Tag Archives: WordCamps

Sam Suresh 12:06 am on January 29, 2024
Tags: , WordCamps   

Community Team Training #12: WordCamp Budgeting Tips

We are excited to invite you to attend our upcoming Zoom Training Session scheduled as follows:

TitleCommunity Team Training #12: 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. Budgeting Tips
Date08 February 2024
Time & RSVP2024/02/08 12:00 UTC (1 Hour) 
Open toAll community members
LocationZoom Video Conference

Training Brief

How much money do I need to raise? How much is “normal”? How do I keep the budget review call from being a sleepless night? How do I get Central to pay suppliers as soon as possible? How do I know if everything is going according to plan or if we’re going to have problems in the last month? Why does everything need to balance?

Event organizers and community team members alike face event budgets with more questions than answers. In this session, we will try to answer many of these questions and look at ways to make life easier for all of us.

Reading Materials

Related article:
https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/wordcamp-organizer/first-steps/budget-and-finances/

Presenter

Juan Hernando
@unintended8 has twice been a budget team leader at WordCamp Europe and collaborated in four editions of the local WordCamp in Pontevedra, as well as reviewed other event budgets I have mentored and have seen many things we can share to improve together. We welcome all your ideas and experiences as well!

RSVP

Please RSVP, so you will receive an invitation in your email that will include the Zoom link. If you have any questions, feel free to comment.

RSVP: 2024/02/08 12:00 UTC (1 Hour)

REGISTER HERE:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUufuCorjkiGtHfa7KLmmpu_48cNjs4E25K

#community-team, #wordcamps

Harmony Romo 9:12 pm on January 23, 2024
Tags: , , WordCamps   

Events of the Month – November & December

In a continuing effort to provide some real-time information for event organizers and the community alike, below is a month-in-review post with recaps of the prior month’s events and how they fared financially, in terms of ticket sales and budget.

Of note, the end of 2023 was particularly active with a total of 12 events in November and December.

Updates on WordCamps Held Before November
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. Nairobi, Kenya (Aug 16-17)
Final Tickets Sold: 160
Approved Attendee Total: 200
Budget Notes*: Transparency Report reviewed and budget closed

Final cost $8,265 USD and cost per person/day of $26 USD.

Event closed on budget.
Open Items – Finances: No Open Items
WordCamp Finland (Sept 14-15)
Final Tickets Sold: 407
Approved Attendee Total: 500
Budget Notes*: Budget closed.

Final cost $36,805 USD/ 34,397 EUR and cost per person/day of $45 USD/ 42 EUR.

Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $11,249 USD/ 10,513 EUR
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Pontevedra, Spain (Sept 16-17)
Final Tickets Sold: 254
Approved Attendee Total: 300
Budget Notes*: Budget closed

Final cost $24,125 USD/ 22,546 EUR and cost per person/day of $47 USD/ 44 EUR.

Event closed on budget
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Biarritz, France (Oct 6)
Final Tickets Sold: 304
Approved Attendee Total: 300 
Budget Notes*: Budget closed

Final cost $50,874 USD/ 47,546 EUR and cost per person/day of $167 USD/ 156 EUR.

Event closed with additional Global Sponsorship funds used of approximately $715 USD / 668 EUR
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Bhopal, India (Oct 7-8)
Final Tickets Sold: 353
Approved Attendee Total: 350 
Budget Notes*: Transparency Report reviewed and budget closed. 

Final cost $10,399 USD/ 866,544 INR and cost per person/day of $15 USD/ 1,227 INR.

Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $297 USD/ 24,778 INR
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Taiwan (Oct 14)
Final Tickets Sold: 321
Approved Attendee Total: 500
Budget Notes*: Budget closed.

Final cost $25,892 USD/ 835,240 TWD and cost per person/day of $81 USD/ 2,602 TWD.

