How To Prepare for a WordCamp 🔗 **Source:** [How To Prepare for a WordCamp](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [wordcamp, community-events, networking] > author: Matt Medeiros > source: The WP Minute > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM > date created: 2024-12-19 14:30 > > # 🏷️ Title: How To Prepare for a WordCamp > <!-- deep-read:sections start --> ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Create WordCamp attendance goals before traveling — define networking and learning objectives #wordcamp - [H2] Book sessions early but balance with hallway track time — support speakers while maximizing networking #networking - [H3] Sign up for WP World directory to connect with attendees — build community connections before events #community ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [WordCamp US 2024](https://us.wordcamp.org/2024/) - [WP World Directory](https://wp.world) ## 📝 Summary - Matt Medeiros and Marcus Burnette discuss comprehensive preparation strategies for attending WordCamps - Why WordCamps offer exceptional value at $50-100 tickets compared to $1000+ tech conferences - Key stakeholders include first-time attendees, seasoned community members, and WordPress professionals - Risks include travel costs and time management between sessions and networking - Bottom line: WordCamps provide unmatched networking and learning value when approached strategically ## 📖 Main Content WordCamps represent some of the most valuable professional development opportunities in tech, with tickets costing $50-100 versus $1000+ for comparable conferences. The core value lies in three areas: official sessions/tracks, hallway networking, and contributor day participation. The "hallway track" refers to informal networking that happens between sessions - where many WordPress decisions and business relationships have historically formed. However, first-time attendees should balance official sessions with hallway time to understand community presentation styles and have direct Q&A access. Contributor Day offers direct influence over WordPress core and ecosystem through 21 contributing teams. This represents rare access to impact software used by millions of websites globally. Travel costs can be prohibitive for flagship events, but local/regional WordCamps provide similar networking value. The community maintains central.wordcamp.org for event discovery across global locations. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=0) — [H1] Introduction and Sports Chat - Key idea: Casual introduction between Matt Medeiros and Marcus Burnette - Evidence: "Marcus brunett welcome to the wp minute hey there Matt thanks for having me" #### ⏱️ [05:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=330) — [H2] WordCamp Value Proposition - Key idea: WordCamps offer exceptional value compared to other tech conferences - Evidence: "these major sort of Capstone events are like $1,000 $1,500 to attend...you can't beat a $55 ticket" #### ⏱️ [08:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=525) — [H3] Custom Post Types WordPress Experiment - Key idea: WordPress.com team released experimental content models for custom fields and post types - Evidence: "the team um at wordpress.com put out this little experiment content model content models" #### ⏱️ [12:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=735) — [H2] WordCamp Global Distribution - Key idea: More WordCamps happen outside North America, especially in Europe - Evidence: "there are a lot to choose from there especially in like Spain and and Germany" #### ⏱️ [15:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=920) — [H1] Hallway Track vs Official Sessions - Key idea: The hallway track has historically been where WordPress decisions and businesses were built - Evidence: "a lot of these decisions and a lot of the code and the software and the businesses were built in the hallway track" #### ⏱️ [18:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=1110) — [H2] First-Time Attendee Session Advice - Key idea: New attendees should attend official sessions for Q&A access and community understanding - Evidence: "my advice would not be to skip all of the sessions and just do the hallway track" #### ⏱️ [22:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=1330) — [H1] Contributor Day Explained - Key idea: Contributor Day provides direct influence over WordPress through 21 contributing teams - Evidence: "WordPress the ecosystem the community if you will is built of 21 teams" #### ⏱️ [25:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=1545) — [H3] Travel and Recovery Strategies - Key idea: Managing energy and introversion during intensive networking events - Evidence: "I am much more introverted than I am extroverted...I will go find something probably outdoorsy" #### ⏱️ [28:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=1700) — [H2] After-Party Strategy - Key idea: Choose after-parties based on access to specific company leadership and personal energy levels - Evidence: "look at look at who's hosting the the parties...is it someone that you're a customer of" #### ⏱️ [31:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=1910) — [H1] Goal Setting for WordCamps - Key idea: Define specific networking and business objectives before attending - Evidence: "these these are for for goal settings like I look at it like how can I you know meet up with my friends" #### ⏱️ [35:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=2115) — [H2] WordCamp Official Resources - Key idea: Official WordCamp sites provide venue maps, basics, and side event listings - Evidence: "us.org 2024...they do have a what to expect word Camp us Basics post" #### ⏱️ [38:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM?t=2320) — [H1] WP World Platform Overview - Key idea: WP World directory connects WordPress community members for in-person meetups - Evidence: "my original goal for the site...is to connect people in the WordPress space with each other in person" ## 📚 References - [WordCamp US 2024](https://us.wordcamp.org/2024/) - [WP World Directory](https://wp.world) - [Central WordCamp Directory](https://central.wordcamp.org) - [WP World WordCamp Attendee Toolkit](https://wp.world/wordcamp-attendee-toolkit) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - WordCamps provide exceptional value at $50-100 tickets compared to $1000+ tech conferences, offering networking and learning opportunities - Balance official sessions with hallway networking, especially for first-time attendees who benefit from Q&A access and community understanding - Contributor Day enables direct influence over WordPress core through 21 contributing teams, impacting millions of websites globally ## 📰 Newsletter **Preparing for Your First (or Next) WordCamp: A Strategic Approach** WordCamps offer unmatched value in the tech conference world - where else can you get world-class networking and learning for under $100? Matt Medeiros and Marcus Burnette share essential strategies for maximizing your WordCamp experience. **Key Takeaway:** Success comes from balancing three elements: official sessions, hallway networking, and contributor participation. First-timers should prioritize sessions for Q&A access, while veterans can focus more on the legendary "hallway track" where WordPress decisions historically get made. **Practical Benefits:** Direct access to WordPress core contributors, agency partnership opportunities, and customer feedback channels that would cost thousands at commercial conferences. **Essential Resources:** Use [WP World](https://wp.world) to connect with attendees beforehand, check [Central WordCamp](https://central.wordcamp.org) for events near you, and review the [official WordCamp US resources](https://us.wordcamp.org/2024/). The WordPress community's commitment to accessible events means you can build career-changing relationships without breaking the bank. Resources: [Learn WordPress](https://learn.wordpress.org/), [Developer Docs](https://developer.wordpress.org/), [WP-CLI](https://wp-cli.org/) ## ✅ Action Items #### Community - WordCamp attendance: Set specific networking and learning goals before traveling - Hallway track: Balance session attendance with informal networking opportunities - Contributor Day: Join one of 21 WordPress contributing teams to influence core development - Local events: Find regional WordCamps through central.wordcamp.org for