Tag Archives: #meetups

Cate DeRosia 4:04 pm on April 7, 2023
Tags: #meetups, anniversary celebrations, , wp20 celebrations   

It’s Time to Plan Your WP20 Anniversary Celebration!!

Come together across the globe on May 27, 2023 to celebrate WordPress’s 20th anniversary! Regardless of how you use WordPress or where you call home, you are invited to celebrate this great milestone. Plan a larger party that includes your entire 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., spend the day co-working with a group of friends, or hang out virtually online.

Whatever your style, celebrate in your time zone, your way. 

Need help planning? WordPress has some resources to help you party. The Meetup Organizer handbook has a section dedicated to helping you plan your meetup’s anniversary celebration. You’ll find email and Meetup.com templates that make sending your announcements and creating your events simple, as well as tips for planning a fun, safe, and inclusive event, in-person or online. 

The 20th anniversary website will list events as they are announced and scheduled by organizers, so check back regularly to see if there’s one in your area you’d like to join or help organize.

And don’t forget the new swag!

Now through May 5th, meetup organizers can order complimentary kits of official anniversary swag, including limited-edition stickers, buttons, and pencils that can be shipped to your meetup at no cost to you.

Additional items, such as pennants, shirts, hoodies, keychains, and more, are also available for purchase at the official WordPress store while supplies last. If the cost of shipping is an issue, consider placing one order as a group and dividing up the shipping costs. 

So, whether you’re sporting new anniversary swag or your old favorites from your closet, join WordPress enthusiasts on Saturday, May 27, for a globe-spanning WordPress celebration. Remember to use hashtag #WP20 to share your passion – and photos – for WordPress.

Don’t have an active meetup in your area? It’s not too late to start one.

#meetups, #anniversary-celebrations, #wp20-celebrations

Devin Maeztri 8:02 pm on March 21, 2023
Tags: #meetups, , , ,   

Meetup Organizer Newsletter: March 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,

Time indeed flies as we are in March already! After the first 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 took place in Bangkok in February, WordPress community gathering continues to happen.

Folks are excited to start a new meetup group or reactivate the existing one, and plan for a WordCamp.

WordCamp Asia 2024 will be in Taipei and the Call for Organizers is open until April 15, 2023.

Contributor Working Group: Call for Volunteers! 

The Contributor Working Group of the Make/WordPress Community Team has been revamped to focus on building a WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program. The membership to the working group is open to everyone. So, if you are interested in volunteering, you can comment on the article that @harishanker published or reach out to him directly 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/.. The first team chat will be on March 20, 2023.

Getting Feedback from Your Event Attendees

Reviewing feedback from attendees is a great way to improve your events and the overall experience for your group members. Meetup has made some improvements on the post-event feedback feature on the Meetup App (iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. & Android). Check this page out to learn more about viewing feedback from your members. 

WP20 Celebrations and Wapuu Contest

#WP20 is coming soon and a fun way to bring your community together to acknowledge the power of WordPress and the love we have for it is with a party!

Don’t wait to schedule your meetup’s Celebration event. Planning resources are available in the Meetup Organizer Handbook. Sign up to have a bundle of event-specific swag shipped right to you! Once scheduled, you’ll be showcased on the event site alongside all of the Meetup Celebrations from around the world.

Additionally, show off your community’s creative side by joining the Wapuu Coloring Giveaway. Follow the link to learn the details and prizes available to win!

Keep an eye on https://wp20.wordpress.net/ for updates and new information!

A special thank you to our 2023 Global Sponsors: Bluehost, Weglot, GoDaddy, Automattic, 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 @devinmaeztri,@mysweetcate and @nao.

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

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

Cate DeRosia 8:44 pm on February 27, 2023
Tags: #meetups, ,   

Proposal: Modify the Events and News widget to show topic-based meetups worldwide

Published on behalf of Amber Hinds (@amberhinds on Make Slack)

The purpose of this post is to discuss proposed changes to the Events API that displays upcoming events from Meetup.com 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 in the WordPress admin dashboard widgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user..

Background 

Topic-Based 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 April of 2021, a proposal was created to allow topic-based meetups in the Meetup chapter program and in May 2021, meetup applications for topic-based groups were accepted.

There are currently three meetups in the chapter program that are topic-based rather than city-based:

These meetups have a city location of San Francisco, CA because that is the location of WordPress headquarters, however they each offer online events via Zoom that are open to anyone in the world (rather than in-person events). 

