Hugh Lashbrooke 10:24 am on December 1, 2020  

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Rocio Valdivia 11:58 am on October 4, 2019
Tags: ,   

How to contribute to the Global Community Team

These are some of the different options for getting involved with 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. 🙂

1) The best way to start is by organizing 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/or WordCamps in your city. If you feel like you can represent WordPress, follow the code of conduct for WordPress events, and follow the five good-faith rules for 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. organizers, then you can apply to join the program: 

  1. a) Check if there is a WordPress Meetup group in your city – if there is one, join it, attend the events, and step up by either helping the organizers or becoming an organizer yourself!
  2. b) Check if there is a WordCamp in your area – you can attend, apply to speak, volunteer, sponsor and/or help organize your local 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.!
  3. c) If there is not an existing WordPress Meetup group (or if there is an inactive group) in your town/city and you want to start one, you can apply here – you’ll receive a reply within a couple of weeks.

2) If you already have experience organizing a successful WordCamp and have an availability of 2-3 hours a month, you can apply to become a WordCamp mentor here: – you’ll receive a reply within a couple of weeks.

3) If you have had at least 1 year of experience as a Meetup organizer and/or have been a WordCamp lead organizer, you are familiar with the WordPress Open Source project and philosophy, you have at least 2-3 hours a week available for contributing, and you accept our Code of Conduct, you can apply to become a Community DeputyDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook.. We are a team of community-minded people around the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at 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.. You can apply to join the Global Community Team as a deputy here – you’ll receive a reply within a couple of weeks.

Note: if you have any additional questions, join us in the #community-events channel of Make WordPress Slack, we’ll be happy to help you there!

#contributors

Cate DeRosia 7:19 pm on June 6, 2023
Tags: , mentor-program-updates, ,   

Updates to the Community Team Mentor Program

@juliarosia and I are continuing to work on updating the Team’s mentorship experience. 

The purpose of this post is to succinctly recap the decisions made earlier this year and present next steps as we work to update the Community Team contributor roles.

Key Points of this Post

  • New names have been finalized for the contributor roles:
    • MentorsMentor 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. → Community Team Event Supporters 
    • Community DeputiesDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. → Community Team Program Supporters
    • Super DeputiesSuper deputy Super Deputies are Deputies who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule. → Community Team Program Managers
  • 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 is transitioning into ongoing Meetup Check-ins performed by Event Supporters.
  • The new unified application, orientation, and onboarding will be tested by former meetup reactivators and new applicants.
  • Program Supporters will have two new quarterly tasks: (1) Conduct check-ins with a small group of Event Supporters, (2) Maintain the Meetup Tracker, using the information their group of Event Supporters provides.
  • This post ends with a feedback request and an opportunity to give input on when and how to implement approved changes.
  • Anything implemented will evolve over time and can be reverted if necessary.

Previously in Q1

For those who wish to review, here’s the basis for the information that has been discussed so far.

Name Changes

After great feedback and deliberation, we have settled on these names for our contributor groups. 

  • Mentors become Community Team Event Supporters, and will be generally referred to as Event Supporters.
  • Community Deputies become Community Team Program Supporters, and will be generally referred to as Program Supporters.
  • Super Deputies become Community Team Program Managers, and will be generally referred to as Program Managers.

Closing the Reactivation Project

The Meetup Reactivation Project is transitioning into a Meetup Check-In task, which is discussed in more detail below. As part of that, by 9 June we will share a post showcasing the data from the project and thanking the participants.

To help with this new task, we will invite some Meetup Reactivation Supporters to become Event Supporters with responsibilities based on their experience. 

These community members will likely continue to be an asset to the Community Team and will be useful in testing the new unified contributor application, orientation, and onboarding process. 

New Unified Processes

This process is based on what was created for the Meetup Reactivation Project and will allow all new contributors to join the team through one system. It creates less work for the team and provides opportunities for contributors to move into other roles as they choose. 

