Don’t miss out!

Tickets went on sale two weeks ago for this year’s AMAZING WordCamp Seattle scheduled for November 4-5. If you haven’t heard yet it’s because we are not able to transfer your subscription from a previous WordCamp and can’t continue posting on all the past events. That’s why we’ve just created a new year-round portal site where you can subscribe and trust that you’ll always be in the loop about all things WordPress in the Greater Seattle area. But since we are all volunteers and busy putting on this year’s WordCamp and we don’t want you to miss out, we’d thought we’d poke you one more time here on the old site and ask you to hop on over to this year’s event and check out the amazing schedule and speaker line-up!

You’ve been part of the WordPress Community in Seattle for some time. But you may have lost touch.

We have exciting news…now you can stay in touch year round, from WordCamp to WordCamp and Meetup to Meetup. We have just launched a new portal website at https://wpseattle.org. The new site has a calendar with all the Meetups on it, all the past WordCamps, information about joining the local WordPress Slack community AND best of all, a way to subscribe to a new, year-round email list so you’ll never lose touch again.

The Seattle WordPress Community is a place for designers, developers, & publishers throughout the Puget Sound region. Our community includes Meetups all the way from Bellingham to Olympia including Puyallup, Port Orchard and of course throughout the greater Seattle area and Eastside. Our community is friendly and welcoming and a GREAT way to learn about WordPress, develop a new business, find help with a project and lots more. You can also propose a new Meetup, speak at a Meetup, get involved in organizing WordCamp year-round, or volunteer at WordCamp. Welcome to our WordPress Community.

Features planned in the coming months include the ability to add your own WordPress events and a WordPress professional directory.

Please head on over now and be sure to subscribe on the bottom of the page so you don’t miss out. https://wpseattle.org

[If you’re seeing this email, it’s because you signed up to receive updates on the WordCamp Seattle 2016 site and very likely are not subscribed to get updates on the 2017 site yet. Please take a minute to make sure you’ve also subscribed to 2017 email updates so you don’t miss out on any future updates and notifications about the event.]

So the deadline for WordCamp Seattle 2017 speaker applications is just about here. We wanted to send out one final reminder to make sure everyone had an opportunity to submit their session proposal.

If you need a little inspiration to get you motivated, check out how one of our stellar speakers from last year parlayed her WordCamp session into an exciting, paid project that was right in her wheelhouse.

And then be sure to go submit your own application to speak at WordCamp Seattle 2017!

Deadline for submissions is midnight this Saturday, 8/5.

[If you’re seeing this email, it’s because you signed up to receive updates on the WordCamp Seattle 2016 site and very likely are not subscribed to get updates on the 2017 site yet. Please take a minute to make sure you’ve also subscribed to 2017 email updates.]

We’ve had some exciting goings-on with WordCamp Seattle 2017 prep and planning this summer! Here are a few of the things you might want to know about:

→ We’re still hot into speaker recruiting, but we’re starting to come down to the wire. There are a few more opportunities to attend Speaker Training Workshops this week. Check out the locations and times (they’re both happening this Thursday, 7/20) and see if one is happening close to you.

(Be sure to RSVP on the meetup site if you’re planning to attend one of these. The Bellingham workshop won’t happen unless at least 5 folks sign up.)

→ If you missed out on an opportunity to attend one of the awesome speaker workshops we held last month, we’ve been sharing some of the gems that came out of the sessions. Read about the 5 Myths About Speaking at WordCamp (and Why You Can Ignore Them and Apply Anyway).

→ And are you in the mood to feel like a rock star? Find out how you can experience some minor celebrity status in the Perks of Being a WordCamp Speaker.

Applications to be a speaker at this year’s WordCamp close on Saturday, 8/5. So don’t delay – get your application in soon.

Lots going on with planning for WordCamp Seattle 2017 of late…

[If you’re seeing this email, you’re getting it because you signed up for updates last year on the WordCamp 2016 site and very likely are not subscribed to get updates on the 2017 site yet. Please take a minute to make sure you’ve also subscribed to 2017 email updates.]

Our speaker applications are rolling in, and there are some really exciting possibilities for sessions. But there is still lots of time to apply.

→ If you’d like to speak but not quite sure what you want to speak about, we’ve put together a thorough (but by no means exhaustive) list of topic suggestions.

→ If the same-old-same-old 25-minute lecture with Q&A style just isn’t your bag, why not mix it up and consider an alternative session format for your presentation?

→ And if you’re on the cusp but wanting a little training to boost your confidence, we’ve got multiple Speaker Training Workshops lined up around the Sound this month to help you with your pitch and give you some extra oomph with your speaking chops.

If you’ve got any questions or ideas to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Planning a WordCamp is as much a community endeavor as the actual WordCamp, so we welcome your input.

Apologies up front if you’re getting duplicate notices about WordCamp 2017, but there are literally hundreds of folks who have not signed up to receive notifications about this year’s WordCamp yet, and we don’t want anyone to miss out.

If you haven’t already, be sure to visit the new site and enter your email address (in the sidebar or footer) to subscribe to get all the latest updates.

If you’ve attended WordCamp Seattle the past several years, think about stepping up your involvement and applying to speak.

We have officially launched the 2017 website and opened up the speaker application.

On the new website, you can:

→ Apply to be a Speaker

→ Get Tips About Submitting a Strong Speaker Application

→ Learn About Upcoming Speaker Training Workshops

→ Become a Sponsor

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone there!

photo credit: Andrew Villeneuve

WordCamp 2016 feels like it just happened, but amazingly, we’ve already got planning for WordCamp 2017 well underway.

It will be November 4th and 5th this year – at the same location as last year, the Washington State Convention Center Conference Center in downtown Seattle.

Add it to your calendar right now! I’m getting all fired up just thinking about it.

This year, in order to put on another amazing WordCamp that exceeds everyone’s wildest expectations, we’d like to involve the WordPress community as much as possible.

So we’re reaching out to ask for your input.

We’ll be opening up applications for speakers for the 2017 camp here in just a few weeks. But we want to get your ideas and input beforehand…

Are there any speakers and/or specific topics you’d really love to see at this year’s WordCamp?

Here’s what we need from you:

1. Please take some time to think about people in your network who might be good speakers. We all work in different circles so don’t assume that someone else will suggest people you know.

   Then, take a few minutes to fill out this super-quick WordCamp Seattle 2017 Speaker & Topic Suggestions form (anonymously) to share their name, email address or other relevant contact information, and their area of expertise with us.

2. Share this post on social media to help us spread the “Word” (pun intended).

We’re planning to personally reach out and invite everyone who is suggested to apply to speak once the application is open.

Personal invitations mean a lot to those who receive them and increase the chances of them applying, so this is a great way to pay someone an anonymous compliment.

There’s also a spot at the bottom of the form to suggest topics you’d really like to see at this year’s camp.

It’s going to be epic, and we can’t wait to see you there! 6 months will go by in a flash.

Oh…and P.S. – the new website is almost up, but you can already sign up to get email notifications about WordCamp 2017, so be sure to pop on over there and enter your email address so you don’t miss out on any of the juicy details.

Note: With the way the WordPress notification system works, it does not transfer email addresses from year to year, so even if you’ve signed up and received notifications in years past, you definitely want to sign up again this year so you don’t miss out.