The Tao of WordCamp NYC 2016

Shortly after WordCamp NYC 2015 ended, the team held a retrospective meeting to discuss what went well and gauge interest for 2016. We had serious doubts about the venue we had used for the last two years – availability was a concern and costs were rising more than we could justify. We began by recruiting new team members to even make the venue search a productive endeavor.

In mid January, our team grew concerned as the previous venue neglected to respond to our queries. It looked like we would not have a WordCamp this year.

Just about this time, Open Camps contacted us – would WordCamp NYC be interested in being part of a larger series of Open Source conferences? The series would take place at the United Nations in the summer, and would include Drupal Camp, PyConf, React Camp, and Angular Camp – just to name just a few. We agreed to meet with their representative – we had nothing to lose and it could have amazing potential.

We learned that this event is part of an open source initiative sponsored by the United Nations. The UN wants to bring the various Open Source communities together as a positive force for change. The UN offered use of their space during their week of recess as a way of facilitating this end. As a result of previous commitments and space requirements we were offered the weekend opposite the Drupal Camp.

At events we often hear various Open Source projects criticizing each other. This event is an opportunity, in the spirit of GPL software, to truly ‘democratize publishing’. Imagine a week long event celebrating, discussing and learning about varying Open Source projects. When we choose Open Source we all benefit.

Please follow this link to the new WordCamp NYC 2016 site.

That’s A Wrap: WCNYC 2015

the-wcnyc-mugAh, just a short time ago we were all hanging out at WordCamp NYC! Good times indeed. Hope your days since have been filled with percolating WordPress creativity, and giant WCNYC mugs of coffee!

Before we bid adieu until next year, we wanted to send out a few post-celebration administration items, to wit:

  • Everyone who attended will receive a survey invitation by email. Please take a moment to complete it as your feedback helps make all WordCamps better!
  • We will add links to the presentations on the session pages, as soon as we receive them from the speakers.
  • Videos will be posted to WordPress.tv sometime over the next several weeks and links will be added to the appropriate session pages. There is a lot of post-production involved before these are submitted for review. We’ll keep on it.

Finally we would like to say one final thank you to everyone who attended, sponsored, spoke, transcribed, recorded, volunteered and helped organize; WordCamp NYC 2015 would not have been the success that it was were it not for all of you! THANK YOU ALL!

thank-you-wcnyc-sign

Thank You!

DSC07171All of us on the WordCamp NYC Org Team would like to say thank you to everyone here this weekend and following along online.

WordPress has a unique community of very cool, kind, and open people. YOU are the reason that we continue to volunteer our time to organize this event.

That said, WordCamp is a community effort – we are not monarchs. Some of us have just organized our last WordCamp NYC. We need new blood, and we hope you will consider pitching in to organize WCNYC 2016! Planning will begin fairly soon, if you can believe it!

For those of you living in the area (or visiting from time to time), please do join our local WordPress MeetUp. We have multiple meetings every month and it’s a great way to stay in touch with your fellow WP geeks.

Once again, thank you to ALL of you – attendees, speakers, volunteers, sponsors, and fellow organizers – who make WordPress absolutely amazing. We’ll see you again soon!

Sunday Funday at WordCamp NYC

Hope y’all had a good time last night! It’s been an awesome morning here at WordCamp NYC and we are looking forward to an action-packed afternoon as well!

Bring your badge to these local eateries for a discount on lunch today, and we’ll see you at the 2pm sessions!

Hawa Smoothies & Bubble Tea
44 Willoughby Street – 646-204-7818
Discount: $0.50 off all smoothies, fresh juices and bubble teas
Krista’s suggestion for the neighborhoods best known secret. Amazing menu of smoothies, fresh pressed juice, protein & energy shakes, bubble teas, acai bowls and wheatgrass shots. No GMOs or added sugars.

Wild Ginger All Asian Vegan
112 Smith Street – 718-858-3880
Discount: 20% off
Pan-Asian Vegan Café

Hill Country BBQ Market & Hill Country Chicken
345 Adams Street – 718-885-4608
Discount: 15% off
location for Saturday social event – right down the block
Brooklyn outpost of a popular counter-service joint featuring Texas-style BBQ & live country music.

Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar
339 Adams Street – 718-246-8226
Discount: 10% off
right next door to venue
Buzzing Mexican hot spot doling out classic dishes & snacks

Check here for a full list of local restaurants.

Welcome to WordCamp NYC!

Good morning, and welcome to WordCamp NYC 2015!

Have a great time this weekend, and use hashtag #wcnyc everywhere! If you need assistance, look for one of the members with the red Staff or white Volunteers badges. They can help.

We would like to thank Alley Interactive for stepping up as our WiFi sponsor this year. The WiFi has a STRICT device limit of 500. Please only activate one device at a time. Check signs around the venue for the login details.

We would like to thank the rest of our sponsors. Without their support, WordCamp simply cannot happen. Thank you all so much!

We have live captioning, also known as CART services provided by White Coat Captioning. All of our sessions will be transcribed and you can follow along with the links on our web site or just look at the captioning screen in each room.

Please remember that we are ALL responsible for keeping the space clean. No outside food is allowed in the venue.

Have you got your WCNYC mug? We had about 900 pounds of mugs delivered, so be sure to pick yours up out in the main hallway – we can’t carry them home!

Contributor Day yesterday was a great success. We had about sixty people in the Staten Island room, all working together to improve WordPress. Longtime contributors led new volunteers, taught them how to pick up trac tickets, develop on local environments, and submit patches. Teams helped improve documentation and were active in the WordPress.org support forums.

For those (like us) already thinking about lunch: There are some restaurants offering discounts if you remember to show them your badge and ask for the discount.

Speaker Update: Andrew Wikel

Due to unfortunate circumstances, one of our speakers was unable to attend today. Elana Rudick’s 4pm session this afternoon in the Brooklyn room (“Themes That Make You Go Hmm”) will be replaced.

Instead, we’ll be treated to “Gaining (and not betraying) User Trust in e-Commerce“, presented by Andrew Wikel of WooCommerce (now part of Automattic).

Join Andrew in the Brooklyn room at 4pm to learn more about getting your e-customers to trust you!

October 30, 31 & November 1 at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge

WordCamp NYC 2015 is over. Check out the next edition!