In this episode, the host, Michelle Frechette, introduces the organizers of WordCamp Atlanta: Annabel Prince, Aaron Reimann, and Will Middleton. Each organizer shares their involvement with WordPress and their roles within the community. They discuss the impact of the pandemic on WordCamps and meetups, the challenges they faced in planning the event, and the importance of networking and connections at WordCamps. They also encourage newcomers to attend WordCamp Atlanta for the exciting opportunities it provides.
Top Takeaways:
- Value of In-Person Networking: They stressed the significance of in-person networking and connections at events like WordCamps. And highlighted how meeting and interacting with others face-to-face can lead to valuable collaborations, sharing of knowledge, and building relationships within the WordPress community.
- Community Involvement: The discussion underscored the strong sense of community in the WordPress ecosystem. Organizing WordCamps is a volunteer-driven effort, and participants emphasized the importance of getting involved, whether by volunteering, speaking, or attending. The community aspect of WordPress is a major draw for many participants.
- Accessibility of WordCamps: They discussed the accessibility of WordCamps to individuals with varying levels of experience, emphasizing that even newcomers can benefit greatly from attending. They encouraged individuals who may be hesitant or new to the community to participate, as WordCamps offer valuable learning opportunities, networking experiences, and a welcoming environment for all attendees.
Mentioned in the show:
- WordPress
- WordCamp Atlanta
- YouTube
- Lifter LMS
- Zoom
- Slack
- DragonCon
- WordCamp Rochester
- Music Midtown
- Shaky Knees
You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:
- Anabel Prince
- Aaron Reimann
- Will Middleton
- Michelle Frechette (Post Status)
- Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS.
Transcript
Michelle Frechette: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Post Status, a conversation about organizing WordCamps today. We talked a little while back with some sponsors about what it was like to sponsor WordCamps. Well, today we’re going to talk to some organizers who are organizing a pretty big WordCamp. So I’m joined today by three of the organizers of WordCamp Atlanta, which is scheduled for October 14th and 15th of this year, 2023.
Welcome Annabelle Prince. Aaron Ryman and Will Middleton. Why don’t you take a minute and tell us about who you are and what you do in WordPress? Yeah, so I’ll start. Um,
Anabel Prince: so I am a content creator. So I use WordPress largely just to aid in creating my content and for just websites that need to be built, things like that.
Um, but I do work mostly in video. So that is kind of my niche. Um, and I also run my own food media brand.
Aaron Reimann: So I’m, I’m [00:01:00] Aaron and I, uh, um, I run an agency called clockwork WP, and we’ve been around for about four years. It’s a spinoff of another agency that was from what’s 2009 ish. So I’ve been, been, uh, been in the WordPress world for, I guess, 15 years or so, um, and, uh, been building websites since 96, but I lead, um, the Atlanta meetup, um, and one in Atlanta, we have.
Like 14 other meetups. So, you know, I’m not special and in that aspect, um, or anything like that. Um, and then, uh, I’ve been involved, uh, with organizing the Atlanta WordCamp since 2016 awesome.
Will Middleton: And my name is Will Middleton in WordPress. I’m primarily engaged in like WordPress LMS stuff that I’ve been in WordPress for about seven years and basically all of that time has been spent building, building like applications and stuff inside of WordPress. Um. And I’ve worked closely with a software company called Lifter LMS, [00:02:00] uh, but I’ve also done my own freelancing my own agency stuff.
And so just building my own projects and helping others build their projects has been my primary experience in WordPress. And just recently, as of last year, I started to get involved with the WordPress community at large and get involved with WordCamps. So. Uh, this is my first time organizing a WordCamp with WordCamp Atlanta, and I’m having a super positive experience with it, so I’m, I’m excited to get into it today and, uh, talk about what we’re up
to.
