WordCamp Asia 2020 is over — before it started.
We as the organizing team have a lot more to do before we can close the books for this year, but the anticipation for the actual event has now ended.
First, I want everyone to know that the cancellation decision was not made lightly. I want to make sure to emphasize this part of the announcement.
[…] there are too many unknowns around the health issues unfolding right now in the region to explicitly encourage a large public gathering bringing together over 1,300 people from around the world.
While I’m comforted to know my fellow local organizers are safe in Bangkok, that’s a completly different story from holding a large international gathering at this point of time.
For me, I can truthfully say I have no regret in putting my past 9 months organizing WordCamp Asia 2020 as a global lead. It has been a pleasure to be working closely with Nok, our awesome local lead, and the whole team of very resourceful and smart organizers. We learned from each other, made mistakes and solved difficult issues together. I knew it was going to be great, but the actual experience exceeded what I expected.
Still, it’s super bittersweet. Reading all the caring and thoughtful messages from the global WordPress community make me happy and sad at the same time. And they remind me of the reasons why I started this adventure in the first place: I wanted to help connect more people through this event.
So my wish is that this event that never happened can still somehow trigger you to “meet” (online or offline) someone new, get to know them, help them out, and build a trusting relationship. We always have Twitter, Slack, and blog to help us do that! You can even just leave a comment here to share your story 🙂
Thank you for all those who supported us through the way to WordCamp Asia. It looks like we need a little more time to get there, but I’m sure we are just taking it slow to make it a real good one.
Comments
7 responses to “WordCamp Asia 2020 “Recap””
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It took me a second to re-read the tweet, and actually understand that yes, the whole thing was called off … but importantly, it was the best decision. Thank you for all your hard work, and for being a leader in our community. #hugs from NYC community
Thank you all for the hard work!! I admire the whole team’s dedication and desire to give everyone the best experience, even when it came to the cancelling plans. Much love, and see you all when WordCamp Asia happens!
It was great to help and re-direct WordPress users to events website for information when sharing event info on LinkedIn. I made a lot of new friends online. As a Visual Artist and event organizer, I understand all the hard work that goes into events. I connected with many users on Facebook with the beautiful graphics of WordCamp Asia 2020. thank you WordCamp team for bringing users together. GC
@Nao, I was supposed to volunteer at WordCamp Asia 2020…..which didn’t happen.
In past few months, I have met some new people through online 🙂 So I can feel your emotion where you have mentioned that “…coming together and get to know new people to build a community….”
Besides this, one thing I noticed is that how people reacted over this. It shows love and the positive energy among people for WordCamp Asia and how huge the expectation was. I feel like somehow this cancellation has spread even a stronger sense of community among all the attendees.
I respect the hard work and dedication that all of you offered to make this event a successful one. We will be waiting for WordCamp Asia.
As a former WCUS organizer, I can only imagine the scale of things you have to do right now. If there is any assistance I can give you I am happy to do it, and I know several of my WCUS colleagues feel the same.
I love your positive outlook Naoko! I’m that I can’t catch up with you in Bangkok, but I will take your advice and connect with others online. I’m @blogjunkie on Twitter and would love to connect with other WC Asia attendees there.