WordCamp Sacramento Photos: Part 4

I hope you’ve been enjoying the galleries of images shot by our photography volunteers over the past few days. I know I have had a blast browsing through the images and remembering what a fantastic weekend we had at WordCamp.

Today I’m sharing the second to last gallery of images for our 2017 event. These images were shot by the 2017 WordCamp Sacramento Photography Wrangler Anthony Skelton.

Anthony, with his wife Pearl, own Red Cart Studios, who also donated the Networking Reception photo booth! (Click to see the images). You can find Anthony on Twitter at @ajskelton.

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WordCamp Sacramento Photos: Part 1

Jose Castaneda and Carrie Forde

Alrighty folks! I have the WordCamp photos and they’re going to be published over the next few days, highlighting each of the volunteer photographers’ images with you. Also, if you haven’t taken a look at the official WordCamp Sacramento recap, I encourage you to do so and get a peek behind-the-scenes.

We’re kicking off the image sharing with those taken by Stewart Savage of Abaton Consulting, a web design and development firm in Davis, California. You can find him on Twitter at @stewartsavage.

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The WordCamp Sacramento 2017 Recap: A Inside Look At Planning And Hosting A WordCamp

WordCamp Sacramento Opening Remarks

I don’t know about you, but I slept really good on Sunday night!

WordCamp Sacramento 2017 is officially complete and it was an incredible weekend of WordPress. I am beyond thrilled at the way the event and our community came together. The event was smooth, it stayed on time, the food was great, the speakers were prepared, and we experienced only a few minor hiccups that were resolved quickly.

Honestly, I’ve been working on this event since March and now that it’s over, I’m enjoying the extra time in my schedule and relaxing a bit.

But before I get too comfortable, I’ve got to finish up the last to-do on the Lead Organizer checklist: The Official WordCamp Sacramento 2017 Recap.

Below you’ll find the details of almost every aspect of the event, some behind-the-scenes information, and our thoughts about how the event went and where we could do things better.

  • For attendees or community members, I hope this post gives you some insights on what goes into the event planning.
  • For other WordCamp organizers or potential organizers, I hope this post gives you some tips or ideas to help your WordCamp run smoothly.

If you read the whole long post, you’ll even get a few sneak peeks at things we’re thinking of for 2018!

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WordCamp Speaker Slide Decks

Blogging Panel Discussion

Wow, what an amazing weekend!

WordCamp Sacramento 2017 is a wrap! All of us organizers and volunteers are still VERY sleepy, but we’re also reveling in the aftermath of an incredible weekend of WordPress.

I am so proud of our local WordPress community for showing up in full force. We had 450 people check-in at registration and pick up their name badge and the event was packed through Sunday.

I am also in awe of how hard our volunteers worked and how much hustling they did throughout the entire event to keep everything running smoothly and have deep gratitude for all of those who showed up and helped make this event a huge success, including the speakers who delivered outstanding talks and the sponsors that made the event possible.

We have received fantastic feedback about the event already and look forward to hearing your thoughts in the post-event survey that you’ll be receiving soon.

Also, watch the blog for a post-event recap and an inside look at what goes into organizing WordCamp, photo galleries from the event, and more… but until then, here are the slides from each of the speakers’ presentations:

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Everything You Need To Know About Attending WordCamp Sacramento

WordCamp Programs

I don’t know about you, but I like information and details and knowing what to expect, especially when it comes to attending live events.

I know that one of the worst things ever as an attendee is getting to an event — where you’re going to be for the whole day — and not have something you need!

Between the organizers, attendees, sponsors, and speakers, we’ve got almost 500 people to care for, and while we are doing our best to serve your needs, we also know that we do have some limitations and ask you to be understanding.

Here are a few posts we recommend that you read:

Also… Please be sure to read this entire post. It will give you a one-stop spot to learn everything you need to know about attending WordCamp Sacramento. This way, you can arrive confident that you’re prepared to have a fantastic day.

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We’re Serving Up Incredible Lunches In Capital Park

California State Capital

Mmmmm. Food. I love food.

But, as a food lover with a food allergy (dairy), there is nothing worse than getting to an event only to find that I can’t eat the food, especially when I’m hungry 🙁 So at WordCamp, we do our best to provide as many options as possible and I’m SO EXCITED about this year’s lunch because we’re bringing in food trucks!

If you’ve got a food allergy or a special dietary need like me, I also know that food at conferences can be stressful. That’s why we’ve got the WordCamp menus for each food truck ready for you to review in advance. Plus, choosing your lunch early, will help speed up the food lines and get everyone eating faster!

