Hugh Lashbrooke 10:24 am on December 1, 2020  

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Cami Kaos 9:32 pm on February 25, 2021  

Proposal to improve the organizing experience for online WordCamps

Over the past year WordPress event organizers around the globe have learned so much about the process of organizing WordCamps, meetups, and other events online because we had to do that to keep going. Now that we’ve had a year to come together in this new way several of us have seen common obstacles. Timi and I met earlier this week to discuss those obstacles and how we might make organizing online WordCamps a better experience for all.

Getting through the obstacles 

Though there are a variety of obstacles that stand in the way of ideal online event organization there seem to be three things that are prominent for many 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.

Tools

We are spoiled for choice when it comes to online streaming tools. Because of this, organizers are using the tools that appeal most to them and their organizing team. This is great for personal choice, but makes it difficult to document the technical process to make the recording, broadcasting, and communicating part of the conference less time intensive so organizers can focus on what matters: content.

Documentation

The Community Team has spent years creating a handbook, training, and documentation for organizing our in-person events, but after a year of the WordPress community organizing exclusively online events, we haven’t created a lot of methodology or documentation to guide organizers through the specifics of all it takes to organize an online event. This knowledge gap, combined with not recommending specific tools has made this process harder to build extensive documentation for. 

Money

Organizing an online event is a lot of work. Technical work that many of us don’t have the experience to carry out. In the beginning of the pandemic, we solved the technical hurdle by hiring live streaming professionals to do the technical work for our events while organizers were able to focus on content. Since we’re not charging for registration with online events, it left sponsorship as our singular funding source. It’s not financially responsible, or in the long term possible, for WordCamps to continue paying for professional streaming producers and still maintain the values and expectations of the program.

The proposal

What we’re proposing is that we (community organizers, deputies, and members of the community team) select a small number of tools for both pre-recording speaker sessions and live presentation of speaker sessions, as well as select any ancillary editing and communication tools so we can document more completely the event process. While doing so we’d increase the knowledge base of our organizers and volunteers, decrease our dependence on paid production, and reduce the amount of fundraising needed to sustain this program while it continues in its online-only state. At this time we are not proposing the specific tools to be used. We would like to hear from the organizers of all of our online events throughout 2020 to see which tools were most successful for them, while keeping in mind 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) and cost. 

What’s missing?

I’m a big fan of acknowledging that I don’t know what I don’t know. Is there more that should go into this proposal? If there are additional considerations, please share those in the comments.

How can you help?

If you were part of an organizing team for an online WordCamp, please share with us what worked, and just as importantly, what didn’t work for you in the comments below. If you have online event organizing experience outside of WordCamps we’d love for you to share that as well, but please let us know what type of event your recommendations are based on when you share them.

Who is making this proposal?

This is a joint proposal from @sippis and @camikaos with additional support from @courtneypk and @kcristiano.

jillbinder 7:32 pm on February 24, 2021
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Recap of the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) on February 24, 2021

Attending: @jillbinder @tantienhime @oneal @katiejrichards

Summary:

  • The Interactive, Transformational Watch party last week seemed to be was a great format for our Learn WordPress workshops.
  • What was missing was having more time for participants to discuss pitches. We came up with a few solutions and would love your feedback on which one
  • We need to make the messaging to meetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area./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 about our workshops much simpler. Even create a very simple “package” that is easy to copy/paste to their communities. We will try this out for the Great Lakes workshop next week and our next global workshop on March 18 (or March 17 and 18).
Continue reading →

#wpdiversity

Cami Kaos 7:03 pm on February 23, 2021
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Tuesday Trainings: When can we start having meetups in person again?

This year we’ve changed the format of Tuesday Trainings to reflect questions that are frequently asked of those of us in the Deputy program, or to clear up confusion that we see in everyday planning and discussion. If there’s a question you’d like to see answered please share it in the comments or email me at [email protected] with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

When can we start having meetups in person again?

I know that many communities are anxious to get things back to normal. Or at least as back to normal as can be found in these trying times. But we can only get back to seeing one another in person when it is safe for us to do so.

There have been a lot of conversations around this and what stands out most strongly to me is that everyone is sharing the answer that they feel is right. When so many people have such heightened feelings on a topic it is often more challenging for an entire community to come together and agree. I’m seeing and hearing a lot of frustration around this topic, and that is understandable. But mostly I am seeing people assuming good intent and working together to find what’s right for our community at large, and that is wonderful. 

Because there are some countries, states, cities, or areas where  Covid-19 risk is very low, we see that there is an opportunity for those communities to gather together in a safe way. So while I can’t answer for all meetups in this post, I can tell you that we’re on our way to seeing one another in person once again. But only in locations in which it is allowed by local public health rules and that meet the program expectations shared in this Community Handbook page on returning to in person meetups.