The WordPress AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) Meetup and Learn WordPress Online Workshops are holding events at times that are optimized for people around the globe so that some events will always be in the daytime, regardless of where you are in the world.

WordPress Events and News Widget

The WordPress Events and News admin dashboard widget displays upcoming events filtered by proximity to a city. This geographic radius makes sense for in-person meetups where people are unlikely to drive long distances to attend a meetup.

For the three topic-based meetup groups, this means that their events are only visible in the WordPress admin Events and News section if someone has set their location to San Francisco.

A challenge of the current geographic restrictions is that many users will be presented with a message telling them that there are no events they can attend and prompting them to start their own meetup. While we do want to prompt people to start meetups in their cities, it’s a missed opportunity to not make people aware of upcoming events that they can easily attend online.

Proposed changes: Allow events from topic-based meetups to show in the Events and News widget worldwide

The WordPress admin dashboard Events and News widget is a key way meetup groups can reach attendees to promote their events and may be the first exposure a new WordPress user has to the meetup chapter program. 

While the current geographic restrictions on event display make sense for a city-based group, they do not make sense for a group that is not city-based, holds events exclusively online, and which is intended to have worldwide speakers and attendance.

Benefits of this change

Changing the Events and News widget to include meetups from WordPress Accessibility Meetup, BlackPress Meetup, and Learn WordPress Online Workshops will accomplish the following:

  • Expose more people worldwide to virtual learning opportunities.
  • Provide increased resources to people in rural or other areas without a city-based meetup, thus leveling the playing field for people learning WordPress in these areas.
  • Increase the potential speaker pool size for these groups as more people become aware of them and participate in meetups.
  • Create a better user experience by showing virtual events in the WordPress dashboard rather than no events at all.

Why WordPress Accessibility Meetup

In the case of the WordPress Accessibility Meetup, making events show worldwide will also serve the goal of increasing general awareness of what accessibility is and emphasizing the importance of building accessible websites. 

Many people have never heard of website accessibility or realize that they need to take people with disabilities into consideration when building websites. The more people who are exposed to the concept of accessibility, the more likely we are to see improvement in the overall accessibility of WordPress websites – whether it’s because content creators will learn to enter their content more accessibly or because 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, theme, and web developers will put more thought into developing with accessibility in mind.

The first step to making the web accessible is ensuring everyone knows about and has easy access to learn accessibility best practices. Putting WordPress Accessibility Meetup events in everyone’s WordPress dashboard is a major step towards growing awareness around the importance of accessibility.

Why BlackPress Meetup

BlackPress is a global WordPress meetup group that aims to raise awareness about WordPress in the global community of creators of Black African descent, and help connect them to other community members and grow participation and sponsorship toward WordPress.

People of Black African descent are underrepresented in technology careers and within the WordPress community. Many people who identify as Black may benefit from a group that supports their growth in WordPress, but may not know that the BlackPress Meetup exists or know to look for a group like it. Making the group’s events show worldwide will help people in their target demographic find the group, thus potentially increasing the number of Black identifying people participating in the WordPress community.

Why Learn WordPress Online Workshops

Learn WordPress is a community initiative to make more training resources on WordPress available to people all over the world. While making this group’s events appear worldwide doesn’t have the same social benefits that the other two have, the meetups held through Learn WordPress Online Workshops have a broad appeal and are specially created to help people work in modern WordPress. 

Things to Consider

If this proposal is approved there are some things to consider, a few of which were brought up in the original discussion on allowing topic-based groups.

  • Will there need to be changes in the events widget to display online event timing correctly across the globe?
  • How many topic-based meetup groups can the Events APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. support?  
  • Should the Events API handle each topic-based meetup group equally? 
  • Should the events be divided into two lists under headings for “Local Events” and “Global Events”?
  • Should the total number of displayed events increase to account for the large number of weekly events held by Learn WordPress Online Workshops?
  • Because there will no longer be “no upcoming events” results, where would the prompt to start a meetup group be moved to?
  • Could there be a way of filtering global events by language so that people could choose to see events happening only in their preferred language?

Request for Feedback

Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts on including events from topic-based meetups in the Events and News widget worldwide.

