Contributor TrackWordCampsMeetups.en.sbv

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Hi, I'm Jen Mylo, this is Andrea Middleton

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We're going to be talking about the community

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team. Specifically organizing meetups and

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WordCamps. And we're going

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to give you a brief introduction of what

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the program is about and then if you

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are interested in becoming an organizer

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we're going to head over to the next room

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and we can sign people up if we need to

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or you can use the forums that we are going

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to show you in this brief demostration.

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So, there are meetups all over the world

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for people who use WordPress, develop on

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WordPress, just really like WordPress, and

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we have a centralized program to make sure

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that the groups that are using the WordPress name

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are kind of living up to the principles that

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WordPress as a project espouses.

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Things like being open, accessible to all, and

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flexible so that people can come up with new

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ideas and try them out. So this blog:

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make.wordpress.org/community is for the

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community team and that is the team that

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includes all meetup and WordCamp organizers

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including the people who oversee the programs

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like us. So, If you're interested in becoming

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an organizer, or you are an organizer

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and didn't know about this blog,

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I definitely suggest subscribing

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in the sidebar. And we also have weekly

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meetings in IRC and that information is

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right on the front page. If you're interested

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that's a great place to get started.

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If you want to have a group on meetup.com

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there are hundreds of groups around the world.

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The first step is to look and see if there is

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already a group near you. If there is, try

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getting involved. If there is not, then you

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would contact us and we would walk

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through with you what the guidelines

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are for having an official WordPress meetup

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There are basically five. They are pretty

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simple and I'll just run through them

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really quickly. Wordpress meetups

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are for the benefit of the WordPress

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community as a whole, not for any one

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person or business. So, if you want

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to have a meetup so that you can generate

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sales leads or have a really great group

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that you can pitch things to,

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or charge a lot of money to teach them

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things, that's not a great fit for this.

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If you want to get a community together

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and be a sort of self-organizing group

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of people with different kinds of

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WordPress interests, that's a great fit

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for us and we want to support that.

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If you want to be a member of the local meetup

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there is no requirement that you have to meet.

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You don't have to know any certain amount, you

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don't have to be a certain kind of person,

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you don't have to make a certain amount of money.

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Basically no discrimination, open to all,

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no application process. You should be able

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to just click a button to join the group

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and that's it. If you want to not allow

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certain people into your group, that's

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not a great fit.

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All the meetups are volunteer run so you

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are not paid as an organizer. You shouldn't

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be charging money so that you can pay

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yourself for your time as an organizer. We

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see this as a contribution to the open source

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project the same way people who write patches

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for core or put themes in the free directory

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or plug-ins or help in the support forums.

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So the time that you spend organizing the

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group is actually a contribution to the project.

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That also applies to people who are speaking

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at your meetup. So we woldn't have you paying

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speakers to come in. They would be

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volunteers as well.

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Also, if you have a meetup group we want

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them to be free and open like WordPress itself

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so we don't want one person having a

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stranglehold on this little community where you live.

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You will start it and be the leader. But what

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we want is all members of the group to be

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empowered to organize events that are

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of interest to them.

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So if you really love, for example, getting

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people together and writing patches

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for core, great, organize that series.

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Whether it's once a week, or once a month,

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or once every three months it doesn't really

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matter. But if somebody else doesn't like

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that we want them to be able to organize a

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series of events that is maybe people just

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working on their WordPress site

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at a coffee shop. Or maybe it's people getting

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together to help in the support forums, or

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maybe it's local WordPress consultants

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coming in and showing off the work that

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they've done so people can learn from each

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other about who the people are in their community

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All of those things are great options

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and on this site, make.wordpress.org/community

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we have lots of examples of different kinds

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of meetup events that people can organize.

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So, again, lots of organizers, lots of leaders,

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not one. If you want to own it yourself and

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not share that responsibility with

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everybody else that would not be a great fit.

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And, lastly meetups are welcoming places.

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We care about this a lot. Anyone who comes

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to a WordPress event should feel safe and

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welcome. Discrimination, harassment, whether it's

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sexism, racism, homophobia, you know all of those

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things that are not good. If somebody comes

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to the group and exhibits that behavior, as

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an organizer we will ask you to talk to that

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person and they need to either cease that

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behavior immediately or you have to get

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them out of the group.

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The welcoming atmosphere for everyone is

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the most important thing. And if, for some

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reason you are uncomfortable having that

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conversation, the people who oversee the

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program, like Andrea and myself, and there

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are some people who you would meet in our

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team meetings, you can call us on the actual

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telephone. I know that's a weird concept.

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But, if you're having a meetup event and someone

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starts yelling at someone else about their

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political views, their religious views,

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their sexuality, whatever, you can call us

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and we will talk to them directly. And we

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will support you in anything that you need

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to do to keep that group strong.

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In addition, we like to have free venues

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if possible, donated by colleges or local business

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or going to coffee shops. But if you can't find a

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free venue in your city, if you are on on

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chapter account, we will pay for the venue.