  • Community members with less community experience will be able to begin contributing while growing their skills.
  • Those with advanced experience who qualify to be a Program Supporter can move directly into that role. 

For those interested, you can take a peek at drafts of the new application and orientation script.

Adding the Meetup Check-In Task to the Event Supporter Role

This task allows the Community Team to have more contact with 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. who are the backbone of our community and provides an introductory contribution opportunity that has been missing.

To complete this task, each Event Supporter (new and existing) will perform three primary steps twice a year.

  1. Look at the Meetup.com page for each meetup to see if they are holding regular meetups.
  2. Email the meetup organizers assigned to them to see how things are going.
  3. Update the spreadsheet with the data for the meetups that have been contacted.

Templates will be available for those who wish to use them. 

Two New Program Supporter Tasks

To add the previously discussed mentorship responsibilities to our Program Supporter role, two new quarterly tasks will be needed.

One: Each Program Supporter will be given a group of Event Supporters to check in with and help as needed. This check-in can be via 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/., email, or Zoom, based on individual preference. It’s simply intended to be a way to increase our support of each other.

Two: Each Program Supporter will use their Meetup Tracker access to help update the statuses of the meetups being checked on by their group of Event Supporters. This can be done more than once a quarter, but once a quarter is a good starting point.

Implementation

Julia and I will begin using the unified system to onboard new contributors shortly. There hasn’t really been much of a system before and this gives us something to start with.

Fortunately, like with most things on the Community Team, it is built to be flexible. If at any point we don’t like the unified system or new tasks, they can be changed or removed entirely.

If we do approve them, we will need to decide on the timeline for implementing them, particularly the name change. Remembering that everything is flexible and can be removed, we recommend implementing the name change, unified system, and new tasks as a part of the Community Team standard operating procedure by 1 July.

That gives us the rest of the year to update documentation and resources, and test the processes to see if these changes are a good fit for the Community Team.

Next Steps

  1. The Community Team will discuss the changes and share their feedback.
  1. Julia and I will continue building the necessary resources. This includes:
    1. Issuing invitations to some of the Meetup Reactivators to join the Community Team as Event Supporters.
    2. Using the new unified system to onboard new contributors immediately. This includes invited Meetup Reactivators who accept, and any new applicants who are vetted.
  2. Updates will be made by the Community Team to existing documentation and resources, as well as adding new documentation as needed, based on acceptance of the name changes, unified system, and new tasks.

Feedback

Now it’s your turn. Share your thoughts in the comments below. It would be particularly useful to hear any questions or concerns as relates to:

  • the new unified system
  • the new contributor tasks
  • implementing the name changes, new system, and tasks that are accepted by the Community Team

Additionally, there will be a Community Team discussion, currently planned for 15 June. You are also welcome to open discussions in Slack.

Comments on this post will close on 16 June.

#community-team, #mentor-program-updates, #refining-mentor-program, #updates

Naoko Takano 6:58 am on June 6, 2023
Tags: transparency report, WPCS   

What happens when a WordCamp doesn’t provide a transparency report

In some places, it can be difficult for WordPress Community SupportWordPress Community Support WordPress Community Support PBC is a subsidiary of WordPress Foundation. It is created specifically to be the financial and legal support for WordCamps, WordPress Meetup groups, and any additional “official” events organized within the WordPress Community Events program., PBC, to pay 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. vendors directly. To support these WordCamps, the global sponsorship amount is sent to the organizing team, who then runs funds locally. These teams are required to provide a budget transparency report within a month after the event is wrapped up. The report consists of a collection of documents that outline the use of funds (details).

Why Transparency Report is Important

It’s really important for the WPCSWPCS The collection of PHP_CodeSniffer rules (sniffs) used to format and validate PHP code developed for WordPress according to the WordPress Coding Standards. May also be an acronym referring to the Accessibility, PHP, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, etc. coding standards as published in the WordPress Coding Standards Handbook. to have reports about how WordCamp funds are used. Firstly, it is important that community and sponsor funds are appropriately spent and in service of the WordPress community! Second, as a public benefit corporation, WPCS is required to submit regular financial and operational reports to maintain its status.

