Julia Golomb 9:15 am on July 4, 2024
Tags: attendees ( 3 ), first-timers, KPI

First-Time Attendees: A Key Metric of Success for WordPress Events

The Goals

The WordPress Project’s Big Picture Goals for 2024 highlight the crucial need to attract new users to WordPress; and the WordPress events program plays an important role in achieving this objective. As we progress through the second half of 2024 and beyond, a key measure of success for WordPress events is the percentage of first-time attendees – individuals who are participating in a 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. or Innovative WordPress Event for the first time ever (note: this does not apply to meetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. events).

Our goal is to warmly welcome more first-time attendees at WordPress events, aiming for over 50% of our participants to be newcomers, while also celebrating our returning attendees. To achieve this, we encourage event organizers to make a concerted effort to attract new participants. This goal should inform event design, messaging, and marketing for your WordCamp or other WordPress event.

Of course, we also want all attendees to come away feeling like the event was time well-spent. So, we have an additional goal of 80%+ attendees responding that they are “Extremely Satisfied” or “Satisfied”, as measured through an automated post-event survey sent to all attendees. Currently, only Innovative WordPress Event attendees receive the post-event survey, though we plan to soon extend the survey to WordCamp attendees as well.

Why First-Time Attendees Matter

For WordPress and its events program to grow and thrive, attracting new attendees is essential. So far in 2024, our 29 events (WordCamps and Innovative WordPress Events) have averaged 41% first-time attendees. We believe we can increase this number and exceed our 50% target with your help. First-time attendee data is collected through the event registration form question that asks, “Will this be your first time attending a WordPress event?”

Screenshot of a question from the event registration form: "Will this be your first time attending a WordPress event?" Options: Yes / No / I don't know

In the Make Community blog post titled Current Challenges of WordPress Events, Shaping the Future, we shared data on the recent decline of first-time event attendees:

“The statistics show that while the number of events has increased significantly during our re-engagement project, the number of new attendees has also declined.”

This decline underscores the importance of intentionally attracting and welcoming first-time attendees. They bring fresh perspectives, new energy, and potential for long-term growth of the WordPress community and user base.

So far in 2024, some events stand out for their high percentage of first-time attendees (FTAs). As organizers, we can look to these events for inspiration and replication:

WordPress YouthCamp Kozhikode: 81% FTAs
WordPress in Education Technology Showcase: 79% FTAs
Somos: Encuentro WordPress LGTB+: 65% FTAs
Kolkata CareerCamp: 65% FTAs
WordPress Web Challenge: 58% FTAs
Women WordPress Day: 53% FTAs

Notably, all of the top FTA events in 2024 are Innovative Events (non-WordCamps) with focused audiences. This trend highlights the potential of specialized and targeted events to attract new participants, which perfectly aligns with the 2024 Big Picture Goals:

“Our event series needs to grow past a ‘one size fits all’ strategy. With more advanced topics and more focused events, we can meet our community where it is – in a moment where time is valuable and joining an event should clearly help them reach their goals.”

The Path Forward: How You Can Help

To reverse the trend of declining first-time attendees and achieve our goal, we need the collective effort of the entire WordPress community.

Event 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.: Please ensure that your mentees (event organizers) are aware of these goals.

Event Organizers: Below are some practices that may help you attract first-time attendees.

Thoughtful event design: Craft your events with first-time attendees in mind. Consider their needs, interests, and potential barriers to participation.
Targeted messaging: Ensure your promotional materials highlight the benefits of attending. What new knowledge, skills, and professional connections will attendees come away with? Share success stories of past first-time attendees.
Engaging outreach strategies: Experiment with a range of marketing channels to reach potential new attendees. Partner with local schools, organizations, and online communities who can help spread the word.

Program Managers: Let’s collaborate to monitor our progress and publish regular updates on the Make Community blog.

Do you have other ideas for reaching first-time attendees? Please share them in the comments!

Join the Conversation

In the coming weeks, we’ll invite members of the WordPress community, including event organizers, sponsors, and Community Team contributors, to join our scheduled calls. Your participation is valuable as we work together to strengthen this area of focus. Let’s ensure that WordPress events effectively attract and engage new attendees, especially those who are just starting their WordPress journey.

Thanks to @peiraisotta @nao and @st810amaze for contributing to this post and @nukaga and @_dorsvenabili for reviewing it.

#attendees, #first-timers, #kpi

Mariano Perez 7:29 am on July 5, 2024

Fantastic ideas. I also find it interesting that we know what to do with those people who come to an event for the first time. We could design some lines of action to work with them once the event is over: a couple of emails reminding them how they can get involved in the community, a newsletter with upcoming events, a reminder if the event is held another year….
Taco Verdonschot 7:42 am on July 5, 2024

I understand the need to draw new blood to the WordPress community, and I’ll happily work to achieve that. Yet, I find the PERCENTAGE first-time attendee slightly problematic.

If we consistently have 50% FTA at our meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. or events, we’re either growing like crazy (preferred option), or we’re losing attendees after they’ve been to our events once (not preferred).

The latter I’d find problematic, because if we scare people away, then we’re putting a lot of effort into recruiting new attendees while we’re leaking them on the other end.

Obviously, you’re not having this problem when you’re organizing an event for the first time, and especially in a new location or with a brand-new target audience. But if your second event is similar sized but has an 80% FTA, it means you’ve completely failed to add enough value to convince people to come back during your first event.

