Meetup Organizer Newsletter: November 2023

November is an exciting month! New event formats continue to spring to life, WordCamps are in process, and new 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 are coming in from across the globe. 

As if that weren’t enough, three great opportunities are available this month:

  • Apply to speak at WCEUWCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event..
  • Schedule your local State of the WordState 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/. watch party.
  • Complete the 2023 Meetup Survey.

Read on to learn more and please encourage your community members to take part.

WCEU Call for Speakers is Open

Connect, be inspired, and share our knowledge and stories with the global WordPress community by applying to speak at WCEU 2024. Be a part of the friendly, welcoming, and diverse flagship event that highlights what brings us together around the world’s most used CMS.

Schedule your State of the Word Watch Party Today

The State of the Word is an annual event during which WordPress Co-Founder Matt Mullenweg shares the latest updates and vision for our beloved platform. 

This year’s State of the Word 2023 will be held in Madrid, Spain on December 11, 2023 at 15:00 UTC and will be live-streamed via WordPress.orgWordPress.org The 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/ social media platforms for those who choose to watch from elsewhere.

Whether you watch the live stream or the recording at a time that is convenient for your community, State of the Word watch parties are a fantastic opportunity to come together with your local WordPress enthusiasts to connect, learn, and celebrate the future of our favorite content management system.

Want help getting started?

Check out the information in the Meetup Organizer handbook. It has all you need to organize a State of the Word watch party in person or online. All the tips, tricks, and resources you need in one place.

If you have questions or need additional help, you’re always welcome to ask questions in the Community Team channels on Making WordPress 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/. or email the team at support@wordcamp.org.

The 2023 Meetup Survey is Out

It’s annual survey time, an opportunity to work together to get a pulse on the local WordPress 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..

By taking 15 minutes to fill out the annual survey, you contribute to a more complete view of your community as well as adding your own unique perspective to the global program, both of which are invaluable. 

The more responses we have, the more data we have to work with and the greater the impact is for WordPress meetups around the world.

This year’s survey has been simplified into one survey for both organizers and attendees, with a focus on your experience and how to best support growing communities. About two thirds of the questions are true/false or multiple choice, with the remaining questions providing opportunities for you to share your thoughts and ideas.

Submissions will be accepted through 14 January, 2024.


A special thank you to our Global Sponsors: GoDaddy, Bluehost, Automattic, SiteGround, Weglot, and WooCommerce!


If you have any questions, Community Team deputiesProgram Supporter Community 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. are here to help. Please email us at support@wordcamp.org or join the #community-events Slack channel. Thanks for everything you do to grow and support the WordPress community—let’s keep sharing knowledge and inspiring each other with our contributions!

See you online soon!

The following people contributed to this edition of the Meetup newsletter: @mysweetcate, @peiraisotta, @bjmcsherry, @devinmaeztri

#community-team, #meetup-organizer-newsletter, #newsletter

Meetup Organizer Newsletter: October 2023

The year may be winding down, but our talented community continues to find new ways to contribute! 

In this newsletter, we will:

  • Introduce you to one of the newest contributing teams, the Photos team and share their recent milestone.
  • Showcase new events being organized by the community.
  • Update you on the details for this year’s State of the WordState 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/. so you can start planning your watch party early.
  • Share a Meetup.com resource for getting to know other 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. organizers.

Ready? Here we go!!!

Celebrating the 10,000 Photo Team Submission

On 11 October, the 10,000th photo was approved! 

Submitted by Sithara Koramprambil and approved by moderator Michelle Frechette, this photo of Sithara’s 10th wedding anniversary celebration cake which was taken on 27 January, 2022 at the Rock Cliff resort, Shillong, Meghalaya, India.

The Photo Team is one of the newest ways to contribute to the WordPress open sourceOpen Source Open 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. You can submit photos, learn to review photos, and – like many team members – do both!

Whether you want to submit photos, help moderate, or need CC0 photos to use for a project, check out the Photos team’s contribution to WordPress. Want to participate? Consider making your next meetup a photo walk!

New Event Ideas Become a Reality

  • The Italian community gathered in Rome for its first ever WordPress Community Day to train and support new organizers. 
  • The Gdynia community chose to focus its one-day camp around the theme of optimization for both work and WordPress. 
  • 84 local WordPress enthusiasts will gather to learn from four experienced WordPress experts who will serve as 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. and facilitators at the one-day “Scale Up” workshop in Tegal, Indonesia. The focus will be on enhancing participants’ WordPress skills for the enterprise world.

