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 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

Recap of the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) AMER/EMEA on June 14, 2023

Attending: @bjmcsherry, @coachbirgit, @deathbyhicks, @heyyearl, @franrosa, @jasonways, @juliarosia, @martatorre, @onealtr, @sc0ttkclark

Host: @jillbinder

Start: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1686762045964469

Summary

0 Check-ins

1 First time here

2 #WPDiversity Member Updates (anyone)

Many updates from members

3 Marketing (@jillbinder and @bjmcsherry)

4 Brainstorm exercise: #diverse-speaker-support channel WP event organizers (@jillbinder)

We discussed ideas on the questions:

  1. How can we get more WP 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 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. organizers into the channel?
  2. How can we help these WP event organizers connect with speakers and be more effective at getting underrepresented voices from our channel speaking at their WP events? :arrow_right: :arrow_left:

We welcome more ideas from anyone in the community (particularly from WP Meetup and WordCamp Organizers!):

https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1686763563059779

5 Feedback on the organizer self-reflection questions (@juliarosia)

@juliarosia is working on questions to support organizers in reflecting on what diversity and inclusion means for their group, in their particular region; and how they can strengthen their group/event’s diversity and inclusion. Julia would like our feedback and re-working the document.

Anyone in the community is welcome to add thoughts and suggest edits: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yaja3j3NKPGSmipqHObmMvZtYK9zjaIhtsy85l_KlNg/edit?usp=sharing

End: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1686765609089699

————————

Recap of the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) AMER/EMEA on May 24, 2023

Attending: @askdesign, @heyyearl, @jasonways, @jillbinder, @juliarosia, @katiejrichards, @onealtr, @rahuldsarker, @volkswagenchick

Host: @jillbinder

Start: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1684947622532439

Summary

0 – Attendance and check-ins
1 – First time here
2 – #WPDiversity Member Updates (anyone)
3 – Brainstorm exercise: set of questions for WP event organizers to support organizing diverse and inclusive events (@juliarosia)

@juliarosia lead us in doing the brainstorming for a Handbook page with a set of questions for organizers to ask themselves and reflect on to help strengthen their group/event’s diversity and inclusion. We looked at a document of suggestions and added comments and more suggestions.


4 – Brainstorm exercise: Evolution of #diverse-speaker-support channel (@jillbinder)

@jillbinder asked for ideas on how to improve the diverse-speaker-support 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 to increase how many underrepresented speakers are placed at 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. and WordCamps.

End: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1684951222737139

Recap of the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) AMER/EMEA on February 22, 2023

Attending: @askdesign, @javiercasares, @jillbinder, @juliarosia, @katiejrichards, @kcrockett, @martatorre, @onealtr, @santanainniss, @sc0ttkclark, @webcommsat

Host: @jillbinder

Start: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1677088827008949

Summary

1 – Attendance and check-ins (everyone)

2 – First time here

3 – Workshops (@jillbinder)

Upcoming:

  • March 1, 2023: Speaker workshops for Americas/Europe. We have a few speaker 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 we are looking for more.
  • March 16, 2023: Organizing Inclusive and Welcoming WordPress events. Link and region coming soon.

Recent:

  • Updates to the results from the January APAC speaker workshop. 6 new attendees via watching the recording = 31 attendees total, 28 cities, 10 countries!
  • Jill shared the great testimonials from the workshop
  • 4 speakers from this workshop + our women in India workshop Sept 2022 applied to speak at 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. Kerala

Other updates:

  • A 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. in Africa is asking about holding our speaker workshop at their meetup

– Marketing (@santanainniss)

@santanainniss has been promoting our upcoming March 1 workshop.

– WPDiversity at WC Asia (@onealtr)

  • 15 people attended the WPDiversity discussion at the Community Team table at WC Asia. This was the largest discussion
  • Discussion was facilitated by @onealtr, @alliennimmons, and @bobdunn-trainer
  • They discussed things such as: Diversity challenges in the past. What is diversity in Asia? How did WCUSWCUS WordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event. and WCEUWCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event. work on their mix of speakers. What the results were of getting a diverse speaker lineup at WC Asia.

