#180 – Karla Campos on Organising WordCamp US  ## Metadata - Author: [[WP Tavern]] - Full Title: #180 – Karla Campos on Organising WordCamp US - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/00df2ddd-b3ba-4d08-9f80-6bd2194a4567 ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **Karla's Community Journey** - Karla Campos entered WordPress community organizing after being inspired by a friend who passed away. - She started in Miami meetups and later joined the WordCamp US 2025 organizer team without having attended a flagship before. Transcript: Nathan Wrigley One of these flagship WordCamps. Karla Campos I always like to say that my involvement in projects sometimes comes about serendipitously, just kind of like, hey, look, I saw that on the internet. It looked interesting. And I decided to join. I actually have about more than 10 years with the WordPress community in Miami. When I first moved to Florida, I started going to meetup groups. And then I met the WordPress organizers and started really getting involved with them. My ex-colleague and coworker, her name was Jackie Jimenez. She unfortunately passed away, but we had a lot of great moments building things together in the WordPress Miami community. And when I saw the announcement online, I said, you know, she would have loved to do this with me. Let me check it out. And then that's how I kind of just decided to join the organizer group. So I've been with WordPress for over 10 years. I've been working in marketing. I used to work for Telemundo here in the Florida area. I used to work for iHeartRadio. So I have a lot of the media marketing background, as well as working on websites and copy. So I've been around for a while. Just I'm more of like a quiet in the background type of person. ([Time 0:03:54](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e649c863-50d0-4d67-8175-7d9cb72f7b11)) - **WordCamp Organizing Demands** - Organizing WordCamp US becomes an all-consuming commitment with constant thoughts about the event, even at odd hours. - Despite having a production team, lead organizers work intensely behind the scenes to ensure smooth planning and execution. Transcript: Nathan Wrigley So you've basically got no free time left anymore. Karla Campos It has because you think, OK, you know, even because we do have a production team that's helping organize the event to make sure it's properly handled for all the attendees, because We do expect around a thousand. It's always been that amount for a flagship. So we have a production company working on the back end, helping us with the production to make sure everything is smooth. But still with that going on, I still feel like at 2am, I'm thinking WordCamp US, WordCamp US. ([Time 0:06:01](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b4ae0e0b-61df-48e9-9093-08f5dd435e14)) - **Leverage Production Teams** - Production companies handle venue and logistics to ensure professional setup of sponsor booths and event spaces. - Offload venue-related tasks to professionals to focus on community and programming aspects. Transcript: Nathan Wrigley So I genuinely don't know what that even means. So a production company, I'm guessing you kind of offload something, all the tasks that you can to them. I'm guessing they're a commercial entity and they get paid to fulfill whatever contractual obligations that you've got. What is it that they handle? And then we'll get into what the community side of things, the team of community volunteers and so on are doing. Karla Campos So the production team is making sure that the venue and everything that happens at the venue is organized. So from some of the room logistics, so more on the venue side that they're handling that part to make sure that we can handle everything else that comes with organizing, including all The planning around contributor day, showcase day, the photographers. So that's our side. And then their side, the production team is more venue logistics. ([Time 0:06:37](https://share.snipd.com/snip/7bbf1385-2eb2-4ad9-92ee-d413fd4332f3)) - **Manage Attendee Communications** - Assign dedicated volunteers to handle attendee communications including accessibility, food allergies, and visa requests. - Prompt communication management prevents worries about missed requests during intense organizing periods. Transcript: Nathan Wrigley Okay, then let's flip to the more community side. So everything that is not part of the production team's remit, what are some of the tasks that you're finding yourself worrying about at 2am in the morning? Karla Campos Actually, just making sure the communications and all the attendees are getting service. So I'm the lead organizer in charge of communications and marketing. And I have other team leaders under me, like Caroline Harrison, who is the team lead for the attendee communications. So we're getting a lot of requests when it comes to accessibility, food, that they have allergies or that they need visas, a lot of traffic, of course. Right now, I told you we had about 730 attendees already registered. So that email traffic