Would a new type of or topic-focused event benefit your community? If so, use this form to share it with the Community Team.

More from the WP Community

Community Team Training #11: Using the Translate Live tool. On Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 12:00 UTC uncover the potential of the “Translate Live” tool. It’s ideal for presenting at your 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. to engage and onboard new translators for your native language. If you’re 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., consider introducing this tool during your 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/..

Learn WordPress: The Training team is creating new material and resources – don’t miss their latest updates.

State of the Word Watch Parties

Save the date for this year’s State of the Word 2023! This year’s event will be streamed live on YouTube from Madrid, Spain, December 11, 2023 at 15:00 UTC.

Not in Madrid? No problem! Organize a Watch Party with your local community to watch live, or use the replay to meet at a time that’s convenient to you. 

As usual, we have resources to help make organizing a Watch Party simple and fun. Head to the Meetup Organizer handbook to find information on requesting a Zoom account for online parties, or a venue support for in-person parties, and event and invitation templates you can use on Meetup.com. 

Meetup Tip of the Month 

Did you know there’s a thriving community of Meetup organizers on Discord? The Meetup Organizer Community allows Meetup Organizers to connect, share, and build a community for Organizer success. There you will find mentors and Meetup employees available to help. Check it out and join, assuming you haven’t already!


A special thank you to our Global Sponsors: GoDaddy, Bluehost, Automattic, SiteGround, Weglot, and WooCommerce!


If you have any questions, Community Team deputiesProgram Supporter Community 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. are here to help. Please email us at support@wordcamp.org or join the #community-events Slack channel. Thanks for everything you do to grow and support the WordPress community—let’s keep sharing knowledge and inspiring each other with our contributions!

See you online soon!The following people contributed to this edition of the Meetup newsletter: @mysweetcate, @pierraisotta, @juliarosia, @bjmcsherry, @devinmaeztri

#community-team, #meetup-organizer-newsletter, #newsletter

Meetup Organizer Newsletter: September 2023

It’s September and a lot has happened recently in the WordPress community. Sit back, relax, and read on to discover this month’s highlights. But first, meet these Marlborough, MA USA 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. members!

7 members of the Marlborough, MA meetup standing in a restaurant.

Community Summit Notes are Published – Leave Your Feedback

Let’s keep the discussions going! The in-person phase of the WordPress Community Summit  was only the beginning of very important conversations around issues impacting our global WordPress community. Fortunately, the intention is always that these conversations would continue long after the in-person phase concluded.

In Phase Two, everyone can now read and comment upon the session notes. Visit the full list of Community Summit 2023 sessions to find a link to the corresponding session notes. Read and comment to share your unique and valuable perspective on these important issues.

Don’t Miss the Upcoming Diverse Speaker Workshop

Meetup organizers in India! Would you like to encourage more women to speak at your WordPress 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., WordCamps, and Next Gen events? Then this upcoming #WPDiversity workshop is for you. Invite your community to share this opportunity and sign up for the Speaker Workshop for Indian Women in the WordPress Community, September 23–24, 2023.

Not in India, but still interested in growing the diversity of your speaker lineup? Reach out to the #WPDiversity team to schedule an event for your community. You can find them on Making WordPress 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/. in either the #diverse-speaker-support or in the #community-team channels.

More from the WP Community

Next Generation WordPress Events: Looking for a new way to engage your community? A new WordPress event format might be just what you need! Use this form to share your idea with the Community Team.

Learn WordPress: The Training team is creating new material and resources – don’t miss their latest updates.

Reaching Out to Include New Meetups in the Chapter Program

In partnership with Meetup.com, we tested a 13-day, 3-touch email campaign to invite 144 groups related to WordPress to join the WordPress Chapter Meetup program, and we contacted the entire leadership team of each group to increase our chance of success. 

How did it work? Of the 144 groups contacted, 5 or 6 groups confirmed they submitted an application. We also had a nearly 40% open rate which means that approximately 35 meetups were informed of the program. Who knows what the future holds; they may join yet!

Meetup Tip of the Month – Optimize Your Topics

If you’re looking to maximize your reach on Meetup, evaluate the topics listed for your events and for your group.

Topics are a key element of the Meetup algorithm – the more topics you include, the more members will learn about your events & group. When WordPress Community SupportWordPress Community Support WordPress Community Support PBC is a subsidiary of WordPress Foundation. It is 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. creates a new Meetup group, we apply our best guess as to what topics you will cover. You can change these listed topics at any time to best represent your specific community and focus. 