Transparency Report Reminder & Follow-ups

After the WordCamp, the organizing team that runs funds locally receives a reminder to submit the transparency report. If one isn’t submitted over two weeks, a Community DeputyDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. or MentorMentor 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. will reach out to see if the team needs additional support. If a WordCamp organizing team still does not provide a satisfactory transparency report within the specified deadline, the team member(s) may face serious consequences, such as:

  • Account suspension: 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/ and 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/. accounts may be suspended for violating the Community Code of Conduct.
  • Report to local authorities: WPCS may report the case to the local authorities for misappropriation of funds.
  • Suspending future events: The local community may be suspended from organizing or participating in any future WordCamp or WordPress events until they rebuild trust with the community.

Incident Report: Misappropriation of WordCamp Funds describes one example of a transparency issue in the past.
Community Team DeputiesDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. and WordCamp MentorsMentor 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. are here to support organizers throughout this process.

The Community Team is Here to Help

We understand that budgets are hard! Even if the transparency report takes longer, organizers who work with the Community Team in good faith will not be subjected to these consequences. I want to emphasize that nobody wants anyone to come to the consequences described above. If you need any assistance or clarification, please contact your mentor or [email protected].

#transparency-report, #wpcs

Devin Maeztri 6:54 am on June 6, 2023
Tags: , event tooling,   

Discussion: Next Generation Event Tooling 

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 have done amazing things with WordCamp sites. While WordCamp has kept our events afloat for a long time, organizers have long raised challenges with the current platform. As we explore the Next Generation WordPress Events, it seems a great time to also iterate on our current platform as we look to the future of events. 

This is a broad call for input on what sort of tooling would make creating WordCamp sites a joy for WordCamp organizers. Specifically when it comes to building and using the WordCamp website, what have you experienced that you found frustrating? What would you like to be able to do that you currently cannot? 

What does it mean for our Next Gen WordPress Event experimentation?

We need you to share some ideas on how we can maintain our WordPress-powered event site such as WordCamp.org easier, and make it more useful for our event organizers. 

But remember! This discussion is NOT about: 

  1. The events hosted on Meetup.com.
  2. Creating brand-new infrastructure. Rather, we want to make improvements to the current infrastructure.

Idea Example 1: One-size-fits-all Application for Speakers

This came up during the Community Discussion on May 25, 2023, from the group that was assigned a topic on tooling. Having a speaker application system where organizers can send emails to and communicate with potential speakers can help avoid miscommunication and reduce event workload.

Idea Example 2: Alternative URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org Mapping

We’ve heard a great idea floating around — reworking our URL structure to include ‘event’. If folks search for “WordPress events”, they typically get results about event plugins, rather than community-organized events. 

Since the new audience might not be aware of terms like “WordCamp”, a more straightforward URL structure could help us reach broader participants who are seeking specific events such as training and networking.  For example events.wordpress.org/city/2023/event-type

An added benefit is that our community will be able to direct those who are interested in future events to check out updates by using URLs such as events.wordpress.org/city.

Share your feedback by June 20, 2023

To figure out the tooling that would be most effective for our Next Gen Event planning sites, please share ideas about what features could be added or removed to make the most of the website experience.

The community team is very aware that there are also additional tools folks would like to have, like better tools for surveys. e-mail, communication, newsletters. The hope currently is that the focus can be on WordCamp sites only, so the WordCamp 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 can get a better sense of scope and priority. Future posts will have calls for additional tools!

Please comment by June 20, 2023. The Community and Meta team will review all comments and prioritize based on the level of impact and level of effort required. 

Thank you to @angelasjin, @harmonyromo, @peiraisotta, and @nao for contributing to the post! 

 #next-gen-events #community-event #event-tooling

KafleG 3:39 am on June 6, 2023
Tags: make.wordpress.org/themes,   

X-post: Themes team at WordCamp Europe 2023

X-comment from +make.wordpress.org/themes: Comment on Themes team at WordCamp Europe 2023

Junko Nukaga 2:47 pm on June 2, 2023
Tags: ,   

WCEU 2023 Contributor Day – Community Team topics/focus

WCEUWCEU WordCamp Europe. The European 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/. 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?

