SiteGround Joins the 2023 Global Sponsorship Program

I am thrilled to announce that SiteGround has become a Gold Level Global Community SponsorGlobal Community Sponsor Company that sponsors the WordPress community events through the global sponsorship program. for 2023!

Once again, a big thank you to all the sponsors that support the WordPress community programs and events.

Full details on the 2023 Global Sponsorship program and packages can be found here

The Global Sponsor information for event organizers page in the handbook has been updated, and we’ll be updating the rest of the Central, handbook pages, 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. websites, WordPress Chapter 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. group pages in the coming days to acknowledge our global sponsors.

Please join me in giving another big thanks to all the global sponsors for their continued support!

#global-sponsors#global-sponsorship

#global-sponsors, #global-sponsorship

2023 Global Sponsors: Announcement

I am excited to announce the Global Community Sponsors for 2023! Thank you to all the sponsors that support the WordPress community programs, including WordCamps and WordPress Chapter 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. groups.

Full details on the 2023 Global Sponsorship program and packages can be found here

The Global Sponsor information for event organizers page in the handbook has been updated, and we’ll be updating the rest of the Central, handbook pages, and WordPress Chapter Meetup group pages in the coming days to acknowledge our global sponsors.

Please join me in giving another big thanks to all the global sponsors for their continued support!

#global-sponsors, #global-sponsorship

Proposed 2023 Global Community Sponsorship Program

If your company is interested in global sponsorship, please indicate your interest by emailing support@wordcamp.org by January 13, 2023.

After deliberation and conversation with current Global Sponsors, we have the proposed draft for the 2023 Global Community Sponsorship Program. If you know a company that you think would be a good candidate for global sponsorship, please suggest they review this post, provide feedback, and email support@wordcamp.org for more details!

TL;DR

2022 saw an increase of in-person WordCamps. Hooray! Package rates will increase from 2022 to 2023 to reflect that growth, as well as rising cost of hosting events.

Highlighted changes to the program

  • One package for the whole program, with three tiers: Gold, Silver, and Bronze.
  • For top level sponsors (Gold), the option to have one brand as the global sponsor, and select affiliated brands for representation at each 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. (one brand per WordCamp). This is in reflection of the high number of mergers and acquisitions in the WordPress space in recent years.

Questions? Feedback?

If you have any questions, observations, or critical feedback about the program in general or these proposed changes, please comment on the post! Thank you for the diligent work in creating this year’s program, @kcristiano, @sippis, @harmonyromo, @peiraisotta, and thank you to our current Global Sponsors for their input.

Read on for full detals

#global-sponsorship

2023 Global Sponsorship Working Group

The WordPress Global Sponsorship Program (born in 2013 as the Multi-Event Sponsorship Program) provides financial support to WordPress community events around the world. It’s time to review the program and come up with a proposal for the 2023 edition!

Our global sponsors have been flexible and supportive of the community in the uncertain and challenging times of the past few years. The Community team is grateful to the sponsors who participated in the new global sponsorship format launched in 2022: 

Now, it is time to shape next year’s Global Sponsorship program! This year’s working group will have the following members: @kcristiano, @sippis, @harmonyromo, @peiraisotta, and @angelasjin.

The group would like to share a proposal for the 2023 Global Sponsorship Program no later than 6 October 2022, with the hopes of finalizing and sharing the program with sponsors by 27 October. Our estimated  timeline looks like this: 

  • 19–30 September: 2–4 hours of independent program analysis and two 1-hour Working Group meetings
  • 6 October: Share program proposal
  • 7–13 October: 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./open meetings for input
  • 14–21 October: Evaluate feedback
  • 27 October: Share finalized program

#global-sponsorship

#global-sponsors, #global-sponsorship

2022 Global Sponsors: Announcement

I am excited to announce the Global Community Sponsors for 2022! Thank you to all the sponsors that support the WordPress community programs, including WordCamps and WordPress Chapter 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. groups.

