Finding people to speak at WordCamps isn’t as easy as it may seem. Community members have been faced with the rising cost of travel, COVID-19, and many other factors that make speaking a little less realistic now. Also moving online has opened a lot of other opportunities for people to speak virtually, but at times there seem to be more speaking roles than actual speakers. As a community, meetup, and WordCamp organizer, Michelle Frechette noticed these issues and devised a plan to connect available speakers more easily. WP Speakers is a free resource for event organizers, podcasters, and bloggers to connect with experts in different areas of WordPress.
In her own words, Michelle explains how she came up with the idea for WP Speakers:
“As a meetup organizer for my local WordPress meetup, I’m constantly searching for speakers to present. On one hand, the pandemic made it harder to keep coming up with fresh meetup content, but on the other hand, it allowed me to connect to speakers globally as all of our meetings were moved online,” said Frechette. “But even with all of the speakers in the world now able to present, it was still hard to think of topics and then source speakers. As well-connected as I am in WordPress, I couldn’t even imagine how much more difficult it might be for someone who didn’t know a lot of speakers personally. So WP Speakers was born.”
Who can participate?
There are no restrictions on who can sign up for a speaker profile with WP Speakers. Anyone in the WordPress community can create one and have their profile reviewed before approval. Speakers can specify ranges from: primary language(s), topics, region, and time zone. If you are an organizer, podcaster, or blogger looking for contributors, the database is available to you. Michelle also stresses that this resource will always remain free so that no one can be denied due to who they are or how much money they have. Frechette also runs WPCareerPages.com which helps job seekers in WordPress connect with eligible companies who may be hiring.
Michelle can be contacted for more information via email at [email protected].
Reach out to Michelle Frechette to take advantage of what will be a game changer for how we in the community connect!