is coming into our teams. So I'm just like, I saw an email and I know my team handled it and I know they're prompt, but you know, I wake up at 2 a.m. Did I answer that email? Was that a nightmare? Did I miss something? ([Time 0:08:25](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9707ee36-abd2-4a40-a858-fdc3c987b229)) - **Venue Walkthrough Timing** - Karla has not physically visited the Portland venue yet but will do so a week prior to the event. - Virtual tours have helped with preparation so far but final walk-throughs remain essential. Transcript: Karla Campos Hectic and, you know, it's good to hear that people appreciate your work. Nathan Wrigley Have you actually had a chance to go around the building yet? I know we discussed this prior to hitting record, but is this more of a kind of, you'll be showing up the first time in the same way that everybody else will, or have you managed to sort of Walk the floorboards as it were? Karla Campos Like I mentioned earlier, but we weren't live. I've seen personally the venue in virtual tours and etc. But I'm coming to the Oregon area a week before. So I'll be there earlier to see the venue, go through the walkthroughs and do ([Time 0:10:44](https://share.snipd.com/snip/db870414-1a59-4864-b75a-e4e24fb4b916)) - **Volunteering Has Personal Costs** - WordCamp US organizing is purely voluntary and organizers often cover their own expenses. - Apply for scholarships if available, but expect competition; be prepared to self-fund involvement. Transcript: Nathan Wrigley Do you get any sort of remuneration for any of the work that you do? So by remuneration, I'm specifically talking about finance. Does anything get offset? So for example, if you're based in Florida, presumably you're going to be hopping on a plane and there'll be the food that you've got to eat during the time you're there and the accommodation, The hotels and so on. Does somebody at the level of volunteering that you have nominated yourself for, does any of that get offset or is this completely voluntary where you've got to dig into your pocket For every single expense? Karla Campos This is voluntary. So yeah, I'm just putting in from my end to support the community. So if ever you are planning on joining something like the WordCamp organization groups, it usually is a volunteer thing. There are some scholarships, but that's you have to apply for. And it's very competitive. So I don't think everyone gets one. But yeah, no, everything that I'm putting in personally is through my own finances. Nathan Wrigley Yeah. Again, obviously, I gave you some thanks a moment ago, and I'm about to do it again. Thank you for that commitment as well, because it's not nothing, you know, going to Portland on an aeroplane from where you are. You know, it's all the way across the country. It's not a cheap place to reside in. Accommodation in and around the venue is probably a premium. You know, it's summertime. Everything's quite expensive around there. So it's not inconsiderable and there is an impact to ([Time 0:11:22](https://share.snipd.com/snip/660b7c0d-10d6-4346-92aa-aa1a47b65fa9)) - **Expect More Time Than Planned** - Prior experience with large events builds confidence but WordCamp organizing demands significantly more time than expected. - Adaptability and enjoying challenges help manage the unexpectedly intensive workload. Transcript: Nathan Wrigley What I'm basically trying to ask is, are there any bits of this that you think, gosh, I didn't really anticipate that that was going to be involved? This is way more than I was imagining biting off. Karla Campos Yeah, the time required to do all the work that needs to be done. And I'm a confident person. So I went in this, I have experience organizing events for Telemundo big concerts of 50,000 people plus. So I went in confident thinking, I got this. But as I got more into it, I just started to notice, okay, well, this is taking a lot of my time that I wasn't prepared for, but I've adapted and I'm good now. It's been a roller coaster ride, but it's fun for me because I'm that type of person who enjoys the challenge. ([Time 0:13:44](https://share.snipd.com/snip/27271cfc-cc5a-4fe7-82db-f826184dbe96)) - **Lean on Past Experience** - Use previous years' documentation and mentorship from past organizers to onboard new team members efficiently. - Maintain active communication via Slack and ask for experienced advice to avoid repeated mistakes. Transcript: Nathan Wrigley But how did you acquire the knowledge that you needed to do the work that you're now doing? Who taught you all of this and so on? Karla Campos Well, we do get the last year's folder with all the information. So it came about from a lot of reading, asking past team members. So we do have some people who were part of the organizing team last year. Gail Wallace, one of our co-leads, she's doing contributor day, she's doing photography. She's also helping with the lead organizing. So she was very helpful in just kind of letting us know about the previous year. We have mentors like Kevin Cristiano and Aaron