Full details on the 2022 Global Sponsorship program and packages can be found here. Since this year’s program is available on a quarterly basis, we will announce any changes to this list every quarter.

The Global Sponsor information for event organizers page in the handbook has been updated, and we’ll be updating the rest of the handbook pages in the coming days. WordPress Chapter Meetup group pages have also recently been updated to acknowledge our global sponsors.

Please join me in giving another big thanks to all the global sponsors for their continued support!

#global-sponsors, #global-sponsorship

Proposal: 2022 Global Community Sponsorship program

tl;dr: Due to the unpredictability in what events are happening and where, the global sponsorship program proposal for 2022 is similar to the pared-down 2021 program, with a single package. Sponsorship of WordCamps will be offered as an add-on, billed quarterly.

Below you will find a proposal draft for the Global Community Sponsorship program for 2022, with one package being offered as an annual commitment.

As the WordPress Community transitions to holding in-person WordCamps, the question arises of how the Global Sponsorship program will accommodate those events. Until we have more predictability in what events are happening and where, we will offer 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. sponsorship per event, billed at the end of each quarter.

Questions? Feedback?

If you have any questions, observations, or critical feedback about this proposal or the program in general, please comment on this post, no later than 15 October 2021. We hope to finalize the program details by 28 October 2021, to allow sponsors time to sign up by the end of the year.

Thanks so much for the hard work, input, and feedback by @angelasjin, @kcristiano, @_dorsvenabili, @sippis, and @courtneypk, with help crunching the numbers from @harmonyromo.

Now onto the proposal!

Continue reading

#global-sponsorship, #proposal, #sponsorship

2022 Global Sponsorship Working Group

The WordPress Global Sponsorship Program (born in 2013 as the Multi-Event Sponsorship Program), provides financial support to WordPress community events around the world. It’s time to analyze the program yet again and come up with a proposal for the 2022 edition!

Our Global Sponsors have been flexible and gracious through the various changes that the program has seen throughout the pandemic, and the upcoming year is no exception. Given the complexity of the ever-changing situation, this year’s working group will include deputiesDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. with history and experience with the Global Sponsorship program. That said, the group will have the following members: @kcristiano, @sippis, @angelasjin, @harmonyromo, @_dorsvenabili, and @courtneypk.

The group would like to share a proposal for the 2022 Global Sponsorship Program no later than 7 October 2021, with the hopes of finalizing and sharing the program with sponsors by 28 October. The timeline would look like this: 

  • 15–30 September: 2–4 hours of independent program analysis and two 1-hour Working Group meetings
  • 7 October: Share program proposal
  • 8–15 October: 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./open meetings for input
  • 16–23 October: Evaluate feedback
  • 28 October: Share finalized program

#global-sponsorship

Announcement: Adding Global Sponsors to Meetup.com

There were a number of changes to the Global Sponsorship program for 2021, to reflect the current status of the WordPress events program. A new benefit to global sponsors this year was to feature sponsor logos on 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. chapter homepages and event pages. In recent months, the Global Sponsorship Working Group has been working with Meetup.com to implement some design changes so that global sponsors are featured alongside the people who make WordPress events possible: the organizers and attendees. 

I’m excited to share these changes with you! In the coming weeks, all meetup pages will have a new, rotating shelf of sponsors. Global sponsors will automatically be added to all Chapter meetups starting July 2021. Local organizers won’t be able to make edits to the global sponsors, but will still be able to acknowledge local sponsors. Local organizers will also be seeing some improvements to the user interface for managing local sponsors come August 2021, although all functionality will remain the same.

The maximum number of local sponsors that any meetup group can feature is 15, according to Meetup.com. The global sponsors do not count toward this limit. At the moment, this shouldn’t impact any chapter 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., but if you want to add more than 15 sponsors, please send an email to support@wordcamp.org.   

Please comment below if you have any questions about these changes. Major gratitude to organizers, attendees, and sponsors (both global and local!) – WordPress community events aren’t possible without your support and efforts!