#meetups, #community, #diversity

Cate DeRosia 12:59 pm on February 14, 2023
Tags: #meetups, , CommunityTeam, , ,   

WordCamp Asia 2023 Contributor Day

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/. is fast approaching and we couldn’t be more excited. We had some great suggestions and all of them seem worthwhile to pursue!

So how will the Community Team be using our time?

  1. We will provide space for #WPDiversity to meet with attendees who would like to hold an open discussion about diversity in the WordPress community in Asia. 
  2. Be available to attendees who have questions about starting 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. 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. in their area.
  3. Help any new contributors apply to the Meetup Reactivation project or to be a WordCamp 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..
  4. Improve the documentation 
  5. Discuss:
    1. What blockers prevent women from being involved as organizers and how can we support them?
    2. What people want to see on a WordCamp attendees page. What information would add value for other attendees?
    3. Discuss what the benefit and impact is of not allowing branded slides for WordCamp speakers, and why we should keep that rule.

Can’t attend in person?

Join the conversations that happen all year long in the Make Community 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/.. It’s simple to join and allows you to connect to all of the Make WordPress contributor teams!

Comment on the post to share your feedback, particularly around the two items we’ll be discussing. You’ll also have a chance to approve any updates to the handbooks so be looking for that opportunity.

Additionally, consider amplifying the event on your personal social media. I’ll be tweeting pictures from my @mysweetcate account using #CommunityTeam.

Thanks @devinmaeztri, @tacoverdo, @nukaga, @onealtr, and @peiraisotta for contributing to this post.

#meetups, #community-team, #contributor-day, #wordcamps

Cate DeRosia 5:54 pm on February 13, 2023
Tags: #meetups, , , , , , ,   

Discussion: Refining the Mentor Program

To better serve the community and the Community Team, @devinmaeztri and I are working to improve our current 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. We believe this project will help get rid of gaps in our current roles and create a smoother functioning Community Team with room to grow.

An Overview

  • End date: 31 March
  • 4 Issues addressed in this post
    • update or create role information and tasks
    • add in new Mentor roles to help our growing community and team
    • retire the “DeputyProgram 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.” title
    • build for the future
  • 3 Discussion Posts planned starting with this one

The Main Elements

Craft More Accurate Role Information and Task Lists

The project will start by looking at where we are and end with clearer information about new and existing roles.

  1. Evaluate the current roles and their descriptions, qualifications, and expectations.
  2. Evaluate the current assigned tasks and see if they need better descriptions or adjustments to make them more manageable to accomplish.
  3. Create descriptions, qualifications, expectations, and clearly described tasks for any new mentor roles added.

For reference, find the current roles and expectations on the Community Team’s Team Projects page.

Add in 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. 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 Mentor of Mentors

Meetup Mentors: We currently have a group of Meetup Reactivators that we would like to invite into the Community Team to continue their meetup outreach. If our 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. are the heart of what we do, then having a group and system in place that provides regular check-ins should help keep them strong. It also provides a nice first level of activity for new members.

Mentors of Mentors: These would likely be our current Super DeputiesProgram 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. with opportunities to promote other veteran mentors as they qualify. 

Mentors of Mentors would continue to support our other mentors and have responsibilities within the Community Team around nurturing growth. They could also mentor WordCamps as they choose.

We would continue to have the existing roles 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. Mentors and Community 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./Community Mentors with similar responsibilities to what they have now.

Current Contributor Roles
WordCamp Mentors
Community Deputies
Super Deputies
Future Contributor Roles
Meetup Mentors
WordCamp Mentors
Community Mentors
Mentors of Mentors

Change the Community DeputyProgram 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. Title

The word “deputy” has two significant drawbacks.

  1. It’s difficult to translate in some languages while in others the word doesn’t even exist.
  2. In the US, it’s a term used to describe enforcement which does not represent the nature of the role well.

Our 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 already mentors who are working to nurture the community, often in more technical ways, but still interacting with the community. 

Because of that and the reasons above, we suggest changing:

  • Community Deputy → Community Mentor
  • Super DeputyProgram 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. → Mentors of Mentors

The responsibilities would be similar (with some refinement) to current duties, but we’d have names that fit a more global community and better reflect what the Community Team is trying to accomplish.

Build a Foundation for Future Growth

A Single Unified Application: Along with refining the names, descriptions, and tasks, we also plan to create a single unified application and onboarding process as well as a clear contribution ladder. We think this will provide a smoother introduction to the Community Team and give contributors goals to grow towards.

