Tag: wordcamp whistler Posts

I get the odd inquiry about the work involved in organizing a conference, particularly a WordCamp. Rebecca, John and I have organized several WordCamps, but WordCamp Whistler was undoubtedly the hardest of the bunch, mainly because none of us had the opportunity to assess the location until the night before. While the event was really successful in my mind (the speakers were great, the staff at the Fairmont were helpful, and everyone I talked to felt that they got good value from the event), in retrospect I might have organized something a bit more local. The costs associated with the event kept ballooning over time, and it was extremely stressful near the end when we were operating the event in the red, especially since I was basically bankrolling the event myself. We were forced to raise ticket prices at the end higher than I had wanted, simply to recoup some […]

I was over at Derek’s blog this morning reading his article about the BC Liberal Party and their sponsorship of the Northern Voice social. Given that the BC Liberal Party was also a sponsor of WordCamp Whistler, and that I was one of the organizers, I thought I should share my thoughts on this. First, I want to point out the logistics of an event like this. Organizing WordCamp Whistler was literally two months of solid work. A few days prior to the event I was fielding well over 100 emails a day trying to keep the boat afloat, and pull everything together so that the conference would be successful. There was no money pit under WordCamp Whistler — it was bankrolled by my own personal savings account. Had the conference run in the red, I would have been paying for it myself. The cost of WordCamp Whistler (and I’ll […]

Don’t have much time this morning, but I wanted to give a quick update. First off, I had a shower before I went to bed last night. Unfortunately, I left the floor a little bit wet, something I realized at around 4am when I went to the bathroom and complete wiped out. Somehow I busted my hand open trying to stop myself from falling, and I bruised my shoulder pretty bad. I woke up with dried blood on my hand this morning, so I must have whacked it pretty good. This is my sixth last day of work, and then I’m done. I haven’t even begun to think about packing yet, and probably won’t get a chance to until late next week. WordCamp Whistler is trucking along at a decent pace, and hopefully everyone is coming up. There is only one day left of early bird tickets for WordCamp Whistler, […]

There are only two more days left in the early bird pricing for WordCamp Whistler, so make sure you grab a ticket soon. It’s going to be an awesome informative event, and there will hopefully be a few parties to attend as well during the weekend. So grab your ticket today!

John and Rebecca put together the first in a series of WordCamp Whistler podcasts. Make sure you head on over and take a listen.

WordCamp Whistler is just around the corner, and we’ve already seen an increase in ticket sales these last few days. If you’re interested in coming, you should go ahead and buy your tickets now. Right now tickets are $35, but as of Friday, January 9th, they’ll increase to $40. The following Friday, January 16th, they will increase to $50, and shortly afterwards they will no longer be available. If you’d like to purchase your tickets, please visit our EventBrite page and pick up your tickets now. Included in the price of your ticket is a full day of WordPress-related talks, complimentary lunch, a one-of-a-kind piece of winter-related WordPress swag, and access to the social event, complete with a few free drinks. There are still a few sponsorship spots open, so if you’re looking for some extra exposure for your company, and to be a part of the first WordCamp in […]

I met with Rebecca and John tonight and we started finalizing the plans for WordCamp Whistler. We’re hoping to nail down a venue in the next week or so, at which time we’ll open up official registration. Given that we want to make the event as awesome and as interesting as possible, we’re going to be charging a small admission for the event. In addition, we’ll also be accepting sponsorship from a few organizations, which will hopefully cover the costs of the venue, and the social. Stay tuned in the next week or so for some official announcements. As of now, the date is still set for January 24th, 2009 up in Whistler, BC, Canada. We’ll probably schedule the event to start around 10am or so, which will allow people to commute up from Vancouver that morning. We’re hoping to invite some well known speakers to the event to share […]

Yes, that’s right people. How does going up to Whistler and spending a weekend boarding/skiing and talking about everyone’s favourite blogging engine, WordPress, sound? I suggested this briefly on Twitter tonight, and immediately got a message from Rebecca along the lines of “hell ya!” I emailed a hotel already tonight at the heart of the village to see what kind of group rates we could get in December or January. I think it would be awesome to go up for a weekend, hold a WordCamp during the day, and do afternoon/night skiing in the off time, or on the second day. Rebecca and I helped organize the last WordCamp a few weeks ago, and it was a ton of fun. Given that it was a great experience and everyone learned a lot, I’m definitely interested in helping get this event off of the ground. What better way to talk about […]