budget-friendly options - After-parties: Choose events based on access to specific company leadership and energy management #### WordPress - Community: WordCamp preparation guides, attendee toolkits, networking facilitation - Events: Improve flight logistics for flagship events, expand regional coverage - Contributor Day: Streamline onboarding for 21 contributing teams, clearer team descriptions - Documentation: WordCamp best practices, first-timer guides, post-event follow-up resources ## 🧪 Hypotheses - WordCamps provide higher ROI networking opportunities than commercial tech conferences due to lower barriers to entry - First-time attendees benefit more from official sessions while veterans gain more value from hallway networking - Contributor Day participation leads to deeper WordPress community engagement and influence - Regional WordCamps offer similar networking value to flagship events at lower cost ### 📊 Methodology - Survey ROI comparison between WordCamp and commercial conference attendees - Track networking outcome metrics for session vs hallway track time allocation - Measure contributor retention rates from Contributor Day participation - Analyze business relationship formation rates at regional vs flagship events ### ❓ Questions - How can WordCamp organizers better facilitate networking for introverted community members? - What's the optimal balance between sessions and hallway time for different attendee experience levels? - How might virtual/hybrid elements enhance rather than replace in-person WordCamp value? ### 🔮 Future Research - Long-term career impact analysis of WordCamp networking relationships - Accessibility improvements for neurodivergent community members at events - Economic impact study of WordCamp travel costs on community participation ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Strategic goal-setting and energy management maximize WordCamp value - Community: Lower-cost events increase accessibility and diversity in WordPress leadership - Business: WordCamps provide cost-effective customer discovery and partnership development - Education: Contributor Day offers hands-on learning about open source governance ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 8th grade (Flesch-Kincaid) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Video format with speaker presence, venue descriptions - Improve: WordCamp layout diagrams, networking flow charts, booth maps #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Full audio discussion format, conversational explanations - Improve: Downloadable audio summary, WordCamp preparation checklist narration #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Clear definitions of hallway track, contributor day terminology - Improve: WordCamp vocabulary glossary, analogies for different event types #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Practical preparation steps, goal-setting exercises - Improve: Interactive WordCamp planning worksheets, hands-on contributor tasks #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Cost comparisons, structured preparation timeline - Improve: Decision trees for session selection, ROI calculation frameworks #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Networking strategies, community connection emphasis - Improve: Pre-event meetup coordination, buddy system for first-timers #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Individual preparation strategies, energy management tips - Improve: Self-assessment tools, personal reflection prompts for goal-setting ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear heading structure, descriptive video title - Improve: Detailed transcript with speaker identification, time-stamped navigation #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard YouTube player controls - Improve: Chapter markers for easy navigation, skip-to-content options #### Contrast and readability - Present: Good video quality with clear speaker visibility - Improve: Closed captions with high contrast, summary text alternatives #### Media and captions - Present: Full transcript available, video format accessible - Improve: Professional closed captions, audio descriptions for visual elements ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: Mentions WordCamps globally, especially Europe coverage - Improve: Include accessibility considerations for international travel, visa requirements #### Inclusive language - Present: Gender-neutral networking advice, accommodation for introverts - Improve: Address financial barriers more explicitly, alternative participation modes #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Energy management strategies, introvert-friendly approaches - Improve: Sensory considerations for events, quiet space recommendations #### Representation - Present: Two experienced community members sharing perspectives - Improve: Include first-timer voices, diverse geographic and demographic perspectives ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Clear cost-benefit analysis comparing WordCamps to commercial conferences - Inductive strength: Personal experiences generalized to broader community patterns - Causal reasoning: Links networking strategies to career/business outcomes - Analogical strength: Appropriate comparisons between event types and preparation needs #### Fallacies - Appeal to tradition: "historically formed in hallway track" - assumes past patterns continue - Hasty generalization: Two speakers' experiences may not represent all attendee types #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Conversational and encouraging with practical focus, appropriate for community audience ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No defensive patterns observed - Attack: No attacks on individuals or opposing viewpoints - Reverse victim/offender: Not applicable to this content - Emotional cues: Positive enthusiasm for community events, inclusive framing ## 🎯 Conclusion WordCamps offer exceptional value for WordPress community members when approached strategically. The key is balancing official sessions, hallway networking, and contributor participation based on your experience level and goals. First-time attendees should prioritize sessions for learning and Q&A access, while veterans can focus more on the hallway track where many WordPress business relationships form. Practical next steps include setting specific networking goals, using tools like WP World to connect with other attendees beforehand, and considering regional WordCamps for budget-friendly community engagement. The WordPress community's commitment to accessible events means career-changing relationships and learning opportunities remain within reach for most community members. The broader implication is that open source communities can maintain high-value professional development while keeping barriers to entry low - a model worth studying for other technology ecosystems. ## 🧱 Refactor Appendix ### 📚 Literature Split Pad ### [H1] WordCamps provide exceptional ROI for professional development > [!quote] [How To Prepare for a WordCamp](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM) by Matt Medeiros via The WP Minute. Published 2024. Accessed 2024-12-19. > "these major sort of Capstone events are like $1,000 $1,500 to attend...you can <!