Michelle Frechette: Excellent, and some of us were at WordCamp US over the last week, which is why I don’t actually sound like myself right now. Talking over crowds for a week was, um, it’s fun, but it also is kind of exhausting on your voice. So, uh, yeah. So, anyway, it’s good to be here with you all. When I think about WordCamps, I’m thinking about the fact that, like, WordCamps shut down for a couple of years.
So did Meetups. Um, some of them went online. Uh, Meetups and WordCamps were online. Uh, but starting in March 2020 with the cancellation of WordCamp Asia in 2020, like, WordCamps weren’t a thing, like at least the in person [00:03:00] WordCamps weren’t a thing for a while. And while we have, as I said, hosted them online around the world since that time, it seems that WordCamps are finally truly back.
This year especially, I’ve been able to go to Asia. Europe and, uh, WordCamp US along with, you know, Phoenix and, uh, Montclair, WordCamp Rochester I’m organizing coming up next month. So there’s a lot of WordCamps this year, which is super awesome. But Atlanta is scheduled, uh, on the schedule for this fall.
And it’s one of the biggest regional WordCamps that we have, especially in North America. So Aaron, you’ve been around the longest with WordCamp Atlanta and that kind of thing. Tell us a little bit about the history of WordCamp Atlanta, if you could.
Aaron Reimann: All right, don’t, don’t get mad at me if I’m slightly inaccurate.
So this is, this is my recollection of it. I, I, I really, um, we had a meetup, um, we meaning just in, in Atlanta, um, uh, that was led by Judy Knight and, um, Judy Knight basically was [00:04:00] one of the, I guess, She was kind of the, I don’t know, head, head honcho, you know, of, uh, of it. And she really pushed, um, she had the first meetup and, and led that.
And that, that was handed over to me, um, in 2015. Uh, but I, I think the Atlanta, uh, meetup started about 10 years ago. Um, and by the time I was there, which was 2016, or it might’ve been 15 when I, when I first got there. Um, We already had 650 people, um, attending and that was, um, we’ve had a, a, a limit. Um, basically that limit was because of the building, the building, we could only hold 650 people.
Um, and it’s, it’s actually surprising that in Atlanta, it’s kind of difficult to find. Find venues because I just assume it’s it’s a huge city. So it’s going to have exactly what we need. But we pretty much need a room that can hold 650 people all in one big room. Um, that’s a lot of people that [00:05:00] it is. Um, so, so that’s, that’s really, that’s really hard.
But I mean, that, that’s, so that’s kind of the, the genesis of it, you know, is, is with Judy Knight and, and leading that. And it’s just, we’ve, we’ve been Very consistent, you know, up until like, like you mentioned, we canceled, uh, work camp Atlanta about, uh, we had one scheduled for March of 2020 and we canceled about five weeks before, which I was, um, one of the lead organizers, uh, on, on that.
And that was a little, little hard. Cause at that point, you know, all the hard work’s done. You know, so except we, we needed to like buy t shirts, you know, that was like the last thing we needed to do everything else. You know, we had all the speakers picked out, you know, and all that and having to cancel that was, was a little hard.
So, but I mean, it’s, we, we obviously made the right call.
Michelle Frechette: Um, but absolutely. I mean, COVID is still a thing. If you are paying any attention at all to WordCamp US, uh, post WordCamp US this week, [00:06:00] everybody’s talking about how COVID is still going around and people are testing positive. Luckily so far. I’m negative.
I hope y’all are too, but making the right decision, especially in the early parts of the pandemic when we didn’t have the access to the health care that we do now. I think making those decisions was the right decisions as heartbreaking as, as it was at the time. So it’s been a few years. Tell us about how and why you made the decision kind of to jump back into the mix of WordCamps this year.
With again, such a big event. Will you want to take that one?
Aaron Reimann: Who wants to handle that one?
Will Middleton: Yeah, so I mean Bringing this is my first time engaging with the WordCamp Atlanta like regarding planning But I’ve been involved a little bit with like the meetups and stuff like that and getting involved with more of like local organizations So for me my passion coming into like WordCamp Atlanta and planning local events has been that I’ve been remote for Six years of my WordPress career.