A Removal Process: With onboarding, we’ll also need to create a path for removing inactive contributors as well as people who end up in the wrong roles. Not everyone fits every role. Let’s create other opportunities where contributors can make the best use of the skills they have instead of being stuck in a role that doesn’t fit. Maintaining a healthy community requires attention to this aspect as well.

Overall, we’re hoping all of the changes mentioned in this post create one solid foundation for the future of all of our programs.

The Community Team’s Role

We want to work alongside the group as a whole to refine our Mentor Program to better benefit us all. In order to do that, we need your support and feedback. 

Please comment below your thoughts regarding the project, and particularly about some or all of the following:

  • Changing the name of Community Deputies and Super Deputies.
  • If it’s too confusing to have all roles under the Mentor heading.
  • What current tasks function effectively, and which don’t.
  • New tasks you think it could be useful to add.
  • Adding in a Meetup Mentor role.
  • Adding in a Mentors of Mentors, and if the name is a good fit.

This post will close March 3.

#meetups, #community-team, #mentors, #mentorship-programs, #wordcamps

#q1, #refining-mentor-program, #updates
Devin Maeztri 10:56 am on February 3, 2023
Tags: #meetups, APAC, , , ,   

Update: APAC Meetup Reactivation Project

Last July, the 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. Reactivation Project was launched. We sought support from around the world as we believe local community leaders have the networks and experiences to help reactivate 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..

Three updates on the Global Meetup Reactivation Project have been published: in September, November, and December. We have yet to share the next update this year.

In December 2022, the APAC Meetup Reactivation team met and decided to share stories from the APAC community to learn from and inspire each other. We also want to appreciate the dedication and enthusiasm of the APAC supporters for this project. Kudos to everyone!

APAC Meetup Reactivation Supporters

  1. Ricky Blacker from Australia @rickyblacker
  2. Wil Brown from Australia @developerwil
  3. Afshana Diya from Bangladesh @afshanadiya
  4. Ahmed Chaion from Bangladesh @chaion07
  5. Mainul Kabir Aion from Bangladesh @aion11
  6. Mizanur Rahaman Mizan from Bangladesh @technocrews
  7. Aditya Kane from India @adityakane
  8. Aditya Shah from India @ethicaladitya
  9. Abhishek Prabhu from India @abyshakes
  10. Pooja Derashri from India @webtechpooja
  11. Yogesh Londhe from India @yoga1103
  12. Kharis Sulistiyono from Indonesia @kharisblank
  13. Sinar Hadi Wijaya from Indonesia @sinarhadiwijaya
  14. Junko Nukaga from Japan @nukaga
  15. Naoko Takano from Japan @nao
  16. Shusei Toda from Japan @st810amaze
  17. Yam Chhetri from Nepal @yamchhetri
  18. JC Palmes from Philippines @khleomix
  19. Lax Mariappan from Philippines @lakshmananphp
  20. Oneal Rosero from Philippines @onealtr
  21. Muhammad Usman Khalid from Pakistan @usmankhalid 
  22. Shakir Ali from Pakistan @engrshakirali

APAC WordPress Meetups in Numbers (as of Feb 2023)

  • 95 chapters were dormant as of May 2022.
  • 1 chapter in Japan was closed/removed from the program.
  • 51 chapters were reactivated.
  • 43 chapters are still in progress.

The APAC Meetup Reactivation Stories

Ricky Blacker, Australia

WordPress meetups in Australia are slowly coming back online, we have seen a few already getting back on track, the Sydney meetup has led the charge not only in being among the first to have in-person meetups again but have kept the community informed and engaged during the worst of Covid with regular online meetups and presentations, much Kudos to Wil Brown for his tireless hard work here.

The Melbourne meetup also resumed in-person meetups but seems to have stagnated for now. We saw the welcome return of the Sunshine Coast meetup in January, with the plan to carry this on every month.

The Brisbane meetup is looking to resume in-person meetups in March with a focus on finding a long-term solution for a venue and how the community would like to see the meetups proceed in the future.

Generally, across all meetups in Australia, we are battling with trying to get the momentum going again, as well as trying to solve the problem of finding a suitable venue for meetups as many have lost their regular space during covid, but the community is keen to get back to having monthly in-person meetups again and I can envisage that by the end of this year, we should see most resume back to normal.