Event closed with additional Global Sponsorship funds used of approximately $5,506 USD / 177,600 TWD. The main reason for this need is related to invoicing errors by the venue. The invoices issued were lower than the quoted prices, but this was not noticed until after the event. The venue issued an invoice for the unbilled portion post event. 
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Tokyo, Japan (Oct 21)
Final Tickets Sold: 424
Approved Attendee Total: 400 
Budget Notes*: Still awaiting Transparency Report submission and final numbers. 
Open Items – Finances: Still Awaiting final Transparency Report**, and the team has been in communication to say the information will be submitted as soon as possible.
WordCamp Tegal, Indonesia (Oct 22)
Final Tickets Sold: 83
Approved Attendee Total: 75
Budget Notes*: Transparency Report reviewed and budget closed. 

Final cost $2,164 USD/ 33,298,615 IDR and cost per person/day of $26 USD/ 401,188 IDR.

Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $86 USD/ 1,324,385 IDR. 
Open Items – Finances: No open items.
WordCamp Mumbai, India (Oct 28-29)
Final Tickets Sold: 495
Approved Attendee Total: 500
Budget Notes*: Transparency Report reviewed and budget closed. 

Final cost $23,351 USD/ 1,945,944 INR and cost per person/day of $24 USD/ 1,966 INR.

Event closed on budget
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp and Events Held in November
WordCamp San Jose (November 4 – 5)
Final Tickets Sold: 411
Approved Attendee Total: 450 
Budget Notes*: Budget closed.

Final cost $41,481 USD and cost per person/day of $50 USD

Event closed with additional Global Sponsorship funds used of approximately $4,770 USD. 
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Madrid (November 4 – 5)
Final Tickets Sold: 619
Approved Attendee Total: 600
Budget Notes*:  Budget closed.

Final cost $85,951 USD/ 80,300 EUR and cost per person/day of $69 USD/ 65 EUR

Event closed on budget. With some special negotiations, the organizing team was able to apply a payment of approximately 7,000 EUR from a 2020 venue deposit towards the 2023 chosen venue.
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Montreal – ONLINE (November 8 – 9)
Final Tickets Sold: 79
Approved Attendee Total: 200
Budget Notes*: Budget closed.

Final cost $326 USD/ 446 CAD and cost per person/day of $4 USD/ 6 CAD

Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $755 USD/ 1,034 CAD. 
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Valencia (November 10 – 11)
Final Tickets Sold: 394
Approved Attendee Total: 390
Budget Notes*: Budget closed.

Final cost $34,206 USD/ 31,968 EUR and cost per person/day of $43 USD/ 41 EUR

Event closed with additional Global Sponsorship funds used of approximately $1,160 USD / 1,084 EUR
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Manila (November 11)
Final Tickets Sold: 289
Approved Attendee Total: 230 
Budget Notes*: Transparency Report reviewed but awaiting a few answers to open questions
Open Items – Finances: Open questions sent 1/10/2024
WordCamp Verona (November 17 – 18)
Final Tickets Sold: 295
Approved Attendee Total: 300
Budget Notes*: Budget closed.

Final cost $25,974 USD/ 24,275 EUR and cost per person/day of $44 USD/ 41 EUR

Event closed with additional Global Sponsorship funds used of approximately $4,481 USD / 4,188 EUR
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Hong Kong (November 18)
Final Tickets Sold: 77
Approved Attendee Total: 70
Budget Notes*: Transparency Report reviewed and budget closed. 

Final cost $7,927 USD/ 60,975 HKD and cost per person/day of $103 USD/ 792 HKD

Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $2,264 USD / 17,417 HKD. 
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Islamabad (November 25 – 26)
Final Tickets Sold: 176
Approved Attendee Total: 200
Budget Notes*: Transparency Report reviewed and budget closed. 

Final cost $5,404 USD/ 1,512,951 PKR and cost per person/day of $15 USD/ 4,298 PKR

Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship funds of approximately $489 USD / 135,764 PKR
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Udaipur (November 25)
Final Tickets Sold: 300
Approved Attendee Total: 350
Budget Notes*: Awaiting Final Numbers
Open Items – Finances: Still Awaiting final Transparency Report**, and team has responded to say they are working on the final numbers
WordCamp and Events Held in December
WordCamp Ahmedabad (December 9)
Final Tickets Sold: 1051
Approved Attendee Total: 800 
Budget Notes*: Awaiting Final Numbers
Open Items – Finances: Still Awaiting final Transparency Report**, a post event email has been sent to the team requesting their submission
WordCamp Lahore (December 9-10)
Final Tickets Sold: 363
Approved Attendee Total: 350
Budget Notes*: Transparency Report reviewed and budget closed. 

