WordPress Coventry Meet-up Returns after Covid-19-Induced Hiatus

Prior to the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic and subsequent world-wide lockdown of 2020, Neil Batchelor – Technical Director of Encode – hosted a monthly WordPress meetup for many members in the areas local to Coventry. However, the meetups had to take a pause due to the Coronavirus and were left as a pre-Covid phenomenon. Thankfully, Neil hosted the first rejuvenated meetup on Wednesday 14th August 2024 with plans for monthly meets in motion, and the group hit it off instantly!

The Venue

Neil and I, Jacob, were the first to arrive at the event, hosted at the Telegraph Hotel, Coventry, and acquainted ourselves with the venue. We hosted the group in a pleasant area of the hotel, and upon arrival of some of the attendees, we rearranged the tables into the centre of the room so we could all sit facing each other to optimise group discussions.

The hotel staff were welcoming and friendly; all attendees had drinks from the bar, and discussions of a wide range of topics quickly began once everyone became acquainted.

The Attendees

Some familiar faces and some brand new ones, it was great to talk with everyone who joined, including:

Familiar Faces:

• Sarah Sarkies, from Mulberry Design.
• Bob Hansen, from The Web Creatives.
• Ashly Armstrong, from Plott.
• Neil Batchelor, Director of Encode.
• Jacob Batchelor, Apprentice at Encode.

New Joiners:

• Sam Kelly, from Sixteen Forty One.
• Catherine Stirland, from BV Group.
• Alex Rafter, Front End Developer.
• Vinay Yeole, SAP Source to Pay Expert.
• Ali Hassan, Student.

Sarah, Bob, and Ashly used to attend the WordPress meetups prior to the Covid-19-Induced Hiatus and were happy to see the group re-opened. Altogether, the 10 of us formed a great, eclectic group! Everyone was linked together via an interest in WordPress, yet everyone played a different role; it was amazing to see so many different views all gathered round one table.

Future Talks

We spent the first hour or so getting to know each other, with each person introducing themselves round the table, before Neil opened the conversation to any suggestions. Sparked by a question, we discussed the benefits, fears, and the future of AI for around half an hour, leading to discussions on capability, knowledge, and lack thereof – a very interesting conversation.

Noted by Neil, we spoke of talks we could hold in future meetups, and developed a list ranging from WordPress Playground to Advanced Custom Fields. In no particular order (besides the one in which they arrived):

• WordPress Playground – Getting Ready for Experimentation.
• Copywriting – The Keys to Good Content.
• WordPress 101 – Getting Started, “What’s a Page? What’s a Post? Help.”
• UX + UI – Keeping Users Interested.
• Responsiveness – Keeping Users Happy Across Devices.
• Artificial Intelligence – Let’s expand on benefits, possibilities and negatives.
• Digital Marketing 101 – Beyond WordPress.
• Brand / Personal Brand – Building and Enhancements.
• Favourite Plugins – from GenerateBlocks to Forminator.
• Optimisation – SEO and beyond.
• ACF – Advanced Custom Fields, tricky but unforgettable.
• Security 101 – Keeping Your Site Secure.
• User Management + Developer Permissions – Prevent Accidental Breakages.
• Dev Tools – Using your Browser to Troubleshoot a Site.
• Extending WordPress – Child Themes, Getting Started with Custom Plugins.
• How to Build a Proper WordPress Site – The Right Way.
• Fediverse – How to Integrate your Site using ActivityPub.
• Monetisation 101 – Let’s make money.

We also discussed the format and structure of future events. Everyone agreed with the general consensus that networking is an essential and enjoyable part of these meetups; we will definitely continue with this. We also spoke of various venues which we could use in the future, enabling access to presentations in Libraries / Universities.

Socialising

To wrap up the wonderful evening (about an hour passed deadline!), we continued to socialise and learn more about each other. One by one, we finished our drinks and left the event content with the discussions and looking forward to the next one, Wednesday 11th September 2024!

If you’re interested in joining these meetups, feel free to check out the group at Meetup here, we look forward to seeing you!

Can’t wait for the next one,
Jacob Batchelor.