In our October update, we mentioned the WordPress Foundation has an official Meetup.com account through which it covers costs of organizer dues.
As of this month, 23 meetups are now under this central account.
There’s a lot of cool stuff in the works for the Meetup.com Program:
- Making WordPress Events is a discussion forum for WordPress event news and updates, as well as an online resource for organizers and volunteers (including, most recently, a series on meetup best practices).
- Buying and sending out items like projectors and video cameras to meetup groups that need them.
- A variety of training sessions, with the help of the Support and Community teams, to bring professional WordPress education to more people. As curriculums are tested and approved, they will be available online for use by meetup groups running official training sessions.
- A core team of volunteers to work on meetup guidelines for organizers.
- Other plans to expand the program, from a monthly email that suggests and provides possible content to groups, to meetup starter packs with fun stuff like flyers, table signs, buttons, stickers, sign-in sheets, and a T-shirt for a new organizer to wear to their first meetup.
As you can see, 2013 is already a busy year for WordPress meetups. We expect more groups to join in this spring — if you’re looking to add your meetup group to the WordPress Foundation account, please visit and follow along at Making WordPress Events for what’s happening with meetups.