Category: #WCFay tips

The 7th annual WordCamp Fayetteville conference will take place on Saturday, July 23. This blog was written last year by someone who was planning to attend their first WordCamp. We thought the information was still great for first-timers this year so we are resharing it below1

A First-Time WordCamper’s Pre-conference Thoughts

Many WordPress designers, developers and users get together to share their knowledge and experience. I will have the opportunity to meet WordPress users and developers who, at different skill levels, are also trying to figure things out. It will be reassuring to know that I am doing certain things well while also challenging myself to learn more complex tasks.

In 2009, I started a blog using the WordPress.com platform and learned about choosing themes and how to do basic customization. I began to watch video tutorials covering WordPress topics and practiced my newly-learned skills. In 2013, I decided to learn more about self-hosting and the WordPress.org platform. Since then, I have created a few self-hosted web sites while still maintaining my original WordPress.com web site.

While viewing WordCamp TV videos, I have often wished to be a member of the audience instead of being an online viewer in my home office. Earlier this year, I looked on the WordCamp Central web site to search for a conference in my state and was pleased to discover WordCamp Fayetteville. I look forward to attending my first WordCamp in beautiful Northwest Arkansas!

WordCamp Fayetteville’s 2015 keynote speaker, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, was given a goal by Automattic when they sent her to WordCamp Brisbane in Australia: she had to meet 30 new people. She met that goal.

You don’t have to set goals for WordCamp. You can come just for fun and look on the experience as an adventure.

But if you like to have goals, here are some ideas to get you started:

• Meet new people. It doesn’t have to be 30 new people, but challenge yourself to make some new connections.
• Find the right person. Looking to hire someone? Hoping to be hired? Need a strategic partner or a gym buddy? WordCamp is a great place to find the right WordPress partner.
• Learn some new things. I (Rebecca) always write a blog post about 10 things I learned at WordCamp, so that’s a goal for me. (Click through that link for some special treats.)
• Find the answers to some questions. Each session usually includes a Q and A portion at the end and you’ll find that the WordPress community loves to help fellow members with questions. Also, Sunday Jam Session is a great place to get questions answered, but you can get answers all along the way, too.
• Learn what you don’t know. No matter what your background or training, there’s somebody at WordCamp who knows things you don’t know. WordCamp can start you off in a brand new direction.
• Share your knowledge. Not only is there someone who knows something you don’t know, but there are also people who don’t know everything you know. You will have an opportunity to help someone, so be prepared to take that opportunity.
• Get refreshed and inspired. If you sometimes get burned out with blogging or disenchanted with development, WordCamp can be your annual restart.
• Develop a new goal for yourself or your company. It’s easy to get settled in. You can come away from WordCamp with a new personal challenge for yourself.

Do you have goals for WordCamp Fayetteville 2016?