I took up being the PR and social media organizer for WordCamp DFW 2017 on a total whim.

Lead organizer, Marc Gratch, who’s also one of the leaders for the Fort Worth WordPress Users Group, announced at our June meeting that he needed someone to do PR and social media for WordCamp DFW. So, figuring it was right up my alley given that’s essentially what my degree was in, I decided to volunteer for the position.

It was the best on-a-whim decision I’ve made.

During my time as the PR and social media organizer, I worked on announcement posts to create excitement for the WordCamp. I got the other organizers to write their WordPress “stories” to try and convince people to come out to the conference and put together speaker profiles so that attendees would know more about who the speakers. I wrote features on our two keynote speakers and created sponsor shout outs as well. And I worked the WordCamp DFW social media to also drive traffic to the website and ticket sales.

Then during the actual WordCamp, I had two jobs: work social media and work on a recap video for the conference. With social media, I was tweeting out information from the WordCamp DFW account and retweeting others who were talking about the conference.

For the video, I ran around to the different rooms to get b-roll for the video. I also hung out during the breaks to get footage of people talking and having a good time. I also asked the attendees, speakers and volunteers why they love the WordPress community to play underneath the b-roll. And I put it altogether and turned out this video for WordCamp DFW.

Sure, it was stressful at times. Trying to get things organized and put out on the internet can be a challenge. And doing this all as volunteer with another day job with responsibilities makes it even more of a challenge.

But it was totally worth it. It was my first time really getting involved with the WordPress community, and I came away with a lot. I now have six other great friends who all helped make WordCamp DFW 2017 a great success. I got to meet other great people in the community, and I came away inspired to be even more involved in the WordPress community.

And I can’t wait to do it again next year.