Mainul Kabir Aion, Bangladesh 

We had two big meetups in November 2022 in Dhaka. They covered more than 200 people and created the biggest buzz ever and bringing many WP veterans together. Bangladesh is all about diversity and it was amazing to witness individuals coming together to celebrate during meetups.

The Sylhet group was reactivated thanks to the supporters. They followed the footsteps of the mega meetups and organized their version of it. Folks from the Dhaka community went there as well 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. Sylhet was planned.

The Rangpur meetup chapter was also reactivated and continues their meetup after a long time. They have invited experienced developers as speakers. The most unique part is – they will treat everyone with tasty ducks and traditional pitas after the event!

Pooja Derashri, India

I am so happy to be a part of this Reactivation project because it has given me the opportunity to interact with other Meetup chapters in India. Overall, the project has been a mixed experience for me. Some groups have been very responsive, and we have been able to quickly schedule Meetups, while others have been less responsive. In some cases, they have assured me that they will organize a Meetup soon or next month, but when I follow up a month later, they are still saying they are in the planning stage. In my opinion, these groups may have limited bandwidth and are unable to run a Meetup, but they do not want to give up their role as organizers, so they are making false commitments. With perseverance and consistent efforts, we will be able to reactivate our fellow Meetup chapters.

Kharis Sulistiyono, Indonesia

I used the strategy of educating organizers and members about the importance of Meetups and the benefits of being part of the WordPress community. I also encouraged them to collaborate and share their experiences and ideas. This helped increase their motivation to revive the Meetups.

Here are key points I shared with the community:

  • Host a meetup on the home’s terrace: https://www.instagram.com/p/CiWFKvTv-Hn/
  • Host a meetup without an external speaker, instead be confident in leading the gathering format with a specific topic for discussion.
  • While choosing a meetup topic, avoid using generic wording and instead use persuasive language. For example, instead of a generic topic like “How to create a website with WordPress,” use an attractive topic such as “How to create an effective sales funnel with a landing page.”
  • Write a blog post about reactivating your dormant meetup strategy and share it with the community on social media channels: https://kharis.risbl.com/2022/08/03/5-strategi-sederhana-dalam-mengaktifkan-wordpress-meetup-tegal/

Junko Nukaga, Naoko Takano and Shusei Toda, Japan

In 2022, a total of 133 Meetups were held in Japan, both online and offline, in a style suited to each region. In addition to the regular Meetups, two Mega Meetups were held in Japan, where Meetup organizers from across the country came together.

Some groups returned to holding in-person events, others continued to hold online events, and some of them even introduced new styles of Meetup such as photo walks and inter-group collaboration.

Although one group was deactivated, a new group was started. Some regions were not able to hold meetups due to the pandemic, but some groups restarted through the Reactivation Project, and the Japanese community is still very active.

JC Palmes, Philippines

The WordPress Meetup Reactivation for Iloilo was a success due to the willingness of everyone involved. Despite a nearly three-year hiatus, the community had remained connected online

but not officially. This made it easier to get everyone together again and discuss plans for reactivating the group.

The coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. group had no issue with meeting right away and discussing our plans for WordCamp 2023 and other activities for the year. Everyone seemed eager to resume after such a long break, which made decision-making smooth and effortless.

This experience showed the strength of our community bond, even after such a long break, both in person or online. We are all willing and ready at any given moment if ever needed! The experience also served as motivation that despite everything else going on around us, we can still come together and work towards something bigger than ourselves!

Oneal Rosero, Philippines

In late 2022, after some prompting from the Meetup Reactivation team, the WordPress Manila meetup group held a hybrid meeting in October 2022, with about five attendees in person at the local Pantheon office and seven more over zoom. This helped create a nice balance of online and in-person participation. They held a translation workshop led by the Polyglots teamPolyglots Team Polyglots Team is a group of multilingual translators who work on translating plugins, themes, documentation, and front-facing marketing copy. https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/.. Four people got the badges for helping translate content into Tagalog. The last time the Manila Meetup group held an in-person meeting was in late 2019.

In January 2023, the Manila Meetup team organized an in-person meetup at the Pantheon office in BGC, there were 23 people in attendance. The talks ranged from site builders to security and I was able to talk briefly to invite people to contribute to the learn.WordPress.org teams.

Among the attendees of the Manila meetup in January 2023 were people who live in Cavite but work in Manila and they expressed interest in reactivating the Cavite Meetup with new and more experienced members.

