Hugh Lashbrooke 10:24 am on December 1, 2020  

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Angela Jin 8:25 am on January 24, 2022
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Updated Guidelines for In-Person WordCamps and Meetups 2022

TL;DR: The Community team has new, mandatory guidelines for all WordCamps and 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., which include following local guidelines, checking for vaccinations where legally permissible and mandatory masks. In areas where the venue cannot legally check for vaccination status, the area must pass the in-person checklist. See “New guidelines” below for full details.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the recent proposal for updated safety measures for WordPress events in 2022. It speaks volumes of the WordPress community that so many of contributors shared their thoughts on this topic.

Some background

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Community team has worked to continually adapt the 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. program — a formidable challenge in this dynamic environment. I am grateful to the 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., organizers, sponsors, volunteers, and attendees who continue to support this team. 

It could make things easier if organizers were simply asked to follow local guidelines when planning a WordCamp. In reading comments on the recent post, I am reminded that many local governments are in similar situations: at the whim of when and what the next variant will bring, and debating best approaches to safety. 

For the WordPress Community team, the priority since the start of this pandemic has always been the safety of community members. 

To be clear, the Community team is not recommending safety guidelines outside of official WordPress events. That is best left to health professionals to determine. For the WordPress Community, another important consideration needs to be the health of the events program. As you might imagine, the people who support this program really, truly, deeply want events that connect and inspire WordPress enthusiasts to continue! Moving forward with in-person events that risk the health of community members is unacceptable, and also poses risks to the program itself. 

New guidelines 

It is with all of this in mind that the following new guidelines will be mandatory for all WordCamps, and all Meetups that anticipate more than 50 attendees.

  1. Follow local laws and guidelines. If your locality has suggested guidelines on top of mandatory ones, follow those too. 
  2. If you are in a location where local laws or guidelines require or permit venues to limit admission based on a person’s vaccination status and masking, then WordCamps can only happen in venues that are willing to provide staff to check for vaccination status at the door and to remind participants to wear masks during the event. 
  3. If your area or venue legally cannot check vaccination status, your area must pass the in-person checklist at the time of the application, and again at the time of the event. Additionally, the venue must be willing to provide staff who will remind participants to wear masks and check for temperature during the event. Organizers in these areas must be prepared to move online or cancel if the region fails the safety checklist.

Here is a visualization of these new guidelines.

The Community team will also continue to support online events at this time. If your 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. has fewer than 50 attendees, you can move forward with your event following local guidelines/laws. The Community team recommends that you organize the event only for attendees who are fully vaccinated or recently tested negative (within 2 days). 

Next steps and feedback

These new guidelines will be added to all the appropriate places in the WordCamp organizers handbook, and a summarized version of this decision will be included in upcoming Meetup Newsletters. If you have questions, concerns, or feedback, please share them in a comment on this post. 

#meetups, #wordcamps
jillbinder 12:45 am on January 15, 2022
Tags:   

Recap of the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) on January 12, 2022

Attending: @onealtr, @devinmaeztri, @evarlese, @tantienhime, @wpfangirl, @mysweetcate

Facilitator: @onealtr

Start: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1642006813086500

Summary

1. 2021 celebrations – Our work was mentioned in Matt’s 2021 State of the WordState of the Word This is the annual report given by Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress at WordCamp US. It looks at what we’ve done, what we’re doing, and the future of WordPress. https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/.! Our 2021 recap post: https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/12/14/diverse-speaker-training-group-wpdiversity-2021-year-end-report/

3. Thank you members of our group for filling in 2021 self reviews and anonymous reviews of Jill

4. Upcoming:

– Allyship for WordPress Event Organizers Wed, Jan 19

– Community Speaker workshop for Pacific North West Sun, Feb 27

– Possibility of Diverse speaker workshop earlier in Feb

5. We are thinking of holding a team zoom meeting in place of one of the two February 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/. meetings

6. Translations – Spanish Latin America translations are complete! We are looking for volunteers to help us finish off the final items for Portuguese BR.

7. Open floor

End: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1642010316129600

#wpdiversity

Anjana Vasan 4:29 pm on January 14, 2022
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Meetup Organizer Newsletter: January 2022

Happy New Year! 

Welcome to the January 2022 edition of the monthly 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. Organizer newsletter. 

Last year brought many exciting updates and events to the WordPress community, from State of the WordState of the Word This is the annual report given by Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress at WordCamp US. It looks at what we’ve done, what we’re doing, and the future of WordPress. https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/. watch parties to the first in-person 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. since the pandemic—we have high hopes for 2022 as well. Read on to learn about the latest news and resources from the WordPress community, and share them with your local meetup groups!