If you’re curious if your group qualifies you can go through the in-person meetup decision checklist to learn if your group is eligible. If you feel that you are eligible you’re required to submit your form before you move forward with organizing. If you don’t meet the criteria there’s no need for you to submit the form.

We qualify to proceed (with caution!!) to organize an in person meetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area.. Does that mean we HAVE TO?

Nope. It absolutely doesn’t mean you have to. This option is available because there are a few pockets of the world that seem to really have this thing under control with nearly no new infections. If groups in those areas would like to meet in a permitted, safe and cautious way we don’t want to stop them. But no one is required to switch back to in person meetups.

If your local conditions do qualify for in person meetups, please make sure you fill out the checklist form before you proceed, and keep all of the expectations and precautions shared in mind.

My meetup doesn’t qualify but that’s okay, the meetup group two cities away is hosting an event. I’ll go to that.

For everyone’s safety, I’m going to have to ask you to refrain from attending any meetup event that is outside of your immediate, local meetup. The expectations we’ve put into place do not account for people traveling from other areas to attend events. We ask that for the time being you only attend events in your own area. 

I’m so excited about seeing people! Does this mean we can have 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. in real life too?

I’m excited to see people again too, but we’re not there yet. Meetups are traditionally much smaller and on an event by event basis, much easier to organize. They also present little financial risk if they must be cancelled. At this time we’re not approving any in-person WordCamps, contributor days, or other larger format events. Just the Meetups that fall into the expectations we’ve shared with communities that would like to meet in person.

But how was this all decided?

I’m so glad you asked. A lot of time, effort, and conversation went into this decision. And all the while we kept in mind a need to be morally, legally, and financially responsible about any decisions made for the future of the program. The conversation started with a post from current Community Team RepTeam Rep A Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts. @sippis back in July of 2020. You can read his post here, and will also be able to find links to continuing posts in the comments.

I have another question!

I always love another question. If there’s something you don’t feel was covered here or in the linked handbook or discussion threads please ask in comments so we can start a conversation about it.

What’s coming next with Tuesday Trainings?

I’m taking a couple of weeks off to unwind, but I didn’t want to leave you all without something to learn on upcoming Tuesdays. Please be sure to join us the next three for Tuesday trainings posts from @kcristiano and a Tuesday Training discussion on March 16 with @harishanker! I can’t wait to see what they’ve shared when I return!

#meetups-2, #tuesdaytrainings

WordCamp.org 4:00 am on February 22, 2021
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Weekly Updates

Hello to all our Deputies, 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, MeetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area. wranglers, and WordPress Community builders! You were probably hard at work this weekend. Tell us what you got accomplished in our #weekly-update!

Have you run into a roadblock with the stuff you’re working on? Head over to #community-events or #community-team in 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/. and ask for help!

Erica Varlese 10:12 pm on February 18, 2021
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X-post: Recap for Learn WordPress Working Group meeting – February 18, 2021

X-post from +make.wordpress.org/training: Recap for Learn WordPress Working Group meeting – February 18, 2021

Andrea Middleton 8:52 pm on February 18, 2021  

Proposal: 2021 Global Community Sponsorship program

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

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

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

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

EDIT: This version of the program does NOT include direct WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. sponsorship. Unless something changes drastically, WordCamp sponsorship in 2021 will be handled on an “a la carte” basis.

2021 Global Sponsorship benefit package proposal

Cost: USD $10,000/quarter; sponsor limit 6 (due to meetup.com constraints)
  1. Your company’s logo, with a link back to the company landing page of your choice, on all WordPress chapter meetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area. group pages (as of Jan 2021: 454,482 Members, 745 groups, 109 countries). Available to inscribers by 26 March, who will commit to at least two quarters of sponsorship. 
  2. Acknowledgement in all WordCamp “ticket purchase successful” pages (39,000 in 2020; projected 19,000 in 2021).
  3. Acknowledgement on the WordCamp CentralWordCamp Central Website for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each. home page (over 400k annual views).
  4. Acknowledgment in one program-wide email to all 454,607 members of a WordPress chapter account meetup/user group.
  5. Acknowledgment on sponsor page on WordCamp Central (8,698 views in the past 365 days).
  6. Monthly email with spreadsheet of WordCamps in planning and on the schedule
  7. “Featured” acknowledgment on all monthly meetup organizer newsletters (received by 2,800+ WordPress community leaders every month).
  8. Opportunity to list discounts or free resources that meetup and WordCamp organizers can use for new user workshops, charity hackathons, etc., on the official WordCamp Organizer handbook page for use at community events. This page will be promoted through the Meetup Organizer newsletter, received by 2,800+ WordPress community leaders monthly.