Additionally, meetups evolve overtime. The topics that fit at the beginning may no longer be relevant to your group.

Now, you can take advantage of the Event and Group topics to optimize your presence on Meetup. You can add up to 5 topics for each event you schedule and up to 15 topics for your group. Follow these instructions for Meetup to see how


A special thank you to our Global Sponsors: GoDaddy, Bluehost, Automattic, SiteGround, Weglot, and WooCommerce!


If you have any questions, Community Team deputiesProgram Supporter Community 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. are here to help. Please email us at support@wordcamp.org or join the #community-events Slack channel. Thanks for everything you do to grow and support the WordPress community—let’s keep sharing knowledge and inspiring each other with our contributions!

See you online soon!The following people contributed to this edition of the Meetup newsletter: @mysweetcate, @peiraisotta, @juliarosia, @bjmcsherry

#meetup-organizer-newsletter, #newsletter

Recap of the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) AMER/EMEA on August 23, 2023

Attending: @coachbirgit , @franrosa, @jillbinder, @martatorre, @onealtr

Host: @jillbinder

Start: wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1692810111358429

Summary

0 – Check-ins (everyone)

1 – First time here

Information for newcomers

2 – Who we are (@jillbinder)

Our goals, our 3 initiatives, how people can help

3 – WPDiversity Member Updates (everyone)

@martatorre starting to prepare material for diversity in Spain

4 – New DEIB group (@jillbinder on @coachbirgit’s behalf)

Please join #deib-working-group

5 – Setting you up for my time away (@jillbinder)

6 – Bonus meeting next week! Zoom call (@jillbinder )

  • @jillbinder will be holding a Zoom call next week
  • Walk-through of all of the #WPDiversity workshops, systems, and resources.
    • All of the material is available for the whole WordPress community to keep doing our material in 2023 and beyond.
  • Wednesday, August 30, 2023 @ 5pm-6:30pm UTC  (just in case there are a lot of questions)
  • Ask me for an invite. I also might put it up on Meetup Learn.

7 – Workshops (@jillbinder)

8 – Comments, questions, ideas (anyone)

End: wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1692813789894869

Meetup Organizer Newsletter: August 2023

Hello 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. Organizers,

Welcome to the August edition of the WordPress Meetup Organizer Newsletter! Get ready to dive into community-building inspiration and stay updated on what’s happening. Let’s empower and connect with our vibrant community together.

This month, we are thrilled to share a photo from the folks at Vancouver WordPress Meetup. To share your photo, rename 1 (one) photo as “Meetup-name_event-date” and upload it to this folder. Don’t forget to ask for permission from your group members too!

Spark Your Meetup with Inspirations

WordPress Summer Meetup

The WordPress Meetup in Antwerp launched their first-ever WordPress Summer Meetup. Forget computers, it’s all about fun from afternoon till evening. Dive into the vibe in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTs2wiwD6Qg. They jazzed up the day with 3 WordPress games during their walks. Super simple setup—everyone paid for their dinner. Remember: a backup plan is key if the weather turns sour. They kept things cozy with 10-20 people, perfect for easy mingling.

WordPress in Spanish Meetup (Quedadas WordPress en Español)

“Quedada” – a Spanish term for informal gatherings and conversations, originating from early Internet 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.. The Meetup revives this spirit in an online realm, mixing presentations with open discussions, all centered on WordPress and its vibrant Community. Join them to connect, share, and explore, uniting Spanish speakers from Spain to Latin America.

Unleash Your Imagination with NextGen Events

Ready to shake things up? Be the architect of unique events! Think of self-learning gatherings, idea pitches, networking days, show-and-tell expos, or speedy connection sessions. Elevate engagement and embrace innovation in easy, exciting ways! Your creativity sets the stage – let’s rock those fresh formats and themes together!

Be part of NextGen Event experimentation by sharing your ideas with the Community Team using this form!

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. US: Join the Flagship Event Anywhere

Excitement ignites as WordCamp US 2023 unfolds this week in Maryland! This flagship event expects around 1,700 attendees from around the globe. Stay tuned with #WCUS on social media for real-time updates. Engage from anywhere through live-streamed WCUSWCUS WordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event. programming on their website and YouTube. Relive the magic on WordPress.tv post-event, just like all WordCamps. 