Here’s what’s inside this issue:

  • Second release candidateRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. for WordPress 5.9
  • WCEUWCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event. 2022: Call for Speakers
  • WordPress events
  • News from the WordPress community

🚀 WordPress 5.9 is on track to release on January 25, 2022

WordPress 5.9 is nearing its release on January 25, 2022, with the second release candidate now available for testing. 

The 5.9 Field Guide has also been published recently. You can find a compilation of all the developer notes regarding 5.9 in this guide. If you’d like more information about the performance improvements in WordPress 5.9, head over to this page. 

As always, your support is appreciated. Please help spread the word about WordPress 5.9 by hosting a release-focused meetup or organizing testing sprints.

Share WordPress 5.9 with your meetup group!

Spread your excitement for the latest WordPress release by organizing a WordPress meetup highlighting the release features! Read the talking points for WordPress 5.9 to learn more.

Looking for inspiration? Check out the following WordPress 5.9 events from our community!

Upcoming events:

Previous events:

📣 WordCamp Europe 2022 needs speakers

With an eye on the rapidly evolving situation with Omicron, WordCamp Europe (WCEU) 2022 is still set to take place in person at Porto, Portugal—with solid safety protocols in place. 

WCEU recently announced its call for speakers. Organizers are looking for talks on various topics related to WordPress, such as technology, design, marketing, content, 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 more. Have questions? Watch the Q&A session that took place recently to learn more about being a speaker at WCEU.

If you or someone you know is interested in being a speaker at WCEU 2022, apply now.

📷 Submit your images to the WordPress Photo Directory

The WordPress Photo Directory is a collection of high-quality, CC0-licensed images first introduced by Matt Mullenweg in State of the Word 2021. It’s also the only submission tool for Openverse powered by WordPress.

Although it hasn’t fully launched yet, you can now submit your images to the WordPress Photo Directory. You can also contribute in other ways, as there’s currently a call for volunteers.

🌍🎪 What’s happening with WordPress events

With the rise of Omicron, in-person WordCamps are cautiously scheduled for 2022. We strongly urge you to follow additional safety guidelines if you plan to attend a WordCamp or meetup. As a reminder, if you’re an organizer, learn about the legal protections available to you for in-person events. Don’t miss these helpful resources for organizers from our global sponsors!

Interested in widening your pool of Meetup and WordCamp speakers from underrepresented groups? Join the #diverse-speaker-support channel on the Make WordPress 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/. workspace.

WordCamps on the horizon

📚 Join the Learn WordPress initiative

Help make Learn WordPress the official resource on WordPress! Join in on the fun and share your knowledge with others by organizing a social learning space based on any of the Learn WordPress workshops. Meetup organizers can also use lesson plans on Learn WordPress to organize WordPress meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook..

Attend some upcoming WordPress Social Learning Meetups:

Check out the latest Learn WordPress course, “Simple Site Design with Full Site Editing.”

🗞 News from the WordPress Community

  • GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ version 12.3 is out. This release includes three brand new blocks, more customization controls, and a coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. blocks reference, among other exciting features.
  • WordPress 5.8.3 is now available. This security release features four fixes.
  • The Polyglots TeamPolyglots Team Polyglots Team is a group of multilingual translators who work on translating plugins, themes, documentation, and front-facing marketing copy. https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/. announced that WordPress 5.9 is also ready to be translated.
  • The Core Team began a discussion on the release dates this year and the possibility of having four major WordPress releases in 2022.
  • The December 2021 edition of the Polyglots Monthly Newsletter is out.
  • The latest edition of People of WordPress featuring Collins Agbonghama from Nigeria was published recently. 
  • The Design Team summarized some of the key changes behind the Openverse redesign.
  • The following teams announced their team representatives for 2022: Themes, Support, Polyglots, and Community.
  • Version 19.0 of WordPress for Android and iOS is available for testing.

Listen to the latest episode of the WP Briefing podcast, “A Carol of Thanks,” with Executive Director Josepha Haden.

That’s all, folks!

If you have any questions, 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. are here to help. Please email us at support@wordcamp.org or join the #community-events Slack channel. Thanks for everything you do to grow and support the WordPress community—let’s keep sharing knowledge and inspiring each other with our contributions!

See you online soon!