We will have several sub-tables to discuss and work on several topics.
Topics to be discussed include Each table will have facilitators.

Some tables also have coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. times. Everyone is free to come and go as they please, so please join a community table, even if it is just on a topic that interests you.

Contributor Working Group – Mentorship

Subgroup lead: Hari Shanker ( @harishanker )
Time: All day (Everybody is welcome to join anytime)
Dedicated Meeting Time: 15:00 – 15:30

https://make.wordpress.org/project/2023/02/06/proposal-creating-a-wordpress-contributor-mentorship-program/
The contributor working group is working on a WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program. The pilot is scheduled to start asap after WCEU. This means that the discussions at WCEU will be focussing on the practical side of making this happen, and marketing the idea/getting buy-in from other Make Teams. 

Resources:

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in WordPress

Subgroup lead: Junko Nukaga ( @nukaga ) , Shusei Toda( @st810amaze )
Time: 11:00 – 12:00

This group will discuss about DE&I in WordPress. Inviting new voices to an established and global project, like WordPress, takes proactive and thoughtful work on behalf of leaders and contributors, especially since 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. contribution requires a fair amount of privilege. WordPress seeks to embrace this reality and work to lower the barrier of entry, proactively and consistently over time.

Resources:

Improving Sponsorship Proposals

Subgroup lead: Taco Verdonschot ( @tacoverdo )
Time: After Lunch

The average sponsorship proposal by WordCamps are pretty bad. They don’t clearly describe the sponsor’s benefits. E.g. What does ‘medium logo’ mean? To help WordCamps do better in this area, we’ll need to write practical information in the event handbooks. 

This was briefly touched at WC Asia, but needs to be continued.

Resources:

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. Orientation

Subgroup lead: Francesco Di Candia ( @francescodicandia ) , Isotta Peira ( @peiraisotta )
Time: After lunch

Gather any applications that require orientation, and do it in person.
This will happen if there is a Super DeputySuper deputy Super Deputies are Deputies who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule., DeputyDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook., or MentorMentor 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 can do orientation at Contributor Day.

Organizers Meetup

Subgroup lead: Isotta Peira ( @peiraisotta ), Francesco Di Candia ( @francescodicandia )
Time: 11:00 – 12:00

Can plan a meetup for all EU organizers to identify their challenges / AMA / Q&A session.

Resources:

Discussion about Next Generation 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.

Subgroup lead: Angela Jin ( @angelasjin )
Time: 14:00 – 15:00

This group will discuss the proposal that was announced in May about Next Generation WordCamps. WordCamps have been happening around the world since 2006 and maybe it is time for an update. Attendees have their own peripherals to their purpose of attending an event and there might be a chance for an update to the format WordCamps are held. 

Resources:

Documentation Update / Creating New Documentation

Subgroup lead:Megan Rose ( @megabyterose )
Time: TBD

The Community Team documents need some updates. Starting with WordCamp Handbooks, there are multiple handbooks available for the community members to take a look at. But not all the information is up-to-date and Contributor Day is a great chance to update some documents for the community.

Also would like current organizers to contribute new articles based on things that they do in their WordCamp / MeetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. but are not available in the handbook.

Others

In addition to the above topics, we will be reviewing the Trello board for community team goals for 2023, discussing whether they are feasible with the resources available, and receiving feedback on other ways to better serve the community.

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!

The community table leads are @tacoverdo , @st810amaze , @francescodicandia , @megabyterose and me @nukaga. If someone have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Thanks again to the leads and sub-leads, for contributions to this post!