Final cost $6,200 USD/ 1,722,361 PKR and cost per person/day of $9 USD/ 2,372 PKR

Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship funds of approximately $3,600 USD / 1,000,000 PKR
Open Items – Finances: No open items

Budget Notes*: An event closed on budget if the approved Global Sponsorship amount is what was utilized. If an event is able to raise more sponsorship income or ticket income, or the expenses are less than amounts listed in the approved budget, the additional funds are contributed back to the Global Sponsorship fund. If, on the other hand, an organizing team raises less sponsorship income or ticket income than planned, or expenses are higher than originally budgeted, the additional amount needed to cover all expenses is covered by the Global Sponsorship fund and will be stated as additional Global Sponsorship funds used. This amount represents funds in addition to the approved Global Sponsorship amount.

The goal of WordPress events is to provide a space where community members can come together and share knowledge, build relationships with other members and sponsors, and spread love for WordPress. The goal is never to make money. Because WordPress Community SupportWordPress Community Support WordPress Community Support PBC is a Public Benefit Corporation, 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. pays taxes on any income at year end, we strive to hold events where income is equal to expenses.

Transparency Report**: WordCamps that run funds through WordPress Community Support (WPCSWordPress Community Support WordPress Community Support PBC is a Public Benefit Corporation, 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.) – meaning WPCS collects ticket income and sponsorship income, and pays vendors directly – are not required to submit a Transparency Report. 

Alternatively, organizing teams that run money locally collect all or some of the ticket income and sponsorship income directly. The team then uses the collected funds to pay expenses of the event. The organizing team is responsible for completing a transparency report after the event where they submit receipts/documentation for all expenses, support for ticket income collected, and support for sponsorship income collected. More info can be found here. 

#community-team, #wordcamps, #events-of-the-month
Cate DeRosia 8:10 pm on November 29, 2023
Tags: , , , WordCamps   

Should We Allow Sponsor Demo Rooms or Tracks at Events?

The discussion at WCUSWCUS WordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event. contributor dayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/ sparked conversation around new opportunities events could possibly offer to sponsors. One of them was a place to better explain or showcase their products. 

Today, a WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. proposed this idea in the form of a Sponsor Demo room or track.

In short, sponsors would be given the option to present information of their choosing in the Sponsor Demo room or track. The event would be responsible for highlighting to attendees that this is sponsor-driven content that could include sales pitches. 

What do we think of this idea?

If we like the idea, here are a few questions that quickly come to mind. 

  • How would an event offer it to sponsors?
    • Could it be a stand alone option?
    • Would it need to be part of a package? 
    • Could it be an add on to a package?
  • Should we call it a track or a room to differentiate it from the Speaker Track?

Please leave any additional questions below as well as any feedback or comments.

#discussion, #events-2, #sponsorship, #wordcamps

Harmony Romo 7:42 pm on November 14, 2023
Tags: , , WordCamps   

Events of the Month – October

In a continuing effort to provide some real-time information for event organizers and the community alike, below is a month-in-review post with recaps of the prior month’s events and how they fared financially, in terms of ticket sales and budget.

As we roll into the final quarter of 2023, the month of October was quite active. The month closed out with a total of 13 events.