Feedback

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

Cami Kaos 12:01 am on February 18, 2021
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Tuesday Trainings: The Foundation Said…

As we start to change up the format of Tuesday Trainings we’re going to try some new things. For the past few weeks I’ve shared a question that I, and other Community Team Deputies, are often asked. This week is a similar approach but to a statement we hear repeatedly that causes some confusion. 

The Foundation said…

Let’s dive right in, shall we?

Some history: The WordPress Foundation

The WordPress Foundation is a charitable organization founded by Matt Mullenweg to further the mission of the WordPress open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. project: to democratize publishing through Open Source, GPL software.

The point of the foundation is to ensure free access, in perpetuity, to the software projects we support. People and businesses may come and go, so it is important to ensure that the source code for these projects will survive beyond the current contributor base, that we may create a stable platform for web publishing for generations to come. As part of this mission, the Foundation will be responsible for protecting the WordPress, 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., and related trademarks. A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, the WordPress Foundation pursues a charter to educate the public about WordPress and related open source software.

https://wordpressfoundation.org/

Let me sum up, The WordPress Foundation (also referred to as “WPF”) is a non-profit organization created to protect WordPress and the WordPress family of trademarks, and to further education around open source and WordPress. Over the years it acted as a financial and legal entity for WordCamps and Meetups. This meant that full-time Community Team contributors, sponsored by Automattic, were tasked with financial and legal matters for the Foundation (e.g., receiving sponsor payments, making vendor payments through WPF’s bank accounts, acquiring event insurance, and signing contracts and other agreements as necessary for event organizers. 

But with the WordCamp and MeetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area. programs growing exponentially over the years, it came to light that running events under the non-profit organization that was created to oversee trademarks and education wasn’t exactly the right fit. 

In part because it was financially limiting for the events and not really representative of the mission the WordPress Foundation was founded upon. 

What does that mean?

In addition to the technical complications with WordPress Foundation being the supporting entity for events, it also caused some confusion when the community organizers overseeing the WordCamp and Meetup programs would create or enforce expectations. We started hearing a lot of people say that “the foundation” said they could do this or couldn’t do that. And that “the foundation” made this rule or that rule. Or “the foundation” won’t let me do this thing or that thing.

However, the Foundation wasn’t making decisions for events in the WordPress program. Community Organizers, members of the WordPress Community Team, and the WordPress community were making those decisions and still do to this day. What the WordPress Foundation was doing was acting as a financial entity to support the program so that WordCamp organizers were better supported legally and financially. The only items “the foundation” enforced were WordPress and affiliated trademarks, as well as financial regulations imposed on non-profit organizations in the United States of America. As mentioned above, those limiting financial regulations were a part of the reason that it didn’t work for the WordPress Foundation to be the entity supporting WordCamps and Meetups. Because of that, and a number of other contributing factors, WordPress Community Support, PBC (a subsidiary of WordPress Foundation, but its own entity) was formed.

A little more history and the present: WordPress Community Support, PBC

In early 2016, WordPress Community Support, PBC (also referred to as “WPCS”), a subsidiary of WordPress Foundation, was founded. WPCS was 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. You can check out this post from March 2016 for more details.

WPCS took over all of the financial and legal obligations for events from WordPress Foundation. As a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), instead of a non-profit organization (NPO), it was able to better meet the financial requirements of events including receiving sponsorship, allowing the coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. mission of WPF to remain as it was intended. 

So now WPCS makes the rules?

Nope. WordPress Foundation didn’t make the rules for WordCamps and Meetups, and neither does WordPress Community Support. So I guess here is where we still have a little bit of confusion around WPF, WPCS, and WordPress Community Team. 

WPCS is a legal and financial entity created to support the WordCamp and WordPress events program. It has no employees. It doesn’t even have any volunteers. We have volunteers who are authorized to make and receive payments through WPCS accounts, those who are authorized to review and sign contracts, and those who audit and maintain our finances. But we’re all WordPress contributors. Just like no one works “for” WordPress no one works “for” WPCS or WPF.

Choose your own adventure:

Path 1: Resolution

This makes so much sense! This FAQ really answered all my WPF, WPCS, and Community contributor questions and I’m ready to go out into my day empowered with clear information and knowledge that I feel confident in! 

If you chose path one I hope you have a lovely rest of your day enjoying your well earned knowledge.

Path 2: Wait what?

