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Directions to WordCamp Harare 2018
This year’s WordCamp will be held at the same awesome venue as last year, Hellenic Academy!
To get to the WordCamp Harare venue turn into Harry Pichanick Dr, ( If you’re coming from town it’s the left turn at the robots after Gunhill. )
Take the first right turn into Basset Crescent and then go to the end of the last parking lot outside the school. We’ll be using the last gate next to the parking lot. There will be someone to direct you from the gate.
See you there!
The WordCamp Junior’s Workshop
( Photo credit: WordCamp Lagos 2017, Nigeria )
The frequently asked question I get when I approach people to register their children for the WordCamp Harare Junior’s Workshop is “Are you looking for kids who are good with computers?” The short answer is no. While basic computer literacy is needed for the workshop it is aimed at children who wish to learn to express themselves better online. The only requirement we have for the juniors workshop is that the child comes with a passion for something, whether it be their favorite cartoon, a favorite sport, a hobby, or their favorite school subject. To explain why I’ll have to go on a tangent first.
The downside of STEM
STEM stands for the integrated education of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The main goal of STEM education is preparing students for high-tech jobs of the future. The cross-disciplinary approach of STEM ensures that students understand how fundamentals in science and maths can be applied in engineering and technology.
There are two main disadvantages of STEM. It marginalizes those who are more inclined to the arts and humanities, and it neglects creativity and critical thinking which are important skills in scientific fields.
Enter STEAM and STREAM
STEAM adds the Arts to STEM by incorporating visualization, recognizing and forming patterns, modeling systems as well as the skills in the use of tools, pens, and brushes.
STREAM adds the thinking skills embodied in Reading and wRiting to STEAM. Writing requires critical thinking and creativity to express things accurately in a way people understand, and evoke emotions of delight, anger or desire that will drive that understanding into action.
How WordPress Fits In
The mission of WordPress is to democratize publishing. WordPress aims to give the tools needed to have an online presence to everyone who needs them by any means necessary. The WordCamp Juniors Workshop, sometimes called KidsCamp aims to give children a jump start in expressing their passion in the form of a blog. By doing so we expand current STEM initiatives to STREAM. The workshop also familiarizes children with WordPress interface preparing them to become future power users or developers.
What Does My Child Need to Attend?
All your child needs to attend the WordCamp Harare Juniors Workshop is to be aged between 9 and 15 have something they are passionate about and want to express, from code to poetry and everything in between. The Juniors Workshop is free and only 20 tickets total are available. You can get your ticket from our tickets page. Preferably the child should be accompanied by a ticket-bearing adult but it’s not a requirement. Our venue – Hellenic Academy – has graciously given us access to their computer laboratory, so you do not need to bring a device unless you prefer to do so.
I tried to be as detailed as possible but if you have any questions please ask in the comments section below.
Call for volunteers!!
WordCamp Harare 2018 Volunteers’ Registrations are now open!
For the first time ever Harare is going to have a two day WordCamp with a junior’s workshop and a contributor’s day. Now the organizing team is asking for your help in order to make the event grand and memorable.
Volunteers are a vital part of making an awesome WordCamp, be part of the team to make @wordcamharare 2018 a success! It’s a great way to get more involved with the WordPress community.
Only 14 spots available.
Perks of Volunteering
- Unique opportunity to make a contribution to the community.
- A free ticket to the event.
- Get to meet and mingle with the speakers, organisers and other volunteers at the VIP dinner.
Tasks available
- Microphone runner
- Time keeper
- Photographer
- Registration desk
- Master/Mistress of ceremony
- Junior’s workshop volunteer’s
Trust us when we say you will want to be a part of this, remember “WordCamp Harare is better than Chicken ”
Contact us below and we will get back to you about being a volunteer.
Registration is closed!!!
What is WordCamp and why you should attend this year’s WordCamp Harare?
What is WordCamp?
WordCamp is an all encompassing term referring to a conference, a community organised and officially sanctioned to deal with all things WordPress. To you reading this, welcome to WordCamp Harare 2018, Zimbabwe.
“WordPress” is an online, open source website creation tool written in PHP. It is probably the most easiest and powerful blogging and website content management system in existence today.
WordCamps include sessions on how to use WordPress more effectively, from beginner level, like the benefits of a WordPress website; to advanced techniques, like security, etc.
The first WordCamp was organized in Francisco by Matt Mullenweg in 2006, and since then local communities around the world have organized hundreds of others.
WordCamps are attended by people ranging from blogging newbies to professional WordPress developers and business executives, and usually combine scheduled programming with unconference sessions and other activities.
WordCamps are economical manageable. They are all run with support from WordCamp Central and are not-for-profit. Organizers don’t take a penny for their work, speakers and volunteers give their time for free. This keeps costs down for everyone attending. So cost definitely is not a barrier.