#meetup-organizer-newsletter
#newsletter

The following people contributed to this edition of the Meetup newsletter: @rmartinezduque @eidolonnight and @harishanker

#meetups

Hari Shanker R 11:30 am on January 10, 2022
Tags: , , safety-guidelines,   

Proposal: Mandatory Safety Measures for In-person WordPress Events in 2022

Last year, the Community Team opened up a pathway to return to In-person WordPress meetups, WordCamps, and do_action charity hackathons. In addition to following local laws and safety guidelines, the Community team’s current guidelines recommend that only individuals who are fully vaccinated, recently tested negative, or recently recovered from COVID-19 could participate in in-person WordCamps. However, 2022 has brought in new challenges related to the pandemic such as new variants that are more contagious, in addition to a spike in infection rates in many regions. 

To address the safety concerns around in-person events, 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. have been discussing potential, additional safety measures for in-person WordPress events. These safety measures include:

  • Mandatory masks for all attendees (even in regions that do not have a mask mandate at this time). 
  • More prominent messaging in 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. websites, emails, and social media posts about COVID-19 safety guidelines.
  • Mandatory temperature checks for all attendees at the event (if permitted by local authorities).
  • Accessible hand sanitizing stations in the venue.
  • Maintaining social distancing practices during the event (Larger meeting rooms and seating arrangements with good spacing can be a good way to implement this).
  • Having a plan for contact tracing measures in case of infections (can be done using WordCamp registration data, meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. are a bit tricker).

I propose that, for regions that do not pass guidelines on page one of the in-person safety checklist (but where vaccines and testing are available to everyone), these guidelines become mandatory for all in-person WordPress events, going forward.

In addition to these proposed guidelines, I also recommend that we remove our existing guideline of allowing recent-recovered community members from attending a WordPress event since new COVID variants like Omicron are known to cause reinfection.

Please note: These guidelines are in addition to any local laws for events.
For example, if a region requires mandatory vaccination proof for attending the event, organizers must be willing to verify the same, even though they are not a part of our guidelines. Alternatively, even if a region does not have a mask mandate, organizers must be willing to enforce the same for their event since our guidelines specify the same. 

To support organizers in these important safety measures, 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. is prepared to budget for additional safety measures such as free masks (providing masks as attendee swag for example), hand sanitizing stations, etc. The Community Team is also continuing to support online events, and encourage your community to explore multiple ways to connect online. 

Please share your thoughts

What questions or concerns do you have about the proposed guidelines? What more can WordPress Community Team do to support organizers in organizing safe in-person WordPress events? If you are planning an in-person WordPress event, what safety guidelines would you follow? Please respond in the comments with your thoughts by January 22, 2022. Based on your feedback, the team will finalize the guidelines and publish them in our handbook by early February 2022. 

This post was jointly written by: @angelasjin @harishanker @mauteri @mariaojob @mpc @samsuresh @sippis @sunsand187 @tacoverdo and @yoga1103 

#in-person #meetups #wordcamps #safety-guidelines

Hari Shanker R 12:18 pm on January 5, 2022
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Community Team Meeting Agenda for 2022-01-06

Happy new year, friends! I would like to welcome you all to the first community team meeting of 2022 that is happening tomorrow!

As you know, 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!

Asia-Pacific / EMEA friendly meeting: 2022/01/06 12:00 UTC
Americas friendly meeting: 2022/01/06 21:00 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: @harishanker or @samsuresh. 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.

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. / 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. / Contributor check-ins

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

Revisiting Safe In-person WordPress Events
Last year, we opened up pathways to the return of In-person WordCamps, 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 do_actiondo_action do_action hackathons are community-organised events that are focussed on using WordPress to give deserving charitable organisations their own online presence. Learn more on doaction.org. charity hackathons. However, in the light of the new COVID-19 variants along with the recent surge in COVID cases around the world, it is time to start a discussion on supporting the safety of In-person WordPress events. Let us discuss more on what additional guidelines can be done to support the safety of In-person WordPress events in 2022.
Note that 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. have already started discussions on ​the return to safe in-person events, and a discussion blog post is forthcoming in the Community P2P2 P2 or O2 is the term people use to refer to the Make WordPress blog. It can be found at https://make.wordpress.org/..

2022 Community Team Goals
We have already received several excellent suggestions for Community Team goals in 2022. This month, we will be organizing a few sessions in the #community-team channel where 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 anyone interested are invited to chat about specific goals. We will be publishing a post announcing these sessions shortly. 