6 – Diversity in Spain project (@martatorre)

Things @martatorre has done recently:

  • offered to speak at WC Barcelona about diversity and what we are doing in this group
  • thinking about doing a brainstorming session with organizers and/or volunteers to see Diversity things they can do for the WordCamp Barcelona community table
  • in the next few weeks, Marta will meet with the WordCamp Granada team to help you make their event more diverse

7 – Diverse Speaker Support Channel “Wins” project (@jillbinder)

Jill talked through her current ideas on how to track speaker wins in the #diverse-speaker-support channel and got feedback from the group

8 – Other Updates + Comments, Questions, Ideas + Next meeting host (anyone)

  • Jill is working on a road map of workshops and team goals from now until end of August 2023
  • Jill is working on a “dashboard” so that everyone can see where we are and where we’re going, and feel more empowered to help out more
  • @onealtr is going to speak at Meetup Manila on March 11, 2023 about contributing to Learn.WordPress.org
  • @martatorres asked: “Any ideas to find people to join from other countries where there is not much diversity?” We discussed it a little in the meeting and also talked about where to ask the question (on the #community-events channel (during our official discussion hours or any time— and cross-post the link on #diverse-speaker-support so that people know to go answer the question)

End: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1677092384362039

#wpdiversity

Recap of the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) AMER/EMEA on February 8, 2023

Attending: @askdesign @bobdunn-trainer @juliarosia @katiejrichards @kcrockett @martatorre @onealtr @santanainniss @sc0ttkclark

Attended by proxy: @jillbinder

Host: @sc0ttkclark

Start: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1675879335528659

Summary

1 – Attendance and check-ins (everyone)
2 – First time here
3 – Group Goals (@jillbinder) + Comments, Questions, Ideas (anyone)

@jillbinder shared the long-term vision and quarterly goals


4 – Recent Headlines & Upcoming Deadlines (@jillbinder)

@jillbinder:

Results from the December AMER/EMEA speaker workshop:

  • 22 attendees
  • 12 countries (Bangladesh, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Philippines, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Uganda, United States)
  • 21 cities
  • public speaking confidence increase: 48%

Results from our January APAC speaker workshop:

  • 25 attendees (not final number, many are asking for the recording)
  • 7 countries (Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, United States)
  • 23 cities
  • public speaking confidence increase: 40%
  • We targeted helping 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. Kerala with getting more representation in their speaker lineup, and already 3 people from the workshop have applied to speak 

Women speakers in India workshop from September 2022:

Women speakers in Latin America workshop from October 2022:

– Marketing (@santanainniss)

@santanainniss:

Do we have any events with event links ready to promote? Do we have any fresh stats about speaker applications to the flagship events? WC Asia, WC EU?

Idea: A WP Diversity Landing Page


– APAC WPDiversity Network Building (@onealtr)

@onealtr: During 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/., volunteers from the #WPDiversity team will man a table and hold casual discussions with attendees regarding Diversity in the WP community in Asia. We will hold a workshop and ask people their opinions, experiences and blockers they have encountered in their local communities and how it has changed in the past few years.


7 – Diversity in Spain project (@martatorre)

From @martatorre:

The organizers of the WordCamp Granada 2023 to be held in October have asked me for help to make their event more diverse. In the next few days I will meet with them to see how I can help them and when I know I will comment so that you can give me ideas.

WordCamp Barcelona 2023. We are going to create the first diversity table on contributor day. I have to talk to volunteers to translate the Workshop into Spanish and my idea is to hold a workshop for organizers the day of the event. If you have any other ideas, they are welcome.


8 – Diverse Speaker Support Channel “Wins” project (@jillbinder)

@jillbinder asked for help on how to track the “wins” of the #diverse-speaker-support channel (someone from the channel applied to speak or got accepted to speak, someone from the channel spoke).

Some of the first ideas people gave:

  • Spreadsheet people fill out themselves
  • Us going through 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 WordCamp speaker lists to see who from our channel has spoken
  • Having the community report to us who from the channel has spoken at their event


9 – Other Updates + Next meeting host (anyone)

End: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1675882469163229

Recap of the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) AMER/EMEA on September 14, 2022

Attending: @jillbinder, @katiejrichards, @kcrockett, @leogopal, @metalandcoffee, @onealtr, @robinwpdeveloper, @santanainniss, @sc0ttkclark

Facilitator: @katiejrichards

Start: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1663174848435489

Summary

Agenda:

