Wordcamp India. the First ever WordCamp in India.
The two day event concluded today with not much to rave about. I have lots of feedback from real people who attended the event and well, I have lots of inputs for the WCI team.
Two days, a host of speakers, and nothing to rave about! The biggest draw for the event were Matt Mullenweg (Creator WordPress) and Om Malik (Giga Om fame). Well, and both of them were amongst the fewest of the good things to talk about at this event. Matt I think is an amazing guy and am already a fan. He really knows his stuff, and well he can talk and talk good. The best part, the guy is really innovative. Looking at his presentation which contained pictures of the Taj mahal and the Autorickshaw he travelled in, I was glad to see his keen eye for details 
Okay, lets come to the point now!
So what did I get from the First Indian WordCamp? Hmmm…lemme think, not much, I’d say (I really have to think on answering this one). There were some really lax speakers, who were speaking on whatever context they liked speaking on. There were product presentations (Radioverve, though I really like the work), and I was told by the event organizers outright (when I asked them for a speaking Op) that we dont really entertain product displays!! Thanks guys!
There were gyan sessions on codes, plugins and some really cool features of WordPress, but I dont really know how much value would they have provided to the people, who are common basic level users of WordPress, who probably dont even know, how to install a version on their own site!
There was mis-management
The event was mismanaged. Day two saw the event organizers coming to the event LATE! and the show started pretty LATE! There were shift in speaker schedules (Do you not call up the speaker a night before, and send an SMS reminder, in the morning)?? Basic things right?
And here we have a Supreme Court lawyer, talking on IP and other stuff and he starts with an example which referred to Priyanka (twilight fairy) one of the organizers of the event as an example. Sir, with due respects, there are better ways to connect both with the audience and the organizers Though Pavan was the only speaker after Matt and Om, who really made an impact.
We will allow you, but we don’t really think your topic is different from 2 others, who are speaking the same
Okay, so I was told by one of the organizers of WCI on day I, that I could take his speaking slot to present what I have with WordPress. And I woke up till 1 am in the morning and mailed him my presentation as I discussed with him. And on the second day, well one of the other organizers, has an objection to it!
What objection – She thinks that my presentation is on how to make money out of WordPress, and well I think she totally missed the point. What I had, well it was not presented by anyone. Anyway, my point of writing all of this is not that I have any hard feelings or anything, but the fact that I would have appreciated, if this would have been communicated to me earlier that I am not up for speaking, so I would really have invested my time on more productive things in life.
Networking – I met some really young and budding entrepreneurs today!
Well, the young crowd really was something that I liked about the event, though the same was a deterrent to the scope of relationships that you could really look forward to, forging.
I know people from the event, who supported my thoughts on it!
Coffee machine was the favorite place to network and talking to many a people around, I got the same feedback that It wasn;t working for them. That they are really not seeing much value from the sessions.
There was no appreciation for SPONSORS!!
So the day one of the event, would really have included a word of thanks to the sponsors for the sponsors and partners to the event, in the opening note of the organizers, which I personally felt was missing.
I think, the event was okay, and nothing special to really have missed and been repenting about. I wish these guys the best for the future events, and hope they do live to their brand!
Clarification
I highly appreciate the Co-organizer of the First WordCamp India, Mayank, calling up, to really give certain clarifications on the event, and I appreciate his honesty.
For the same, I would like to present to the readers of this blog, that this blog has no relations to the fact that I was not given an opportunity to speak (Have a look at my Bio, do you really think, I would write a blog post, for such a trivial matter)?
Hence, the post only reflects my views and of some people from the event, I interacted with, who shared their’s. This post is not meant to point out or hint at any particular individual and is not biased
Hey Paritosh -
Thanks for the honest feedback. I’m sorry that your session couldn’t happen and that there was mis-communication. We tried our level best to keep everyone happy but I guess it is very hard to keep everyone happy.
We’ll ensure that in the next wordcamp (if at all, organized by us) you’ll not face issues like that.
Thanks for the follow up Mayank,
I understand and its never about keeping anyone happy, we also do an anuual event (OMCAR – Online Marketing Careers – http://www.omcareers.org) which will be happening this April in association with TiE, in New Delhi
Well, but the agenda for the event and speakers are clearly defined, I am not sure how many people would come to you with an honest feedback, but there were almost 7 people I remember, who came to me with the same thing, that they are not getting the value, they thought the event would stand for.
Though I feel, for a start it was awesomely managed, and Mayank you are an amazing guy to be connected with!!
Cheers,
Paritosh Sharma
Hey Paritosh, am sorry to read how your presentation could not get a slot and that you had to deal with the non polite rather harsh comments made by twilight fairy, I fail to understand why she rejected your presentation stating “its about making money from WP”? I checked out your slides it is not even close to that..I don’t think she has the ability to qualify anybody or anybody’s work.. she just had biased preferences, that also reflected on how she organized the gigaom & wordpress dinner meet up. She included only the people who met certain criteria, set up by Mr Om and guess what most of her friends fit perfectly right in.
Anyhow, no matter what misjudging happened there, we must appreciate the fact that they organized an event, where we got to meet Matt & Om.
I appreciate the courteous organizer, Mr. Mayank Gupta for bringing this event to India, it was well planned he was the only one facilitating everyone and went an extra mile in doing so..
I am also amazed to see your clarification on this post now, why would you not react? especially when you spent time in preparing and were told NO at the very day.