And just last [00:07:00] year I started to meet people in person and it really changed the dynamic of how I work with others and how I interact with others. Just like you mentioned, I think before we started the show, Michelle, we were talking about it really changes the dynamic when we meet with people in person and we collaborate in person.
We have had, it’s just like a different vibe with working with people. We’re like, we’re hanging out, we’re eating together. We’re going to parties together. We’re listening to music together. And these are things that don’t usually happen online. So my passion for, for contributing and volunteering and planning this kind of event and.
Uh, bringing back one of what was like one of the largest regional events, um, for, for WordPress, uh, is, is primarily around just creating that connection and helping other people in the community get access to the opportunities to build those connections, because it’s really what makes WordPress super powerful is the community aspect.
So that’s, that’s what it’s about for me. Hopefully that.
Anabel Prince: Yeah, jumping off of what will said, I just have something really to add. Um, I think just the excitement to about like we can be in person again is so [00:08:00] strong for me. This is my first WordCamp. So I hadn’t had the experience the past three years because it was COVID.
And that was, you know, I graduated from college May 2020. So I think. The just like the excitement of being face to face with someone and how kind of people on the younger side of the WordPress community, or at least in the content creation community like I am, we’re kind of discovering, oh, you can make in person connections.
Like it doesn’t have to be a LinkedIn message, which makes me sound so young. But at the same time, it’s it’s how we’ve been operating and it’s how we entered the workforce. And so I’m just so excited to go to a conference with people and network, and that’s just an opportunity I haven’t had before. So I think that’s going to be really valuable.
But didn’t mean to jump in on what Will was saying. I just wanted to bring in another young perspective, or I guess, you know, started working COVID perspective.
Michelle Frechette: It is a different world, even like, you think about [00:09:00] like babies that were born during that time and socialization, right? So as, no matter where you are in your life, like to cut back or reduce on that socialization for that amount of time makes it a little bit different when it, when we come back into it.
Um, and we’ve seen that, you know, at other WordCamps this year. For sure. Uh, one thing I noted to people last week is we’re all the same height on a Zoom call, like, and then you show a person like, oh my gosh, you’re like six foot four and I’m five feet tall, you know, so, but Zoom has been kind of the great equalizer in a lot of ways.
Um, but you can’t shake hands, you can’t, you know, bump elbows or fist bump or hug or any of those things that you do. And it’s harder to have conversations. When you’re on Zoom, you have to stop and listen to one another. In a big room, lots of conversations can be happening, um, for good, bad, or evil, right?
As far as talking over one another, but it’s, it’s very different. And the opportunity to interact with speakers, ask questions, have lunch with people at a WordCamp [00:10:00] really is one of those things that makes the WordPress space really special. What kinds of hurdles though, have you faced this year? What are some of the questions that you’ve had to answer some of the, you know, the things that are like, Hmm, how are we going to solve that problem in a post pandemic WordCamp or just at a large WordCamp in general, or just, we haven’t done this in a while.
How do we do this again, Aaron?
Aaron Reimann: I, I, yeah, I was going to say, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll talk about that because I think I’m old. So, you know, I’ve been around for a while, so I’ve, I’ve no problem answering your questions. Um, I, I think the, uh. One of the things that, that’s been really hard for us is that, uh, the, I mean, uh, inflation is real, um, and prices have gone up, um, especially with things like food.
Um, and so trying to plan a WordCamp where we had like, I, we were at the same venue, uh, for. eight years or maybe not eight years, like six years or so. So if we had the same venue, [00:11:00] we would have everything figured out. Everything would be a lot smoother, but the price went up by about 50%. Um, and, and so, um, don’t quote me on that, but I mean, it w it was enough where, where, like, where, where we had to, we had to look for, for other things.