#global-sponsors, #global-sponsorship, #meetup-com

2021 Global Sponsors: Quarterly Update

I am excited to announce the Global Community Sponsors for Q1–Q2 2021! Thank you to all the sponsors that support the WordPress community programs, including WordCamps and WordPress Chapter 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. groups.

Full details on the 2021 Global Sponsorship program and packages can be found here. Since this year’s program is available on a quarterly basis, we will announce any changes to this list every quarter.

The Global Sponsor information for event organizers page in the handbook has been updated, and we’ll be updating the rest of the handbook pages in the coming days. WordPress Chapter Meetup group pages have also recently been updated to acknowledge our global sponsors.

Please join me in giving another big thanks to all the global sponsors for their continued support!

#global-sponsors, #global-sponsorship

Proposal: 2021 Global Community Sponsorship program

As promised, here is a proposal for a pared-down Global Community Sponsorship program for this year.

This is coming later than intended (we were aiming for January), due to the uncertainty about when in-person conferences will return to WordPress community programs. Also slightly unusual, this proposal is the work of a small group: me, @kcristiano, @courtneypk, with help crunching the numbers from @harmonyromo. When I wrote last year that we’d be making a public call for working group volunteers on a 2021 global sponsorship program, I did not realize that the pandemic’s effect on our team and programs would be so powerful, and last this long. Given the givens, it seemed expedient to simply ask the people who’ve been administrating the program the longest, to draft a 2021 version for community feedback.

This year, we propose offering one package only, available on a quarterly basis. A quarterly offering should help make us nimble, if our path to global in-person events accelerates in ways we don’t currently expect. Offering one single package should make this easier to administrate, which is extra-important right now, as volunteer engagement is (for perfectly understandable reasons) so low.

The one new benefit we’re able to offer this year, is acknowledgement on the meetup.com pages of all WordPress chapter groups. Meetup.com has offered to make this happen for us, once per year for up to 6 sponsors. Therefore, this benefit will only be available to the first 6 qualifying sponsors that inscribe by 26 March 2021, and only those that commit to at least two quarters of sponsorship. Inscription will be opened early to companies that have been sponsors of this program in the past.

EDIT: This version of the program does NOT include direct 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. sponsorship. Unless something changes drastically, WordCamp sponsorship in 2021 will be handled on an “a la carte” basis.


2021 Global Sponsorship benefit package proposal

Cost: USD $10,000/quarter; sponsor limit 6 (due to meetup.com constraints)
  1. Your company’s logo, with a link back to the company landing page of your choice, on all WordPress chapter 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. group pages (as of Jan 2021: 454,482 Members, 745 groups, 109 countries). Available to inscribers by 26 March, who will commit to at least two quarters of sponsorship. 
  2. Acknowledgement in all WordCamp “ticket purchase successful” pages (39,000 in 2020; projected 19,000 in 2021).
  3. Acknowledgement on the 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. home page (over 400k annual views).
  4. Acknowledgment in one program-wide email to all 454,607 members of a WordPress chapter account meetup/user group.
  5. Acknowledgment on sponsor page on WordCamp Central (8,698 views in the past 365 days).
  6. Monthly email with spreadsheet of WordCamps in planning and on the schedule
  7. “Featured” acknowledgment on all monthly meetup organizer newsletters (received by 2,800+ WordPress community leaders every month).
  8. Opportunity to list discounts or free resources that meetup and WordCamp organizers can use for new user workshops, charity hackathons, etc., on the official WordCamp Organizer handbook page for use at community events. This page will be promoted through the Meetup Organizer newsletter, received by 2,800+ WordPress community leaders monthly.

Feedback

Please share any feedback, questions, or concerns you have about this proposal, no later than 26 February 2021. We hope to finalize the program details by 5 March 2021, and activate the program no later than the end of March.

#global-sponsors, #global-sponsorship