You read that correctly, this post is about Call for Cities for WordCamp US 2022! There are some big changes to how we plan to approach city selection for 2022.
In past years, local WordPress communities applied to be the host city of WordCamp US. Organizers were asked to gather info, such as enthusiasm for their city, local WordPress community activity, organizer interest, and even possible venue bids.
This is a big ask: securing a holistic bid from a convention center for +2,000 people is not something most of us do!
In 2020, the WCUS team hired an events management team to handle this step. Local WordPress communities still expressed why their city would be the best fit for WCUS, but the work of soliciting bids and securing a competitive quote was left to a professional. Great, right? Well, 2020 did not work out as hoped.
@kcristiano, @kdrewien, and I, as community deputies and past lead organizers of WordCamp US, began discussing the need to secure a venue to WordCamp US. We all felt that requesting applications from local WordPress communities today would place an undue burden on volunteers. Risk evaluation and forecasting feasibility of an in-person flagship requires a professional events management team.
We intend to do a city search instead of a Call for Cities.
The events management team will send out a Request for Proposal (RFP) and negotiate with venues, and then select the City and venue that best meets the needs for WordCamp US.
The team is looking for a venue that can accommodate WCUS scaling up or down in size, and would allow us to cancel or postpone with minimal financial impact. There were local WordPress communities who applied to be host cities for 2020 and we are including those cities in this year’s search.
You may be wondering what this organizing team for WordCamp US will look like! That’s an excellent question.
WordCamp US 2022 will be opening Call for Organizers in mid-November, and a team of past WordCamp US organizers will review those applications. This team will include @kcristiano, @kdrewien, @mysweetcate, @aaroncampbell, and @kimwhite. The plan is to bring the organizing team to the future host city. Once the city is chosen, we will look to the local community for Organizers. If the Call for Organizers has ended before the city is announced we will reopen applications for Organizers from the host city.
We hope to see you in-person at WordCamp US 2022! If you have any questions or thoughts, please share in the comments on this post.
This post was contributed to by @angelasjin, @kdrewien, @kcristiano, @mysweetcate, and @michelleames