Updates on WordCamps Held pre-October with Open Budgets
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, India (March 25)
Final Tickets Sold: 499
Approved Attendee Total: 500
Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $19,664 USD/1,638,635 INR and cost per person/day of $39 USD/ 3,284 INR.
Event closed on budget.   
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Nairobi, Kenya (Aug 16-17)
Final Tickets Sold: 160
Approved Attendee Total: 200
Budget Notes*: Initial review of Transparency Report complete. Awaiting response in regards to small surplus.
Open Items – Finances: Awaiting response in regards to small surplus.
WordCamp Denmark (Aug 26-27)
Final Tickets Sold: 48
Approved Attendee Total: 95
Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $11,002 USD/ 73,347 DKK and cost per person/day of $115 USD/ 764 DKK.
Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $4,190 USD/ 27,937 DKK
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Jinja, Uganda (Sept 4 – 5)
Final Tickets Sold: 186
Approved Attendee Total: 250
Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $6,290 USD and cost per person/day of $17 USD.
Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $60 USD to be used towards future 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. expenses
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Kathmandu, Nepal (Sept 8-9)
Final Tickets Sold: 473
Approved Attendee Total: 450
Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $18,288 USD/ 2,438,435 NPR and cost per person/day of $19 USD/ 2,577 NPR.
Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $1,828 USD/ 243,694 NPR to be used towards future WordPress expenses. Surplus held in WP Nepal account.
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Finland (Sept 14-15)
Final Tickets Sold: 407
Approved Attendee Total: 500
Budget Notes*: Awaiting Final Numbers
Open Items – Finances: Several payments still pending (Signage, Audio/Visual, Speaker Event)
WordCamp Pontevedra, Spain (Sept 16-17)
Final Tickets Sold: 245
Approved Attendee Total: 300
Budget Notes*: Awaiting Final Numbers
Open Items – Finances: Several payments still pending (Audio/Visual & Swag)
WordCamp Vancouver, Canada (Sept 23)
Final Tickets Sold: 241
Approved Attendee Total: 375
Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $16,470 USD/ 21,671 CAD and cost per person/day of $68 USD/ 90 CAD.
Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $550 USD/ 724 CAD.
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp and Events Held in October
WordCamp Biarritz, France (Oct 6)
Final Tickets Sold: 304
Approved Attendee Total: 300 
Budget Notes*: Awaiting Final Numbers
Open Items – Finances: Food & Beverage payments still pending 
WordCamp Masaka, Uganda (Oct 6 – 7)
Final Tickets Sold: 217
Approved Attendee Total: 200
Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $8,136 USD and cost per person/day of $19 USD.
Event closed with additional Global Sponsorship funds used totaling $1,336 USD. The majority of this relates to customs fees for swag. A potential way to avoid this in the future will be to source the swag locally using templates provided by Central. This is in the works.
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Bhopal, India (Oct 7-8)
Final Tickets Sold: 353
Approved Attendee Total: 350 
Budget Notes*: Awaiting Final Numbers
Open Items – Finances: Still Awaiting final Transparency Report**, and team has responded to say they are working on the final numbers
WordCamp Atlanta, USA (Oct 14-15)
Final Tickets Sold: 181
Approved Attendee Total: 500
Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $39,439 USD and cost per person/day of $109 USD.
Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $5,781 USD after making major budgeting changes due to lower than expected sponsorship and ticket sales.
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Skopje, North Macedonia (Oct 14)
Final Tickets Sold: 254
Approved Attendee Total: 250
Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $6,548 USD/ 385,188 MKD and cost per person/day of $26 USD/ 1,516 MKD.
Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $1,140 USD/ 67,046 MKD.
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Taiwan (Oct 14)
Final Tickets Sold: 321
Approved Attendee Total: 500
Budget Notes*: Awaiting Final Numbers
Open Items – Finances: Several payments still pending (Food, Speaker Event, Swag, After Party, Signage)
WordCamp Germany (Oct 19-21)
Final Tickets Sold: 276
Approved Attendee Total: 250
Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $45,743 USD/ 42,220 EUR and cost per person/day of $28 USD/ 25 EUR.
Event closed with additional Global Sponsorship funds used of approximately $2,091 USD/ 1,955 EUR.
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Sevilla, Spain (Oct 20-22)
Final Tickets Sold: 243
Approved Attendee Total: 200
Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $28,304 USD/ 26,452 EUR and cost per person/day of $39 USD/ 36 EUR.
Event closed with additional Global Sponsorship funds used of approximately $5,785 USD/ 5,407 EUR.
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Wroclaw, Poland (Oct 21)
Final Tickets Sold: 106
Approved Attendee Total: 100Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $5,337 USD/ 23,205 PLN and cost per person/day of $50 USD/ 219 PLN.
Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of $2,064 USD/ 8,973 PLN.
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Tokyo, Japan (Oct 21)
Final Tickets Sold: 424
Approved Attendee Total: 400 
Budget Notes*: Awaiting Final Numbers
Open Items – Finances: Still Awaiting final Transparency Report**, and the team has been emailed to request the report.
WordCamp Tegal, Indonesia (Oct 22)
Final Tickets Sold: 83
Approved Attendee Total: 75
Budget Notes*: Awaiting Final Numbers
Open Items – Finances: Still Awaiting final Transparency Report**, and the team has been emailed to request the report.
WordCamp Managua, Nicaragua (Oct 28)
Final Tickets Sold: 173
Approved Attendee Total: 200
Budget Notes*: Budget closed. 
Final cost $3,914 USD and cost per person/day of $23 USD.
Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of $821 USD.
Open Items – Finances: No open items
WordCamp Mumbai, India (Oct 28-29)
Final Tickets Sold: 495
Approved Attendee Total: 500
Budget Notes*: Awaiting Final Numbers
Open Items – Finances: Still Awaiting final Transparency Report**, and the team has been emailed to request the report.

