<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><div>Hi all,</div><div><br></div><div>Please find below a summary of WordCamp Melbourne 2011, which was run in February of this year.</div>
<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>2011 saw Melbourne's second ever WordCamp - a conference specifically for the growing community of WordPress users, themers and developers. </div><div><br></div><div>The two day event was held at the North Melbourne Town Hall, and attracted more than 175 attendees and speakers [1] from more than 5 countries (and most states across Australia)!</div>
<div><br></div><div>The event had the support [2] of seven local and one international sponsor. This allowed us to price tickets at an affordable $50 each (and $35 for students).</div><div><br></div><div>Overall we were able to run the event with a 15% profit margin, and we hope to use this money to help make the 2012 event even better.</div>
<div><br></div><div>The event gained extensive coverage online, not only via photos [3], presentation videos [4,5] and slides [6], but by third parties such as WordCast.com [7] and various blogs and Twitter users [8].</div>
<div><br></div><div>Although all of these outcomes indicate that the event was a success, there are two other reasons why we feel the event was successful (and make us feel positive about its future).</div><div><br></div>
<div>Firstly, in our feedback survey [9] we received great feedback. Most attendees rated the venue, speakers and other indicators of the event very positively. Tweets and comments floated around saying the ticket price was the best conference money they had ever spent.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Secondly, planning for next year's event is already underway, with the organising committee growing from 3 for 2011's event to 7 for 2012's event.</div><div><br></div><div>We would like to thank everyone who made the event possible, including attendees, sponsors, speakers, volunteers and supporters. In particular we would like to thank Linux Australia for their support.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Sincerely,</div><div><br></div><div>The WordCamp Melbourne 2011 Organisers (James Collins, Brent Shepherd and Anthony Cole)</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>[1] <a href="http://melbourne.wordcamp.org.au/schedule/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204); ">http://melbourne.wordcamp.org.au/schedule/</a></div>
<div>[2] <a href="http://melbourne.wordcamp.org.au/sponsors/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204); ">http://melbourne.wordcamp.org.au/sponsors/</a></div><div>[3] <a href="http://melbourne.wordcamp.org.au/photo-gallery/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204); ">http://melbourne.wordcamp.org.au/photo-gallery/</a></div>
<div>[4] <a href="http://wcmelb.blip.tv/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204); ">http://wcmelb.blip.tv/</a></div><div>[5] <a href="http://wordpress.tv/event/wordcamp-melbourne-2011/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204); ">http://wordpress.tv/event/wordcamp-melbourne-2011/</a></div>
<div>[6] <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/tag/wcmelb" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204); ">http://www.slideshare.net/tag/wcmelb</a></div><div>[7] <a href="http://wordcastnet.com/2011/wordcamp-melbourne-2011-the-good-bad-and-ugly/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204); ">http://wordcastnet.com/2011/wordcamp-melbourne-2011-the-good-bad-and-ugly/</a></div>
<div>[8] <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/johnhaining/tweetstream-transcript-for-wcmelb" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204); ">http://www.slideshare.net/johnhaining/tweetstream-transcript-for-wcmelb</a></div><div>
[9] <a href="http://melbourne.wordcamp.org.au/2011/04/08/wordcamp-melbourne-2011-feedback-survey-results/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204); ">http://melbourne.wordcamp.org.au/2011/04/08/wordcamp-melbourne-2011-feedback-survey-results/</a></div>
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