the Sustainability team too. Let’s discuss further on how we can work closely with that team going forward.

5. Questions, thoughts, and open floor!
If we still have time after all that intense discussion, we’ll open up the floor to discuss mentorship broadly and our program!

Looking forward to seeing many of you in the chat!

#contributor-working-group #mentorship-program #wpcontributors #mentorship-chat #agenda

Isotta Peira 8:19 am on July 31, 2024
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Community Team Meeting Agenda for 1 – August 2024

The Community Team chat takes place the first Thursday of every month in the #community-team channel 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/.. 

This meeting is meant for all contributors on the team and everyone who is interested in taking part in some of the things our team does. Feel free to join us, even if you are not currently active in the team!

Asia-Pacific / EMEA friendly meeting: Thursday, 1 August 2024 at 12:00 PM UTC
Americas friendly meeting: Thursday, 1 August 2024 at 21:00 PM UTC

You will find a preliminary agenda for the meeting below. 

If you wish to add points to discuss, comment on this post or reach out to one of the team reps: @peiraisotta, @Shusei, @leo, or @nukaga. It does not need to be a blog post yet, the topic can be discussed during the meeting nevertheless. We use the same agenda for both meetings.

Call for meeting host and notetaker
If anyone is available to host this month’s or next month’s Community Team meetings and/or write the recap notes , please reach out to one of the team reps: @peiraisotta, @Shusei, @leo, or @nukaga.

Check-ins: Program and Event Supporters / Contributors

  • Please share your WP.org username (to easily include you in the recap post)
  • What have you been doing and how is it going? 
  • What did you accomplish after the last meeting? 
  • Are there any blockers? 
  • Can other team members help you in some way?

Highlights to Note

Here are a few things everyone should be aware of.

Open Posts

Check out these new and ongoing discussions needing review, feedback, thoughts and comments.

Announcements / Newsletters

Open Floor

This is your chance to discuss things that weren’t on the meeting agenda. 

We invite you to use this opportunity to share anything that you want with the team. If you currently have a topic you’d like to discuss, add it to the comments of this post and we will try to update the agenda accordingly.

Hope to see you on Thursday, either in the Asia-Pacific / EMEA (12:00 UTC) or Americas-friendly version (21:00 UTC) of the meeting!

#agenda, #meeting-agenda, #team, #team-chat, #team-meeting

#team-chat-3, #team-meeting-3, #agenda, #meeting-agenda

#team-chat, #team-meeting

Hari Shanker R 8:00 am on July 31, 2024
Tags: , , , , , ,   

Recap of the Contributor Working Group’s Mentorship Chat on July 18th, 2024

Agenda: https://make.wordpress.org/community/2024/07/16/contributor-working-group-chat-agenda-july-18th-0700-utc-apac-emea-and-1600-utc-amer/

Meeting links (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/.): APAC/EMEA

Host and Notes: @harishanker

In Attendance:
@harishanker (host) + @coachbirgit @eboxnet @gusaus @javiercasares @josepmoran @kirasong @lighthouse79 @matteoenna @meher @nao @ninanepress @oglekler @oneal @patricia70 @rcreators @rfluethi @rogermedia @tobifjellner

Note: On getting feedback from the community that the AMER timing of our chat was a bit off, we did an experiment where AMER folks could join the chat asynchronously, but it did not work out as planned, unfortunately. We will be resuming regular EMEA and AMER chats going forward from next week.

Notes

Program Updates

Call for Mentees Closes

The early call for mentees for the Q4 2024 WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program concluded on July 15, 2024. The program received 54 mentee applications from 35 cities and 20 countries, along with 30 mentorEvent 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. applications from 10 countries and 19 cities. Significant interest was noted in the CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Team and Plugins team, with 17 and 21 mentee applications respectively. Full application details were shared with the working group for evaluation.

In our chat, we took a detailed look at the applications. There was clearly a higher interest in the Community, Polyglots, and Photos teams from 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. compared to mentees. We also discussed the higher number of mentee applicants for the Plugins team, questioning whether applicants were more interested in creating plugins rather than contributing to the Plugins team’s work. A suggestion was made to separate the Core Team into distinct options: Core, Core Test, and Editor (GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/).