-- deep-read:sections end --> ## 📺 Video  --- # 📄 Full Transcript *Auto-generated from YouTube captions · timestamps roughly every 30 seconds · [watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FW9qfHIWGM)* **[00:03]** [Music] Marcus brunett welcome to the wp minute hey there Matt thanks for having me football season who you rooting for um I will admit that I'm not a big **[00:37]** football person okay and neither is anyone else in our household because it's all girls but I've been relegated to rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs because of Taylor Swift oh Jesus my arch nemesis uh I have no real stake in any of it though I don't do fantasy football or anything like that so honestly don't care who wins yeah well that's the stream everybody Marcus is got to go see you uh no really it's only because oops **[01:09]** I didn't want to put that up just yet um it's really only because you know uh Patrick Mahomes is uh really the one to um go against Tom Brady's record why can't I find the little side by side window here I'm all over the place let's move this over here um Patrick Mahomes head quarterback lead quarterback starting quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs um it's really the only one gonna that aware at least I **[01:39]** know that he's the quarterback I Netflix has a pretty good documentary that follows like three quarterbacks through last season or something Patrick Mahomes was one of them pretty good documentary enjoyed watching that even though not a huge football person very good but uh Orlando Magic's your basketball team right yes love basketball both uh been been really into women's basketball this summer WNBA both my daughters play basketball so we've gotten really into watching women's but **[02:09]** yeah I'm ready for the NBA season to come back too ready for Celtics I'm still we're still looking at the the trophy actually my son or all three of my sons their Elementary School uh they have a uh they have I guess seven schools in the state or something like that get um replica trophies uh the Bost of Celtics in it's in the lobby it's nice it's great it's great to be a Boston fan I'm sure you've sick and tired of hearing that yeah let someone else have a turn yeah **[02:41]** today we're talking about preparing yourself for a word camp both Marcus and I will be at word Camp us uh the 17th through the 20th I'm actually leaving the 20th uh because I couldn't get that much time off uh but uh I'll be there 17 18 19 leaving mid morning on the 20th you leaving uh the 21st um I am leaving real early in the morning like 1:00 a.m. or something on the 21st my my oldest daughter's birthday is the 21st so I'm trying to make it back to back to Florida in time **[03:14]** to spend some time with her that day catching the red eye back are you yep be late night I get back in here at like 8:30 in the morning or something like that I've never seen such terrible flights schedules from Boston to Portland it's the worst uh I'm actually leaving out of Providence so I have to do a a uh a TR change over in in Chicago so it makes like the the whole travel like I don't know 9 10 hour day uh but if I was leaving out of Boston it was just red eyes back and like by the time **[03:45]** I get home it would be literally minutes before my wife has to leave for work so I I couldn't like I couldn't uh I couldn't swing the the Boston trip for a direct so yeah I'm coming back from Portland to Minneapolis to Orlando so like couldn't be a worse like longer way to go great stuff great stuff all right so if it's your first time to a word camp this should be helpful for you um if everybody can hear CS okay last time I did a live stream with Kevin gir I had **[04:17]** some technical issues Mark says please prepare me I'm a word Camp virgin there's a lot of stuff that can happen at a word camp or you could do nothing you could just hang out chat with people um you know there's there's so much to do we're going to talk about that later on in the episode before we get there just going to share a couple pieces of content um that uh the wp minute has published this week and uh then we'll dive into uh dive into the meat of the topic so let me go ahead and pull up oh and before I forget let me just through this up here if you've not met Marcus **[04:48]** before you can find uh his side hustle his passion at the W.W World check it out I love this uh love this new little hero Splash you have going on here with the changeing colors it's good thanks yep is that a block that changes that text is that a or did you have to code that like a oh there's a lot of code going on here I coded that one with a little inspiration from code pen and a little bit of tweaking from jet GPT we can dive into that at some point if you want but yeah there's there's plenty of code going on there awesome um first topic uh **[05:23]** article that went out literally this morning if you're a a WP minute email newsletter subscriber and aren't you the wp.com Subscribe uh you got Eric carvac latest piece why small WordPress UI changes are a big deal and he talks um largely about how the right hand uh sidebar in the post and Page editor kind of change things around and I still have muscle memory like I I always scroll down to the featured image and I'm like where where is it it's like oh yeah it's now like the first thing uh on the top **[05:54]** of uh the post editor options there's a few other things that changed there like scheduling and Status um this is a great piece um he sort of gives his critical look as somebody who's been using Wordpress for nearly 20 years somebody who helps people launch WordPress websites um so check this out why small WordPress UI changes are a big deal what about you Marcus anything that drastically changed that that you were like hey where'd it go what's going on here um yeah I I think I last week **[06:26]** earlier this week something posted about the move to trash button uh oh that's right you were the one that started that disappearing and uh yeah I got all sorts of comments for and against and and I I I do understand why it moved ultimately um I got a little Clarity around that but like anytime I do you have the who Moved My Cheese situation like so why did did you what was the reason for them moving the the delete **[06:56]** button uh so it turned out I guess that people were accidentally hitting that button um because it was just too prominent in the UI and uh so they moved it under the Kebab menu as it were but um so yeah check this out if you're somebody that is uh wondering hey why did that change what kind of impact that has on you as the user or or for your end uh end user which might be your customers why small WordPress UI changes **[07:28]** are a big deal carvac posted right on the homepage if you're watching this live of the wp minute.com oh boy is there a tizzy in the WordPress world uh the future of custom post types in WordPress question mark I put out this uh video yesterday on the wp minute YouTube channel youtube.com WP minute the future of custom post types in WordPress big debate C post types and **[08:00]** custom Fields inside of Wordpress how do we do it when will we do it we need it is WordPress a great content management system or not without these types of features is ACF the king of Uh custom Fields what happens to them if WordPress rolls out custom fields and custom post types in core the team um at wordpress.com put out this little experiment content model content models create content model content models it's an experiment only um you can find it on the video I have **[08:31]** it linked up in the show notes you can search automatics GitHub repo for it and I do did a demo and there's a demo video of it of creating custom fields and custom post types right inside the block editor I thought it was fantastic I don't know did you get a chance to see this or see it scroll through your your social feeds Marcus yeah I I actually uh I watched this video yesterday and and watched you walk through it and stuff I came from Drupal World me too **[09:03]** where custom post types custom Fields even some like query stuff in Drupal called views was built in and it was one of the things that Drew the agency that I was working at at the time to Drupal over WordPress was having all of that stuff built in this was maybe right on the cusp of custom post type UI and ACF even existing right so it's been a little while um and when we Revisited content Management Systems to go with that existed and we went the WordPress **[09:34]** route but I I'm in favor of having those built in I don't know if the way that this is structured makes the most sense to me I'm not sure if this workflow of creating fields and binding them within like the block editor where you're also doing some styling stuff there makes the most sense to me um but I am I am definitely for having custom post types and and custom Fields as a core part of the the um of **[10:07]** Wordpress of the CMS itself uh and yeah same goes for views that was one of the one of the like heartbreaking things moving from Drupal to Wordpress was this like okay how do I get a list of content to show up on this page not the way I wanted to and ultimately ended up being a lot of hand coding you know this query loop block and and some stuff that's in some third party um uh plugins like Co blocks and Cadence and stuff that help do some more advanced stuff there now **[10:37]** but man views was so complicated but so good at what it did listing stuff on the page I'm