This weekend I went to my first WordPress Meetup which was held in PD Johnson’s in Dallas. I wasn’t too sure of what to expect; the summary of the group made it seem like it would be pretty informal. It was. Everyone trickled in, about ten of us, and while some of us ate and others pulled out laptops we chatted mostly about Twitter and WordPress plugins.
Most of my time is spent with people who know little about technology, forget about WordPress and blogging, so hanging out with people who I can actually talk to those things about is refreshing.
However, I know that Dallas has a much larger audience of WordPress fans and major (or at least more than minor) bloggers. I was disappointed that the group doesn’t seem to attract enough of the audience using blogging and social media to its fullest extent. Granted, the group hasn’t been meeting for very long (just since April I think).
What I’d like to see more of is a formal atmosphere where people are encouraged to share with the whole group about how they use WordPress, what benefits it has for them, and how others can improve upon their blogging. One of the reasons I wish for this is because I’ve spent the past three years learning everything I can about WordPress and I’m dying to share the knowledge I’ve gained. It would be neat if the meetups consisted of neatly packaged topics so that the goal is clear and people know why they are coming and what they’re taking away.
On the other hand, maybe the point of these meetups is simply to socialize with other WordPressers and something so formal is outside the lines of what is thought necessary for the group. In that case, I’d love to be part of a new group that encouraged the formal training/learning of WP while the meetup group existed alongside the new group.
Any thoughts?
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I think your sentiments are echoed among most of the WordPress community. While the group, and I’m sure many not yet aware of its existence, would benefit from a greater degree of structure I would hate to lose the informal and primarily social aspects that help the group synergize currently. The only way I foresee making everyone happy is to separate the two formats so that people can attend one meeting or both based on what suits them.
Thanks for coming to the meetup, by the way, it was great to see some new faces and get exposed to some new content. You’ve got a great site here, keep up the good work (and Twitter!). Talk soon.
JD
I like your idea of having a “round-table” type of meeting where everyone get to share their experience with WordPress. I’m down for such future meetup like this. On the other hand, I’m glad I found this group too. I’m sad that I won’t be able to make it out this month though. But I’ll try and stay connected via twitter on that day.
And thanks for the comment over on my blog.