In a community that organizes events such as Meetups or WordCamps, having a leader is good, but having a group of leaders is always better.
“WordCamps are about building local communities.”
Delegate, delegate, delegate
It can be easy for one person to organize small events, like local meetups. Once the process is set, say, you have the venue, the budget, the sponsors, and the speakers in place, there is no real need to have a lot of people involved. Many people organizing a small event could even slow down the process.
But when a community grows, there will be more work to share. Bigger venues mean more expenses, attendees, and sponsors to handle. If the small team does not increase, some processes will get stuck.
More hands mean the main organizers can delegate their work. Delegating means stopping controlling everything or micromanaging every decision, which is something you must learn when you are not used to it.
To keep things moving smoothly, some decisions should be made by a specific team without having to be approved by the lead organizer.
Teams should be flexible
Each stage of a big event has different needs. For example, having a team in charge of speakers from the beginning may not make sense. Other teams, like design, will need more work from the beginning through all stages.
This is especially true when it’s the first time you’ve organized a big event or the brand needs to be on point. Do you have a community logo? What are the colors? The Wapuu? The concept? Will you continue with what the community has been doing or create something new?
Continuing with this example, if we define the teams from the start, we could ask the people in charge of the speaker selection to participate in other teams. Some people who know how best to fill the event’s speaker needs also probably know how things would look more appealing to attendees or offer feedback, even if unfamiliar with the design tools.
The same would apply to other teams’ areas of responsibility, such as fundraising, food, afterparty, swag, etc.
Open the discussion
It is helpful to define a uniform style and objectives for an event. Organizing events democratically is not always possible or desirable, but listening to everyone and discussing openly is crucial.
It is okay to decline suggestions, but making people feel their work is valuable is a sign of respect.
Having private meetings can help prevent distractions from the whole team, but final decisions should be made by the group in public. Showing the entire process is not needed, but validation from the team serves as a tool to get everyone excited about the project’s progress.
WordCamps, Meetups, and special WordPress events are created for and by the community—volunteers from the local meetup who support WordPress. Be nice!
“I agree that I am not an employee of the WordPress Foundation or any subsidiary of the Foundation, and am participating in WordCamp exclusively as a volunteer.”
Agreement among WordCamp Organizers, Speakers, Sponsors, and Volunteers
A messaging app like Telegram can help you create project channels such as design, web, or sponsors while preserving users’ privacy, such as not showing their phone numbers.
For more advanced decisions, GitHub can serve as a tool to generate async discussions, even without coding.
These tools can help you before, during, and after the event, as things can get complicated for attendees from far away.
Designate a project manager
Someone who can help as a producer, organizing tasks and subtasks and keeping track of everyone’s progress in case something is needed.
A project manager can assign tasks to people when the due date approaches. The manager can also run the meetings, stop the synchronous meetings when they are not needed, and ask everyone how they feel and what they need to accomplish what they have been assigned.
What tools do we need to use and when? Some tools are easier to use than others, but at what cost? Organize access and grant proper permissions. Read what tools are the most helpful and discard the others.
Everything created should help the next generation of organizers so they don’t have to redo all the work but build on top.
Keep the ball rolling
For significant events like the flagship WordCamps, the work is continuous. The new host city will be announced when the event ends! This same principle can be applied to smaller events, especially to have enough time between events.
If you aim to be one of the organizer leaders for a particular date, they suggest you join the team years before so you can learn about the event’s unique needs.
“It’s often tempting, especially if you’ve organized a lot of events, to say, “This is easier if I do it myself.” But the reality is that we’re all people, with our own lives and problems, and we never know when something will happen that will force us to step away from the community.
When you organize a community or an event, you always have to take into account the “bus factor” of each position. If I’m the organizer of a meetup and tomorrow a bus runs over me, are there enough people willing and is everything documented so that someone else can take my place?”— Nilo Velez.
Solid communities have numerous organizers, so even if someone fails for some reason or wants a deserved break, there is always a backup. More than one developer, more than one designer, and so on can help smooth the process of the following events.
Jos Velasco.
Please add your experiences in the comments about adding enough organizers and showing trust in them. Or send me a private message.
CC0 licensed photo by jeremy80 from the WordPress Photo Directory.
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