telling you that coming toward press yeah that cck and Views in Drupal for I I really got to go back I assume it's still in I know a new version I don't know I haven't followed along yeah um I have to go back and and look at that and actually that might make a good video won't do well on the algorithm but I think for my own edification it'll be **[11:08]** it'll be pretty good to put that out there just to show like this is what a a core CMS is doing because that cck and Views combination just unlocked so much for me as a non-developer like the the thinking of storing content and displaying content the click of a button and this is 18 years ago you know and it's just like why haven't we had that in WordPress so I know this is a a deep um a deep need obviously everybody knows **[11:38]** that I mean I think anybody who starts to build sites understands that um I think the issue here is that this particular prototype this particular experiment is only that and it's not meant to go into WordPress core nor will it be um further developed now that's what I heard from good sources I don't know if uh I know Daniel posted uh who's leading wordpress.com right now posted on Twitter uh as well that's not it's not going to be continued uh continued **[12:10]** development cycle but here's the thing with with I guess open source and and in this world that we live in is this is out there now like this is an influential thing like I think for when they start to gather feedback and they and they maybe see people who play with this and leave uh comments or create issues or create posts about it or talk about it like to me it's like well the cat's kind of out of the bag and and this still can influence the future of **[12:42]** what happens in core because I thought it was pretty good as like a two week prototype like I could see myself using this yeah definitely interesting experiment um to be honest from from like the putting on literally having my hosting hat on um at GoDaddy and other hosts too I'm curious maybe if there's a reason why hosts haven't decided to step in and add you know that layer on top of **[13:12]** you know you spin up a manage WordPress hosting site you've got custom post types and and custom Fields already there you don't don't have to install an additional plugin to make that happen yeah um I'd have to go back to our team and see if that's been considered and you know whether that was was had roadblocks or whatever but I feel like that and being from automatic and the wordpress.com team and having to wonder if that's you know on their road map of how do we bundle this into wordpress.com **[13:44]** why maybe other hosts haven't gone down that path as well yeah yeah probably a lot bigger fish to fry I'd imagine from the hosting side right like onboarding getting people uh used to using Wordpress to build out sites um that kind of thing um you know that might be one of the issues but anyway fantastic to see this stuff out there um I hope it does kind of influence uh the future thinking of how custom fields and custom post types are done uh at least from a lay person standpoint non-developer **[14:15]** standpoint I really enjoyed it uh let's talk about word camps um thinking back to my first word Camp which was 2010 Chicago I think um was the first one I attended and also the first one that I spoke at uh these things have been these events have been invaluable uh you know to me as somebody who's you know constantly learning WordPress connecting with the **[14:47]** community you know sharpening my public speaking chops when I was uh applying to uh to speak at these events word camps have always been you know fantastic and a fantastic value although I guess one could argue that these days with uh cost of flight and and lodging um might start to um you know push the the limits of maybe most people's budgets U but when I look around the tech world or even the podcasting world where I also spend a lot of time these major sort of Capstone **[15:18]** events are like $1,000 $1,500 to attend uh to to get the ticket to get access to the speaking and uh you know to the event rooms and all this other stuff and After parties podcast movement was just a few weeks ago and was down in DC actually in the same place we were at last year for word Camp us um I was going to go without a ticket just because I knew that event space was a great place for me to just Network and talk to other people um but you can't beat a $55 ticket $50 ticket $55 ticket I think **[15:51]** it went up a little bit for word Camp us but still a phenomenal value what what's your thoughts on the value side of a word camp yeah I I 100% think the value is there um you know I'll step back I think some people who know me and have seen me at a lot of camps um will be surprised to know that I really didn't go to a lot of word camps free pandemic um most of my word Camp experience has been on this side of of covid um Orlando had a couple **[16:22]** of word camps in I think 2018 2019 and I went to those because they were in my in my backyard um but then you know starting at at GoDaddy in the community side of things and going to work camps being a part of what I do for for work um I've really been able to go to a lot of them since then uh so uh I as as far as the value goes you're right word Camp us I think went up to a hundred bucks but still like you said most most conferences are **[16:54]** in the you know thousand plus range just to start that's before you even factor in any kind of travel flights Hotel all of that stuff um I will say that it it it is a little bit of an investment to travel to something like word Camp us or word Camp Europe or Asia the the larger Flagship camps unless you're you know live happen to live in that area already but there are word camps all over the country so if you're worried that um you know going to word Camp us is going to **[17:25]** break the bank then you know there are most like options closer to you that won't um you know I just came back from word Camp Minneapolis not that long ago there's there's a pretty large one in Phoenix um they're they're kind of scattered across the country and really across the globe they're actually tons more postco in Europe um than the US so if you do happen to be watching this and you're from from Europe somewhere um there are a lot to choose from there **[17:57]** especially in like Spain and and Germany and in those areas but again to the value I think there's so much to be said for the people that you can meet and the the companies that you can find out about and all of that that um I think the value is 100% there for as low as the ticket costs are compared to other types of conferences a lot more word camps I have uh if you don't know Central wordcamp **[18:29]** and I'll put this in the in the chat as well central. camp.org is going to be the central hub for um most of these word camps and events that are happening under the uh the word Camp brand and WordPress brand a lot more happening on uh the nonn North America side of the map and South America um for the rest of 2024 anyway uh Portland Oregon I think Rochester New York is that on this list yeah right down here in October October **[19:00]** um are like the last in the US if I scroll down that I know about um and then we have state of the word happening I know this is not word camps but then state of the word is happening in um Tokyo in December um but just to you know in the same context of talking about like expenses and value and all this stuff um you know media part or people in the media Corps were invited **[19:31]** to to go to uh state of the word um but the cost is like way too prohibitive for us you know WordPress media folks like you know we are not May news flash uh if you follow this channel for any amount of time like uh to drop like $10,000 to to fly there and stay there uh like the few days before Christmas um at least for me anyway with three small kids is out the window um but I think **[20:01]** prohibitive for a lot of folks on this side of the globe to get there um you know around that time so uh you know these events while they're creeping up and maybe getting a little bit more professional with air quotes you know like the state of the words is now its own event like that and will happen across the the world in different uh different years um you know costs are still prohibited for travel but locally you know if