Five for the Future Handbook Update

A new section was added to the Five for the Future handbook, offering guidance on how contributors can pitch Five for the Future to their employers. This update, contributed by @matteoenna, was inspired by his own experience of securing sponsorship from his company while being a mentee in the program: https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/handbook/organization-pledge-guide/pitch-five-for-the-future-to-your-employer/

Mentorship Program Planning

Based on discussions from the past chats, we put together an initial plan for the first cohort, including documentation.  The goal of creating this document at an early stage is to create a clear, cohesive, and transparent plan for our initial cohort of the mentorship program helping us to create a more structured and systematic mentoring experience. Here’s a draft of the plan that was shared: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uatuObmi0iZyAC_bBSiGvAMoXV7UFZosPJyqRCySi38/edit

A draft project plan for the next cohort was shared, outlining phases from planning and cohort selection to The plan includes structured onboarding and training sessions, with a goal of establishing a replicable mentorship program format. The plan is based on the current WordPress 6.7 release plan.

Program Duration and Phases

  • Phase 1: Planning (June-July 2024)
    • Close Early Mentee Applications by July 15
    • Create a detailed project plan and white paper
    • Develop mentor and mentee documentation and guidelines
    • Define cohort selection criteria
    • Finalize facilitators and create vetting groups for mentors/mentees
    • Outreach for the mentorship program
  • Phase 2: Cohort Selection & Program Building (August–September 2024)
    • Open call for mentors/mentees
    • Finalize mentor/mentee selection and inform them
    • Provide pre-event orientations and training
    • Create the mentorship Slack channel
  • Phase 3: Mentorship Program (October 7 – November 15 2024)
    • Week 1: Welcome and introductions
    • Week 2: Onboarding and release process familiarization
    • Weeks 3-5: Project focus and progress
    • Week 6: Release week and project wrap-up
  • Phase 4: Graduation & Retrospective (November 2024)
    • Graduation call and post-event survey
    • Analyze survey results and share retrospective

Program Goals

  • Establish a replicable mentorship program format
  • Document all aspects of the mentorship program
  • Achieve impactful contributions to WordPress
  • Ensure at least 25% of mentees contribute to big picture goals-related projects

Major Changes from Previous Cohorts

  • Use GitHubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ Project for centralized management
  • Pre-scheduled live onboarding and training sessions as much as possible

Discussion

We had a discussion on the Mentorship Program and some excellent feedback was shared highlighting the importance of documentation and outreach to local communities.

Broad Suggestions

The team discussed several key points for improving the mentorship program. They emphasized the importance of documentation and suggested setting a 25% contribution goal. The need for outreach to local communities and the inclusion of local cohorts was highlighted. An introductory session before the final team selection was proposed, along with the flexibility for mentees to switch teams if needed. The conversation also covered the importance of planning for translations and setting an application deadline to accommodate vacations in Europe. The overall focus was on structured introductory sessions, local outreach, and careful planning for the mentorship program’s success.

Program Dates

The team discussed potential dates for the mentorship program, suggesting October 7 – November 15, 2024, to align with the release week and avoid overlapping with WCUSWCUS WordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event.. Concerns were raised about this timeline starting too late for optimal contributions to the 6.7 release. An earlier start, like September 30, was proposed for better alignment with the release cycle. Additionally, the idea of bringing a few early applicants as mentees to follow the entire release was considered, which could increase their chances of contributing effectively. The team agreed to finalize the best dates to balance program needs and core involvement.

Opening the Formal Call for Mentees

The team discussed how to combine early and later mentee applications for the mentorship program. One suggestion was to pair mentors and mentees initially, and if any mentees are left without mentors, issue a specific call for the required mentors closer to the start date. The challenge is balancing the early interest sparked by 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. Europe with the promise of a later call. Another idea proposed was to double-check early applicants’ interest before opening the standard invitation. Additionally, the importance of a longer, more structured program to build strong mentor-mentee bonds was emphasized, highlighting that ongoing support and camaraderie are crucial for effective mentorship.

Mini Cohort Starting Early?

A suggestion was made to pre-select up to five early applicants as mentees to follow the entire 6.7 release, starting with the Alpha phase, allowing them to make more significant contributions. This idea was well-received, especially if the mentees seem ready and mentors are available. Another suggestion was to include these mentees in the mentorship planning and documentation process. It was proposed that a “bridge mentor” could be appointed to explain the various aspects of the release as they happen, helping to navigate the complex release operations and enriching the overall experience for everyone involved.