In late 2022, the Meetup group in Baguio was also contacted, but they felt  like they didn’t have enough active members to run a WordCamp, but they are looking to restart Meetups early in 2023

I also got in touch with the Meetup group in Cebu. They held an in-person Meetup in December 2022. In February 2023, they will host WordCamp Cebu 2023 with local and international speakers.

If you are aware of an inactive WordPress Meetup group in your area and are keen to help reactivate it, please get in touch with us! You can become a co-organizer and play a role in bringing together WordPress enthusiasts in your area.

You can locate your nearest Meetup group by visiting this page. If there is no WordPress Meetup group in your area, you have the option to start one by joining the Meetup Chapter Program.

#meetups #reactivation #outreach #community-team #community-management #APAC

Isotta Peira 3:00 pm on November 3, 2022
Tags: #meetups, , ,   

Update: Global Meetup Reactivation Project

The 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. Reactivation Project is well underway. Read on for an update!

Since last update post:
+7 new Meetup groups have joined the WordPress meetup chapter program
+12 dormant 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. have been reactivated
+2 dormant Meetup groups have been removed from the chapter program
+1 new Supporter joined the project

Is your meetup currently active? Tell the world by posting a photo on social media with the hashtag #WordPressMeetup

Background

Why meetup reactivation?

Many WordPress Meetups around the world have been dormant due to the COVID-19 pandemic and organizer burnout. Yet thriving Meetups are crucial for the health of the global WordPress community!

How does meetup reactivation work?

In July, the 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. published a Call for Supporters and launched the Meetup Reactivation Project. Since then, Meetup Reactivation Supporters started directly reaching out to the organizers of every dormant WordPress meetup to:

  • Check on the status of the meetup
  • Encourage reactivation
  • Ask how we can best support the organizers
  • Identify whether new organizers are needed

We define a dormant meetup as one that has not held an event in the past six months (virtual or in-person). There were more than 400 dormant WordPress meetups at the launch of this project — which means there is significant opportunity to reactivate our global community!

The numbers (so far)!

There are currently 771 WordPress chapter Meetups in 113 countries, with 498,669 members. Yet at the start of the reactivation project, we identified that 416 of these groups were dormant.

The project currently has 40 meetup reactivation supporters globally. These amazing volunteers are reaching out directly to the organizers of each dormant meetup group. 

As a result of their efforts:

  • 129 Meetup groups have reactivated or plan to reactivate in 2022 (🎉)!
  • 16 dormant Meetups were removed from the WordPress meetup chapter program, because the previous organizers were not available to reactivate the group and no member came forward to serve as organizer.

Next Steps

In the months ahead, Supporters will continue to reach out to organizers of dormant groups, share resources to help them reactivate, and help find new organizers when needed. We will continue to share updates here on the Community Team blog.

Thank you to our wonderful meetup reactivation supporters, the hundreds of meetup organizers who are reactivating their groups, and the energetic new organizers who have come forward to lead meetups!

Want to reactivate your local meetup group or form a new meetup?

Contact the Community Team at support@wordcamp.org. We’re here to help!

Need help to reengage your community, or assistance in finding new ideas for your Meetup events?

Reach out to the Meetup Support team at meetup-support@wordcamp.org!

Relevant posts:

#meetups, #outreach, #reactivation

#meetups, #community-management, #community-team

Julia Golomb 11:40 pm on September 27, 2022
Tags: #meetups,   

By 15 October – Please complete the Annual Meetup Survey and share widely!

The annual 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. survey will remain open until 15 October.

If you already completed and shared the survey, thank you! If you haven’t, read on!

Meetup group members: Please complete the Annual Meetup Program Survey, even if you haven’t participated in a meetup recently.

Meetup organizers: Please complete the Annual Meetup Organizer Survey. Then, share the Meetup Program Survey with your group via discussion boards, email, social media, and announce it at your next Meetup event.

The surveys are available in 14 different languages, listed below.

Surveys

Why complete the survey?

This is an important opportunity to share your feedback on 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. in 2021 and 2022 (thus far). Even if you did not attend meetup events in 2021-2022, your input is valuable! The survey takes less than 5 minutes, and the results will help strengthen WordPress meetups in the years to come. Our goal is to achieve a 100% response rate among meetup organizers around the world, and as high a response rate as possible among members.

What’s Next?

Complete the survey by 15 October!

Share the Annual Meetup Program Survey with your local meetup community, in whichever languages are relevant to your region.