Community Summit is Back

Just ahead of WCUS 2023, on August 22-23, about 128 WordPress open-source project contributors will convene at the Community Summit 2023. They’ll address crucial project matters, selected based on applications. This ensures a global, diverse representation of new and seasoned contributors from various teams and organizations. Although no decisions will be made at the Summit, your input matters – share your thoughts on takeaways and suggestions via comments, to be posted on Make WordPress blogs.


A special thank you to our 2023 Global Sponsors: GoDaddy, Bluehost, Automattic, SiteGround, Weglot, and WooCommerce!


Need support or guidance from the WordPress Global Community TeamGlobal Community Team A group of community organizers and contributors who collaborate on local events about WordPress — monthly WordPress meetups and/or annual conferences called WordCamps.

You can always reach the Community Team by sending a message to #community-events in Making WordPress Slack or an email to support@wordcamp.org.  

Thank you for your contribution to the WordPress.orgWordPress.org The 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/ projects and for supporting the WordPress Community! Let’s keep growing together, and inspire each other!

The following people contributed to this edition of the Meetup newsletter: @bjmcsherry, @davelo, @_dorsvenabili, @jtleathers, @lmcliment, and @peiraisotta.

#community-team, #meetup-organizer-newsletter, #newsletter

Recap of the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) AMER/EMEA on July 26, 2023

Attending: @askdesign, @coachbirgit, @franrosa, @jasonnickerson, @jillbinder, @margheweb, @martatorre, @oneal

Host: @jillbinder

Start: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1690390843642729

Summary

1 – First time here

2 – Who we are (@jillbinder)

  • Our goals, our 3 initiatives, how people can help


3 – WPDiversity Member Updates (everyone)

  • No updates today


– Workshops (@jillbinder)

5 – Volunteer Dashboard! (@jillbinder)

  • @jillbinder shared the new dashboard to empower volunteers and asked for feedback


– Diversity in Spain projects (@martatorre)

– Diversity in Asia (@onealtr)

  • @onealtr shared what the additional diversity concerns are at our WP events in Asia, as well as dates of upcoming WordCamps in Asia.

8 – Project updates (@jillbinder)

@jillbinder gave updates on:


9 – Comments, questions, ideas (anyone)

  • @jillbinder shared about being called in on a tweet she wrote
  • @martatorre asked for ideas on how to get more women and other underrepresented groups onto the 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 review team

End: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1690394396187739

Meetup Organizer Newsletter: JULY 2023

Hello 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. Organizers,

We’re halfway through 2023 already, and it’s amazing how time flies! In just the past month, approximately 250 WordPress Meetup events have been organized. Thank you for keeping our community thriving!

Last month, we requested your Meetup photos, and here’s the first picture we’re featuring in our newsletter: a delightful crowd at Ahmedabad WordPress Meetup on June 24, 2023.

Keep sending photos from your Meetup Event!

Please share one picture with the Community team! Rename the image as “Meetup-name_event-date” and upload it to this folder. Supported formats are jpg and png. Remember to always ask for permission from your group members before capturing and sharing the picture with us!

Training Team needs a Translation Coordinator

The Training Team is ramping up its localization efforts for Learn.WordPress.org content and seeks your assistance! If you have a passion for translating content and want more resources to share with your local community, consider this exciting opportunity: Be a Translation Coordinator of the Training Team!

Inaugural Cohort of the Contributor Mentorship Program

The diverse group consists of 13 contributors from all over the world and will be working with a 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. from July 12th to August 9th. Seven Make team also participates in this cohort. They are CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., Community, Documentation, Photos, Polyglots, Support, Test and Training. You can join or follow along with the cohort in the #contributor-mentorship channel on the Make/WordPress 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/..

Let’s be creative with our community events! 

We invite you to share and organize events with fresh formats and topics we haven’t explored yet. Consider self-learning events, idea pitches, networking days, show-and-tell, or speed-connecting sessions to enhance engagement with your audience. Join our Next Generation Pilot Events by sharing your ideas with the Community Team using this form!


A special thank you to our 2023 Global Sponsors: GoDaddy, Bluehost, Automattic, SiteGround, Weglot, and WooCommerce!


Need support or guidance from the WordPress Global Community TeamGlobal Community Team A group of community organizers and contributors who collaborate on local events about WordPress — monthly WordPress meetups and/or annual conferences called WordCamps.

You can always reach the Community Team by sending a message to #community-events in Making WordPress Slack or an email to support@wordcamp.org.  

Thank you for your contribution to the WordPress.orgWordPress.org The 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/ projects and supporting the WordPress Community! Let’s keep growing together, and inspire each other!