Discussing Program Next Steps

We took some time to discuss next steps in the mentorship program:

Cohort Selection Criteria

Suggestions included prioritizing motivation, desire to learn, and ensuring mentees do not already have connections within the community. It was agreed that previous criteria used should be maintained, but adding a multilingual aspect would be beneficial to address language barriers. It was also noted that mentees should have some prior contribution experience, and mentors should be well-connected within the community. Emphasizing a safe and supportive environment for non-native English speakers was highlighted as essential for effective mentorship. The goal is to offer a more multilingual and globalized version of the mentorship program to better support diverse contributors.

Cohort Size

Participants debated whether to expand the cohort size to 100 or keep it smaller. It was agreed that the number of mentors available would determine the cohort size. A 1:2 mentor-to-mentee ratio was suggested as ideal, with a potential adjustment to 1:3 if needed. Additionally, the idea of creating a mini French cohort was proposed and received positive feedback, acknowledging the presence of Francophone members in the group. The overall consensus was to scale the cohort size based on mentor availability while ensuring effective mentorship.

Working with Projects

One participant suggested organizing an online Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/. for bbPressbbPress Free, open source software built on top of WordPress for easily creating forums on sites. https://bbpress.org., potentially expanding it to include BuddyPress. The idea received support, and plans were made to coordinate and organize the event. Another participant highlighted the involvement of various teams such as Polyglots, plugins, themes, and learning in parallel operations with the release. The tech leads expressed enthusiasm for collaborating with the mentorship program during the 6.7 release, emphasizing the potential for cross-team projects and enhanced coordination.

#wpcontributors, #contributor-working-group, #meeting-notes, #mentorship-chat, #mentorship-chat-recap, #mentorship-program, #sustainability

Ioana 5:50 pm on July 28, 2024  

Using Playground to demo WordPress to first time meetup participants

Hi WordPress community friends! Below is the result of cross-table discussions at the Torino WCEUWCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event. Contributor dayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/., followed by many exchanges and thoughtful notes.

TL;DR You’ll find here a proposal for using Playground to demo WordPress to first time 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. attendees. allowing them to quickly experience the platform without setup hurdles. This aims to engage non-WordPress professionals like marketers and designers, reducing friction in the initial interaction. The plan includes using Playground for demos, gathering feedback, and developing resources to enhance the experience. Looking forward to your comments below!

THE WHY (context) 

During WCEU Contributor day we discussed the need to bring newcomers to the ecosystem.

We identified professionals who are not currently working with WordPress as a potential target group for specialized local 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.. This group includes marketers, designers, content creators etc.

  • Who either use closed-source products
  • Or who don’t include web creation in their portfolio of services.

Currently, getting someone to try WordPress for the first time involves either signing up with a managed host or with a self-hosting service, causing unnecessary friction, as:

  • Meetup time is limited and using part of that time with account creation questions / WP installs is not the most productive use of together time
    • Doesn’t leave enough time for actually discovering the platform
    • Can cause frustration and a negative first experience with the platform.
  • Asking participants to come with a pre-existing account might deter them from participating as they might not know where to go / what to do 
  • Attempting to help them with the setup would imply either:
    • Encouraging them to use a specific host – positioning the workshop facilitator as a ‘sales agent’ and likely instilling a sense of distrust, further complicated by data protection concerns etc.
    • Or giving them a number of options – causing further delays due to analysis paralysis.

All in all, a successful / compelling product demo would need to give them swift, easy access to the interface so they can dive right in. This is particularly important for younger participants whose attention span / expectations are dictated by the instant gratification of social media. It is critical that participants get to love the output before they are faced with the admin aspects of site creation so they are motivated to continue building their site.

THE WHAT (solution)

Using WP Playground could help palliate these issues – as it offers a chance to get straight to the point, shortening participants’ time to a working site that would fire their imagination.

The plusses:

  • Increased clarity – allowing participants to focus exclusively on discovering the interface / site building, without spending initial time in setup or getting lost in hosting analysis paralysis.
  • Efficiency – allowing Meetup facilitators to get straight to the point and start demoing WP without needing to spend time guiding participants through setup 
  • Localized experience – since being run in the browser, the tool could be displayed in the user’s default browser language (feature in progress).