you're local which I I feel is like the essence of these camps I **[20:31]** know we have a lot of friends that speak at whatever us Europe Asia but to me it's like well shouldn't we showcase the speakers in that area you know no offense to any of my us friends who speak at at the Europe and Asia events but maybe it's like maybe the the Europe and Asia folks should be the ones speaking at those events that's just my sort of side opinion on that yeah I I would agree with that I um I **[21:01]** have not actually managed to make it out to Word Camp Asia the last couple of years things have come up both times that have uh kept me here in in Orlando but um I have been to the last few word Camp Europe's um you know as with GoDaddy as part of the sponsorship there and uh yeah it is I always appreciate when there are folks from you know the local area that are coming in and bringing their perspective to the community I think one of the other great **[21:33]** things like I was hinting at at the start of our discussion is it doesn't have to be well I'll get your take on I'll get your take on it but and then you can share with me um your thoughts track you know the the event track the the the presentations the lightning talks like all that stuff or the hallway track I've always been a hallway track person you know going to word camps to meet with my friends and just get the general Vibe of like what is happening **[22:04]** in WordPress to me has always happened in the hallway track if you've not heard about that before it's the people in the hallway who are not going you know going to the talks um and just meeting up with people I mean when we when I talk about like the history of Wordpress and you know when I sort of debate Hot Topics with uh my regular co-host mark samansky would talk about like things and how why things are the way they are in WordPress I always forget that man we literally saw this stuff being built and discussed in the hallway tracks for years right **[22:37]** like a lot of these decisions and a lot of the code and the software and the businesses were built in the hallway track like I just remember sitting with the whole Easy Digital downloads team when Pippen launched Ed and like them working on new versions and people literally walking by giving him ideas while he's building it like it's amazing to think back at those moments but for me it's always been about the value in the hallway track your thoughts the official track or the hallway track a little bit of both yeah I don't I don't **[23:07]** think it's a a binary decision um I do think when it comes to having an influence over what's happening kind of in the official channels the the you know the the folks the core the core committers the surrounding teams um I would say contributor day is definitely the way to go there and we can talk more a bit about contributor day in a minute um but I do like what you're talking about about you know being able **[23:38]** to influence or get info about kind of the surrounding tangential products that are happening that are you know being built by individual companies or individual people even um there are so many people in the WordPress space that are you know one or two men shops that are building plugins and and and doing it well doing a great job to be able to kind of have an influence on those products especially if you use them or if it's something new that sounds like you'd want to use it um that'd be **[24:08]** helpful to you to to be able to kind of you know bend their ear and say hey I like where you're going with this what if it you know also what if you took it a step further by doing this with it and and being able to kind of influence the products that you use I think is is really interesting I will say for anyone who's attending their first word camp though my advice would not be to skip all of the sessions and just do the hallway track um I think if you've been if if you're kind of a seasoned veteran **[24:39]** of word camps and you've been to a lot of them and maybe you're at a smaller word camp where there aren't a ton of sessions um yeah go ahead and and the hallway track is probably going to provide you more value especially since a majority if not all of the videos um all of the sessions are videoed and uh posted to both YouTube wordpress.tv afterwards so you can always go back and watch those uh but if it's your first time I think there's something to be said for being in the room um **[25:09]** understanding how the content is presented to folks in the space and then a lot of times speakers will leave time for question and answer afterwards and you'll have the opportunity to um you know be able to share in in asking you know about the about the topic at hand uh where you know if you watch it later on YouTube or wordpress.tv you don't have that direct access anymore um so I would say early **[25:40]** on in your word Camp going experience do look at the schedule ahead of time pick out a handful you know three four five sessions that seem interesting to you or might provide some value to doing your work faster better whatever the case may be and uh definitely attend those and be involved um you know sit up front ask questions get get some answers directly from the source and then uh you know as you as you get on into having been to a **[26:12]** number of word camps still look at that schedule still see if there's someone that you've always wanted to see speak that um you know finally has a session coming up or whatever uh but then yeah spend spend definitely spend some time in that hallway track because there's a ton of value in getting to know the folks that are you know building the software building the products that you use um surrounding the software and then potentials for collaboration on projects and and for folks to help you out for **[26:42]** you to help other folks out and all of that it's a yeah fantastic fantastic professional response and I'm going to bring the room down a little bit Marcus with uh a little bit of a fun refund from my friend Mark zamansky with a $100 donation to the show thanks thanks Mark thanks for refunding me all of the money that I've given you on your show Mark zamansky everybody MJS biion not Mark zaminsky um yeah **[27:12]** fantastic fantastic advice uh Marcus 100% the uh sessions I was actually talking to Mark about this and um I was like man you you got to go to the talks number one hey support some of the folks that see on the list it's a lot of work to put these talks together uh a lot of stress uh you know trying to get these things done uh you know on uh on time and then to present it to uh to a crowd of people especially if it's your first time speaking so supporting **[27:42]** the people that you see putting a presentation together um you know even if it's related uh unrelated to your work hey maybe you find that topic interesting certainly dive in try to spend some time uh you know between the hallway and those sessions what about contributor day any tips or advice on the contributor side you're a guy who sees a lot of these word camps um a lot of the contributor contributor day is kicking off maybe people walking into a contributor day going is it is **[28:13]** this for me can I contribute um you know what are your thoughts on contributor day at the start of a word Camp yeah I'll uh I'll I'll take a quick step back just in case anybody's not aware of what contributor day is it's not present at every word Camp um but generally the larger ones the flagship camps and some of the larger local or Regional camps will have a contributor day um WordPress the ecosystem the **[28:44]** community if you will is built of 21 teams 21 currently as of this recording teams that kind of make up um the different parts of what's going on in WordPress so that's contribution that's plug-in review Team theme review team there's the photo directory team which I'm a part of there's translations there's you know all sorts of different parts to the WordPress ecosystem um contributor day is a way for all of those teams to kind of gather **[29:16]** together in one place and discuss how things are going how can we continue to move this piece of the the puzzle forward um and how can we invite other people into this process and so a lot of what's going on at contributor day is onboarding folks who maybe haven't contributed in the past or have contributed in one area of the