Recently the Community team conducted a survey to WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They’re one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. mentorsEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues.. The goal of this survey was to check with our mentors, find out who still wants to be active, and hear their thoughts on what kind of support they need moving forward.
The following steps were taken to complete the mentorEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. outreach:
- Create a survey to send to all mentors and try to get as many responses as possible.
- Gather feedback and write up a summary.
- Support next steps, including training, documentation updates, and some offboarding of mentors who no longer want to be active.
Respondents
Currently, there are 49 mentors and deputiesProgram Supporter Community Program Supporters (formerly Deputies) are a team of people worldwide who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about program supporters in our Program Supporter Handbook. in the community team. A total of 39 (79.6%) respondents participated in this survey.
Survey Results
The survey results indicate that a total of 35 people showed interest in mentoring WordCamp and 5 people indicated that they will be doing deputyProgram Supporter Community Program Supporters (formerly Deputies) are a team of people worldwide who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about program supporters in our Program Supporter Handbook. tasks only. The remaining 9 people will be off-boarded from the active deputy and mentor list.
| Status | No of Deputies / Mentors |
|---|---|
| Active (Deputy and Mentor) | 22 |
| Active (Deputy) | 5 |
| Active (Mentor) | 13 |
| Offboard | 9 |
| Grand Total | 49 |
As the community team oversees WordPress events around the globe, the team members are composed of global community members. The following is the respondents breakdown by region:
| Region | No of Respondents |
|---|---|
| Africa | 4 |
| Asia | 7 |
| Europe | 13 |
| North America | 12 |
| Oceania | 1 |
| South America | 2 |
| Grand Total | 39 |
As the COVID-19 pandemic forced WordCamps events to move from in-person to online, 10 out of 39 respondents indicated that they have mentored Online WordCamps in the past year. A total of 25 WordCamps were mentored in 2020 by the respondents, compared to 74 WordCamps in 2019.
Respondents were asked if they are willing to mentor WordCamps this year and the majority of the respondents indicated that they are interested in mentoring online or in-person WordCamps:
| Answer | No of Respondents |
|---|---|
| No | 6 |
| Yes, but I’d like more training first | 8 |
| Yes, but only for in person events | 2 |
| Yes, for online or in person events | 23 |
| Grand Total | 39 |
Observations
Respondents were asked what the Community Team can do to better support their work. Most respondents indicated they receive adequate support from the community team. The following observations were made from the answers:
- A number of respondents indicated that they need training and guidance.
- Mentors would benefit from further development of WordCamp tools: the WordCamp websites, the internal administrative management tools, and documentation.
- Mentors agree that WordCamp organizers would benefit from saved replies or email templates.
WordCamp mentors were asked where they feel their contribution is most impactful. Common thoughts included:
- Knowledge sharing & training
- Problem-solving & mediation
- Follow up & advice
- Sponsors & logistics
- Others (kids events, translations)
Finally, respondents also asked if there any blockers in mentoring WordCamps. Most of the respondents indicated that they have no blocker in mentoring WordCamps. One mentor indicated WordCamp Handbooks should be translated in other languages to help them understand better.
Next Steps
As for the next steps, the mentors who indicated that they will no longer participate as mentors will be offboarded. The Community team will plan on providing more training for active mentors who requested training and think through implementation of suggestions as future projects.
Comments
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to comment below.
Kudos to @angelasjin, @sippis, @tacoverdo, and @samsuresh for facilitating this mentor outreach.