Budget Notes*: If an event was able to raise more sponsorship income or ticket income, or the expenses were less than amounts listed in the approved budget, the additional funds are contributed back to the Global Sponsorship fund. If, on the other hand, an organizing team raises less sponsorship income or ticket income than planned, or expenses are higher than originally budgeted, the additional amount needed to cover all expenses is covered by the Global Sponsorship fund and will be stated as additional Global Sponsorship funds used.

The goal of WordPress events is to provide a space where community members can come together and share knowledge, build relationships with other members and sponsors, and spread love for WordPress. The goal is never to make money. Because WordPress Community SupportWordPress Community Support WordPress Community Support PBC is a Public Benefit Corporation, 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. pays taxes on any income at year end, we strive to hold events where income is equal to expenses.

Transparency Report**: WordCamps that run funds through WordPress Community Support (WPCSWordPress Community Support WordPress Community Support PBC is a Public Benefit Corporation, 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.) – meaning WPCS collects ticket income and sponsorship income, and pays vendors directly – are not required to submit a Transparency Report. 
Alternatively, organizing teams that run money locally collect all or some of the ticket income and sponsorship income directly. The team then uses the collected funds to pay expenses of the event. The organizing team is responsible for completing a transparency report after the event where they submit receipts/documentation for all expenses, support for ticket income collected, and support for sponsorship income collected. More info can be found here. 

#community-team, #wordcamps, #events-of-the-month
Harmony Romo 1:47 pm on October 18, 2023
Tags: , , WordCamps   

Events of the Month – September

In an effort to provide some real-time information for event organizers and the community alike, Central would like to present a month-in-review post with recaps of the prior month’s events and how they fared financially, in terms of ticket sales and budget.

It’s hard to believe that October is upon us! 2023 has been a big success in terms of in-person events in the WordPress space. The year has already seen 3 flagship events and 43 local WordPress events, including several NextGen events. September was particularly active with 10 WordCamps and 1 NextGen event.

WordCamps Held in September 2023
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.DatesFinal Tickets SoldAttendee Total Approved with BudgetBudget Notes*Open Items – Finances
JinjaSept 4-5186250Awaiting final numbersStill Awaiting final Transparency Report**, team has responded and is working to gather final support
NetherlandsSept 7-8407400Budget closed.

Final cost $66,403 USD/62,060 EUR and cost per person/day of $81.58 USD/76.24EUR.

Event closed on budget (if there are no additional expenses to report)		No Open Items
MalaysiaSept 8-9280300Budget closed.

Final cost $16,270 USD/73,953 MYR and cost per person/day of $29.05 USD/132.06 MYR.

Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship Fund of $2,914 USD/12,380 MYR		No Open Items
KathmanduSept 8-9473450Awaiting final numbersStill Awaiting final Transparency Report**, and team has responded to say they are working on the final numbers
FinlandSept 14-15407500Awaiting final numbersSeveral payments still pending (After Party, Food, Venue)
PontevedraSept 16-17245300Awaiting final numbersSeveral payments still pending (Swag, Audio/ Visual)
Whitley BaySept 1897120Budget closed. 
Final Cost $6,665 USD/5,332 GBP and cost per person/day of $68.71 USD/85.88 GBP.

Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $4,187 USD/3,350 GBP.		No Open Items
VancouverSept 23241375Awaiting final numbersSeveral payments still pending (Food, Venue)
Rome
Community Day		Sept 293060Budget closed.

Final Cost: $98 USD of Global Sponsorship funds used and cost per person/day of $2.88 USD. 		No Open Items
GdyniaSept 30211110Budget closed. Transparency Report submitted and reviewed.

Final Cost: $4,919.45 USD/21,540 PLN and cost per person/day of $25.52 USD/102.09 PLN.
Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $1,232 USD/4,932 PLN 		No Open Items
RochesterSept 3079120Budget closed.

Final Cost: $5,100 USD and cost per person/day of $64.56 USD
Event closed with a contribution to the Global Sponsorship fund of approximately $833 USD		No Open Items
Updates on WordCamps Held pre-September with Open Budgets
WordCampDatesFinal Tickets SoldAttendee Total Approved with BudgetBudget Notes*Open Items – Finances
KeralaMarch 25499500Awaiting final numbersStill Awaiting final Transparency Report**, and team has responded to say they are working on the final numbers
NairobiAug 16-17200Awaiting final numbersStill Awaiting final Transparency Report**, and team has responded to say they are working on the final numbers
DenmarkAug 26-274895Awaiting final numbersSeveral payments still pending (Signage, Swag)

Budget Notes*: If an event was able to raise more sponsorship income or ticket income, or the expenses were less than amounts listed in the approved budget, the additional funds are contributed back to the Global Sponsorship fund. If, on the other hand, an organizing team raises less sponsorship income or ticket income than planned, or expenses are higher than originally budgeted, the additional amount needed to cover all expenses is covered by the Global Sponsorship fund and will be stated as additional Global Sponsorship funds used.

The goal of WordPress events is to provide a space where community members can come together and share knowledge, build relationships with other members and sponsors, and spread love for WordPress. The goal is never to make money. Because WordPress Community SupportWordPress Community Support WordPress Community Support PBC is a Public Benefit Corporation, 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. pays taxes on any income at year end, we strive to hold events where income is equal to expenses.

Transparency Report**: WordCamps that run funds through WordPress Community Support (WPCSWordPress Community Support WordPress Community Support PBC is a Public Benefit Corporation, 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.) – meaning WPCS collects ticket income and sponsorship income, and pays vendors directly – are not required to submit a Transparency Report. 
Alternatively, organizing teams that run money locally collect all or some of the ticket income and sponsorship income directly. The team then uses the collected funds to pay expenses of the event. The organizing team is responsible for completing a transparency report after the event where they submit receipts/documentation for all expenses, support for ticket income collected, and support for sponsorship income collected. More info can be found here.

#community-team, #wordcamps, #events-of-the-month
Timi Wahalahti 7:28 am on September 29, 2023
Tags: , , tagregator, , , WordCamps   

Announcement: Sunsetting Tagregator plugin on WordCamp.org websites

WordCamp.org websites have had the Tagregator 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. available and enabled for ten years. The plugin allowed organisers to pull content from various social media networks onto their pages.

Recently, many social media networks have introduced breaking changes in their APIs. Some have even made 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. access nearly impossible at our scale. At the same time, the WordCamp.org MetaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. team has not received many questions or feedback about how to use the tool, while it most probably hasn’t worked as expected for quite some time.

That is why the WordCamp.org Meta team has decided to sunset the Tagregator plugin after the discussion on GitHub.

Old sites with content that Tagregator has pulled from social media networks are unaffected since all the posts are cached in our database, and the plugin remains active on those sites.

Currently, there are no alternative solutions for displaying social media posts that the WordCamp.org Meta team would support. Given how restricted social media platforms are nowadays, it is also unlikely that such would come later. If you have good viable suggestions, you can suggest one in the comments.

