A Survival Guide To WordCamps For First Time Attendees

photo credit: Steve Rhodes – cc

WordCamps are excellent opportunities to learn WordPress and have of face-to-face interaction with a lot of different people. They can also be exhausting and possibly stressful for first timers. Carrie Dils has an awesome WordCamp Survival Guide filled with tips and information on how to get the most out of these events.

Tip number five (don’t sit by yourself at lunch) routinely happens to me at WordCamps.

When the last morning session breaks, there will be a mad dash to the lunch line (did someone say “food?!”). You’ll grab a sack lunch lovingly provided by some volunteer and then you’ll stand there, possibly awkward and not sure where to go. It’s lunch on the first day at a new school all over again.

Try this: Head over to any table with open spots and simply ask to sit down. Unless you just really need that lunch break for personal time, don’t miss an opportunity to meet folks over lunch!

I struggle with introducing myself to people I’ve never met before. At WordCamps, I’m generally extroverted but I’ve noticed at larger camps, I become introverted. It’s a personality thing I’ve been fighting with for the past few years with mild success. I keep telling myself that I’m going to introduce myself to everyone I see at a WordCamp but it never works out that way. I end up finding a group of people I’m familiar with and stick with them. Does anyone else struggle with introversion at WordCamps?

The survival guide is filled with great information but I think the most important point is the last and that’s to have fun.