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If you need to rent a projector, we will

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pay for a projector. We'll send you a video

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camera, we will support the meetup in that way.

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So, if you have any questions about that stuff

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find me at the WordCamp or online. We'll be

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in the next room as I said, doing that

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on and off all day. Please stop by the

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get involved table as well.

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I'm going to now pass it over to Andrea

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to talk about the bigger events,

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WordCamps, which you are now all familiar

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with cause you are at one. Hi I'm Andrea

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and I oversee the WordCamp program here.

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And I'm also organizing this event,

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so thanks a lot for being here.

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So, once you have your meetup organized

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once you have a group who are meeting

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regularly, preferably, for at least

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three to four months and you have

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that little core group at least of people

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who are so excited about WordPress that

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they want to come together and talk

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about it at least on a monthly basis in

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person, face-to-face because that's what

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we're talking about here, creating those

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personal relationships, then you are ready

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to start talking about organizing a WordCamp

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in your town. At that point the right place

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to go is plan.wordcamp.org to read through

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the expectations and the you know, basically

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our advice and our expectations to make sure

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that the event that you have in your mind

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matches what we ask people to do with WordCamps

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Generally speaking it is the same, but it's

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always good to read through that before

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you get your heart set on a certain thing.

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Read through that and then at that point,

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before you do anything, before you talk to a

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venue necessarily, or before you recruit speakers, go

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ahead and apply because we like to start

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having the conversations early. About

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what you're thinking about, what you have in

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mind so that we can give you some guidance

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based on our working with every single

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WordCamp organizer in the world.

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So through the application process, when you

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send in your application we'll review it,

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we'll get back to you, either with some questions

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or some suggestions. We'll start a conversation

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and at that point you will, if you have

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a meetup organized already you'll probably be put on

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the pending schedule. We'll approve you for

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pre-planning. Which means we'll provide you

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your local WordCamp website and we'll

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get you on the planned WordCamp list.

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That list there on the side is a list of

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WordCamps that are in pre-planning but

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haven't actually found a venue or set a

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date yet. So that's a great resource if

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you're thinking I wonder if there's going

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to be a WordCamp in my town. Go take a look

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and see if it's already in planning. If it is

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already in planning email us and we can

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get back to you and put you in touch with those

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people so you can help out. At that point,

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once you're approved for pre-planning then

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you'll start looking for a venue. We really

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highly recommend you look for a free or cheap

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venue before you set your date because

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we really advocate a lean, small event budget

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for WordCamps. This is because you are

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volunteering as a WordCamp organizer and

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it's always easier to organize a cheaper event

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than it is a more complicated expensive event.

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Once you have identified the venue that

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you think is going to work for you, you

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will then fill out a preliminary budget. We'll

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provide you a budget template, you'll

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fill out the preliminary budget and send it in

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and we will look at it together, me or

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somebody else at WordCamp Central and you

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or you and your organizing team. We'll

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talk through pretty much every line

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to just kind of take a look and make sure

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that you're thinking about all the things

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that we know you probably ought to consider.

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We'll come to an agreement about that event

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budget and at that point you will go ahead

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and sign the venue, announce your date,

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and start doing all the fun speaker

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recruitment, sponsor recruitment, and

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volunteer recruitment. In that budget

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conversation we will also let you know

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what kind of sponsorship grant we'll be

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providing you through the community sponsorship

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program. We have a group of sponsors

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that sponsor all WordCamps in certain

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areas and at that budget meeting we will talk

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about how much we will provide you based

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on an as-needed basis for your specific

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event from that group of sponsors. Basically

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we provide every WordCamp a small nest egg

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of sponsorship money so that you don't

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have to break your back making your budget

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but you can still involve local sponsors.

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At that point you'll be recruiting local

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sponsors and speakers and getting your

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WordCamp together. We do have a really strong

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emphasis on local with WordCamps. We want

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to highlight what's unique and exciting about

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your local community. So, right around the time

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that you start sending in the planning

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application I recommend that you also start talking

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to people in your local meetup and saying

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you know what you would be great at, you would

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be great at speaking at a WordCamp and if they

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aren't scared of that you can suggest that

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they speak at a local meetup to get their

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feet wet. Recruiting and developing local

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speakers is something that we really encourage

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WordCamp organizers to do.

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The last detail would be that all WordCamps

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in the US and Canada and most WordCamps

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in other locations around the globe use the WordPress Foundation

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as their legal and financial entity that

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provides protection for organizers so that you

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are not sued or audited by your tax

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entity because of your activity organizing

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a WordCamp. It allows us to give you that

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financial support so that if you need to make

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a big venue down payment or something

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like that you have the finances to do it.

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That is one of the many ways that we support

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WordCamps through WordCamp Central.

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I think that is the nutshell.

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If anyone has more questions about

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organizing meetups or WordCamps we

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will be over in the contributor space

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off and on all day at the table marked

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community and we look forward to

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talk to more of you about organizing local

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communities and supporting WordPress all

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over the world. Thank you.