So, so, you know, challenging, uh, it’s, It’s super challenging when you have this whole, this big city and you have a certain, a limited budget, you know, um, and you’re making a lot of phone calls, you know, we visited a couple places, talk, talk, talk to a lot of, a lot of, um, a lot of other venues and that, that’s, it’s just, it starts, I think, pretty early on, um, um, you know, we’ve been started.
We’ve been looking, I guess we started around November or so we started talking about this camp. So we’re talking, you know, 11 months or so, uh, you know, for the whole, the whole thing. Um, but to me, it, it starts with venues and that was, that was our first, our first hurdle. And then we, then we’ve just had other hurdles, you know, we’ve had some people drop out and I mean, I, I get it life, life happens.
Um, and [00:12:00] so we have to find, find replacement, um, people, you know, to, to come in. Um, and, you know, it’s one of those things too, where none of us, I say this with a grain of salt, there might be a, a planned events person at, at one point, but I mean, we’re all figuring out how to do events professionally, uh, you know, while, while we’re doing this and that, that is, that’s interesting.
Um, but, but it’s, I mean, it’s, it’s a fun, it’s a fun. Fun, fun challenge, I think. So you
Michelle Frechette: and it make me think about the fact that we’re all volunteers in this as well. Like nobody’s getting paid to organize WordCamps. And we all have full time jobs and or businesses that are running. And so to add this, which feels like a At least a halftime job, if not another full time job, especially as you get closer to the event.
It’s a lot to ask people to do that. So that some people have to drop off a team and that we bring others in isn’t surprising, but also you bring up the fight. We’re all in like the web business. We’re not [00:13:00] necessarily the Event planners, when you’re looking at a big event like this, there’s a learning curve for sure.
Um, what have been some of the easier wins? What are some of the things that have worked well and easily in your life? Shoot, glad we got through that so fast.
Aaron Reimann: I think. Is that to me? Okay, good.
Michelle Frechette: I love, we’ll start with, we’ll start with Annabelle and then we’ll come over to you, Will. Let’s see if you say the same thing.
Anabel Prince: My answer is short and sweet. It is just finding people, I think, because I was one of them, just people who are ready, like, yes, I want to meet people. Yes, I will work for free because I want to work. Um, so I think that’s just been a really big positive for, for this year. I feel like there, I, I’m not sure how many members there were in previous years in the Slack, but I just know joining the Slack channel, I was like, wow, all these people I’m going to see at an event in person.
Um, so
Aaron Reimann: that’s just all I had to add, but we can move
Anabel Prince: to
Will Middleton: Will. I think, yeah, the, the [00:14:00] wins that we’ve had, I think, are heavily related to, like, architecture that have been set up in previous years. Like, we’ve been leveraging, like, a nice spreadsheet that shows us, like, these are the things we need to plan. And this is an approximate date.
This is what another WordCamp has done. So we’re not the first WordCamp to come back, of course, after COVID. So we’re, we’re, we’re this, like, yeah, New generation of WordCamps coming back after it have a little bit of a different structure where we have kind of different challenges, but that we have, like, frameworks that we’ve developed in the past have led to a lot of easy wins.
And then there’s a lot of wins with just being able to access. People outside of the WordPress community to get them involved with WordCamps, because, um, like we’ve been talking about, people have been isolated for like a few years. And so there’s an interest in in person events. And so we can kind of glide off that interest in in person events and bring more people into WordPress.
So there’s some unique opportunities that we have in this kind of new challenges, new opportunities set up with, um, With WordCamps and planning WordCamps. So, I [00:15:00] think, uh, like, like what Annabelle said, with a lot of people getting involved, a lot of people interested in curating an online event, we have more opportunity to tap into some, some interest.
But then there, there is some friction with people getting busy and, uh, life happening and stuff. But since we have kind of a framework based on previous WordCamps, it makes it easier to switch people out and get more people involved and, and more easily interchangeable. Because I think there, there’s that illusion that it’s really hard.