project but want to Branch out and and look at some other pieces and and contribute there I have been to every contributor **[29:47]** day that um has existed for a camp that I've attended uh and I think it's it's invaluable in the sense that you have direct access to influence the core project the entire ecosystem depending on what part of it makes you passionate you have the ability to jump in and have influence over that for millions of websites for everyone using Wordpress um you know for a large chunk of the **[30:17]** internet and you can come in and have a voice and so I highly recommend that everyone attend contributor today if they can I know that occasionally that that also you know bumps up the the budget it's an extra hotel room it's you know an extra day of food and dinners and all that stuff so I I understand if there's like the financial part of it doesn't make sense um but if you can swing it I highly recommend going to **[30:47]** contributor to day and having that direct influence over the project the community the surrounding pieces um that make up what is WordPress traveling can be taxing uh I know when I'm going east to west and especially in this trip uh you know 8 n hour travel day if not more if I actually count the the driving and whatnot um first thing I want to do man is go to sleep like I I get there and **[31:19]** I'm like I like I'm not a nap guy like I will stay up you know I'm usually up at 6:00 in the morning and up till 11 11 30 at night but man when I travel I'm just done um the first thing I want to do is just it's great like you know I'm I'm heading there and I'm thinking okay I'm going to meet the the my friends uh that I haven't seen a while maybe I've already set up some meetings with them I'll be working for Gravity form so I have my gravity forms uh duties and responsibilities um but I just want to **[31:50]** get off the plane get to the hotel check in and at least take a power nap what do you do when you first hit the ground or hit the hotel when you arrive um a nap is good occasionally I'll take a nap he's gonna tell me I don't nap you know I I drink a Red Bull and I'm out there drink a Red Bull and power through no I the the strange thing is right so for for anyone who's not not aware for what I do for GoDaddy is I travel as **[32:20]** part of the community WordPress Community team um field marketing team we travel to word camps and you know talk to people about what GoDaddy is doing in WordPress so I've been to a lot of these um and what's strange is even though that is my job I am much more introverted than I am extroverted which I don't think is uncommon for the WordPress Community but for someone whose job is to travel and talk to people it's a little lot so what I do **[32:53]** generally when I go somewhere is I will quickly throw all my stuff down in in the hotel and then I will go find something probably outdoorsy and go hike I don't run I don't jog um but I'll I just want to be outside um usually I'll grab the camera and turn it into a photo walk but just really kind of get outside by myself um I'm not scheduling time with people I'm not saying hey you know I'm going to be here at this time let's immediately go **[33:24]** hang out and do something together for the most part I will just go wander by myself for two or three hours um just to get my head clear to get away from people because I know the next two three four days after that is going to be all people time which I enjoy for that time I can jump in and I can you know be friendly and talk to people and really enjoy that time but I do it better when I can clear my head ahead of time by just getting **[33:56]** outside and away from away from the the chaos away from the busyness I'm G to put in chat a list of calendars you can book or Camp us time with so I started seeing folks speaking of you mentioning you you're not putting up um whatever you're not putting up your calendar to to to book time with people you know immediately or whatever I saw a bunch of people posting this uh under the word Camp us hashtag so I'm making a little Twitter thread with the calendars that I've found I just put **[34:28]** that chat I put I just put that link in the chat um I'm not doing it uh Adam Pickering from Gravity forms is um he's like hey man we're going to all these parties he's got this list of like invites and After parties and he's been asking me uh like hey which ones do you want to go to and I'm like man I'm getting old I'm getting tired I'm just tired looking at your list of events uh that you're going to uh after the the day is done so let's talk about that you **[35:00]** know we we've we've looked at arrival we've looked at you know contributor day do I do the hallway do I do the uh the track then there's a bunch of events there's events that are officially announced you see them posted either officially from um you know word Camp communication uh other brands are promoting their particular events there's the the actual official afterward Camp event that happens I believe on Friday I think it's Friday um and then there's sometimes there's **[35:30]** like hidden events there's events that brands have limited limited seats to and they'll send them out to the different influencers and folks and partners and customers that they want uh folks to go to how do you handle those requests do you you know do you just say I'm not going to go to any other than the ones I'm supposed to go to for GoDaddy um any thoughts or tips or advice to use that time effectively these these word Camp after for parties yeah um that's a good question **[36:02]** because there are a ton of them and I feel like for word Camp us this year it feels like more than usual and they've all kind of piled on top of each other um so you do have to do a little bit of picking and choosing uh what you might be interested in um yeah if you're looking for what those events are um well Matt you shared for people you shared for people to be able to book with individuals specifically um the official word camp sites will usually have a page for side **[36:34]** events as people submit them and uh I do the same on the wp world for each Camp there's a list of the side events that that I know of some of them are invite only and they're marked as such so you'll be able to see them but not register for them or know where the location is don't need you crashing invite only parties necessarily but sometimes it's nice to see that people are you know doing things for um like contributors for table leads and that kind of thing even though you know it's limited seating um I don't know **[37:06]** when it comes to figuring out what you can and can't do I think the first thing you need to figure out is how much time are you able to give after after contributor day after an entire day of sitting in sessions and talking through the hallway track you know do you know that you're basically useless after 9:00 at night right I mean you have to know yourself first to figure out what you can and can't handle um look at the look at the parties can I go to three parties **[37:38]** that all have drink tickets and be a functioning human being by the third one you know you know your own limits to some degree first uh but then I would look and see you know who's who's hosting the the parties um is it someone that you're a customer of or want to know out um it's a good time to go basically have direct contact with the folks that uh work at those companies and that's not always easy to get right sometimes you get tossed into a support **[38:11]** funnel and you just want to talk to you know the CTO and get some answers or you know have suggestions or whatever and this is the sort of event something as big as Work Camp us where the CTO may be there and you get a chance to talk to them face to face and so um you know take those opportunities look at look at who's hosting the parties I mean at the end of the day just about every party is going to be a really good time that's what these events are being thrown for **[38:42]** is to be really good time so any one of them that you choose you're gonna you're gonna go there and you're going to enjoy for the most part um they all come with the the disclaimer that there's going to be some noise you're going to have to fight some volume if you're not into that maybe look look at to see if there's some smaller events that are being held maybe either in an