1 Attendance and check-ins (everyone)

2 First time here

3 Comments, questions, ideas (anyone)

4 Plan for the next 3 months! ( @jillbinder )

  • Under the More link at the end of this post

5 Workshops (Speaker & Inclusion) ( @jillbinder )

  • Speaker Workshop for Indian Women in the WordPress Community https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speaker-workshop-for-indian-women-in-the-wordpress-community-sept-24-25-tickets-348466712317
    • Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25, 2022
    • 9:00am to 11:30am India time (IST)
  • Looking for women (people who identify as women some or all of the time) volunteers during the workshop:
    • If you’ve done public speaking or are a WP event organizer, you can 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. people on their talk topics, descriptions, outlines, etc.
    • If you haven’t, there are some behind the scenes admin items that we need help with (letting people in from the waiting room, muting people, checking for questions in the chat that I might miss, etc.)
  • We have 27 signed up. We are aiming for about 35 to register, so help with spreading the word would be much appreciated.
  • October Inclusion workshop: The group started the discussion on what format workshop should be to be able to cover more of the material:
    • 2.5 hours on one day
    • 2 days (1h 30m each)
    • 3 days (1h each)

6 APAC WPDiversity Network Building ( @onealtr )

  • @onealtr shared upcoming WordCamps in APAC, and shared about the APAC WPDiversity Network Building meeting later that day:

    https://twitter.com/oneal/status/1569957008484466693

7 Diverse Speaker Support channel (@kcrockett, @juliarosia, @jillbinder )

8 Marketing ( @santanainniss )

  • @santanainniss shared that she’s been posting about:
    • Creating Inclusive WP Events content (2 parts on different weeks)
    • India Women’s Training
    • APAC meeting

      with really great engagement and click-through numbers!

9 Other Updates + Next meeting facilitator (anyone)

  • @onealtr and @santanainniss are collaborating on a new post describing the APAC WP Diversity meeting. This will be an improved place to drive social media posts to to help bringing more community engagement.

End: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1663178346106139

Continue reading

#community-events, #diverse-speaker-support, #wpdiversity

Report: Inclusion and Diverse Speaker Workshops May 2022

This month, we held two “Organizing Diverse & Inclusive WordPress Events” discussions.

May 2022

Organizing Diverse & Inclusive WordPress Events – Discussions

Facilitator: @jillbinder

To accommodate the WCUSWCUS WordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event. organizers, we held short discussions on two different dates (May 10 and 14, 2022) about the videos on Learn WordPress. Also invited: All event organizers, contributors, and the 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. in the #diverse-speaker-support channel.

Total number who attended both: 21 

From number of cities: 23 (one person represented 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. in 3 cities/countries)

From number of countries: 8 (Bolivia, India, Nigeria, Philippines, The Netherlands, Portugal, Cabo Verde, United States)

Self-reported increase in preparedness to help create more inclusive WordPress event after taking the workshop: 23%

Testimonials

“I grew from the experience of attending the #WPDiversity workshop. What I took away is that we are stronger together when creating diverse spaces. We see each other’s blind spots and through collaboration we can ensure everyone feels included.” – Winstina Hughes, Community Contributor, US

“This session offered new methods to make events even more inclusive. We absolutely loved discovering that simply changing a few phrases may make meetups & wordcamps even more open to more people.” – WP Swings

“I found the Inclusion training for 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. organizers inspiring and helpful. If you’re involved in events in any way, I recommend it.” – Jonathan Wold

“Five minutes in, I felt inspired to start trying some of these ideas as we restart in person meetups. No matter your goal, there are so many applicable basics for community building in this workshop that anyone attending can take something away that they can use immediately in their community.” – Cate DeRosia, WCUS 2022 Lead Trio, Grand Rapids, MI

“I have a better understanding of real inclusion resources.” – Mike Straw, WordPress Code WranglerWrangler Someone, usually a person part of event organizing team, who looks after certain things like budget or sponsors., Athens, Ohio

“Every bit of training helps!” – Anon

diverse-speaker-support channel

We have a 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 #diverse-speaker-support in the Make WordPress Slack for:

  • workshopping talks with each other and with mentors
  • finding out about WordPress speaking opportunities from WordPress Meetups and WordCamps
  • getting to know other WordPress speakers and organizers

Number of past #WPDiversity Workshop participants who joined in May 2022: 2 

Wins this month: 2

  • One speaker got accepted to speak
  • One speaker got feedback on her presentation

Thank you

A lot of people contribute to making these workshops successful. Thank you to each and every one!

Upcoming

Love this? Come attend a workshop!

Watch https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/wpdiversityworkshops/ for our next workshop announcement.

#diversespeakerworkshopsreports, #wpdiversity

Recap of the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) on April 25, 2022

Attending: @jillbinder, @katiejrichards, @kcrockett, @onealtr, @sc0ttkclark, @tantienhime, @volkswagenchick

Attended by proxy: @devinmaeztri, @juliarosia, @angelasjin, @planningwrite

Facilitator: @onealtr

Start: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1651078819539489

Summary

1 Check-ins (everyone)

2 First time here

3 Comments, questions, ideas

  • We talked about holding a prep session for the speakers accepted to WCUSWCUS WordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event. from the #diverse-speaker-support channel.