The fact that Speakers are not paid and are able to put their names forward and propose talks instead of just being invited also makes for a diverse and ever changing line-up of speakers at every WordCamp.
Speakers are not all experienced veterans of the speaking circuit, in fact most of them are “ordinary” WordPress users and developers who want to share their knowledge with other people in the community. you are welcome to come and share in WordCamp Harare 2018.
So that’s some background on WordCamps, but what will you get from going to one?
Why should you attend one too?
1. You’ll Learn. Lots.
Most WordCamps have more than one track of talks aimed at different audiences or skill levels, so you might find a user track in one room at the same time as a developer track in another. This means that there’s a huge range of topics being covered by the talks and a wide range of levels they’re pitched at.And outside the formal sessions you’ll meet people whom you can learn from too. Speakers at WordCamps are only too happy to chat to people about their topic and to answer questions, and aren’t too proud to learn from the people who attended their talk and have complimentary ideas. And there are plenty of other people you can learn from. During the coffee breaks and social events you’ll get talking to people with a diverse range of experience and knowledge of WordPress: you’ll get ideas from them and learn how to be better at WordPress yourself.
2. You’ll Be Inspired.
In attending the Wordcamp, it is the inspiration one get from the WordPressers. For those running their own blogs will gain huge inspiration about ways on how to take their business forward and explore new opportunities. Personal stories of the attendees and the way they have developed their careers with WordPress is shared.
Aside from all the things you’ll learn at a WordCamp, you’ll hear about new trends in web development and ideas for taking WordPress further. You’ll meet people working with WordPress in a way you haven’t thought of but would love to try. And you’ll learn about career opportunities with WordPress that you might not even have known existed.
You’ll also be inspired to make a contribution to the WordPress community: at many WordCamps there’s a contributor day, where you can learn how to give something back from people who are already making a valuable contribution to WordPress. Unsure how to give your five for the future? After attending a WordCamp you won’t be the same again.
Be inspired by the people you’ll meet and learn from. Because of the fact that WordCamps have a large and varied group of speakers, some of them speaking at their first web event, you’ll find that new and different ideas are explored in a way you don’t always find at more traditional web conferences, where speakers may be talking about a topic they’ve been working on and speaking about for years. Some of these talks will be specific and detailed and open your ideas to new methods of development that you didn’t know about.
3. You’ll Meet Some Amazing People.
The best thing about WordCamps, and about WordPress in general, is the people. WordPress has a massive community of users and developers with an ethos that’s quite different from many other sections of the web industry. People from the WordPress community aren’t afraid to share their knowledge, expertise and code, and no-one worries about trade secrets.These are the people you’ll meet at a WordCamp. People who are more than happy (eager even) to share their knowledge and experience with you and help you learn about what they do. People who don’t worry that you’ll steal business from them if you know what they know, because that’s not how WordPressers think. People who are very welcoming and don’t treat new WordPress users any differently from how they treat old hands.
Don’t be afraid to go to the social events if you’re on your own: people will welcome you and if you’re prepared to talk to them, they’ll happily talk to you. After all, you have got an instant conversation opener if you ask what they do with WordPress. A lot of job recruiters go to WordCamps with the specific aim of recruiting developers and designers.
There is also the Swag given to attendees, ie t-shirts ,stickers etc and after party session to spice up the conference.
What Is Contributor Day?
If you don’t already know, WordCamp Harare 2018 will include a Contributor Day! That’s awesome, right. Except…you’re probably wondering what a Contributor Day actually is. First of all, you’re not alone. Although they usually run concurrently with WordCamps, Contributor Days aren’t as popular. This is because not all WordCamps around the world include the Contributor Day. But we’re changing that in Harare. Continue reading “What Is Contributor Day?”
Call for Sponsors
WordCamp Harare would not be possible if it weren’t for our generous sponsors. We are very grateful to all the people and organizations that provide us with resources to make the WordCamp Harare experience a memorable one.
This year, we are expanding that experience to incorporate other aspects we didn’t have before, such as the KidsCamp and the Contributor Day. We’re looking for local sponsors to help us cover the event costs. Below is a list of our sponsorship packages:
Call for Speakers
Would you like to share your knowledge with the community? WordCamp Harare 2018 is running with the theme Business and Tech Aligned. We came up with this idea to help our local community to earn a living using WordPress. If you run your business using WordPress, or you just have some WordPress tips you’d love to share at WordCamp Harare 2018, then apply to be a speaker now.
Welcome to WordCamp Harare
We’re happy to announce that WordCamp Harare is officially on the calendar!
WordCamp Harare will be on 23-24 November 2018 at Hellenic Academy.
Subscribe using the form in the sidebar to stay up to date on the most recent news. We’ll be keeping you posted on all the details over the coming months, including speaker submissions, ticket sales and more!