Any time you launch a unique global event, there will be questions, and we’re glad you’re asking them. This article can’t answer all of them, but it’ll give you a good overview of what’s involved in WordFest Live and why we created it. So, let’s get started!
Will the content be available after the event?
Yes! There are perks to watching live — opportunity to join a session’s Q & A, ability to talk to other attendees, live events in the sponsor area — but all of the content will remain on the site long after the initial 24 hours has passed.
When you register for your free ticket, you open up the ability to both join our Slack community and create a profile for yourself. That profile allows you to come back any time to watch or rewatch any session from any of the four stages.
Make sure to check out the WordFest Live schedule to see what you want to watch live and what you want to plan on for later.
Why is there an option to donate when I register?
Great question! WordFest Live 2021 is a volunteer-run, fundraising event for Big Orange Heart (formerly WP&UP), a registered charity committed to improving the mental health and well-being of remote workers.
Let’s pause for a minute so I can make this clear: tickets are FREE.
However, your optional donation, as well as those of our sponsors, goes toward growing our four support hubs which then allows Big Orange Heart to continue it’s global mission to create resources that help remote workers manage the challenges they face.
What is a micro-sponsor?
Micro-sponsorships are open to individuals or businesses. For a minimum donation, your logo will appear on the WordFest Live sponsor page, showing your support of building a healthy, global remote work community.
Why support Big Orange Heart with a virtual event?
“As a registered charity Big Orange Heart relies on donations and support from industry. We’ve trialled a number of sponsorship models, with varying success. We took an honest review of this and decided to find a more sustainable model, one that lends sponsorship to being directly beneficial for those purchasing it.
[A virtual festival enables] companies to sponsor an event that they themselves can participate in and meet with their potential customer base, all whilst supporting well-being and mental health for the remote working communities they serve, indirectly. It’s a win-win situation.” – Dan Maby, founder of Big Orange Heart
Why make WordFest Live a global celebration of WordPress?
WordFest Live embodies the four fundamental hubs of Big Orange Heart: Skills Health, Business Health, Physical Health, and Mental Health.
By doing it on a global stage, we’re then able to achieve these goals at a larger scale. The mental health and well-being challenges of remote workers aren’t stopped by borders, we wanted an event that wasn’t either. By including WordPress, attendees are also able to grow their skills and their businesses.
To make this happen in the simplest way possible, we divided the world into four regions,
Local Time:
- We start in Oceania at 10 AM – 4 PM AEDT, January 22, 2021.
- Then onto Asia arriving 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM IST.
- Next up it’s EMEA at 11 AM through 5 PM UTC.
- Finally arriving in the Americas 12 PM until 6 PM EST.
UTC:
- We start in Oceania at 11 PM – 5 AM UTC, January 21, 2021.
- Then onto Asia arriving 5 AM to 11 AM UTC.
- Next up it’s EMEA at 11 AM through 5 PM UTC.
- Finally arriving in the Americas 5 PM until 11 PM UTC.
all four of which are displayed when you enter the Main Gate of the festival. You’ll easily be able to see which region is broadcasting live and choose any of the available tents to enter. You can join a session in progress, check out what a sponsor has going on, or simply leave and move on to the next area of the venue.
If your tent has table capability, you’ll be able to see who’s already at an existing table before you join. From there, you can decide if you want to join an existing table or spin up a new one. It’s as close to a hallway track as we could make it, and all on a global scale!
In addition to making the time zones and venue manageable regardless of where you are in the world, we also have “local” speakers and volunteers for each region. One of the benefits of a global event is being able to elevate so many different people without the restrictions of travel, and — in the most positive way, for the most positive reason — we’re taking full advantage of it.
What else makes this event unique?
For one, it is a festival. Right now, the world needs some fun, and if it can come along with networking and business growth, even better! For one 24-hour period you can enter our Main Gate, move about our tents, and sit at a table with friends. You can learn, laugh, and maybe even lose yourself in the fun, positive environment around you.
Not only is it fun, but it’s also good for the earth. Big Orange Heart isn’t just committed to the well-being of the people ON the globe, but also to the globe itself. As founder Dan Maby puts it:
“Big Orange Heart has always had an awareness of its carbon footprint and a desire to do more to help reduce it. With the introduction of WordFest Live 2021 and it’s additional demands on server capacity to deliver a truly global event, we felt it was appropriate to invest some time to find a way to help offset this increase in carbon.
The solution we settled on is a service called Ecologi. You can visit the Big Orange Heart profile here: https://ecologi.com/bigorangeheart. At the time of publishing, we have off-set nearly three tonnes of CO2 with almost 100 trees planted.
Knowing our main site is producing an average of 1g of CO2 per page load, thanks to Beacon a carbon calculator for your website developed by Chris Butterworth, we were able to calculate our average annual carbon footprint. Whilst we know this isn’t a perfect science, we’re taking the approach ‘it’s better to do something’.”
Don’t miss it!
Whether you’re looking for WordPress knowledge or working on your overall well-being, WordFest Live 2021 has something for everyone. Its laid back atmosphere and easy-to-maneuver venue is just the break we all need moving into a new year. Make sure you get your ticket today, and feel free to continue reaching out with any questions you might have!
Big Orange Heart