#community-team, #wceu-contributorday

Patricia BT 8:58 pm on June 1, 2023  

Early Speaker and Volunteer Selection and Improved Visa Support

As the WordPress community continues to grow and evolve, so too must our approach to organizing 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. events. A key concern involves the timing of speaker and volunteer selections, along with the challenges faced in obtaining visas for international participation. We see so many visa rejections among speakers and volunteers for WCEU2023, it’s very sad!

In this post, I’ll outline why I think addressing these issues is crucial for our community.

1. The case for early speaker and volunteer Selection

  • Travel and Accommodation: Booking travel and accommodation is more economical and less stressful when done earlier. Early selection enables speakers and volunteers to plan accordingly. Some people will attend only if they are selected as a speaker or volunteer.
  • Visa Applications: For speakers and volunteers traveling internationally, getting a visa can be a lengthy process. Early selection gives them enough time to apply for visas, deal with any potential issues or delays, and, if necessary, appeal against visa rejections. See point 2 below.
  • Work Commitments: Early selection allows professionals to manage their work schedules, take necessary time off, and avoid overcommitments.
  • Personal Planning: Beyond logistical and professional considerations, early selection facilitates personal planning, including arranging childcare or coordinating with family schedules.
  • Sufficient Preparation Time: Speakers require ample time to prepare quality presentations. Earlier approval would also give unexperienced speakers more time to prepare their presentation. Similarly, volunteers need to understand their responsibilities well in advance.
  • Event Promotion: Announcing speakers and volunteers early can drive ticket sales and enhance overall event promotion.

2. Addressing visa challenges for WordCamp Europe and local WordCamps in Europe

  • Establishing an Official Address in Europe: To facilitate visa application process for speakers, volunteers, and attendees coming from outside of Europe, WordPress Community SupportWordPress Community Support WordPress Community Support PBC is a subsidiary of WordPress Foundation. It is created specifically to be the financial and legal support for WordCamps, WordPress Meetup groups, and any additional “official” events organized within the WordPress Community Events program. should establish an official address within the European Union or the Schengen area. This could be done through establishing a non-profit organization or a for-profit subsidiary of the US entity or partnering with an existing entity that can provide this support. This could significantly streamline the visa application process.
  • Visa Applications Processing: Visa applications should ideally be processed in the country where the WordCamp is taking place or the country where “WordPress Community Support, Europe” has an official address (see above). This can potentially increase the chances of approval.
  • Visa Support and Guidance: Speakers and volunteers should be provided with comprehensive support during their visa application process, including a very detailed file of invitation and assistance with necessary documentation.
  • Don’t forget that to apply for a visa, people usually need to buy a plane ticket and those tickets are often non-refundable, so we must do everything in our power to ensure that they are approved.
  • Contingency Planning for Visa Rejections: In case of visa rejections, a contingency plan should be in place. This might involve aiding in the appeal process or arranging for remote participation.

3. The Importance of longer lead times for local WordCamps

Even for local WordCamps focusing on local audiences, early speaker and volunteer selection is beneficial. This allows individuals to manage their other commitments and ensures better event promotion, thereby boosting local community engagement. It is not sustainable for speakers to be selected only in the weeks before the event, and for them to be announced only in the weeks or even days leading up to the event.

Conclusion

By addressing these points, we aim to make WordCamp events more accessible, enjoyable, and rewarding for everyone involved. We believe these changes will result in smoother event planning, better-prepared speakers and volunteers, successful visa applications, and improved attendee experiences. Let’s continue this conversation and make the necessary changes to enhance our WordCamp experiences for our growing WordPress community.

  • Please let’s brainstorm our ideas in this shared document
  • List potential partners who could be an official entity in the European Union or the Schengen area to act as the official european address for WordPress Community Support.
Julia Golomb 11:00 am on June 1, 2023  

WordCamp Mentors’ June check-in!

Hello MentorsMentor 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.!
If you are currently mentoring 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., please share how the organizing team is doing and any other insights, interesting ideas, or innovations that they’re planning.

Comment on this post to share your update. You are welcome to share updates here throughout the month. Thanks! 😁

#mentors, #wordcamp

Devin Maeztri 4:03 am on June 1, 2023
Tags: , ,   

Next Gen of WordPress Event Talking Points – Share Your Ideas for a New Event Format and Make It Happen!