Props @iandunn, @ryelle and @rmarks for helping with this effort.

#meta-wordcamp, #official-websites, #tagregator, #wordcamp-sites, #wordcamp-org, #wordcamps

Isotta Peira 11:30 am on May 24, 2023
Tags: , , , WordCamps   

Idea generation: Next Gen WordCamps!

Earlier this month, a post proposed an updated purpose and experimentation for WordCamps. The Community Team is eager to see what this creative community wants to see!

In entering this very experimental phase, organizers are encouraged to propose new event formats and topics that match a proposed, updated purpose:

WordPress events spark innovation and adoption by way of accessible training and networking for users, builders, designers, and extenders. We celebrate community by accelerating 21st-century skills, professional opportunities, and partnerships for WordPressers of today and tomorrow.

The WordPress community also holds certain expectations and values, such as lowering barriers to participation, celebrating the community as a whole instead of any one business or individual, and supporting diversity and inclusion. The Community Team would like to support innovative event ideas that align with the new purpose and our WordPress community values. 

As a reminder, all currently scheduled WordCamps will continue to be supported. While the Community Team encourages organizers to try new ideas, we will also continue to support WordCamps in all forms. 

To help spark some new ideas, here are some interesting event formats we could try!

  • Content topic focused (designers, 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. development, SEO, etc)
  • Identity-based (women, castes, BIPOC, Latinx, LGBTQI+, tribes, age, etc)
  • “Eco” 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. (no swag, smaller, more frequent, more sustainable)
  • ​​WP expertise level (beginners, intermediate, advanced)
  • Focused activity (training, recruiting, networking, contributing, conferencing, etc)
  • Job status focused (students, fresh graduates, job seekers, freelancers, business owners, etc)

Your turn: what Next Gen WordCamp do you want to see?

Share your ideas in the comments below! Whether they are fully conceptualized or just initial thoughts, let’s hear what kind of ideas you have for Next Gen WordCamps. Think outside the box and forget about the handbooks for a moment.

What would be the most beneficial for your WordPress experience? What do you want to learn? What do you want next for your WordPress community and career? What would be the most memorable experience? What would propel WordPress events into the future?

If you already have a specific idea in mind and you would like to give it a try, use this form to apply to organize an innovative WordPress events, and we’ll get back to you to discuss how we can support you in making it happen!

Don’t miss tomorrow’s Community Team discussion: The Next Generation of WordCamps: everyone is invited to share their thoughts and envision the future of these events.

Additionally, keep an eye out for upcoming conversations about the necessary tools for the Next Gen events, and talking points for facilitating new event brainstorm sessions with your local communities!

#discussion, #ideas, #next-gen-events, #wordcamps
jillbinder 2:28 pm on April 27, 2023
Tags: , WordCamps, ,   

Report: #WPDiversity Diverse Speaker Workshops December 2022 and January 2023

In December 2022 and January 2023, the #WPDiversity group held diverse speaker workshops in AMER/EMEA and APAC time zones, respectively. Also Italy held a speaker workshop.

Diverse Speaker Workshops

We held two interactive watch parties that included speaking topic exercises and real-time feedback. The attendees were supported by several 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. who helped support them through the experience.

December 2022

How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events #WPDiversity, December 7, 2022

Facilitator: @jillbinder

  • Number who attended online: 22
  • From number of cities: 21
  • From number of countries: 12 (Bangladesh, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Philippines, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Uganda, United States)
  • Self-reported increase in public speaking self-confidence scores: 48%

Testimonials

“Studying the material on your own is already very useful, but taking the workshop is another experience! Having the chance to share and receive feedback from the group is the most valuable thing for me. I’d recommend anyone to participate in the next one!” – Isotta Peira, Community Engagement Specialist, Barcelona, Spain

“I really liked seeing new faces and hearing new ideas.” – Ljubica Goranovic, Digital Marketing Specialist, Serbia

January 2023

How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events APAC, January 28, 2023

Facilitator: @jillbinder

  • Number who attended online: 31
  • From number of cities: 27
  • From number of countries: 10 (Australia, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United States)
  • Self-reported increase in public speaking self-confidence scores: 40%
  • Number from the workshop who 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: 5 applications from 4 workshop participants

Testimonials

There were a lot of amazing testimonials shared by participants during the event and in the feedback form afterward. You can read the testimonials under the “Show full post” section below.

