What a successful and fun event the inaugural WordCamp Wilmington turned out to be.  We knew once we were accepted to plan a WordCamp in the Wilmington area that we were going to face some obstacles.  For those of you who have never planned a WordCamp, they ask you have at least 4 – 6 months to plan the event.  Once our application was accepted back around August we knew we would be competing with other area events.  After a committee vote we decided to host WordCamp the first weekend in November.  This gave our volunteers only 3 months to put together a successful event.

We could not have done it without the WordPress community

What made this event so successful was the community surrounding it.  Thanks to our amazing volunteers, organizers, sponsors, speakers and of course attendees.  Sure, we learned a lot about how we can make the 2017 WordCamp Wilmington even better.  Considering this was the first one I think we nailed it but it could not have been possible without some major kudos going out to everyone involved.  First and foremost, the WordCamp and WordPress community, specifically the mentors for the event and everyone on the WordCamp slack channel who pitched in to share their experience.  Next up would be the sponsors, our sponsors made this event possible.  Hosting such an event costs money and while no one profits from WordCamps, having sponsorships ensures we have food, beverages, venue and swag.  I encourage everyone to reach out to thank the sponsors for their patronage.  A WordCamp is only as good as its speakers and topics.  I believe our committee made a great choice in separating the tracks and laying out the schedule.   We want to personally thank each and every one of you for sharing your expertise and speaking at the event.  Make sure to check out WordPress.tv to catch any sessions you may have missed.  Lastly, the organizers – There were countless hours, long nights and planning sessions that made all of this come together.  Being involved in the planning and execution of this event strengthened the ties between our own WordPress meetup group here in Wilmington but other Meetups and WordPress enthusiasts far and wide.

What can be expected next year

As I mentioned, we learned a lot from this first event.  We learned the things that went smoothly and things we did really well.  We also learned based on our survey about the things that could be improved.  Now that we plan to make this an annual event, we plan to put enough time and resources behind next year’s event to ensure that we are always striving to provide the best experience for attendees, speakers and organizers.  I won’t get into specifics about what could have been done better but instead I will direct you to our survey where you can share your thoughts and views on the 2016 WordCamp Wilmington.  Overall the feedback we received from our event has been positive and we are taking each response into careful consideration in the planning of 2017 WordCamp Wilmington.

Until next time

We hope you learned a lot at this event.  We hope you were able to network with other attendees and speakers and gain more insight on how you can leverage the power of WordPress.  If you are interested in being a part of the 2017 WordCamp Wilmington you can always reach us through the websites contact form or on our slack channel 

Why You Should be a WordCamp Speaker

Not sure if you should be a WordCamp speaker? Here are a few reasons why you should sign up today to speaker at the inaugural Wilmington WordCamp this November.

Show your stuff.

Are you an expert in any given area? Or perhaps as generalist who knows a lot about your given industry? Either way, you have much to offer those who may be just entering your field or who are looking to expand their knowledge base. WordCamp is all about sharing knowledge and helping the WordPress community grow. Everyone started somewhere and this is a great way to pay it forward to the next generation of developers, designers, and general users.

You don’t need to talk about just WordPress.

This one may seem a little counter intuitive. However, one of the best aspects of WordPress is how it’s open source platform easily interacts with other platforms and services, both open source and private. This opens up WordPress related topics to a wide variety of options such as social media, SEO, content creation, design interfaces, and more. Not sure if your topic is related to WordPress? We are more than happy to review your topic and determine whether or not it is appropriate. Just submit the application found at the bottom of the page and we will be in touch!

You get to attend the speaker dinner.

During Friday evening, at the start of WordCamp, we will be holding a speakers dinner so that you can meet other speakers. Because of the wide draw of WordCamp, this is an opportunity for you to meet other industry leaders from throughout the United States, share what you know and make connections. This is also a great opportunity to meet with the organizers of the event and get insider information on the WordPress community at large.

Increased networking at the WordCamp event.

By showing what you know as a speaker, attendees will look to you as an industry leader in your field. This is a great way to make connections with both potential clients and potential vendors or employees; especially for services that you may be currently promoting. All WordCamp speakers receive badge recognition, so even if someone doesn’t attend your specific talk, they can still see that you are a speaker at the event.

Publicity.

Public relations can be one of the most time consuming and expensive ways to promote a business but it often has the greatest impact on your business. Let us help you. We will send social media announcements, linked to your own account, on a regular basis, alerting our followers that you are an upcoming speaker. Likewise, all WordCamp talks will be videotaped and uploaded to the WordPress channel. This means that you will have a copy of your talk to embed on your own page or otherwise share with potential and existing clients. Additionally, anyone who visits our page will be able to see your talk even after the event is over, doubling your exposure!

Become a Sponsor

Great news Wilmington!  We are excited to announce that our budget has been approved and we are rapidly moving forward with the first ever Wilmington WordCamp.  We have the confirmed dates listed below:

• Friday, November 4th – Happy Hour Social
• Saturday, November 5th – WordCamp Day 1
• Sunday, November 6th – WordCamp Day 2

We are now gearing up for speaker submissions and sponsors.  Once we have selected our speakers we will release our sessions and track times and details.  We are excited to be working with the community and moving forward with this WordCamp and even more excited about hosting this event at tekMountain in Wilmington.  Stay tuned as we continue to add details and updates.  Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media for immediate updates.

We are excited to announce the Wilmington has been approved to host it’s very own WordCamp event.  We are currently looking for volunteers in the local Wilmington area to help co-organize the event, so if you are interested in volunteering click here to submit an application.  Our projections are to host WordCamp at TekMountain which is a technology incubator located near Mayfaire in Wilmington.  The unofficial dates we are looking to hold the event will be Fall of 2016.  You can subscribe to the Wilmington WordCamp newsletter or keep visiting the website to be notified as confirm date(s) and location.

What is WordCamp?

WordCamp is an organization that is centered around bringing the WordPress community together.  This would range from anyone looking to get started with WordPress, business owners, designers and developers.  WordCamp’s are organized around the world from local volunteer’s with the support of the WordCamp organization.  Generally sessions will include various tracks aimed to teach and educate the community on WordPress.  This is a great opportunity to network within the community, ask questions and speak with other WordPress enthusiasts.  Here is a short video from a video series of a WordCamp in Atlanta, GA.