The minuses:

  • Initial interface is not super beginner friendly (some mentions of blocks, styles, WP version etc.)
    • Mitigation: Playground team mentioned the possibility to create a pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party that can help display a different interface. we could also explore a Playground blueprint as a solution to deployDeploy Launching code from a local development environment to the production web server, so that it's available to visitors. a pre-set environment that is more suitable for our purpose – all to explore). It’s not on their radar, but something a community member or a group might be able to take on. You might have that person in your local meetup, who knows? 🙂
      That said, this is just me being extra picky – we could totally work with the current interface as is – it’s not a blocker, more of a nice-to-have. 
  • Further steps needed in saving / reusing work at the end of the workshop 
    • Mitigation: it’s critical to set expectations up front (i.e. ‘this is NOT your final site; you’ll need to take steps at the end to keep your work if interested to continue’). We’d also want to create an easy resource that explains how to use the .zip download option (available -> can be installed / imported on any host)

THE HOW (steps)

Here’s what using Playground in demo-ing WP to non-WP users might look like: 

  • Session objective:
    • Get participants familiar with the site creation process (pages vs. posts etc.) and the site layout (themes, styles etc.)
    • Focusing on working through their idea to make it come to life – the only way to really engage them long term is to help them shape their vision in actionable steps they can continue to take once the Meetup / workshop is over 
  • Approach:
    • Share this tutorial “How to start using WordPress Playground” about how to use Playground in advance with the attendees, so they can watch it, get familiar and/or play with it beforehand.
    • Share link with the participants – and guide them through the interface 
    • Set expectations – this is an opportunity to test WP in a temp environment – guidance will be available at the end to 
    • They can convert it to an actual site at the end, hosting decisions needed; current options include using the .zip -> upload to host / import to WordPress.comWordPress.com An online implementation of WordPress code that lets you immediately access a new WordPress environment to publish your content. WordPress.com is a private company owned by Automattic that hosts the largest multisite in the world. This is arguably the best place to start blogging if you have never touched WordPress before. https://wordpress.com/;
      • Coming soon, courtesy of Adam Zielinski:
        • Studio will support importing Playground Exports
        • InstaWP will support importing from Playground (see comment ->) 
    • The trainer can demo and participants can follow on their computer in real time
    • Run training in browser – proceed as you would in a ‘regular’ session with a traditional WP install
      • Explain pages vs. posts
      • Explain themes, styles
      • Etc.
  • Advantages:
    • Bypass the need to have a traditional install
    • Get quicker to the demo / practice
      • We’ve identified these more or less in theory; let’s collect your experiences using Playground in your meetups – please comment below!
  • Resources needed: 
    • We’d need a facilitation guide for meetup organizers, based on existing training resources
    • Support doc on saving work at the end of the Meetup 
    • User friendly process document (workbook) for working through their vision for the site, resulting in the structure of the site

THE NEXT (to dos)

Playground team: 

  • Localize the interface (done)

Training team: 

  • Create workshop (adapt existing to the Playground environment) 
  • Create resource (workbook) to help shape their vision for their site and convert it to actionable steps they can work on post Meetup (idea to site structure) 
  • Create resource on saving work at the end of the session 

Community team: 

  • Add a new handbook page about this at the Meetup Organizer Handbook
  • Include mentions to this new documentation in the monthly newsletter sent to Meetup Organizers.
  • Pilot the use of Playground in a limited number of Meetups -> collect feedback to improve the process 
  • Roll out the process to all Meetup organizers 
  • Explore ways to add a ‘filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output.’ / create a plugin that would simplify the interface for the Meetup use case (nice-to-have) 

Many thanks go to….

… the participants at the Community tables during the WCEU Contributor Day, to the wonderful Playground team, and to the Tardis team (Automattic) for reviewing this and sharing thoughtful feedback!

Over to you!

Over to you, dear Community friends – looking forward to your comments and your experiences are you try using Playground in your meetups.

Thank you!

Hari Shanker R 4:00 pm on July 16, 2024
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Contributor Working Group Chat Agenda | July 18th 07:00 UTC (APAC/EMEA) and 16:00 UTC (AMER)

Hello friends! It is time to host the next Monthly chat of the WordPress Contributor Working Group. We’re meeting this Thursday (July 18th) to continue our work on improving the contribution experience of WordPress and to continue our work on mentorship programs. For more information on the working group and its plans, check out our launch post and past chats.

Meeting times

We will hold these chats in multiple time zones to accommodate as many participants all over the world as possible. These chats will continue to be held on the Third Thursday of every month.