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A Giant, Enormous Thank You To The WordCamp Sacramento 2017 Sponsors

Thank You Sponsors

It takes A LOT of funds to put on an event like WordCamp Sacramento 500 people!

Just the coffee, water, tea, and lemonade alone are around $6,000 and the entire event budget is funded by sponsors.

Thankfully we have an incredible group of sponsors who have stepped up to support WordCamp Sacramento 2017 and our local WordPress Community in a big way. WordCamp wouldn’t be happening with out our sponsors and we extend a GIANT, ENORMOUS THANK YOU to all of them.

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HUGE Thanks To The WordCamp Sacramento Volunteers

Event Volunteers

On one hand, it’s hard to believe that WordCamp Sacramento 2017 is happening in only a few days. Yet, on the other, we’re neck deep in final details, errands, and communications, and we’re ready for it to just be here already!

The event is officially SOLD OUT with 500+ tickets registered. This makes WordCamp Sacramento one of the larger WordCamps in the United States — very exciting for California’s Capital City!

You may not know it, but WordCamps are organized, planned, run, and delivered by volunteers.

The organizing team volunteers their time to plan and put on the event, the speakers volunteer their time and pay for their own travel, and generous sponsors provide funding to make the event happen.

The event couldn’t happen without other important people…

The members of our local WordPress community who have stepped up to volunteer during the event. Registration, video, photography, social media, room managers, mic runners, event helpers, and other volunteers make WordCamp possible and help make sure the event runs smoothly.

Our 2017 volunteers are:

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HUGE Thanks To The WordCamp Sacramento Community Sponsors!

Applause for the Community Sponsors

A HUGE Thank You goes out to the incredible WordCamp Sacramento 2017 Community Sponsors!

As you know, WordCamp can’t happen without the generosity of sponsors. From venue, audio/visual, and wifi costs, to catering and coffee, swag, signage and print materials, to tables and chairs, linens, snacks, registration supplies, and more, there is an enormous amount of cost involved to create, plan, and host the event — not to mention the hundreds of hours volunteered by the organizers. Raising funds is the hardest part of this event.

The Community Sponsor Tickets were $150. Other WordCamps have been offering Community Sponsor tickets for years, some at much higher rates, but this is the first year we tried it for WordCamp Sacramento and…

17 amazing community members stepped up to support the event and give back to the local WordPress community.

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Applause For In-Kind Sponsor Quality Color Express

Quality Color Express in Sacramento

Quality Color Express is a print, and graphics company servicing the Sacramento creative, business, and government communities.

For the past 25 years QCE has focussed on customer driven service and high quality products in forging long lasting relationships with its clientele. Customers choose QCE for many print and graphics projects including trade show, meeting, retail, photographic, decorative, point of purchase, architectural signage, and much more.

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Details About The Facilitated Networking Session (Meet More People)

Sacramento Networking

Let me guess…

You want to meet other attendees at WordCamp… but you’re shy or introverted, or you just hate networking because it’s awkward. Maybe you don’t know what to say or you feel uncomfortable walking up to people you don’t know and saying hello because you feel like you’re interrupting. Or maybe, you feel just a bit intimidated because you think everyone else knows more than you do.

Did I get that right?

If you were nodding your head in agreement, you are not alone. Let me share a secret with you: Almost EVERY WordCamp attendee feels the same way. Every advanced developers come to WordCamp and suffer from impostor syndrome.

We’re Making Networking Easy

This year, we’re trying something new — a facilitated networking session. That’s basically just a fancy way of telling you that we’re taking all the guesswork, awkwardness, and uncomfortable feelings out of networking by giving you the chance to meet other WordCampers in a very specific way.

Plus, the facilitated networking session is on Saturday just before lunch, so you’ll meet new people and make new connections before lunch. This means you’ll have new folks to eat lunch with and hang with at the networking reception.

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Applause For Gold-Level Sponsor: VendorFuel

WordCamp Sponsor VendorFuel

VendorFuel is an e-commerce API and WordPress plugin that provides end-to-end control of your online retail store. Incredibly versatile, VendorFuel is theme agnostic and requires very little set up. It can be used as-is right out of the box or developers can utilize the advanced customization tools to fine tune even the smallest details. VendorFuel will ignite your brand while enhancing your customer’s experience.

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WordCamp Sacramento 2017 is over. Check out the next edition!