To continue our discussion on May 25, 2023, we’ve prepared a set of talking points for you to use during 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. events, 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. Contributor Days, or just casual chats with your WordPress folks. They’ll help you kickstart engaging discussions that will ignite excitement within your community.

Next Generation WordPress Event Talking Points

Discuss with Your Community

But hold on, it doesn’t end there! Share any ideas and conversations you have with your community. If you’re planning to participate in this year’s experimentation, we want to hear about your plans and insights.

Remember, our WordPress events are vibrant gatherings of passionate WordPress enthusiasts and they focus on making a real impact while embracing our open-source values. So, don’t feel like your new event format has to be grand or require extensive resources. Even a small, meaningful, and impactful event can make a difference!

Next Generation WordPress Event Ideas Form

Help Us Translate the Message

Here’s the kicker: we need your help to also bridge the language gap. Community leaders, we invite you to translate the Talking Points and Ideas Form for your community members to ensure that everyone can actively participate and contribute to the conversation.

Join us in celebrating diversity, fostering inclusivity, and creating an ecosystem that thrives on collaboration. Use the talking points, translate them, and share your ideas with us.

We can’t wait to see the magic we’ll create together. Thank you for being an essential part of the global WordPress community!

Thank you, @peiraisotta and @nao for contributing to this post!

#ideas #community-events

#next-gen-events

Cate DeRosia 3:38 pm on May 31, 2023
Tags: , team-chat, team-meeting   

Community Team Meeting Agenda for 1 June, 2023

The Community Team chat takes place the first Thursday of every month. 

This 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!

Asia-Pacific / EMEA friendly meeting: Thursday, 1 June at 12:00 PM UTC
Americas friendly meeting: Thursday, 1 June at 21:00 PM UTC

You will find a preliminary agenda for the meeting below. 

If you wish to add points to discuss, comment on this post or reach out to one of the team reps: @leo, @nukaga, or @mysweetcate. 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.

Check-ins: DeputiesDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. / MentorsMentor 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. / Contributors

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

Highlights to Note

Here are a few things everyone should be aware of.

Open Posts

Check out these new and ongoing discussions needing review, feedback, thoughts and comments.

  • The Next Generation of WordCamps – Through this change, we, the Community Team, want to celebrate community by accelerating 21st-century skills, professional opportunities, and partnerships for WordPressers of today and tomorrow. We’re looking for new ideas on howWordPress events can spark even more innovation and adoption by way of accessible training and networking for users, builders, designers, and extenders. Add your ideas to the conversation!
  • Idea generation: Next Gen WordCamps! – While the Next Generation of WordCamps post focuses on the idea of changing and innovating our event formats, this post opens the door to more focused community brainstorming. Please leave your new event ideas either in tomorrow’s discussion on Slack, or directly on the post as a comment.

Announcements / Newsletters

Open Floor

This is your chance to discuss things that weren’t on the meeting agenda. 

We invite you to use this opportunity to share anything that you want with the team. If you currently have a topic you’d like to discuss, add it to the comments of this post and we will try to update the agenda accordingly.

Hope to see you on Thursday, either in the Asia-Pacific / EMEA (12:00 UTC) or Americas-friendly version (21:00 UTC) of the meeting!

#meeting-agenda, #team-chat-2, #team-meeting-2

Isotta 11:09 am on May 26, 2023
Tags: , ,   

Notes of Community Team Discussion on May 25, 2023

Yesterday’s Community Team discussion was fantastic! We had 99 people registered for the event, and 43 attendees from all around the world! Thank you all for your passion, curiosity, and energy during the call and during the brainstorming session.

We started the session with an introduction about the organizer, volunteer, and sponsor struggle coming back to in-person events after the pandemic, and the new purpose that emerged from it for the WP Community. 

