Thinking Out Loud … WordCamp BC?
Hey everyone,
The past two WordPress events in BC have been great! A great turnout for each one of about 100 people, and everyone was really receptive to the topics, involved in the discussion, etc. The organizers in both events were really dedicated to the cause (if you can call it a cause!) and very helpful to the speakers and audience in my experience.
However I realize that we have a variety of folks here in BC with a variety of ways in which they approach WordPress. If I dare to group people (and I recognize there are shades of grey between each group), I would say we have newbies, hobby bloggers, career bloggers (people who make money from their blog directly), business bloggers (blogs associated with a business operation), website developers & graphic designers, and programmers (people who customize WP, make plugins and themes). It’s a little difficult to accomodate all of these audiences in one 3 hour event. However, I imagine we could accomplish this feat through a well-organized multi-session whole day or two day WordCamp.
So that’s something I’d like to work on, maybe with a group of other fellow WordPress enthusiasts. An event like this would provide great learning and networking opportunities for different audiences, while showcasing the power of WordPress as a blogging and CMS platform. At an event like this we could also discuss WordPress MU (multi user), which is a whole other (exciting) ballgame.
The location should be easy to reach for people coming from various cities across the Lower Mainland.
So … just thinking out loud. I welcome any comments from anyone.
stay in high spirits,
-k.s.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 10:13 pm under: Events.
July 17th, 2008 23:04
Sounds like fun, what would we have to do?
July 18th, 2008 06:43
I think a WordCamp BC would be a cool thing. WordCamp WestCoast! or something like that too ;)
It was my first WordCamp that night and I came away thinking that the event could be larger and longer. I mean it could be turned into a 2 day event with like workshops, keynotes, presentations etc like a full conference you know?
People could talk about getting into WordPress, others could talk about theming wordpress, there could be workshops on development of plugins etc and even how people can use WordPress as a CMS.
Could have vendors (software, hardware etc), sponsors the whole nine yards! I think there are enough people that could make it out to something like this. Even with people from other provinces or states attending too. If it was big enough we could ask WordPress to make it official!
Or am i thinking too big?
July 18th, 2008 11:51
Hi James & Tyler,
Thanks very much for your comments.
Those are great ideas Tyler - thinking big is the way to go.
I’m going to set something up so we can start planning this collaboratively.
-k.s.
July 18th, 2008 11:58
@Tyler: Your idea sounds a lot like Northern Voice
July 18th, 2008 16:43
Hey Kulpreet,
It’s a great idea. You could have a two day seminar and charge people for both days or individual days. For example have day one for newbie stuff and day two for more advanced stuff. Or would you break it smaller sections like mentioned above?
Another question is this just discussions and demonstrations or is there any actual instruction on how to do things?
July 18th, 2008 17:17
Hi Jeremy & Liesa,
Thanks for your comments!
Northern Voice is a more general blogging and social media event whereas this would be focused on WordPress and WordPressMU.
Liesa I think maybe we could have a few open sessions for discussion, and then have a few training sessions as well? That way people who want to share ideas, get inspiration and generally network would have that venue, and people who wanted to get right into learning skills from the blogger or developer perspective could get their share.
Hmm this is sounding better and better! I am working on a website but I just have to decide a good name for a large-scale event like this. We could just call it WordCamp BC, or maybe something else. Any thoughts?
-k.s.
July 18th, 2008 17:26
Hello Kulpreet,
I’d be more than happy to do some degree of WordPress.org stuff, because I’m switching to self-hosted (depending on dates). Also, BarCamp is coming up and will have a mini-WordCamp too, talk to Rebecca and Duane as well.
Best wishes,
Raul
July 18th, 2008 18:33
I think that would be a great idea. It would need to be located more centrally. I found that getting to Langley on a weekday night was very inconvenient.
July 18th, 2008 23:13
Hi Raul & Danny,
Thanks very much for your comments!
Raul - that would be great if you could talk about the transition from .com to self-hosted .org. I don’t think this event will be for a little while. I would like it to be on a larger scale with various sessions over two days. The only thing I am confused about is the location - do you have any suggestions for a central location?
Danny - You’re right. I think it was great for the Downtown Vancouver and Langley events to cater to the local audience, but I’d like this larger event to be more central so that people from all over can attend with easier access. However I’m not sure what the best place is - do you have any suggestions?
-k.s.
July 19th, 2008 11:45
Duane and I are behind WordCamp at BarCamp this fall but I also agree that WordCamp should be marketed as a big huge WORDPRESS event like how they do it in San Fran and stuff or like how they do DrupalCons.
July 19th, 2008 16:43
Kulpreet, I would be interested in helping out–depending on where and when. My interests are more towards the open source community, but I have a lot of back ground in the nuts and bolts of the Intranet: PHP, database management, Unix based servers, etc…. I would like to keep in touch with you.
July 19th, 2008 21:56
Hi Rebecca & Tom,
Thanks very much for your replies!
Rebecca I’m really happy to hear your agreement on this topic. I think if San Francisco deserves a large scale WordPress event, so does Vancouver. Some people have suggested Surrey as the host city (maybe SFU @ Central City?) - I know that would make you happy :)
Tom, thanks so much for your encouragement. I am working on a website for this event so that we can work together to plan the different events. The most obvious first two things I want to figure out are the location and the name of the event. Do you have any ideas for that?
July 19th, 2008 22:38
I responded to your reply to me on John Chow’s blog regarding location recommendations; but I thought I’d bring that discussion over here as it seems more appropriate.
I had replied quickly that perhaps the new SFU campus at Central City might make a good location. At the time it was just off the top of my head; I was trying to think of a central location that would have decent meeting rooms/lecture halls, wifi, free/inexpensive and easily accessible. But as I think about and as I reviewed their website some, it does seem to fit the bill. It is on the Skytrain line for those who are coming from deeper within the city, there is free parking for those who drive out from the valley, very central, and there are amenities such as as a restaurants, pub, stores, etc.
If you would like, I don’t mind enquiring more about the location.
July 20th, 2008 03:41
Hi Gregg,
Thanks for your suggestion. I think it is a great one. SFU Surrey has a variety of different types of classrooms, which would be great for more interactive discussions as well as learning sessions on WordPress. Meanwhile it also has an auditorium where we could have an open keynote, as well as any other special event.
I would really appreciate your help! I have a few connections at SFU Surrey through a student group, so they might be able to help with bookings. Please feel free to share any further information until we get the website going.
July 21st, 2008 21:32
You could try Kwantlen College/University Surrey Campus also. That would be central for most people in the Lower Mainland. I could ask if you want, I’m taking my classes there. I have done events there myself–if it’s none-profit, I have rented the auditorium for a $100.00. It just needs to be approved well in advance. If SFU doesn’t workout.