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WordCamp Phoenix 2018

February 25, 2018
by Raquel

I wore the Lead Organizer hat for WordCamp Phoenix 2018 and suffered through excruciating life happenings simultaneously.

But we’ll get to that later…

Last weekend WCPHX successfully completed. It was riddled with conflict. There was a point when I thought it might not happen. I lost sight for a moment.

Let’s back up.

Late Spring last year, my WordCamp Husband” Justin (who was the WC lead atm) brought to the team the crazy idea of planning a smaller single-track WCPHX in the Fall and a bigger 3-track WCPHX in Q1 2018. Why? Do you remember older WCPHXes? Always Q1. Always huge with ~ 750 attendees. We wanted to bring that back. So, being the ambitious and tenacious soul that I am, I was all in.

Fall came and went and was hugely successful. Almost too successful. We capped the attendees at 300 and sold out early on. The feedback that we got from our Fall event was over-the-top! I mean, talk about the feels! Did you see our video?

Yep, planning for the 2018 event overlapped with the Fall event (in fact, I was even planning for WCUS too 😅)! But everything was going according to plan. We knew our theme, the team was set with me in the lead seat for the first time. The wheels were moving!

We’re going big WCPHX!

The challenges.

We had a late start on our ticket sales because we were waiting for our site design (which turned out amaze). By the time we started selling, ticket sales were crawling. I was scared. Because of our quick turnaround, we retained most of the team in the same role which meant I still headed up Sponsor Wrangling. Having wrangled sponsors for the previous two WordCamps, I know the weight of caring for them. Their ROI is super important to me. I was in plenty of conversations with potential sponsors promising a big event. “Five hundred to six hundred attendees.” I kept saying. Thankfully we sold over 520 tickets! 😅

For the life of us, we couldn’t get enough volunteers. I think there might’ve been some community fatigue. Understood. We were even asking, nay, begging our headquartered sponsors (Phoenix is spoiled with SiteLock, GoDaddy, Bluehost, & Pagely sharing a home with us) to ask their employees to volunteer. When we did get just enough volunteers, several of them dropped like flies right before the event. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Thankfully our Volunteer Wrangler Andrea handled the entire sitch most gracefully as we did not go without.

The application to host WordCamp US 2019/20 was due February 2nd! Like, are you kidding me? Right in the middle of planning our event?? 😅 Oh man, we were so pumped though. Carol, Justin, and I poured blood, sweat, and tears into this application even though we were already pouring blood, sweat, and tears into WCPHX planning! It was a wild ride and a challenge indeed but we did it! A big shout out to our WPAZ community that made short video clips campaigning for Phoenix to win the bid! Watch!

We just submitted the application to host WCUS 2019/20!

Speakers were backing out. I mean, we all know this happens. Life happens. In fact, we should expect it. But this was more than usual. We dipped into all our backups & even had to reach out to a community member who didn’t even apply. Thankfully the team was prepared for the loss of speakers and everything worked out. Major credit to our Speaker Wrangler Carol who is a beast! Like totes ridic. I could not have taken breaths of oxygen without her.

We lost our keynote. I know. Some of you are thinking, “And? Big deal. WordCamps don’t necessarily need a keynote.” And I would agree with you. Only we put too many eggs in the keynote basket this time. Our fault. We centered our Camp around this person. Why? This person is a legit amazing human that gets community and changing the world and they spoke at WCPHX before receiving high praise. So yes, marketing was heavily pushing them. The team passed out flyers with their face on them all around DTPHX during First Friday as we were trying to sell tickets. Our schedule was stopping Camp for the Keynote, streaming it to our other rooms to make sure all could watch. And 10 days out from camp, life happened, and we were without that which we invested so much into.

grassroots son
Passing out wcphx flyers!

We were devastated. Then we scrambled. Like chickens with our heads cut off, we went to town attempting to find a replacement. One by one our efforts were met with dead ends. I was exhausted. Then we redirected our efforts. Maybe a panel? In lieu of a high-caliber keynote speaker a high-caliber panel of individuals who found significant success via the WordPress platform. Good! So whom? 🤔 Thankfully one was already speaking at our WordCamp. They were in! Who else? Seriously emotionally drained and fatigued, I went to our WPAZ Tempe Meetup because I’m an assistant organizer and the show must go on. There I was met with an incredible act of community. Upon hearing the news, Devin Sears went above and beyond to help us. He quickly reached out to his team to help us find a solution. And when a dead end came up, he did not stop. He kept going until finally, someone was in! I felt like he lifted up a lot of the weight I was carrying, placed some of it on his shoulders, and then pressed on toward the goal while giving me the strength to do the same. When I expressed my gratefulness, he would just state over and over that, “We’re all in this together.” 😍😢😊😭❤ And this is why I love our community…
Thankfully I have a relationship with the final panelist and after a pathetically endearing email of begging, they were in too! And the rest is history…

Cautious Raquel
Me wondering, “What next?”