The following people contributed to this edition of the Meetup newsletter: @bjmcsherry, @bsanevans, @_dorsvenabili, @harishanker, and @peiraisotta.

#meetups, #community-team, #meetup-organizer-newsletter, #newsletter

Meetup Organizer Newsletter: June 2023

Hello, Organizers!

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 2023 has just ended, what an experience!

This year, we had 2545 attendees from 94 countries. Congratulations to all organizers, volunteers, speakers, and sponsors who made it happen!

In this month’s newsletter, we invite you to join the organizing team for WordCamp Europe 2024, learn more about the next generation of WordPress events, discover the new Community Team 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. Program, and find out about the latest news from the WP Community. Read on to discover more about them!

WordCamp Europe 2024: Call for organizers

A famous WordCamp Europe tradition is to reveal the next year’s city host during the closing remarks, and immediately open the call for organizers. For those who didn’t follow the live stream we’re excited to announce, without any further ado, that WordCamp Europe 2024 will be in Turin, Italy! 

We hope to see many of you join the organizing team. Fill out the organizer application today!

Next Generation of WordPress Events

Since the Next Generation of WordPress events discussion began on May 8, organizers have rushed to join the experiment and organize pilot events. The goal of the project is to make the process of event organizing easier, and enable more communities to have multiple impactful events per year. For the latest updates, please visit this post.

Do you want to organize a pilot event for your community in 2023? Use this form to share your idea with the Community Team!

New Community Team Mentor Program

With the Meetup Reactivation Project successfully concluded and WordCamps coming back, every week more in-person events are happening all around the world. To better support organizers, the Community Team wants to refine its structure to create a stronger network of 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.. If you want to learn more about, and apply to join the community team, visit the latest update post on the Make Community Blog!

More from the WP Community

Learn WordPress: the Training team is creating new material and resources, don’t miss their latest updates post!

Contributor Working Group’s Mentorship: contributing to WordPress has never been easier thanks to the Contributor Mentorships. Find out more and join the pilot project!

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. Organizers, we want to feature you!

We’d love to publish pictures from 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. all around the world in each newsletter. Do you want your Meetup to be featured? Share 1 picture with the Community team! Rename your picture as “Meetup-name_event-date” and upload it to this folder. The formats supported are jpg and png. Please remember, always ask for permission from your group members before taking the picture and sharing it with us!


A special thank you to our Global Sponsors: GoDaddy, Bluehost, Automattic, SiteGround, Weglot, and WooCommerce!


If you have any questions, Community Team deputiesProgram Supporter Community 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. are here to help. Please email us at support@wordcamp.org or join the #community-events Slack channel. Thanks for everything you do to grow and support the WordPress community—let’s keep sharing knowledge and inspiring each other with our contributions!

See you online soon!

The following people contributed to this edition of the Meetup newsletter: @mysweetcate , @devinmaeztri , @juliarosia, @nao, @bjmcsherry

#community-team, #meetup-organizer-newsletter, #newsletter

#community-team, #meetup-organizer-newsletter, #newsletter

Next Gen Event Talking Points – Share Your Ideas for a New Event Format and Make It Happen!

Edit on June 16, 2023 – The translation of the resources is available in:

Spanish
Talking Points
Ideas Form

To continue our discussion on May 25, 2023, we’ve prepared a set of talking points for you to use during WordPress 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. events, 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. Contributor Days, or just casual chats with your WordPress folks. They’ll help you kickstart engaging discussions that will ignite excitement within your community.

Discuss with Your Community

But hold on, it doesn’t end there! Share any ideas and conversations you have with your community. If you’re planning to participate in this year’s experimentation, we want to hear about your plans and insights.

Remember, our WordPress events are vibrant gatherings of passionate WordPress enthusiasts and they focus on making a real impact while embracing our open-source values. So, don’t feel like your new event format has to be grand or require extensive resources. Even a small, meaningful, and impactful event can make a difference!

Help Us Translate the Message

Here’s the kicker: we need your help to also bridge the language gap. Community leaders, we invite you to translate the Talking Points and Ideas Form for your community members to ensure that everyone can actively participate and contribute to the conversation.

Join us in celebrating diversity, fostering inclusivity, and creating an ecosystem that thrives on collaboration. Use the talking points, translate them, and share your ideas with us.

We can’t wait to see the magic we’ll create together. Thank you for being an essential part of the global WordPress community!

Thank you, @peiraisotta and @nao for contributing to this post!