outdoor space that could be quieter or just a small venue where the noise is isn't going to be an issue um but really I think it comes down to who can I they're **[39:14]** all networking events essentially so who who can I get access to by going to XYZ party let's talk about goals goal settings um we talked about sort of like de dressing when we get there and and maybe you have a certain goals that you have for uh GoDaddy um that you want to share here or maybe your own personal goals when you go to these word camps uh for me it's like yeah man it's it's from the business side it's making connections with folks who are um going **[39:46]** to you know be either great Partners or sponsors uh of the wp minute on the gravity form side I'm always looking to connect with our customers to gain feedback um you know like you said you might have support questions uh how do you use gravity forms maybe you're in a challenging moment with a support ticket not that that ever happens here at gravity forms but maybe you are and you're trying to like hey I just need somebody to show me how to do this Hands-On these are you know times where maybe you can have those conversations please don't go to **[40:17]** godaddy's booth and say I have a support problem I don't want to get blamed for that but please do I mean that's that's part part of what we're there for um go ahead yeah so these these are for for goal settings like I look at it like how can I you know meet up with my friends reestablish those connections on the wp minute side sponsors and part content partners and then on the gravity form side yeah like have those connections with with customers and um you know I'm looking to start there's going to be I'm starting I'm break it right here I'm **[40:49]** starting a new audio series uh for Gravity forms and I'm I'm looking to connect with other WordPress business builders that are there who are you know building their agents building their WordPress businesses and I'd love to chat with you about a new um podcast that I'm putting together under the gravity forms Brands I'll be doing a lot of that sort of fishing that networking um to to connect with others uh but goal setting Marcus how do you approach it yeah obviously you're going to have different goals depending on who you're coming to the event as in both of our **[41:22]** cases will'll be there representing um companies that we work for so on the GoDaddy side you know these aren't sales events we're not looking to sell you on something we're looking to share what we've been doing in the WordPress space since the last time you saw us maybe it was the last word Camp maybe you use our products and you don't know that we've launched you know this or that for uh for your hosting um but it's not a Sales Event right so we're we're looking to share some information um we're looking to get **[41:55]** feedback and and we do that through folks coming to the booth and telling us you know we'll ask what do you do with WordPress you know do you have a go ID product how can we make it better um and we we take that feedback directly back with us to product teams and Engineering teams here at GoDaddy to to work on those things um and if you want a demo we're there to demo things if you do have a support issue we'll have some care team folks around as well **[42:26]** that can help with uh with issues right there on the spot as well so please do please do come chat with us if you have something that uh you want to get sorted out um it's definitely a good good time to do that personally um I do come to these with kind of a few goals and generally their networking goals generally it's who have I not seen in a while that I want to make sure that I reconnect with and who have I not met before in in person that maybe I've had **[42:58]** some chats with online that I'd really like to spend some time with in person because the reality is is the conversations that we have online are different than the conversations we have in person they're deeper they're more personal um they're a little bit more free to you know kind of get your thoughts out and get some feedback on your thoughts and stuff and a fairly safe environment uh and so uh I I definitely like to to try and find ways to have inperson conversations **[43:30]** with the people that maybe I've only seen and interacted with online got to bring the stream down again thank you Mark zamansky for another hundred bucks this guy must have won cash drawing at his local Bunko Club I don't know what he does and how he's he's doing this I hope he uh hope his company's profitable this month thanks Mark zamansky um yeah just a uh goal setting super important um if you're starting your own **[44:03]** business uh and you're you're new to the WordPress game this is this is how I got my connections early on in the agency world when I started my agency 15 years ago I don't run it anymore obviously but still runs my dad still runs it ran it for a decade found this is how I found other agencies to partner with hands down the easiest way because you have all these WordPress agencies there and if you're new to the game and you're trying figure out how to you know get better clients how to network with others these uh word camps are invaluable for that so that might be a **[44:33]** goal is just hey I'm trying to find customers but maybe maybe since my customers aren't going to be at a word Camp I could find other WordPress agencies uh WordPress product companies that could help funnel business to me or maybe I can just work for them you know behind the scenes and contract out to them while I grow my portfolio of uh of customers that's that's how I did it um in the early days uh so uh yeah goal setting fantastic stuff as we get to the back half of this show I just want to quickly run through the the resources **[45:05]** available on the official word camp and then I want to take a look at Marcus's site um to talk about what he has available and how uh the wp world can help you on your way to word Camp so of course us.org 2024 September 20 uh 17th through the 20th this is the main stay uh website that you can go and find all of uh the official information on they do have a what to expect word Camp us Basics post this was pretty good you know for the maps and understanding the **[45:35]** venue and getting yourself situated before you get there they have a bunch of stuff showcase day a new thing this is New Right we've never done a showcase day before this is something new where I I believe the the um uh the organizers of the event is is are trying to help the um uh sponsors a little bit more right this is something that's always like a give and take with these kinds of events like sponsorships pretty expensive what are you doing for us like how how are you helping other than just throwing our logo up on the slide deck um and a showcase day I feel is just **[46:07]** that and that's great because sponsors put up a lot of money for this kind of thing and having some airtime or FaceTime uh with folks is pretty good um and it's not just on sponsor I'll I'll yeah I'll interject there real quick just to say that that the sponsorship wasn't necessarily A buy into to those slots um they were just limited to I think the the sponsors being able to apply for those sessions so those have still been those still gone through the process of uh you know determining what's going to **[46:39]** be the the most interesting topics to to present to to folks um that they're not necessarily actually I don't think they're allowed to be all that salesy um so I would still encourage people to go check those out those aren't time share slots essentially those are sponsors that have been doing some really good stuff in WordPress over the last year or so and want to share what they've been up to yes it's going to be sponsor specific stuff um but it's not going to **[47:10]** be a hard sell at the end and keep you in the room until somebody buys just some info yeah some info about what they've been up to so I would still still recommend that people go check those out uh and then there's a side events page SLS side events uh that lists some of obvious side events happening and I guess you could submit yours if you were running a side event but maybe too late to get that listed at this point I don't know but check out the side events uh on the official us. camp.org 2024 just going to go to 2024 **[47:42]** um and then it's going to be back at the same place next year 2025 will be also in Portland with the most horrendous flight path from Boston dear God why uh let's talk about your website uh the wp.woodbridge.nj.us on over create a profile um there's a bunch of things man you have taken this thing to the next level since when it was just with air quotes just uh sort of a profile collection of word camp or excuse me of word pressers around the world um you've really taken to this to the next level **[48:14]** um so congrats on all the sleepless nights uh of doing all the coding and designing that you've been up to so take us through what are what are the hot spots here where folks can use your site uh as a first time word c go or veteran word Camp goer sure um yeah the site's been around for just over a year now um my original goal for the site which Still Remains the goal is to connect people in the WordPress space with each other in person and online with kind of a focus **[48:45]** on the inperson part people tend to kind of find each other online whether that's Twitter mastedon LinkedIn different Facebook groups and stuff um but in person I feel like pre pandemic a big way that WordPress grew and that we were I don't know I'll say more united in our efforts was through a lot more in-person meetups um meetups and word camps and so my my goal here is to kind of encourage **[49:17]** more of that with this site and so started with the directory of folks in the WordPress space that way you could see who lives near you within you know with semi-reasonable driving distance um and you can find them and reach out and meet up for coffee or whatever and if you realize there's you know a dozen of us in a space maybe it's time to start a meet up if there isn't one there already so that's the original goal um that's still that's still the main goal for the site uh a lot of **[49:49]** emphasis has been put on building up the word Camp uh well the WordPress event um the majority of those are word camps but the WordPress event section of the site uh and that recently got a little bit of a makeover as well but it just gives you a ton of information regardless of who you are whether you're an attendee speaker sponsor organizer um about upcoming events but also there's an archive of past events **[50:20]** and all of that so if you want to see how many people came to word Camp Philly in 2018 or whatever it is you you know hop there and if I if I have access to the data it's uh it's going to be there for you uh man I think when when I first interviewed you about this platform you said you're not a developer not professionally yeah not professionally I know enough I know said you don't play golf and then you show up **[50:50]** and you you smoke me every hole like I like you did a fantastic I mean I could never do this and you you know you say you're not a developer this site is phenomenal I've yeah I've worked with some developers like at skyverge and GoDaddy here were worked with them in the sense that I was kind of on the support care side and they were doing the engineering part and I look at what they write and that's not what I write so that's where that's where I set the standard they're developers I'm someone who knows enough code to make a thing do **[51:24]** what I want it to do fantastic um so folks can go they can see the list of stuff happening um is there a way to uh Network through the site like can people alert other word pressers or other folks on the side to say hey I'll be there can we connect is anything like that or is that still like far too advanced of of what maybe you're up to um I think I've at least to this point intentionally left the **[51:55]** communication up to the different channels so if you pick literally any WordPress and go to their profile you can see what what uh what social Avenues they have for you to connect with them whether that's uh you know on on Twitter or madon but also any of the kind of slack workspaces or Discord um you can mark all of those as like you know you can find me on you know the make slack or post out of slack or any of those and **[52:25]** that way if people want to reach out they know where that where they can be found um I think there's a level of moderation and anti-bullying and trolling and stuff that I'm trying to avoid so far yeah um that's not to say that I won't ever include some way for people to contact each other within the site but there are so many ways for people to reach out to each other currently that I didn't feel like I needed to add another one yeah yeah I I agree uh this is **[52:58]** really cool like I love the random word presser or random presser um to see oh look at that somebody right next to us in New Jersey um oh I know Howard yeah move on he's no good yeah um but yeah this is great to just like randomly hit uh um the random the random button and find somebody and then see all their uh their links um yeah this is really cool uh and their Badges and their wordpress.org badges that's **[53:29]** really awesome uh any other ways that folks you want folks to know about uh the site and how they can leverage it for uh the upcoming event um yeah so I haven't linked this up yet um I sort of soft launched uh a page I I shared it on Twitter but I haven't included in any of the navigation here but if you go to the wp.woodbridge.nj.us um I did actually create a whole attendee toolkit for um you know what **[54:04]** not just I think you need to know but collected some resources from across the web there's some articles that you can read there's some videos some podcasts to listen to so there's kind of information that I've sort of aggregated from across different sources and put together a bit of a guide for um what what essentially you should know before during and after the event um for any given word camp and and I highly recommend checking that out as well a **[54:34]** lot of good information in there yeah this is great like the hallway track uh the session track some of the stuff that we talked about contributor day uh speaker Lounge like yeah that kind of vocabulary people just might not be privy to certainly not privy to if it's their first time um so that's really awesome yeah this is great stuff I threw that in uh in the chat so definitely click on that link and check that out um marus this has been great if anybody has any questions I think we have a lot of **[55:05]** veterans in the group but somebody did ask will I be there yes I will uh Marcus will be there Mark samansky will be there um there'll be a lot of great folks uh from the WordPress community that will be there um yeah man I'm just excited I'm getting you know I'm G say it again because I I have that as my I don't know Twitter title bio title whatever it's called name I'll be tired at Work Camp us I'm already feeling it I don't know something as soon as you have kids man it's just like any kind of like travel **[55:36]** I'm just like but then I realize I'll be by myself I don't have to carry any bags you know for five other people so that'll be good um but uh yeah just looking forward to the event excited to connect with anybody if uh if you're watching this and you'll be there and you want to connect uh knock on my door uh right over here on Twitter uh or on on the wp minute I'll be there Marcus will be there in the GoDaddy Booth I'll be in the gravity forms Booth uh for the most part and looking forward to it uh any other words of wisdom before we take **[56:08]** off Marcus um yeah just encourage people to go uh sign up for the wp world if they haven't and that'll unlock you know all sorts of getting to see where people are around you and who's going to what word camps it's a great place to list all of the word camps that you've ever been to to kind of give yourself a checklist of you know where where you've been and who's attended with you and all of that so just go sign up and and check out what everybody's what everybody's up to **[56:39]** there yes sir 164 pressers 82 businesses 86 countries 1273 word camps one Community find it at the wp World thanks for watching everybody it's the wp minute head on over to the wp minute.com subscribe to stay connected and we will see you I don't know there'll be a video that plays before word Camp us and then I'll be at word Camp us but there'll be some videos lined up for next week thanks for watching uh and we'll see you in the next one