WordCamp: No more a “country’s affair”

WordPress (WordCamp) Nepal 2016

Only a few moments ago, the lead organizer of what was supposed to be WordCamp Nepal 2016, Sakin Shrestha, informed us that the event is set to take a different course of action. The WordPress conferences to be held henceforth in the country will be named according to the cities they are organized in.

Resultantly, the upcoming WordCamp will be called WordCamp Kathmandu 2016. As a matter of fact, there will no longer be WordCamp Nepals. This is the outcome of a decision by WordCamp Central.

It first started as an advice to him by Andrea Middleton to organize a WordCamp Kathmandu rather than WordCamp Nepal at WordCamp US 2015. And recently, he was apprised by Cami Kaos that WordCamps are to be organized by cities rather than a country as whole. And so, the first ever WordCamp Kathmandu will be held later this year.

The step taken by WordCamp Central was brought forth to have a uniformity in the pattern of WordCamps all over the world. Countries like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Croatia, and India have already been organizing WordCamps in their cities. Also, this aims to encourage smaller WordPress communities to organize WordCamps in their own cities and further extend the reach of WordPress. Check the upcoming schedule here.

In the case of Nepal, it helps move away from the tradition of centralizing in Kathmandu. Sakin also mentioned that previous attempts of organizing WordPress Meetups have relatively been unsuccessful. He believes allowing major cities to organize their own WordCamps will only work for the popularity of WordPress and ensure its success in the years to come.

One might think that as there have been WordCamp Nepals since the beginning, people might be reluctant to the idea. However, it opens door for communities, spread far out, and have an event that fits their community. As locals, one city can help the other. Local people can participate in the organizing process. They can speak out their ideas, portray their views on how to better the WordPress community of Nepal. Communities are made up of, and made stronger by, a diverse set of voices. The opportunity to learn and share knowledge will be plenty. They can be a constant source of support to the communities in a country, whereas big name foreign speakers don’t often have the bandwidth to provide that continued support and inspiration to the attendees. It’s also a chance to amplify those local voices to the greater community when their session is uploaded to WordPress.tv

So, organizing a WordCamp in individual cities in a country like Nepal may seem daunting. It will require some major extra legwork, but it’s definitely worth it.

Even though the sources of this information are reliable, WordCamp Central has not formally made it public. We will keep you updated, should there be any new information.

 

 

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