To get involved with WordCamps, or that’s hard to get involved with conferences, but it can be super, super simple, as simple as attending as simple as folding T shirts as a volunteer for like a few, like, you know, five hours or something and welcoming people to the event and showing people where like the bathrooms are pointing them to the sponsor hall.
Like, it’s pretty, pretty simple to get involved. And I think helping people understand the barrier to entry is pretty low is going to help us leverage more of those opportunities for growth and WordCamp.
Michelle Frechette: I think that it makes perfect sense. Um, as a WordCamp mentor, as your WordCamp mentor even, um, I mentor more than one WordCamp a year and I’m also talking to other WordCamp mentors.[00:16:00]
One of the biggest hurdles this year has been sponsorship. Um, and I think part of that goes back to what Aaron said about the fact that everything is just so much more expensive. Um, and also as we kind of come off of that peak of, um, of internet boon that happened because we were all shut into our homes for so long.
There’s been a little bit of a leveling off of just business in general because all those restaurants now have websites. All of those shops now have websites. All of that makes it a little bit harder. And we’ve had layoffs in our community as well. So have you as a group, as a team, Put all of the responsibility on one person to do that sponsorship, like kind of raising, or are you all kind of like looking and hoping and helping one another in finding those sponsorships?
Aaron Reimann: Well, do you want to tackle that or do you want me to? So, um, yeah,
Will Middleton: I guess we’ve been, uh, [00:17:00] There, I think we do have like a lead sponsor organizer, but then I know I’ve been recruiting sponsors and like bothering people I work with and like, I’m sure like Kareem on the team has been doing, doing the same. So, like, we’ve been, um, in addition to, like, publishing a call for sponsors, which is something we do when we organize a WordCamp, we publish a post on the websites.
It’s call for sponsors. We encourage the community on social media to, uh, Let any companies or interested parties they know, like that we’re hosting event and their sponsor sponsorship opportunities available. Uh, but then I’ve heard there’s like some hesitancy with companies sponsoring in-person events if it’s not like, uh, like a direct r o i thing, like there’s challenges related to that.
There’s challenges related to, um, you know, the, the pricing of sponsorship packages and being able to afford the event, which is what sponsorships are primarily about. Um, but. I think the team has been doing a pretty good job, like spreading that load a little bit, but we do have a lead sponsor organizer.
Uh, I don’t know, Aaron, is there anything with it?
Aaron Reimann: Yeah, I, I was going to say, like, I was at [00:18:00] WordCamp US too. You know, I’m talking to people and I had a conversation with one person and, and she was asking me, so, so what are you, what are you doing? And I, I, I sat there and thought about it and I’m like, I’m like, I don’t feel like I, I’m not in charge of a specific, um, one, one role, but I was sitting there thinking.
What, what have I been? And I’m like, Oh, I found the venue. Like I’ve been dealing with venue stuff. And it’s, and it’s just one of those things where it’s the venue happens to be really close to me. Um, and so it’s easy for me. So I just kind of, and we’re being very, I think everyone’s being very flexible and I feel like you have to be very flexible.
And if, if someone, even though I know Will’s like running some, some social media, um, that might not be his thing. Um, that might not be his, his. Like what he does full time. It doesn’t matter. He’s, there was a need and he’s like, yeah, I can, I can, I can do some tweets, you know, that’s, or X’s, whatever we’re calling those messages now on Twitter.
So, yeah. So yeah. Are they, are they [00:19:00] called posts? I don’t know. Yeah, to me, it just, it’s, it’s all about just, we have, we have a, we have a big team of like, every Friday we have a call with 12, 13 people. And so people are just willing to jump, jump in and say, yeah, I can, I can help out with this. And that’s, that’s what it’s kind of like a big family.
Um, I know it’s cheesy, but you know, that it, it really is so.