After clarifying doubts regarding the future of traditional 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 WordCamps, we had a brainstorming session aimed to generate new ideas for the next generation of WordPress events. Participants discussed in small groups about fundamental aspects that we have to consider when moving forward with pilot events for new event types.

We asked attendees to ignore the hanbooks and focus on the new purpose and for the event to be: 

  • doable (for human and financial resources)
  • repeatable (by new/old organizer and more than once per year)
  • scalable (other communities might try the same format)
  • desirable (for organizer, attendees, sponsors, volunteers). 

Keeping the above in mind, in 9 breakout rooms attendees brainstormed about the following topics:

  • Event formats (room 1-2)
  • Organizing team structure (room 3-4)
  • Organizing timeline (room 5-6)
  • Benefits for sponsors (room 7-8)
  • Infrastructure/tools required (room 9)

After the session, which lasted about 10 minutes, we all came back to the main room and we shared the outcomes of our discussions. Many people agreed that 10 minutes were not enough to deeply discuss the topics assigned. 

We encouraged attendees to bring the same conversation in their 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 communities, and we’ll soon publish talking points that they can use if needed.

We ended the session inviting everyone to share their ideas for new event formats using this form, so the Community Team can collect all ideas and get back to organizers who want to have pilot events in their communities.

The community team would love to support as many pilot events as possible already in 2023.

Below some ideas, feedback, and thoughts from the brainstorming session.

Event format

Ideas

  • Youth camp: open only 15-25 year old newbies, and teach them how to build an e-commerce site
  • HostCamp – WC for specific technology like – hosting, domain, performance and security
  • LearnCamp – Mainly focusing on settings up websites and CMS

Organizing Team Structure

The team setup depends on the event size and expectations. A medium sized Workshop event would need the following teams:

  • Leads
  • Sponsors
  • Logistics
  • Budget
  • Content

The content team is special in this case as it should consist of people who are great in the skills (dev, design, architecture, security, etc.) But also be capable to work with the facilitators on how to make the workshop a success for everyone involved.

Benefits for Sponsors

It is challenging to find a way to increase sponsor visibility and benefit, without taking this space from speakers and volunteers. Some ideas and thoughts about experiment to try.

  • Target a specific audience: at themed events, have sponsors interested in that specific audience
  • Networking moments for sponsors to connect with job seekers
  • Give sponsor possibility to open up to new markets (e.g. WooCommerce did not have the local currency in a country, but through WordCamps, they got it! Yay!)
  • Organize for attendees a “sponsor tour” to meet all sponsors

Tooling

Ideas

  • AI airpods for instant translations
  • For speakers application: having 1 tool to manage all applications, instead of having different manual processes (email, form) to manage by organizers in each website
  • Have dedicated and specific tools depending on the event size

General doubts and challenges shared by the attendees

  • It’s difficult to decide the local sponsorship level, it would be useful to have guidelines for each country or based on the Mac Index
  • It’s very challenging to get local sponsorship (especially Nigeria/Uganda if communities are small) but organizing big events is hard because of the lack of volunteers. One solution could be organizing an event halfway in attendance between Meetup and WordCamps, but keeping it to 1 event per year
  • For Regional WordCamps one day is not enough, people travel from other cities and need to spend more time together
  • The current ticketing system is limiting

Thank you so much to all people who attended yesterday’s session, there will be more to come next month, both online and in-person!

In-person discussions at WC Europe, Athens:

Keep an eye out for the next virtual discussion!

Thank you to all organizers who have already shared their ideas for new event formats and want to give it a try in 2023! If anybody else has an idea in mind, share it with the Community Team and we’ll get back to you to try to make it happen!

When thinking about new formats, please keep in my the 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 new generation of WordPress events will be:

  • doable (for human and financial resources)
  • repeatable (by new/old organizer and more than once per year)
  • scalable (other communities might try the same format)
  • desirable (for organizer, attendees, sponsors, volunteers)

Looking forward to meeting with you all soon again!

Thanks again to @samsuresh , @devinmaeztri, and @angelasjin for facilitating the session.

#community-events, #events-2, #next-gen-events