  • Would you like to help facilitate a Community Team goal discussion in your time zone? 
  • Is there any topic that you would like the team to work on, in 2022?

Proposals

Announcements, Invites, and Workshops

Open floor

Here is your chance to bring things into discussions that weren’t on the meeting agenda. You can also use this opportunity to share anything that you want with the team. If you have a topic in mind before the meeting, please add it to the comments of this post, we will update the agenda accordingly.

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

#meeting-agenda, #team-meeting

#team-chat

Timi Wahalahti 5:43 pm on January 3, 2022
Tags: #team-reps,   

Announcement: Team Representatives for 2022

New year means new Team Representatives for the Community Team! We had an open call for nominations and vote least year, whose results I am eager to share.

Last year @kcristiano and myself acted as a reps for the team – it was a though year for all of us, but we are so grateful for all the contributions everyone made towards the team. Thank you!

But onto this year and the announcement…
drum roll 🥁🥁🥁

The Community Team Representatives for 2022 are Sam Suresh (@samsuresh) and Hari Shanker (@harishanker). Both are big hearted individuals and active community contributors. With Kevin, we are more than happy to pass the torch to them!

Sam Suresh

A technology instructor from Kuala Lumpur first discovered WordPress in 2010. Since then Sam has joined the WordPress project as a meetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. and WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. organizer. Currently Sam contributes to 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. as a 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.. Sam is the CEO of ModernLMS and co-founded MU DOT MY PLT.  Sam likes to challenge himself with new adventures and he completed his 5 KM open water swimming in 2018!

Hari Shanker

 A resident of Kochi, India. WordPress has been an integral part of Hari’s life since 2006, when he first discovered it as a college student. His passion for WordPress led him to a fledgling career around the software, and eventually ushered him into the community. After contributing to the Indian WordPress community as a Meetup and a WordCamp organizer for over four years, Hari joined the team of Sponsored 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. at Automattic in 2020 April, and has been contributing full-time to the Global WordPress Community Team, ever since. As a Community Team representative, Hari aims to collaborate with team members to work on impactful programs and projects while maintaining transparency and openness.

What are team reps?

In 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, each team has one or two (or more!) representatives, abbreviated as “reps”. Team reps are responsible for communicating on behalf of the group to the other contributor groups via weekly updates, as well as occasional chats. 

As a reminder, it is not called “team lead” for a reason. While the people elected as team reps will generally come from the pool of folks that people think of as experienced leaders, the 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. role is designed to change hands regularly.

#team-reps-2, #team-reps

Sjoerd Blom 8:26 am on December 29, 2021
Tags: crm,   

Discussion: add a CRM as a new tool for WordCamp organizers

As 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. organizer, you’re confronted with a lot of data: personal names, corporate names, email addresses, facts, etc. Every year that pool of data increases with new data. Usually, it’s scattered all over Google Drive: in spreadsheets, text documents, but also on P2P2 P2 or O2 is the term people use to refer to the Make WordPress blog. It can be found at https://make.wordpress.org/.. Every year new organizer starts to look through all this old data, and when they find it they copy it to their own personal corner in either Google Drive or on P2. (Side note: we have to consider GDPR regulations as well)

At this moment the WCEU2022 teams are working on the content of the event, however, they don’t want to reinvent the wheel: besides new content and ideas, the content from previous years could be reused as well. And as parts of the original program for the Porto WordCamp of 2020 was cancelled, getting back in touch with the original speaker applicants or sponsors is one of the first things to do. In the last few months, I have had a number of organizers asking me for info from previous years, info that should be passed on from team to team. The same goes for side info on potential sponsors or sponsors that have been declined for particular reasons. All this could save time for every new organizing team starting up the next WordCamp. Maybe Jetpack CRM (or a different CRM) could be a helping hand here, even Jetpack Forms supports Jetpack CRM. Quite useful for those speaker and sponsor application forms!

With this post, I would like to investigate the interests but also the options and ideas of other organizers. Feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions.

#wordcamps

#crm

Ryan Marks 5:04 am on December 19, 2021
Tags: , allergy,   

Proposal: Automatically send emails to WordCamp attendee requesting details about their accessibility accommodation or life-threatening allergy

When an attendee purchases 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. ticket and specifies they have either an 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) accommodation or a life-threatening allergy, emails about each situation are sent to the WordCamp lead organizer, the WordCamp city address, and 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. support address. These emails alert the organizers to reach out to the attendee and inquire about the nature of their situation. The emails to WordCamp support are asking 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. to follow-up with the organizers to ensure they are reaching out to the attendee.