Impact

The 4 speakers from the workshop who applied to speak at WordCamp Kerala were all accepted. They all reported back that they had really great experiences speaking thanks to the workshop. One of the speakers wrote a blog post about the workshop and her experience : https://akshayar.online/from-novice-to-wordcamp-speaker-navigating-the-journey/

Speaker Workshop in Italy

January 10, 2023

Facilitator: @simo70

  • Language: Italian
  • Number who attended: 4
  • From number of cities: 3 (Ancona, Milan, Rome)
  • From number of countries: 1 (Italy)

“I would like to thank all the people who participated, the #WPDiversity group for the great materials, and all the people who did the Italian translations with me.” — Simona Simionato

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:

  • getting to know other speakers and event organizers
  • workshopping talks with each other and with mentors
  • finding out about WordPress speaking opportunities from 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
  • getting connected with support for speaker travel expenses

Wins these months:

A win counts as:

  • Applying to speak at an event
  • Speaking at an event
  • Getting speaker mentorship in the channel

There have been so many of these (but most of them not reported in the channel itself) that it’s been hard to keep on tracking. We are creating a new system with a form to make it easier going forward! If we do get the numbers, we will update this post.

Thank you

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

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Upcoming Workshops

May 13, 2023 @ 10am-12:30pm IST: Organizing Diverse & Inclusive WordPress Events APAC

The list of upcoming #WPDiversity events is posted on the Diverse Speaker Group (#WPDiversity) page in the Community handbook. Please check there for upcoming events.

#diversespeakerworkshopsreports

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Testimonials: How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events APAC, January 28, 2023

Continue reading →

#diversespeakerworkshopsreports, #wordcamps, #wordpress

Sjoerd Blom 12:23 pm on April 6, 2023
Tags: , , , WordCamps   

Personalised Coupon Codes for WordCamps

When you organise a WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. you get to a point where you need to issue coupons for speakers, organisers, volunteers and sponsors. Usually, coupons are “shared” with others from that group: volunteers will share a coupon code, speakers will share a different coupon code, and so on.

Using a shared coupon code also means that we need to verify every coupon that was used: is the buyer entitled to use the coupon code? Not every WordCamp team does this, but the WCEUWCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event. team does this.

For WCEU 2023 below is an overview of coupon codes that are needed:

  • Photographers: 24
  • Volunteers: 190
  • Speakers: 70
  • Organisers: 99
  • Sponsors: 208

Total of 591 coupon codes

As you can imagine this number causes quite a huge workload on the team that is responsible for the tickets, especially when they come across a name that is not on the list: then these names need to be flagged and also verified. Maybe this name was initially missed on the list? Or maybe this name is replacing someone else?

Smaller WordCamps may have around 125 coupon codes, but they don’t have a dedicated team just for the attendee services, but probably one person responsible for the tickets and verifying the coupon codes.

Using a personalised and unique code for everyone entitled to a coupon code is the best solution. Coupon codes are matched against a name and if there’s a mismatch: you know who to approach.
Also: the personal coupon code can’t be shared endlessly with other people who are not involved in the WordCamp.
And, not less important: it saves us from cancelling tickets that have been booked by people who shouldn’t use the tickets and also from hurting people’s feelings as they might feel offended when we contact them to inform them.

There are WordCamps that have created workarounds for personalised coupons, all were done through some side coding solutions, not as a real solution. So there is definitely a need for personalised coupon codes.

In the past couple of weeks, Vagelis Papaioannou developed a pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. that generates personalised coupon codes. You can find his repository on GitHub. It’s an add-on to the CampTix plugin. This plugin would really help WordCamp organisers create personalised coupons and save them a lot of time and unnecessary work.

Note: this post is a summary of a post in Slack.

#camptix, #meta-wordcamp, #slack, #wordcamps

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

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