#meetups, #annual-survey

Isotta Peira 4:00 pm on September 22, 2022
Tags: #meetups, , ,   

Meetup Organizer Newsletter: September 2022

Hello, organizers!

This month… What a month! September kicked off the new season of WordCamps with four spectacular in-person WordCamps: WCUSWCUS WordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event., 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. Kathmandu, WordCamp Jinja, and WordCamp Netherlands!

Want to check out the next WordCamps? Have a look at the schedule! If there are no WordCamps near you, here are a couple of suggestions for you:

Talking about new ideas for Meetup events, have you ever thought about organizing a 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. charity hackathon? This month’s newsletter is focused around do_action events: what they are, and why your community might want to host one.

Around WordPress

Polyglots: join Polyglot teams on September 28th to celebrate the WordPress Translation Day 2022!

Code references in DevHub (WordPress Developer Docs) are now easier to use, understand and navigate.

Gutenberg 14.0 was released on August 31, 2022, and brings with it enhancements, extra blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. support in the UIUI UI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think ‘how are they doing that’ and less about what they are doing., a revamped List block, and more.

Want to support the Test Team? They are looking for Testing Facilitators.

Photo team: get inspired from the photo challenge organized to celebrate World Photography Day!

Community: check out the new proposal for integrating CamPix to Google Sheets, and join the discussion.

The Diverse Speaker Training group met on Sept 14, and talked about the Speaker Workshop for Indian Women in the WordPress Community that will take place on Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25, 2022, from 9:00am to 11:30am (IST).

Curious to know what happened during WordCamp US 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/.? Read the recap here! In the WordPress Briefing, you can hear contributors at WordCamp US share stories about their why for using WordPress and attending WordCamps.

Don’t miss the latest news from The Month in WordPress – August edition.

News From the Learn WordPress Team

Exciting news from Learn WordPress this month! First of the list, the Lesson Plans part of Learn has a brand new landing page!

And for all polyglots out there, everyone is welcomed to join and spread the word about the Content Localization project. By doing it, you will help increase and expand availability of content on Learn WordPress to a variety of non-English locales.

Last but not least, there are new tutorials available on Learn WordPress!

The latest video are:

Excited to see what else the LearnWP team is up to? Check out their blog to find updates and more. While there, subscribe in the right column to stay up-to-date between newsletters!

do_action events: WordPress Community Charity Hackathons

do_action hackathons are community-organized events that use WordPress to give deserving charitable organizations an online presence. Each do_action event includes participants from the local WordPress community coming together to plan and build brand new websites for one or more local organizations in one day or a few hours.

With do_action events, the WordPress community has helped more than 9500 NGOs around the world!

Are you interested in learning more about WordPress charity hackathons? Visit the do_action official page here! If your Meetup group can’t gather together in person yet, here you can find a video about how to organize an online do_action.

Use this form to apply if you want your Meetup group to be the next to host a do_action charity hackathon!

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 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. 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: @evarlese @peiraisotta @bjmcsherry

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

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

Megan 10:54 pm on September 20, 2022
Tags: #meetups, ,   

WordPress Events Organizer Training (Americas Timezones Version)

As part of WordPress Deputy / Organizer training series, we are excited to invite all 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 around the world to attend our upcoming Zoom Session for WordPress Organizer Training.

@samsuresh hosted this training earlier this month on the 15th at 8am ET, but it was requested that we also host one that is Americas timezone-friendly. We will go over the same topics as last time, just with different participants. 🙂 If you attended the previous session, you are still welcome to attend this one, as the questions and tips shared may differ.

Date & TimeThursday, September 29, 2022 at 5:00 PM EDT
LocationZoom Video Conference
RSVPZoom RSVP

WordPress Meetup organizers and WordCamp organizers from all over the world are invited to this chat. This is also a wonderful opportunity to meet other people involved in the WordPress community and exchange advice and ideas with other event organizers!

Agenda

TimeAgenda
Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 5:00 PM EDTMeet and Greet
Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 5:15 PM EDTWordPress In-Person Events Briefing
Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 5:30 PM EDTWordPress Meetup Reactivation Project
Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 5:45 PM EDTQ&A by Community organizers
Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 6:15 PM EDTClosing

Please RSVP to receive an invitation via email with the Zoom link! If you have any questions, feel free to email support@wordcamp.org.

#meetups, #community-team, #wordcamps