4 Workshops (Speaker & Allyship) (@jillbinder)

  • Nigeria Speaker Workshop, April 24, 2022 went quite well
  • Allyship discussion, April 14, 2022 went quite well
  • We are renaming our Allyship workshops from “Allyship for WP Event Organizers” to “Organizing Diverse & Inclusive WordPress Events.”
  • We created the May 2022 (Cohort 3) Inclusion Workshops to be a good format for the WCUS organizers: May 10 & 14, 2022 for an hour each (also invited: All event organizers and contributors, speaker 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. in the #diverse-speaker-support channel)

5 Diverse Speaker Support channel (@kcrockett & @jillbinder)

  • The new workflows and prompts have been going well. Organic conversations have begun!

6 Translations (@jillbinder for @devinmaeztri)

  • The Portuguese BR Lesson Plan has been uploaded!
  • In progress: Italian and French
  • First thoughts are going into Inclusion workshop localization, starting with Italian

7 DEI plans for WordPress events (@jillbinder for @juliarosia, @angelasjin, @planningwrite)

8 APAC (@onealtr)

9 Other Updates + Next week’s meeting chair


End: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1651082620410069

Diverse Speaker Training Group (#WPDiversity) 2021 Year-End Report

Hello everyone! As a follow-up to Matt’s mention of our Diversity work in the 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/. yesterday, I wanted to share some data and more detail around our  accomplishments this year.

#WPDiversity Results December 2020-November 2021

In 2021, the Diverse Speaker Training Group (#WPDiversity) expanded from one to three programs: Diverse Speaker program, Allyship program, Diverse Speaker Support program.

Our group and the community held 26 #WPDiversity events this year.

146 participants from at least 66 cities in 16 countries attended these events from December 2020 – November 2021.

People who took at least a portion of our Diverse Speaker workshop reported an increase in self-confidence by 20%.

People who took our Allyship for WordPress Event Organizers workshop reported an increase in preparedness to hold an inclusive event by 52%!

In the Diverse Speaker Support program, as of November 30, 2021, 49 people have joined it so far. 50% (25) of these are people from underrepresented groups who are looking for speaking opportunities at WordPress events.

Testimonials

Testimonial for Diverse Speaker workshop:

“I felt like you were reading my mind on some of these points about what holds us back from speaking. And the brainstorm prompts are all really, really good. I walked away with a ton of ideas and newfound confidence. I’m excited to talk now. This workshop works!”

– Erika Lewis, WordPress Dev, Washington DC

Testimonial for the “Hold Your Own Diverse Speaker workshop” train the trainers:

“I’m excited to replicate the Diverse Speakers workshop in my beloved country, Mexico, and use it to help more women learn the right tools to communicate on stage and in meetings, and be more confident about their skills.”

– Maryl Gonzalez, Co-Founder @ The App Chefs, Guadalajara, Mexico

Testimonial for Allyship for WordPress Event Organizers workshop

“I loved taking the “Allyship for WordPress Event Organizers” workshop along with other organizers and hearing what they’ve done. The checklists in the workbook are helpful in terms of tracking what I have done and what I can still improve. I’d love to see ALL THE ORGANIZERS go through this. This felt like a great complement to other material that WordPress has about not disparaging people; the focus of the Allyship workshop was on how to be actively welcoming.”

– Sallie Goetsch, organizer, East Bay 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.

Get Involved in 2022

Want to get involved in this inspiring initiative that makes a tangible difference? Comment on this post or pingPing The act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” @jillbinder on the 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/. for:

  • Attending an “Allyship for WP Event Organizers” workshop or a “How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events #WPDiversity” (aka Diverse Speaker) workshop
  • Having us hold a “How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events #WPDiversity” workshop to bring in more diverse speaker applications for your Meetup or 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.
  • Being a workshop facilitator
  • Being a workshop 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. or background administrator
  • Being a Translator
  • Joining our #diverse-speaker-support Slack channel (open to those interested in speaking, speaker 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 event organizers)
  • Joining our Diverse Speaker Group #WPDiversity to help out with things as needed
  • And more!

I will reply to your message in the new year.

Have great holidays, everyone. Let’s make 2022 our best year yet!

#wpdiversityannualreport