Campbell from Hosting.com who also worked with WordCamps in the past. And there are mentors who we can always contact on Slack. So we do a lot of work on Slack and we can always message them back and forth with any information, any, hey, we need help with this. They're always there to just say, hey, this would be a better practice from our experience last year. ([Time 0:15:36](https://share.snipd.com/snip/19e76a9c-c312-4ea3-b4b8-e56daa465e70)) - **Organizing Cuts Into Free Time** - Organizing WordCamp US takes about 30 hours weekly near the event, impacting personal free time significantly. - These efforts require sacrificing leisure to maintain event preparation intensity. Transcript: Nathan Wrigley How much time do you imagine, if I was to ask you on a, let's go for a weekly basis, at the moment, so three-ish weeks away from the event something like that how much time are you spending During the previous week so the last seven days how many hours do you think you've clocked up working towards this event at least I would say 30 hours wow okay and so that then presumably Has had a material impact upon the regular work that you do. Now, either you are just superhuman and can add 30 hours into your working week with no perceived, you know, there's just, that's fine. I can just add 30 hours in. Most of us, including myself, could not do that. I would have to kind of offset one thing with the other. Have you done that? Has it had an impact on the business, the work that you normally do? Have you had to sort of downgrade the amount of time you've been spending recently on that kind of work? Karla Campos Not on my business, more on my free time. So I'm not getting out this summer to the pool as I would have last year. But luckily, we're having a super heat wave in Florida. So it's too hot outside anyway. ([Time 0:16:37](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c9afa500-32a1-41a6-811c-ec3c0dc63550)) - **Attendee Numbers Reflect Broader Challenges** - Attendee numbers for WordCamp US might be lower due to travel restrictions and recent community concerns. - Organizers plan for about 1,000 attendees, balancing safe and happy event experience over maximal numbers. Transcript: Nathan Wrigley Do you feel that it's all being put together in a rushed way? Karla Campos No, I think we're on track. I mean, we expected the event to be smaller this year because there have been discussions around different things that are happening in just the space, like traveling restrictions, People being scared to fly to the US, different things that we knew it was going to make the numbers less. But right now we're up to 730 registered attendees. So we are planning for a thousand attendees. That's our goal. Hopefully more. But yeah, we expected that it was going to be a little bit less than last year for the various reasons, including the travel restrictions and things that people do not want to come to the U.S. For. But Portland is ultimately a very friendly place. And I think our concern is that everyone is safe and happy at the event. So I think we're doing a very good job with that right now. ([Time 0:18:21](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c6a4815e-3e9c-4734-b79d-21452b166545)) - **Include Students for Growth** - Engage colleges to involve tech students interested in WordPress, AI, and web development careers. - Offer students exposure to industry leaders to boost community growth and innovation. Transcript: Karla Campos And we're doing a lot of student initiatives so that, you know, everybody gets a little bit of that WordPress community feel. And there's a lot of students very interested. So I think we can reach the number. Nathan Wrigley I certainly hope so. I mean, when you say students, I'm presuming from that that you mean younger people by that as well. So not just people that are in education, but really aiming that target at young people in education. It always struck me when you go to these events that the demographic definitely skews older. I don't mean, you know, particularly old, but you don't tend to find a bunch of 18 to 20 year olds wandering around in large proportion. It seems to me it's definitely in the late 20s, early 30s, 40s, 50s and upwards. So that's been a definite charge that you've had then, has it, to try and get younger people? Have I got that right? When you said student, did you mean younger people? Karla Campos Well, we are working with colleges because they're very interested in how AI and WordPress are evolving and everything that's going around that. And through our event, the teachers that work at the colleges are very excited to connect the students with the future of the web and whatever's happening with web development and AI. They're really interested in sending the students there because even though they're educators, they're not the innovators. So they want to come to WordCamp to connect with those innovators, including Google, Google's liaison of search, Danny Sullivan. That was amazing to the students. They wanted to meet people in charge of the tech industry and