Michelle Frechette: Yeah, for sure. I think one of the things that I, that I see in your group and others is having a point person for some of the different things, but also not the full responsibility for that person, just like any team, right? So you have a team and you help one another, but there’s a point person to kind of keep the momentum moving in that particular area for sure.
I know your WordCamp hasn’t happened yet. We’re building towards it. Um, you know, if people are interested in tickets, absolutely go online and, and look at those. But what advice would you have at this point in the process or with experience you’ve had in the past, um, for [00:20:00] others who are either planning WordCamps now or thinking about it, whether it’s a big event or a small event?
Annabelle, do you have any, some ideas that you might want to contribute there?
Anabel Prince: I think just going back of going off of what Aaron has said about the event planning, um, just as someone who is from Atlanta and kind of know, like, when he was saying, like, it’s such a big city, there’s crazy, there’s not like a big room we can rent.
Um, and it is it is interesting because there are so many, you know, cons here I think of dragon con which is coming this weekend and it’s just going to make the city freaking insane to censor myself, but it’s just going to make the city insane so I think. Dealing with that, like in such a large city like Atlanta, especially since, um, you know, I have seen so many cons come through since I was a kid through my teens.
Now they’re coming now my mid twenties. They’re coming back finally. Um, so I think that definitely is a. A hurdle for sure. You would think it would be easier. [00:21:00] Um, but I’ve like planning event. I’ve done a little bit of event planning, not for WordCamp, but I’d be happy to help you guys if you need help. But, um, just in Atlanta, it’s it’s crazy finding event spaces.
Michelle Frechette: It can be really difficult. Yeah, I don’t think it’s just in Atlanta that that’s difficult. So I’m the lead organizer for WordCamp Rochester, which is a very small. We’re we’re targeting about 100 120 attendees and finding space for 100 people is that is not easy. Um, one of my pieces of advice, especially for people who are thinking of along the smaller lines is you can look.
Be creative in where you look to hold your space. We happen, I happen to remember attending an event at the public, at a public school, school of the arts. So I gave them a call and they’re like, yeah, we’re free that day. And it was only 1, 500 to rent the venue for the entire day. And there’s no limitation on who we can bring, you know, how we can cater.
And so you can get pretty creative about those things. Um, if the budget isn’t there, you [00:22:00] can. Make the after party be a, hey, let’s all meet up, but drinks are on you, you know, so, so there’s lots and buy your own food, those kinds of things, so not having the full budget to do everything that you’d want to do doesn’t mean you can’t move forward and have an amazing event because it really is about getting people together and sharing the education and things that we, that we know and making those connections.
Aaron, you look like you wanted to jump in on that too. I’m sorry, Annabelle, go ahead. Well,
Anabel Prince: I was just going to say I’m most excited for the connections, not the food. Yeah,
Michelle Frechette: exactly.
Aaron Reimann: Yeah, that’s, that’s a, that’s a big part of it. Like it, it is really nice. Like, um, I remember, uh, WordCamp Europe, of course I remember is two months ago, but, uh, you know, uh, there were, uh, free drinks, uh, for the, um, the speaker dinner.
Like, like that was, that’s cool and all, but it doesn’t really. Matter too much in my opinion. Um, you know, it’s, it’s, uh, it’s about networking and I think that’s one of the, the, one of the main [00:23:00] reasons people go, go to work camps are just, you’re, you’re going to meet people that, um, you can either learn from, or you could teach or, um, I mean, handwork over back and forth.
I mean, kind of in, especially in, I’m assuming all work camps are like this, but, um, I know in the Atlanta one, we, I’m friends with these people and they’re, they’re competitors, right? Doing air quotes there, they’re competitors, but we really, um, we have conversations with them. We hand work over back and forth.
And that’s, that’s to me, the number one value that. That I get, I get out of it as the networking and just knowing that, Oh, you know, you’re, you’re the Divi guy, you know, Divi, if I have a Divi client come in, you know, I’ll hand that over, you know, to, to you, you know, that, that type of stuff, cause I don’t do Divi, but in having, having those, that type of, those kinds of connections, I don’t know how else to, like, if we didn’t have work camps, I don’t know how else I would be networking, you know?
