WordCamp Ireland 2010: Feedback!
We’ve been inundated with great enthusiasm for Wordcamp Ireland 2010 on Twitter, from attendees, speakers and sponsors alike. We’re delighted so many of you had such a great time, and in the face of so much enthusiasm, we’re going to go ahead and start planning WordCamp 2011 with your help and feedback.
For WordCamp 2011, we promise to:
- Use the right WordPress logo (I’m going to WordPress Hell – Sabrina)
- Block book all rooms at Langton’s so more people can stay there
- Have a smoother registration and check-in system
- Have an online list of attendees so people can find each other after camp
- Re-work the Speakers & Sponsors dinner so it’s more mingle-y
- Signpost the outside of Langton’s so it’s easier to get into!
- Sort out the Conservatory sunlight issue and blackout draping (So sorry about that…)
- Do a better job with lunches (we got slammed by the walk-in registration numbers)
- Have VGA hookup dongle thingies for both kinds of Macs for all rooms
- Have tea, coffee and water available all day every day, instead of tea and coffee service
- Open the bar in the ballroom after the last talk both days so we have our own bar
- Organise volunteer videographers for all sessions, speaker permission allowing
- Organise more volunteer opportunities now that we know what we’ll need
- Do more further in advance so we have a chance to sleep, shower and hang out more with 250 amazing, amazing people
Part of the reason why, after having sworn we would never do this again, we are suddenly mad-keen to host Wordcamp 2011 is that we want want the chance to fix the things we cocked up this year. We genuinely want to know what else you’d like us to do better. Please let us have your feedback in the comments and we’ll do our very best!
SO: Tell us what you liked best, what you liked least, and what just plain didn’t work for you. We do this for the WordPress community, and we want to know what the community wants!
down with white bread sandwiches!!
More cowbell?
The tech room was pretty squishy – seemed to be a really popular track so if possible a bigger room for this would be awesome. Or perhaps when people are registering get them to select which track they think they’ll most likely attend so you’ve an idea of how to allocate your space?
Don’t be using pictures of my mother on the telephone on your website!!
Steph I totally agree. We will absolutely find a way to better sort room capacity, you’re right – that should have been on the list!
One free sponsor cocktail or refreshment paid for by the sponsor?
Did anyone buy that IDA cocktail? heh
I saw a couple of IDA cocktails around on Friday night. A particularly, um, striking shade of green, but the ingredients looked nice.
We tried very hard to provide value to sponsors as it honestly would not have been even remotely possible to run the weekend without them, and I am not sure about hitting them for the cost of cocktails as well. Pricy things cocktails. Nice, but pricy.
I’d love to see more sponsors with stands though.
Just laughed out loud at Maryrose and the sandwiches. It was like a kids’ party from the 70s in there.
My more serious suggestion (which they’ve already heard) is to open the bar in the ballroom as soon as the Saturday sessions are done, to avoid the dilution of people into multiple pockets up to 100 yards from each other with ‘civilians’ encroaching.
(Who knew it was so difficult to keep a group of people together? Same thing always happens at every event.)
Likewise the registration desk should really be on the other side of that room right next to the door.
I wouldn’t write this down save that Sabrina’ll probably use this page as a reference later.
Just want to tell you guys how much we appreciate all the hard work. If 2011 is on the table – consider us there.
@handelaar “Open the bar in the ballroom after the last talk both days so we have our own bar” is already on the list.
Jesus you don’t even listen to me when I type, let alone talk!
@maryrose It was a little 70s-tastic wasn’t it? The dinners were gorgeous, though, and we’ll get lunch fixed up next year.
@jasonroe I too would like free cocktails to go with my pony, but somehow I don’t see that happening
I did however order a Redfly and nearly DIED of gorgeousness. I also had a rather large taste of a Microsoft and while it looked like a drink from a machine at 7-11 MY GOD WAS IT GOOD. I definitely saw some Blacknights and a few IDAs around the place as well!
I really enjoyed the community atmosphere of the event. I would like to see this encouraged more , with organised drinks in the bar etc.
Other improvements (all constructive suggestions I hope)
More value to sponsors, maybe a sponsors blurb at the beginning of a talk. I traveled with a colleague from Paris and today he was asking me what or who is Blacknight. (I am not involved with any sponsors , but I feel that more value to sponsors = more value to sponsorship packages = more money for Wordcamp = better conference
)
More Wordcamp offers for participants
This could be offers by people at the conference
- Blacknight starter hosting etc,
- photographers.ie will give you 25% off your next booking
- Joe Soap will do a Wordpress install with hosting with all SEO plugins for 70 euro
Online Q & A section of the site where people at the conference can tweet or post queries they have about wordpress and get answers.
Or alternatively a Genius bar (apple style)
Breaks between talks (talks ran late so you were leaving one stream and arriving late in the other)
Allow people to pre-register for events before the conference. This would allow you to have a vague idea of the number of people and their interest in the talks (allocate rooms based on this)
Larger screen in the Tech room.
Keep the mug design contest
Longer schedule on Sunday.
I am willing to help next year where possible if you guys need help. thanks for a great weekend, and I really loved the community feel where people were exchanging ideas and helping, instead of talking down and criticising.
Adam Bukeridge
@adambuckeridge
More detail on the talk than just title and speaker. Occasionally it was difficult to decide between talks. Synopsis and biog would have helped.
Also five minute gap between talks to allow a bio-break and movement between rooms.
First, thanks for organising such fantastic event. I enjoyed it a lot and learned a ton.
I agree with @adambuckeridge Sunday schedule could be little longer and on breaks between sessions so you can move between the talks.
Other than that – great weekend hope to be there in 2011.
Delighted to hear that you’re going to do it all over again next year. Don’t disagree with any of the points above, but here’s a few additional (constructive) suggestions:
As well as having a bigger room for the tech track, a bigger screen would be very helpful – those techies occasionally like to post source code.
If it were possible, running some of the more popular talks twice – I often found myself torn between which of the tracks to attend.
Definitely keep the kids corner – an absolute winner. We’ll even volunteer to bring the box of kid tat from World of Crap back down!
How about a hackathon for developers?
Steve
@sflinter