connect there. ([Time 0:20:37](https://share.snipd.com/snip/30b23a76-2a60-4c40-856f-852a6c67788a)) - **WordCamp’s Unique Friendly Spirit** - WordCamp events combine professionalism with a friendly, supportive community atmosphere unlike typical tech conferences. - Attendees help each other practically onsite, which fosters a welcoming environment. Transcript: Karla Campos I think it's a little bit of both. It is a friendlier atmosphere from the different tech events that I've been involved in that feel more serious. Because when you go to a WordCamp, you automatically feel that it's a little friendlier, a little bit less corporate. Yes, everyone is very skilled. They're very like awesome in their profession, but they're also very down to earth and just willing to, hey, share a tidbit here, a tip here. I've even seen people help other people with their websites live at the events. Hey, look, I'm having a problem with my website. It's not doing something on mobile. It's not responding the way I want it. It's not responsive. Can you help me? And someone will stop and say, yeah, sit down here in this corner. Let's go to that room and let me look at it and help you a little bit. And it's something that I don't see at other conferences where people have this community feel. ([Time 0:24:05](https://share.snipd.com/snip/075d4790-fdc3-4fbd-acab-a9a6b2f5ac07)) - **Buddy System for Newcomers** - Use the WP Trail Buddies program to connect first-time attendees with veterans to ease social anxiety. - Buddy systems help newcomers feel welcomed and included during the event. Transcript: Karla Campos Oh, yeah. I think everyone knows Michelle. She's organizing something called WP Trail Buddies. So she's actually connecting veteran WordCamp attendees with new attendees so that they can have like a friend a buddy at the word camp that they can do things with so they don't feel Alone and they feel welcome so that's a new thing and that sounds you know if a person is coming to word camp for the first time they can go that route you know they can actually have somebody There with them i ([Time 0:26:10](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ffc4b38e-f976-412b-a6a6-23ef34eeab4f)) - **Affordable Student Tickets** - Students can attend WordCamp US for $25 with proof of enrollment, greatly lowering barriers. - Affordable student tickets promote wider access and community engagement among younger attendees. Transcript: Karla Campos And we do also have a student pricing of $25 if the students show ID or proof that they're enrolled in school. So that's also like an amazing deal. Nathan Wrigley Now, the events often have a bit of a formula to them. There'll be presentations and ([Time 0:28:03](https://share.snipd.com/snip/06cb7236-6303-4788-a2ad-dfaef5ae8de2)) - **Innovations in Contributor Day** - Contributor Day at WordCamp US 2025 introduces a hackathon and remote collaboration options for the testing team. - These new formats enhance engagement and inclusivity within contributor activities. Transcript: Karla Campos We are, but it's a secret. Is it? Nathan Wrigley Okay. Karla Campos No, it's a hackathon, but Gail Wallace is going to speak more about that in the coming weeks. So we're just waiting for her to share all the information about what she's been working on with that. But there is something new, which is collaborating remotely for the testing team. So that's fun. That hasn't been done before. Nathan Wrigley So the testing team will be open to kind of like a more of like a Zoom approach. ([Time 0:28:51](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4c22385e-92f9-462e-96c7-7c3f5ce904e2)) - **Post-Event Wrap-Up Extends Weeks** - Organizers continue work after the event for physical teardown and post-event debriefs. - The official wrap-up extends weeks beyond the event's end date, reflecting the commitment required. Transcript: Nathan Wrigley I may go back to the hotel or spend a few days in Portland having a look around or what have you. But for me, the event has kind of finished at that moment. For you, I'm guessing that's not the case. Do you have any anticipation of what it will involve in terms of collapsing the event down? At what point it will be considered to be finished by the team? Karla Campos Well, physically, we have to be out by a certain date and everything cleaned out. So I am planning to stay there a little bit longer to handle that with the rest of the team. But I think we should be done by the 31st. Everything should be cleared out physically. But then, of course, we're going to reunite and just kind of have a meeting and talk about the experience. And like we were talking about, what can we do better next year? And I think maybe, I think we're still going to be in talks at least two weeks after the event is over to kind of close it out as a team. Nathan Wrigley Yeah, so it definitely doesn't end on the day that it's going to end for me. So yeah, there's another example of the amount that people like you are doing. ([Time 0:33:10](https://share.snipd.com/snip/293f14eb-e2c8-445d-aa70-7a04679f9de4))