The chat will be held on the #community-team channel of the Make/WordPress Slack. Here’s the link to a handy `.ics` file containing calendar entries for our upcoming chat so you won’t miss it. These chats have also been added to the Make/Meetings calendar. Everyone interested in improving the contributor experience in WordPress and building future mentorship programs is welcome to attend!

Pinging some of our active working group members:

@adityakane, @aion11, @alexcu21, @alexdeborba, @askdesign, @casiepa, @chaion07, @coachbirgit, @colorful-tones, @courane01, @devmuhib, @estelaris, @foosantos, @gusa, @hellosatya, @javiercasares, @josepmoran, @juliarosia, @kafleg, @kirasong, @leonnugraha, @lighthouse79, @lumiblog, @matteoenna, @meher, @milana_cap, @mrinal013, @mysweetcate, @nao, @nhrrob, @nilovelez, @oglekler, @onealtr, @onemaggie, @patricia70, @peiraisotta, @pooja1210, @ratneshsonar, @rcreators, @realloc, @rogermedia, @sancastiza, @st810amaze, @sumitsingh, @tekNorah, @thehopemonger, @tobifjellner, @topher1kenobe, @unintended8, @voboghure, @webtechpooja, @yoga1103

Agenda

1. Welcome, introductions, and check-ins
How is everyone doing? New members joining the group can also introduce themselves. Do we also have any volunteers for notetaking, next agenda drafting, or next meeting host?

2. Program Updates
Our early call for mentees closed on July 15th, 2024. Let’s take some time to briefly share some information on applicant statistics and updates.

3. Mentorship Program Cohort #3 Planning (Q4 2024)
Based on all the discussions from our past chats, I have put together an initial plan for our first cohort, including some documentation. The goal of creating this document at an early stage is to create a clear, cohesive, and transparent plan for our initial cohort of the mentorship program helping us to create a more structured and systematic mentoring experience. We will use this time to discuss this plan out in the open and to get folks’ feedback.

4. Discussing Program Next Steps
Let’s discuss a project plan to get our mentorship program going. The goal is to create a framework and to work out in the open as much as possible. We will also discuss next steps such as handling our early applicants, opening our call for mentees, as well as finalizing other dates and details for the next cohort.

5. Questions, thoughts, and open floor!
If we still have time after all that intense discussion, we’ll open up the floor to discuss WordPress Contribution broadly and our program!

Looking forward to seeing many of you in the chat!

#contributor-working-group #mentorship-program #wpcontributors #mentorship-chat #agenda

Isotta Peira 8:54 am on July 3, 2024
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Community Team Meeting Agenda for 4 July 2024

The Community Team chat takes place the first Thursday of every month in the #community-team channel 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/.. 

This meeting is meant for all contributors on the team and everyone who is interested in taking part in some of the things our team does. Feel free to join us, even if you are not currently active in the team!

Asia-Pacific / EMEA friendly meeting: Thursday, 4 June 2024 at 12:00 PM UTC
Americas friendly meeting: Thursday, 4 June 2024 2024 at 21:00 PM UTC

You will find a preliminary agenda for the meeting below. 

If you wish to add points to discuss, comment on this post or reach out to one of the team reps: @peiraisotta, @Shusei, @leo, or @nukaga. It does not need to be a blog post yet, the topic can be discussed during the meeting nevertheless. We use the same agenda for both meetings.

Call for meeting host
If anyone is available to host this month’s or next month’s Community Team meetings, please reach out to one of the team reps: @peiraisotta, @Shusei, @leo, or @nukaga.

Check-ins: Program and Event Supporters / Contributors

  • What have you been doing and how is it going? 
  • What did you accomplish after the last meeting? 
  • Are there any blockers? 
  • Can other team members help you in some way?

Highlights to Note

Here are a few things everyone should be aware of.

Open Posts

Check out these new and ongoing discussions needing review, feedback, thoughts and comments.

Announcements / Newsletters

Open Floor

This is your chance to discuss things that weren’t on the meeting agenda. 

We invite you to use this opportunity to share anything that you want with the team. If you currently have a topic you’d like to discuss, add it to the comments of this post and we will try to update the agenda accordingly.

Hope to see you on Thursday, either in the Asia-Pacific / EMEA (12:00 UTC) or Americas-friendly version (21:00 UTC) of the meeting!

#agenda, #meeting-agenda, #team, #team-chat, #team-meeting