This proposal replaces the manual step of emailing the attendee with an automated email.

New email messages

The new email messages would be sent at the same time as the other three automated emails described above. The email(s) to the attendee should be from the WordCamp’s city address and BCC the city address. Below is proposed text that might be used to ask the attendee for details.

Hi <first-name>, we're happy to see that you'll be joining us for WordCamp <city>!
You noted on your ticket form that you have accessibility accommodation that we should be aware of. Would you be able to provide additional detail and anything related that we should be informed about so that we can be sure you can fully participate?

Thanks!
WordCamp <city>
Hi <first-name>, we're happy to see that you'll be joining us for WordCamp <city>!
You noted on your ticket form that you have a life-threatening allergy that we should be aware of. Would you be able to provide additional detail and anything related that we should be informed about so that we can be sure that we're providing a safe environment?

Thanks!
WordCamp <city>

Create two new Email Templates

There are currently 7 email templates found in a WordCamp site under Tickets > Setup > E-mail Templates. The text above could be configured as new email templates so the WordCamp organizers can add details about the current state about their venue or catering.

Updating existing emails and handbooks

The current automated emails to the lead organizer, city address, and WordCamp Central support should be updated to indicate an automated email has been sent to the attendee.

These handbook pages should also be updated to indicate an automatic email is sent to the attendee.

  • https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/wordcamp-organizer/first-steps/inclusive-and-welcoming-events/#requests-for-special-accommodations
  • https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/wordcamp-organizer/planning-details/selling-tickets/life-threatening-allergies/

Questions

  1. Are you for or against automating these emails?
  2. Would you make changes to the email message body?
  3. Are you for or against adding these as email templates?

I’d like to get feedback on this by January 14, 2022.

#accessibility, #allergy, #attendees

jillbinder 11:47 pm on December 14, 2021
Tags: ,   

Diverse Speaker Training Group (#WPDiversity) 2021 Year-End Report

Hello everyone! As a follow-up to Matt’s mention of our Diversity work in the State of the WordState of the Word This is the annual report given by Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress at WordCamp US. It looks at what we’ve done, what we’re doing, and the future of WordPress. https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/. yesterday, I wanted to share some data and more detail around our  accomplishments this year.

#WPDiversity Results December 2020-November 2021

In 2021, the Diverse Speaker Training Group (#WPDiversity) expanded from one to three programs: Diverse Speaker program, Allyship program, Diverse Speaker Support program.

Our group and the community held 26 #WPDiversity events this year.

146 participants from at least 66 cities in 16 countries attended these events from December 2020 – November 2021.

People who took at least a portion of our Diverse Speaker workshop reported an increase in self-confidence by 20%.

People who took our Allyship for WordPress Event Organizers workshop reported an increase in preparedness to hold an inclusive event by 52%!

In the Diverse Speaker Support program, as of November 30, 2021, 49 people have joined it so far. 50% (25) of these are people from underrepresented groups who are looking for speaking opportunities at WordPress events.

Testimonials

Testimonial for Diverse Speaker workshop:

“I felt like you were reading my mind on some of these points about what holds us back from speaking. And the brainstorm prompts are all really, really good. I walked away with a ton of ideas and newfound confidence. I’m excited to talk now. This workshop works!”

– Erika Lewis, WordPress Dev, Washington DC

Testimonial for the “Hold Your Own Diverse Speaker workshop” train the trainers:

“I’m excited to replicate the Diverse Speakers workshop in my beloved country, Mexico, and use it to help more women learn the right tools to communicate on stage and in meetings, and be more confident about their skills.”

– Maryl Gonzalez, Co-Founder @ The App Chefs, Guadalajara, Mexico

Testimonial for Allyship for WordPress Event Organizers workshop

“I loved taking the “Allyship for WordPress Event Organizers” workshop along with other organizers and hearing what they’ve done. The checklists in the workbook are helpful in terms of tracking what I have done and what I can still improve. I’d love to see ALL THE ORGANIZERS go through this. This felt like a great complement to other material that WordPress has about not disparaging people; the focus of the Allyship workshop was on how to be actively welcoming.”

– Sallie Goetsch, organizer, East Bay 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.