I mean, it, it, it, I feel like it’d be a lot more challenging.
Michelle Frechette: I agree. And I think [00:24:00] that the WordPress community is unlike any other community I’ve ever been a part of in that we have developed this amazing community and ecosystem around open source software. And it’s amazing that we have careers, we have businesses that all revolve around this and that somehow we’ve managed to not just use the software, but also have this amazing community that’s built up around it globally.
Which is pretty freaking awesome to use NFL’s word. Uh, what else would you want to share with us? What else, what are either experiences you’ve had, hopes you have, um, how to buy tickets if you’re still looking for sponsors, um, well, I’m going to call on you first and, and just let me know what you’re thinking.
Will Middleton: Yeah, yeah, I love that idea of open source software. Open source community is like, really 1 of the easiest ways, or the best ways to get involved with tech, get involved with businesses at different levels. So for WordCamp Atlanta, we have a [00:25:00] website. I always go to Google and type in WordCamp Atlanta, um, and 2023 and then you’ll find our site.
We, I think our, our call for speakers and sponsors is still open. We only have like, a few days left on that. Um, but. Check out our website, um, WordCamp Atlanta 2023, that’s where you can find, uh, I don’t think tickets are live yet, but speakers and sponsors are live, and then also a call for volunteers just went out, so, uh, we’ll also have tickets going on sale shortly, and, uh, get involved on social media, follow us, hit us up, ask us any questions you have, because we really want to just project the openness as we come back with WordCamps, and get more people involved, get more communities involved, and, um, kind of evolve the, the platform and process to get, get more engagement.
That’s what I’d have to say.
Michelle Frechette: Absolutely. Annabelle, if people can’t attend both days, is it still worth coming for one?
Anabel Prince: I wouldn’t say yes. I mean, I, I would say yes to that for any event for, you know, music midtown, shaky knees, you know, if you can go one day, why not? [00:26:00] Yeah. At least get some benefit out of it for sure.
Michelle Frechette: And do you have anything else that you wanted to share about your event?
Anabel Prince: Um, I just wanted to share that I am, you know, a newbie as well. So if anyone’s like scared or they’re thinking, oh, I’ve never been and those are strangers and it’s hard to connect, especially after these three years as a young person, like I’ve been there.
And once you kind of jump over that hurdle, it’s so much more exciting, and it’s like the world’s so much bigger. So, I would just recommend to people, even if you’re scared, to like, come for the first time, um. You know, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and networking is just, it’s in person networking is just going to, it’s changing the game again for all of us.
And so I think it’s just an amazing opportunity. I was, I was really happy to be asked to, um, to, to help out this year.
Michelle Frechette: Excellent. Aaron, why don’t you bring it home for us.
Aaron Reimann: Yeah, I was just gonna say we’re gonna [00:27:00] need we’re gonna need a lot of lot of volunteers, you know, so if you, if you don’t know how to how to get involved.
Like Will said, you know, we need help folding t shirts, we need people to point. You know, go this direction, you know, I mean, stuff like that, we’re, we’re going to need volunteers for, for every, every aspect of it, cause it’s a hundred percent volunteer run. Um, so, you know, if you can, if you can dedicate just a half a day, you know, during the, the event or before, you know, just, just reach out, um, and, and get involved cause we could, we could use you in, in any, any capacity.
Michelle Frechette: So well, I thank you all so much for being here, sharing your experiences and hopes for the future. And I’m really looking forward to seeing a successful event happen for WordCamp Atlanta this year and then continuing on for many years to come. So Aaron, Will, Annabel, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, your expertise with us.
And we’ll look forward to [00:28:00] hearing about your success later. Have a great day.
Aaron Reimann: Thank you.