I have spoken to few more people who were upset for one reason or other, one must take criticism sportingly. I think almost everyone did good to make this event happen especially the organizers, barring few instances where they could not be polite or they miscalculated…
Thanks Aditi,
Yep, kudos to the organizers for such an event, takes guts to do all of it!! Also, I agree to you on the fact that feedback in any form is always good, till the time it taken in a sporting manner, which am sure, the WCI community would be open in sharing and really making this event better placed in the future.
Cheers,
Paritosh Sharma
I disagree with the fact that there should’ve been less coding, because WordPress is also for developers. This is not proprietary software where you have to make do with what you get. It is very much about tweaking it to your needs and as a conference developers also need to be paid attention too.
I’m also assuming you’d have gone into greater details of HOW you guys publicized that event than the slides go into. If not, then I really don’t see why I’d have watched this session. Just my 2 cents.
Thanks Ankur for your comment
I agree to you that a conference must serve one and all. But all I meant was, the sessions should have been placed such that people from all genres can take the fullest from all that they have planned their schedule according to the program given by the conference organizers
Would be great connecting with you!!
Cheers,
Paritosh Sharma
Hats Off – Your Presentation went off and then you suddenly switched off everything which was “enlighting” just before that.
organizing such big event not easy – but such events happens and manages by the people around the world.
I’m happy the way it was organized, Sad that we miss the opportunity to hear you.
Thanks Shanker for your comment
And thanks for your part, I really enjoyed connecting with you!! Especially your tips on how to rake in revenue through blogs. And the fact that you are working 12 hours a day and still taking out time for these events, I appreciate!!
I got no qualms if there was not any speaking opportunity, I just wish the event could have been better managed. That’s my message of the post:)
Thanks for your support, keep in touch!
Cheers,
Paritosh
@aditi – It’s hard to keep everyone happy and that is something I’ve learned in a hard way. It was not twilight fairy who said that the presentation was related to money and all.
Again the point of writing about anything where one doesn’t know the full story will not serve the purpose. You have to understand that it wasn’t easy organizing such an event and again if you say kudos on face and then write something else, it doesn’t look genuine. Its never an individual effort and its always the team work that makes thing possible. The reason of not giving the session to paritosh was that there were two people who had already spoken on “Blog & business” and I believe third session on the same topic wouldn’t have suited everyone.
How about this? You suck! Now try to take this sportingly. What should I expect after this? see, there is a very thin line between constructive criticism and negative talk. I think this post would have meant much more sense and would have added the value to the community if the tone would have been in this way – “I think that orgainzer’s should have taken this approach instead of that and that would have done better”.
So are you pissed off because of the fact that you were not invited for the event? Why in the world, did you leave this comment aditi?? When I did clear the things to you and with Ravish himself. The list was already done and till that time we had no clue about what exactly your company is into – so how the hell can someone invite you.
I appreciate that you have written some good words about me, but that really doesn’t help. You guys are thinking that WordCamp became success because of me but that not the truth – It happened because of immense amount of efforts put in by the whole team. Do you even have a clue that how much efforts Priyanka has put in to this whole event?
She was the one who emailed Matt & Om and invited them, she was the one who spoke to adobe and got the sponsorship. Without these things, the event wouldn’t have been a success and you wouldn’t have got any chance to meet those guys. Again, when you don’t know about things – don’t comment on them too!
Apart from all this, I can say one thing as the “co-organizer” of “WordCamp India 2009″ as that we’ve done our level best to manage this event in the best possible manner and that we can only do better if the whole community comes and gives their support in organizing next year’s wordcamp and yes this blog post definitely acts as a platform to do so.
Thanks Mayank for your comment!
I appreciate your clarification to the WCI as the Co.Organizer of the event. I think I would really agree on the fact that the entire community should come together, and create a grand and better success the next time.
I would call the other community members to pitch in with their comments, and help in creating better possibilities for WCI.
All I know is that, its my country’s name (India) related to the event, hence whatever it was like, we should come together and create amazing success.
Cheers,
Paritosh
Parithosh, I guess you’ve agreed that you enjoyed the event apart from a few speaking sessions – we all attend various events and we know that there is always a mix of what ‘we’ like and not like. I’m sure you’ll agree that there is always a section of the audience who found a presentation useful whom we might have not enjoyed as much.
Personally, I enjoyed at the event and know the efforts that goes into organising such events, it’s big, trust me. It’s always good to talk in person to sort out issues, if any. Again, this is just one of the things I’ve learnt in the process and not necessarily everyone would want to do it this way. You are doing a good job with your work and am sure there will be more opportunities along the way.
Priyanka, Mayank and all the organisers have done a great job of getting the WP lovers at one place. Just my two cents.
If I remember correctly, you were sitting in the row behind us and helped with the wi-fi settings. Thanks for that, we should have met up later.
Hey Nirav,
Thanks for your concerned comment
I do remember you and yeah we shall connect!!
I agree to the point that managing such an event takes guts and its always a big deal. We do an annual event, last year we did World’s First Online Marketing Careers conference in Delhi, (OMCAR – http://www.omcareers.org) which we are again doing this May in association with TiE and some of the best speakers in the internet domain are joining hands.
But all I felt was, there is lots of strategic planning and execution that goes in pre-event, and that there’s lots at stake!
I heartly appreciate the WCI team and their effort, and I think some people have taken me on the wrong foot, by thinking that I wrote this post coz I didn’t get to speak (not to boast, but only to support, that I have spoken on multiple platforms and times, much bigger than this), hence all I mean from the post is to share my feedback, which should help the community really get together and build a success story, next time around!
Cheers,
Paritosh Sharma
cunning site! forum.ispsystem.com/en/member.php?u=3677#1
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