Get Involved in 2022

Want to get involved in this inspiring initiative that makes a tangible difference? Comment on this post or pingPing The act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” @jillbinder on the WordPress 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/. for:

  • Attending an “Allyship for WP Event Organizers” workshop or a “How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events #WPDiversity” (aka Diverse Speaker) workshop
  • Having us hold a “How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events #WPDiversity” workshop to bring in more diverse speaker applications for your Meetup or WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more.
  • Being a workshop facilitator
  • Being a workshop 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. or background administrator
  • Being a Translator
  • Joining our #diverse-speaker-support Slack channel (open to those interested in speaking, speaker 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., and event organizers)
  • Joining our Diverse Speaker Group #WPDiversity to help out with things as needed
  • And more!

I will reply to your message in the new year.

Have great holidays, everyone. Let’s make 2022 our best year yet!

rmartinezduque 1:30 pm on December 14, 2021
Tags: , , ,   

Meetup Organizer Newsletter: December 2021

Hi folks! 👋

Welcome to the December 2021 edition of the monthly 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. Organizer newsletter.

It’s hard to believe that we have already reached the end of the year. This edition is our last newsletter for the year, but December is still one of our busiest months. Keep reading to learn about the latest news and resources from the WordPress community for your local meetup groups!

Here’s what’s inside this issue:

  • State of the WordState of the Word This is the annual report given by Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress at WordCamp US. It looks at what we’ve done, what we’re doing, and the future of WordPress. https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/. 2021
  • Resources on WordPress 5.9
  • WordPress events
  • News from the WordPress community

📣 Join us today for State of the Word 2021

The stage is almost ready!

State of the Word 2021 will be livestreamed today (December 14), between 5 and 7 pm ET / 10 pm – 12 am (December 15) UTC, from New York City.

The keynote will be followed by a live Question and Answer session with Matt. If you did not have a chance to submit a question, you can always ask during the event via the YouTube chat. You are also encouraged to join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #StateOfTheWord.

Join the fun of a Watch Party to watch State of the Word, or visit wordpress.org/news, where the livestream will be embedded.

❤️ Help spread the word about WordPress 5.9

Expected to be released on January 25th, WordPress 5.9 is a major releaseMajor Release A set of releases or versions having the same major version number may be collectively referred to as “X.Y” -- for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, and all other versions in the 5.2. (five dot two dot) branch of that software. Major Releases often are the introduction of new major features and functionality. that marks the first version of Full Site Editing features, as well as the introduction of blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. themes. But that’s not all, there are also many other improvements in the form of design tools, patterns, user experience, performance, and more.

WordPress 5.9 Beta 2 is already available for testing. Your feedback on this and the upcoming BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. 3 is always appreciated.

While awaiting the final release, we would also love your support to spread the word about WordPress 5.9 among your meetup groups. There are many different ways for you to get involved: from planning a release-focused meetup to helping organize 5.9 testing sprints.

Looking for some resources on WordPress 5.9? Check out this blog post on talking points for WordPress 5.9 and share it with your community!

🌍🎪 What’s happening with WordPress events?

With more in-person WordCamps now scheduled for 2022, please remember to keep practicing caution and following these safety guidelines as you plan and attend 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. or meetup. If you are an organizer, make sure to learn about the legal protections that are available for in-person events.

WordCamps on the horizon

Past WordCamps

  • 🇪🇸 WordCamp Sevilla, the first in-person WordCamp after 21 months, took place last weekend (December 11-12). This was a fantastic opportunity for the Spanish WordPress community to meet again and enjoy different networking activities outdoors.
  • 🇹🇼 WordCamp Taiwan and 🇧🇷 WordCamp São Paulo were also held online recently.

📚 Join the Learn WordPress initiative

Did you know you can use the Learn WordPress content for your meetup events? Organizing a social learning space based on any of the Learn WordPress workshops can be a fun way to share knowledge and learn more about different WordPress topics with others.

These are the upcoming WordPress Social Learning 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.:

New workshops, lesson plans, and courses are added to Learn WordPress frequently, so keep an eye out on the platform to stay updated on the latest content.

🗞 News from the WordPress Community

Check out the latest episode of the WP Briefing podcast with Executive Director Josepha Haden on “All Things Block Themes!”.

And that’s a wrap!

If you have any questions, 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. are here to help. Please email us at support@wordcamp.org or join the #community-events SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel. Thanks for everything you do to grow and support the WordPress community—let’s keep sharing knowledge and inspiring each other with our contributions!

See you online soon!

The following people contributed to this edition of the Meetup newsletter: @anjanavasan, @dansoschin, @eidolonnight, @harishanker, and @rmartinezduque.

#meetup-organizer-newsletter, #newsletter