#ideas #community-events

#next-gen-events

Notes of Community Team Discussion on May 25, 2023

Yesterday’s Community Team discussion was fantastic! We had 99 people registered for the event, and 43 attendees from all around the world! Thank you all for your passion, curiosity, and energy during the call and during the brainstorming session.

We started the session with an introduction about the organizer, volunteer, and sponsor struggle coming back to in-person events after the pandemic, and the new purpose that emerged from it for the WP Community. 

After clarifying doubts regarding the future of traditional 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. and WordCamps, we had a brainstorming session aimed to generate new ideas for the next generation of WordPress events. Participants discussed in small groups about fundamental aspects that we have to consider when moving forward with pilot events for new event types.

We asked attendees to ignore the hanbooks and focus on the new purpose and for the event to be: 

  • doable (for human and financial resources)
  • repeatable (by new/old organizer and more than once per year)
  • scalable (other communities might try the same format)
  • desirable (for organizer, attendees, sponsors, volunteers). 

Keeping the above in mind, in 9 breakout rooms attendees brainstormed about the following topics:

  • Event formats (room 1-2)
  • Organizing team structure (room 3-4)
  • Organizing timeline (room 5-6)
  • Benefits for sponsors (room 7-8)
  • Infrastructure/tools required (room 9)

After the session, which lasted about 10 minutes, we all came back to the main room and we shared the outcomes of our discussions. Many people agreed that 10 minutes were not enough to deeply discuss the topics assigned. 

We encouraged attendees to bring the same conversation in their 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. and communities, and we’ll soon publish talking points that they can use if needed.

We ended the session inviting everyone to share their ideas for new event formats using this form, so the Community Team can collect all ideas and get back to organizers who want to have pilot events in their communities.

The community team would love to support as many pilot events as possible already in 2023.

Below some ideas, feedback, and thoughts from the brainstorming session.

Event format

Ideas

  • Youth camp: open only 15-25 year old newbies, and teach them how to build an e-commerce site
  • HostCamp – WC for specific technology like – hosting, domain, performance and security
  • LearnCamp – Mainly focusing on settings up websites and CMS

Organizing Team Structure

The team setup depends on the event size and expectations. A medium sized Workshop event would need the following teams:

  • Leads
  • Sponsors
  • Logistics
  • Budget
  • Content

The content team is special in this case as it should consist of people who are great in the skills (dev, design, architecture, security, etc.) But also be capable to work with the facilitators on how to make the workshop a success for everyone involved.

Benefits for Sponsors

It is challenging to find a way to increase sponsor visibility and benefit, without taking this space from speakers and volunteers. Some ideas and thoughts about experiment to try.

  • Target a specific audience: at themed events, have sponsors interested in that specific audience
  • Networking moments for sponsors to connect with job seekers
  • Give sponsor possibility to open up to new markets (e.g. WooCommerce did not have the local currency in a country, but through WordCamps, they got it! Yay!)
  • Organize for attendees a “sponsor tour” to meet all sponsors

Tooling

Ideas

  • AI airpods for instant translations
  • For speakers application: having 1 tool to manage all applications, instead of having different manual processes (email, form) to manage by organizers in each website
  • Have dedicated and specific tools depending on the event size

General doubts and challenges shared by the attendees

  • It’s difficult to decide the local sponsorship level, it would be useful to have guidelines for each country or based on the Mac Index
  • It’s very challenging to get local sponsorship (especially Nigeria/Uganda if communities are small) but organizing big events is hard because of the lack of volunteers. One solution could be organizing an event halfway in attendance between Meetup and WordCamps, but keeping it to 1 event per year
  • For Regional WordCamps one day is not enough, people travel from other cities and need to spend more time together
  • The current ticketing system is limiting

Thank you so much to all people who attended yesterday’s session, there will be more to come next month, both online and in-person!

In-person discussions at WC Europe, Athens:

Keep an eye out for the next virtual discussion!

Thank you to all organizers who have already shared their ideas for new event formats and want to give it a try in 2023! If anybody else has an idea in mind, share it with the Community Team and we’ll get back to you to try to make it happen!

When thinking about new formats, please keep in my the purpose:

WordPress events spark innovation and adoption by way of 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.

The new generation of WordPress events will be:

  • doable (for human and financial resources)
  • repeatable (by new/old organizer and more than once per year)
  • scalable (other communities might try the same format)
  • desirable (for organizer, attendees, sponsors, volunteers)

Looking forward to meeting with you all soon again!

Thanks again to @samsuresh , @devinmaeztri, and @angelasjin for facilitating the session.

#community-events, #events-2, #next-gen-events