Should we maybe be looking at retention AND first-time attendance?
- Javier Casares 7:19 am on July 6, 2024
  
  In addition, we are putting more pressure on event organizers with more creativity and proposals, considering that in general there is quite a significant burnout, especially in those who have been doing events for a longer period of time.
  
  Undoubtedly, attracting new people is a goal, but so is retaining the most experienced people with higher-level events, of higher quality and with more professional presentations or conversations and not just an introduction to WordPress, which is what MeetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. are for.
  
  If we propose that the entrance to the events are not the MeetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. but the 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. (call it WordCamp, call it W Event), we will have a bigger problem.
- Naoko Takano 2:11 am on July 12, 2024
  @tacoverdo
  
  If we consistently have 50% FTA at our meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. or events, we’re either growing like crazy (preferred option), or we’re losing attendees after they’ve been to our events once (not preferred).
  
  For context, there are successful events that are averaging +50% FTAs while growing. Here’s some data (sources are linked):
  - KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2024: 52% FTAs (12,048 in-person attendees)
  - KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2023: 54% FTAs (9,020 in-person, 4,646 virtual)
  - OSSummit North America 2023: 54% FTAs (1,351 in-person, 2,276 virtual)
  (I’m listing the above events only because they provide detailed information about first-time attendees)
  
  And here’s a chart of in-person attendee count over seven years.
  
  So, I believe healthy events can be achieved with a 50% FTA rate (we are not very far from it; 41% as of now).
  
  I agree that we should not focus only on first-time attendees, so I say YES to “Should we maybe be looking at retention AND first-time attendance?” 👍
  
  What other things (e.g., metrics, guidelines) should we be paying attention to achieve high-quality events for both first-time and returning attendees? I can think of a few things, like the satisfaction rate based on the post-event survey and the overall growth of the event program…
Jesus Yesares 8:48 am on July 6, 2024

I agree with @tacoverdo and @javiercasares. Targeting the FTA only leads to frustration. The key is the MeetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. events.

I always give the same example: You can’t pretend to organize the end-course party without assisting to classes the rest of the year.
Courtney Robertson 5:05 pm on July 6, 2024
Thank you for highlighting the importance of first-time attendees and the overall challenges we face in the WordPress events program. The data on declining new attendees is certainly a concern, but I believe there’s a crucial piece missing in our analysis: the correlation between new attendees and their subsequent contributions to the WordPress project and the retention of these new contributors.

While increasing the number of first-time attendees is a valuable goal, we should also focus on understanding how these new attendees engage with the community post-event. For example, are first-time attendees more likely to become active contributors to the WordPress project? If so, what percentage of these new attendees continue to contribute over the long term? Understanding this correlation can help us design events that not only attract new users but also foster deeper engagement and long-term retention.

Here are a few suggestions to address this gap:
- Track Contributions: Implement a system to track new attendees who become contributors, identifying patterns in their engagement over time.
- Retention Strategies: Develop and share best practices for retaining new contributors, including mentorship programs and follow-up engagement strategies.
- Feedback LoopLoop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop.: Regularly collect feedback from first-time attendees about their experiences and barriers to continued involvement, using this data to improve future events.
I’d love to hear thoughts from others on this approach and any additional ideas you might have. I would also love to see other reasons we may have more clearly defined for why we need new attendees. I agree we should, but feel we’re to vague yet on the many reasons.
Juan Hernando 7:24 am on July 7, 2024
I agree with the comments that have already been made. It is great to focus our efforts on attracting new people to the events; it is fundamental to the health of the project and its sustainability in the future. Any help to the organisers reach new people (allowing budget for social media ads, sharing dossiers to convince educational institutions or similar, and providing tips to improve communication and outreach of the events) is welcome!

While it’s important to attract new attendees, we should be cautious about becoming fixated on a specific number. This could lead to counterproductive outcomes and detract from the overall events experience.
- We still encourage communities to do year-round work to attract new people to their monthly meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook.. As the current question states, for those attendees, a large annual event won’t be their first WordPress event, so there is a disincentive to continually make the effort in the local group.
- The events given as examples are great but also “small“. Some less than 100 attendees. Is 50% better at an event of 120 people or 40% at an event of 300? (I know the answer is 50% at an event of 300, but… next point)
- The bigger the event, the more organisers it has, the more volunteers, the more speakers, and the more sponsors. If we also want to train organisers so that they can take on the role in the future, it can’t be people who have never been to an event. It isn’t easy if we want volunteers to help if they have never been to an event. If we want quality talks (with the current conditions of our events), it is risky if half of them are people who have never been to one of our events. The sponsors themselves bring in experienced people who know the community. If you start to do the numbers, the percentage of FTAs has to be much higher with this starting point in mind.
And on FTAs, as @mpcdigital and @courane01 say, if we don’t track them in any way, it’s just a number:
- If they come to an event for the first time, it doesn’t mean they don’t have a WordPress website and will create one (to grow the user base).
- If they come and although they like it, they don’t repeat it in the future, or there is no engagement with them and the project, it is an empty effort (although successful if we only look at the FTA because it will allow fewer people to repeat at the next event).
In short, I think it is great that we are trying to improve this metric and help the organisers do so. But we have to be careful because, as @javiercasares said, if, after the effort it takes to organise an event, we tell the volunteer organisers that they have done it poorly because there have only been 35% of new attendees, we are only going to get fewer and fewer people willing to lend a hand in organising anything.