213 - What goes into organising and cancelling a live WordCamp?

Interview with Sjoerd Blom and Nathan Wrigley

We all know that the WordCamps in 2020 got cancelled. This was a good idea because saving lives comes before attending online events, but I thought that it might be a good idea to get someone on the WP Builds podcast to have a chat with us about WordCamps nonetheless.

Why, you might ask?

Well, can you imagine what it would be like to be a part of a team who had worked extremely hard to get an event like WordCamp Asia, or WordCamp Europe up and running, only to have to cancel it with just a few days and weeks to go? I could not imagine that, and so I talked to someone who could. Someone who has firsthand experience working on a WordCamp and then having to pivot it into an online event.

I’ve got to tell you I have a newfound respect for people like Sjoerd Blom, the guest today. A respect for all the hard work that goes on in the background, for all the multiple tasks that need to be carried out that I never even know existed.

It’s people like Sjoerd who make the WordPress community a place that I want to be a part of.

The disappointment of having to cancel WordCamps must have been a real body blow to the organisers and myriad volunteers who step up every WordCamp. To have the proverbial rug pulled out from under your feet and then to come up with online solutions to make the event happen online is truly a testament to the resilience of those individuals, but it’s also a testament to the community in general that this pivot was possible. I suppose that we’re lucky, in that we work with online technologies all the time, but still… I’m in awe!

So in the podcast today we talk with Sjoerd about what is involved in setting up and running a WordCamp. How long in advance the wheels need to move to make the timeline possible, and how much planning is involved in such an event, be that a small, medium or large WordCamp?

We talk about the finance model. Who pays for what? Are we dealing with philanthropic donations from the community, funding from Automattic or just sponsorships? Turns out is a mixture of many options.

Who exactly is needed to make the event happen? What do the teams look like, how are they manage and what’s the role of all the volunteers we see that these events? In fact, speaking of volunteers, how do you even do that? What’s the process to sign up and offer your time?

It’s inevitable that in this podcast we would turn to the subject of 2020 and the multiple cancelled WordCamps. How hard was that to stomach, and how do you even cancel an event that’s pretty much ready to roll?

What about the online variants of WordCamps that cropped up to take the place of live events? Were these well received, easy to create and as fun to be involved with, or are we getting fatigued now that the shine has worn off and we just want to return to the ‘normal’ of in person events?

Put simply are online events any good? Do they match the high standards of live events, and will they replace WordCamps in the future?

This is a point that I’m really curious about. Whilst nobody can claim that there’s much good about a global pandemic, one good thing here is that we’ve got a new kind of democracy in our WordCamps. Previously, if I wanted to attend WordCamp Asia, Europe, U.S. (et al.), I’d have had to have committed serious resources to this. A place ticket, a hotel, meals etc. This is quite an exclusionary factor. Now however, we can all attend no matter where we are and how much money we’ve got available for such things. I just need an internet connection and some free time.

So I wonder… will WordCamps be the same in the future? Will be go back to just in person events, or will we move forward with a hybrid approach that affords all people, all over the world to attend online and/or in person.

Time will tell.

If you’re a part of the WordPress community, or are just curious about WordCamps then this is a podcast episode that I think that you’re really going to enjoy.

The audio was a little choppy, but it’s completely listenable.

Remember to comment here or find the thread in the WP Builds Facebook Group and comment there.

See you at the next Word Camp!

Mentioned in this podcast:

WordCamp Central

WordCamp Europe

WordCamp Asia

WordCamp US