Except for life.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, life hit me hard right in the middle of planning WordCamp and it hasn’t stopped. Unfortunately, due to its current nature, I cannot go into details. But I’m a firm believer in vulnerability and honesty. I believe this it was makes a community a community and what makes it last. So I tell you this to reveal that I’m not perfect. I tell you so you can see an example of how success can be found through hard times if one keeps pressing forward and surrounds themselves with a supportive team. I tell you life is devastating right now so maybe IRL, we might connect. I tell you so that you might think of me and/or pray for me. I need it.

Moving forward.

While life is excruciating right now, I cannot ignore all the many blessings that occurred during the planning of WCPHX so let me count them.

Shayda & Leslie got my back!
  1. My organizing team – They’re elite. Top-notch! And my, do they support me. I wouldn’t have made it without them. Thank you, Justin, Carol, Dave, Betsy, Andrea, Clancy, Cory, and Leslie! Your support means the world to me.
  2. Our WordPress Community – I’m still in awe… Often I tell outsiders that much like WordPress is an open source software made better by volunteers, our community works the same way. Know what I mean? And the friends I’ve made… True brothers and sisters who I know have my back.
  3. Friends – You have fought for me and made me feel loved. Thank you.
  • Galvanize – You’ve been a comfort to office out of and an incredible venue to have our WordCamp! Plus your events team is elite and made our planning lightened.
  • Conceptually Social Catering – Thank you for your commitment to Downtown Phoenix and for allowing us to expedite our lunch much faster than food trucks!
  • Selling over 520 tickets – I look back and think, “Seriously? We just had a WordCamp four months ago. I can’t believe we went bigger and succeeded!” Credit to our legit community and to my amazing team! I am humbled that you still want to come out and play. I did not deserve for this to happen. I wanted our sponsors to be fulfilled. I pray they were. Thank you, God, for this undeserved blessing.
  • Devin & C-Tutt.

    So with that, be on the lookout for WordCamp 2019 in early Q1. It’ll be our 10-year anniversary! You don’t want to miss it. And I don’t want to miss you.

    PressNomics 6

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    15 Comments

    1. Tessa Kriesel

      I am already blocking my calendar for next year! I am so sorry to hear about the many hurdles and more so about your personal life. If there is any possible way I can do anything to help, please do not hesitate to ask! I will definitely be thinking about you and praying and hope you get through this tough time. I heard it was an amazing camp and I am crossing my fingers regarding the WordCamp US application!

      Reply
      • raquelandefeld

        Thank you very much, Tessa! Your kind words mean a lot to me. Yay, that I get to see you in just a few weeks!

        Reply
    2. Chris Wales

      I heard nothing but good things about WCPHX! I hope you get blessed with WCUS and I hope I can attend!

      Reply
      • raquelandefeld

        I am so glad! The event was so sweet! Thank you!

        Reply
    3. Tara Claeys

      Hang in there rock star Raquel! Congrats on your successful WordCamp. Prayers for your hardships. See you in Miami!

      Reply
    4. Scott DeLuzio

      This was by far one of the best WordCamps I’ve been to. This was also my wife’s 1st camp and she said she loved how warm and welcoming everyone was. I think that’s a testament to the leadership and community around the event.
      Thank you for all your hard work!

      Reply
    5. Mike Schroder

      Hey Raquel!

      So glad to hear things worked out in the end with the camp, and sad to hear things have been tough personally.

      Will definitely be thinking of you, and hope we run into eachother or chat soon. 🙂

      Reply
    6. Tyler

      I had a blast and hope dearly to be able to head back down south next year for another amazing WordCamp! Awesome job this year!

      Reply
    7. Betsy Cohen

      :purple_heart: :purple_heart: :purple_heart: :purple_heart:

      Reply
    8. Betsy Cohen

      (Hmmm those emojis did not work)

      Love love love you. WCPHX 2K18 was amazing — I loved working with you and our incredible team — top-notch, as you said!

      Reply
      • raquelandefeld

        Thank you Bets! This warms my heart! I love working with you as well! We makes such a great team!

        Reply
    9. Dwayne McDaniel

      WOW, Thank you for all you do and did and will do Raquel! You the best and this was one of the best camps I have ever been to. You should feel hella proud! Sorry life is, well being life. Hugs and support.

      Reply
      • raquelandefeld

        You are very kind Dwayne. Thank you. I love your support!

        Reply

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