Cannot believe WordCamp Dublin is over! WCDublin, you were amazing!
Marcin Kilarski, Lesley Anne Quinn, Mark Smallman, Fellyph Cintra, Colm Troy, Julie Sebode, Miro Faltinek, supported by Abha Thakor
Organising Team
Contributing to WordPress as a team, eight individuals organised WordCamp Dublin 2019 – Marcin Kilarski, Lesley Anne Quinn, Mark Smallman, Fellyph Cintra, Colm Troy, Julie Sebode, Miro Faltinek, and supported by Abha Thakor. Mark, Abha and Marcin also worked on materials to share with other WordCamps, and to bring in website and organisational features used by bigger events. There were also a number of volunteers who helped on tasks in the run up to the event.
Five members of the volunteer org team paths have crossed at previous WordCamps in Dublin and Belfast which has led to a core team of people helping each other out at reciprocal events.
Find out more about each of us: https://2019.dublin.wordcamp.org/organisers/
Planning
The 2019 WCDublin organising team have been meeting virtually since May. We divided up responsibilities as best we could at the outset and met via Google hangouts each Thursday evening. There is no doubt about it, organising an event such as a WordCamp can become all-consuming – particularly as the event draws near. This is particularly challenging for self-employed team members, and those who are at the office by day and ignoring their family by night … In saying that, it is short-lived.
In general, weekly hangouts in conjunction with our slack channel -WPIreland – and our Google drive, worked out well for us although we did encounter some challenges which impeded our progress at times.
We kept our eyes on the prize – after WordCamp Dublin 2017 and WordCamp Belfast 2018, there was a lot to live up to.
Operations
Email issues were the bain of our lives!! But these were rectified nearer to the event. The team hugely appreciate the patience of our speakers and sponsors in the run-up to the event. Another challenge we faced – also unavoidable related to the educational planning system in Ireland so holding the event shortly after term resumes in a university meant we had to wait until the scheduling there was complete before rooms could be allocated to WordCamp Dublin resulting in knock-on delays for all involved.
Expenses
As a not for profit event – there were challenges faced reaching sponsors (technology, scheduling, outreach, space allocation, limited team members) which we needed to overcome. WordCamps prioritise accessibility via ticket price particularly, and some tough decisions were made by the team with regard to cost savings in an attempt to breakeven. Our swag was limited and t-shirts issued only to organisers and volunteers for operational and sustainability reasons. To say balancing the books was challenging would be an understatement!!!!!
Sponsors
Speaking of sponsors – without sponsors, the ticket price of this event would be comparable to other local tech events and out of reach for most of our attendees.
DCU business school provided the venue as in-kind sponsorship with some costs associated for extra rooms, cleaning and catering (Zest catering). The services provided were second to none. We were also delighted to have members from DCU Business School at the event over the weekend which was really appreciated – Eoghan, Piereangelo, Grace and Prasanna.
Sponsorship packages and ticket sales supported the outstanding costs which also included the hiring of AV equipment, printing, after party, shipping, swag, speakers / sponsors thank you dinner.
Discover more about our sponsors: https://2019.dublin.wordcamp.org/sponsors/
Friday Workshops – Digital Citizens
Rodolfo Melogli of Business Bloomer 
Fleur Heesen and Siobhan Cunningham SEO Workshop 
Luminus Alabi – Woo Commerce Workshop 
Abha Thakor & Marcin Kilarski 
Digital Citizenship Workshops 
Not a usual feature in WordCamps, our team put on a day of workshops for our venue providers on the Friday. This was also open to weekend attendees and expressions of interest were taken at ticket purchase. All were subsequently followed up with an invitation to apply separately to attend. This event tied in with international Digital Citizenship Week and the WordPress community’s work within it.
Read the WordPress series on Digital Citizenship Week.
Thank you to speakers on the day who included Colm Troy, Abha Thakor, Rodolfo Melogli, Luminus Alabi, and from Yoast Academy, Siobhan Cunningham and Fleur Heesen. Read more on the workshops at https://2019.dublin.wordcamp.org/friday-workshops/
Speakers
We put a call out for speakers and received more than 60 applications. A speaker selection team tried to incorporate as many of these as possible and create a programme which covered a range of topics at various levels of technicality and interest with a view to starting conversations at WCDublin and continuing beyond. We also worked with many speakers to increase the diversity and opportunities for local speakers, and with the help of the wider community, provide mentoring support.
Check out our speakers: https://2019.dublin.wordcamp.org/speakers/
A few talks were livestreamed and once edited for publication, the talks will be published on WordPress TV. If you are impatient for them, then why not get on board and help us publish and subtitle them.
Attendees
The whole point of hosting a WordCamp in Dublin is to share information and knowledge about WordPress and collaborate by contributing whilst building a community and supporting each other. OK – there is a lot more to it than that. But what we, the organisers tried to do was produce a strong programme, promote a positive and welcoming vibe, and encourage the community to build on this in the future. Thank you to everyone who attended and engaged with WordCamp Dublin or ‘tuned in’.
Special Mentions
WordCamp Dublin website development
A huge effort went into getting our website over the line and, although it was designed by a committee (!!!) Fellyph & Marcin, shouldered the work at the outset. Later on, the success of our scheduling (and rescheduling…) and mobile PWA was primarily down to Abha and Mark. Thanks too to the assistance from the global WordPress community.
Sourcing and onboarding sponsors
Chiefly Colm and Marcin.
Volunteer coordination
Communicating with and coordinating volunteers – thanks to Julie. Read our blog thanking volunteers https://2019.dublin.wordcamp.org/kudos-to-our-excellent-volunteers/
Wellbeing Sessions
Our wellbeing sessions from Helen Odia, Jochen Lillich, Emer Carr, Raffaella Isidori, Abha Thakor and Eimear Murphy. We were also able to highlight the work of charity WP&UP.
Here is what you missed. https://2019.dublin.wordcamp.org/wellbeing-schedule-for-wordcamp-dublin/
Social Media
Run up to the event social blogs and media was led by Lesley Anne with assistance from Fatima on Instagram. During the event, the social team expanded to include the MCs, Melissa, Neil, Stella, Fatima, Fellyph, Leo – and everyone who tweeted, liked and shared everywhere.
Contributor Event – Sunday morning
A special mention has to go to Abha Thakor who organised the Contributor Events on Sunday morning, enabled the Wellbeing track which was a huge addition to our WordCamp, and, along with Mark Smallman, created … and recreated the schedule to accommodate speakers who had been selected! Thank you.
Closing Remarks & Thank Yous
Closing remarks 2018 
Thanking Volunteers 
WCDublin Organisers
Keep the conversation going…
Join us on Slack – Twitter – Facebook – Instagram
And START those meetups!!!
**Note: If you are wondering – yes, we had our social on Sat in the Odeon bar and, no – there are no pics… you know the deal 😉