I have so many more questions. I don’t know this, that, or the other thing. I crave more information!

If you chose path two I hope you know what to do. Leave your questions, comments, and/or concerns in the comments below so we can talk about it and clear up any confusion we still have here.

Big thanks to @courtneypk @evarlese and @kcristiano for their ideas and support with this post.

#tuesdaytrainings

#tuesdaytrainings

Timi Wahalahti 7:47 pm on February 17, 2021
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Community Team Meeting agenda for 2021-02-18

The Community Team bi-weekly meeting is happening this week. The meeting is meant for all contributors on the team and everyone who is interested in taking part in some of the things our team does. Feel free to join us, even if you are not currently active in the team!

Please note the new meeting times!

Asia-Pacific / EMEA friendly meeting: 2021-02-18 12:00 UTC
Americas friendly meeting: 2021-02-18 21:00 UTC

Below is a preliminary agenda for the meeting. If you wish to add things you’d like bring to into discussion, comment below or reach out to team reps @sippis or @kcristiano. It does not need to be a blog post yet, the topic can be discussed during the meeting nevertheless. We use the same agenda for both meetings.

Preliminary agenda

Deputy / Mentor / Contributor check-ins

What have you been doing and how is it going? What you got accomplished after the last meeting? Are there any blockers? Can other team members help you in some way?

Highlights

Call to Meetup and WordCamp Organizers and their Underrepresented Community Members: Interactive, Transformational Watch Party!
The Diverse Speaker Training Group invites WordPress event organizers and their marginalized or underrepresented community members to a 1.5 hour “Interactive, Transformational Watch Party” on February 18th, 2021 at 5:30-7:00 PM UTC! Together, attendees will watch the Diverse Speaker Training Workshop Part 1 on the Learn WordPress site, and be invited to participate in the engaging and impactful exercises.

Tuesday Trainings: How can I best support my meetup group during these challenging times?
Really enjoyed this version of Tuesday Trainings! Worth reading, it has good tips on how to help fellow meetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area. organizers with their local meetup groups. The whole series is actually worth sharing with your community-oriented friends.

Meetup Organizer Newsletter: February 2021
The latest revision of the meetup organiser newsletter has been sent out! Spread the content in your local community.

New and ongoing discussions

Meeting times and Daylight Savings Time
DST is here again and some parts of the world are moving their clocks. In previous years, we have moved the meeting times accordingly one hour forward after EU/UK has started the DST. What should we do this year, stick with UTC times or move like previously?

Annual Meetup Survey Revisions for 2020
It’s time to send the annual Meetup Survey again for organisers and attendees! Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the WordPress Chapter Meetup program pivoted to online events partway through 2020. With that in mind, the surveys do need changes. @courtneypk is looking to get feedback before 2020-02-23.

Announcement: Decision making checklist for in-person meetups now available
The team agreed on creating a checklist and allowing in-person meetups if a certain set of criteria are met. There are also helpful resources for meetup organisers that do have questions around the topic. How community members have received this information? Any feedback at this point? Is all this information understandable for local organisers and deputies?

Community Team 2021 Goals Summary
We managed to put our goals for this year together! The summary is quite lenghty, so please take a time to read it carefully. There are set of ongoing goals, to which everyone can contribute easily in their everyday work. There’s also bit bigger goals for Q1 and Q2 what would need someone or group of contributors working towards the goals. Share in the post or in the meeting, if you are interested on working some goal!

Open floor

Opportunity to bring things into discussions that weren’t on the meeting agenda and if anyone has something they would like to share with the team. If you have a topic in mind before the meeting, please add it into the comments of this post.

Hope to see you on Thursday, either on Asia-Pacific / EMEA or Americas friendly version of the meeting!

Preliminary agenda was put together in collaboration of @sippis and @kcristiano.

#meeting, #meeting-agenda, #team-chat, #team-meeting

Christina Workman 2:47 am on February 17, 2021  

Contributor Working Group Agenda | February 17 2021

Here is the Agenda for our meeting on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 20:00 UTC in the #community-team channel in 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/.. As always, you can add comments to the meeting afterwards, and/or add comments to the recap post.

Agenda

  1. Team check-in
  2. Upcoming Daylight Saving Time
  3. Group check-ins
  4. Any blockers?
  5. Goal discussion for 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/. Handbook group (final goal may be decided async)
  6. Next steps

#WPContributors

Erica Varlese 3:04 pm on February 16, 2021
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X-post: Learn WordPress Working Group agenda – February 18, 2021 (19:00 UTC)

X-post from +make.wordpress.org/training: Learn WordPress Working Group agenda – February 18, 2021 (19:00 UTC)