Prosperity for all
When Henry IV expressed his desire that every peasant enjoy “a chicken in his pot every Sunday”, he was wishing for prosperity. Last year's Pressnomics event, a first of its kind, offered a similar wish – that WordPress-oriented companies would enjoy prosperity in the marketplace. And to that end, it set up a series of speakers to talk about the business side of running a WordPress business.
Instruction, not just inspiration
The challenge, as every freelancer and small startup knows, is that a once-a-year conference, while fantastic, is more inspirational than instructional. That's why I was thrilled to see a business track (on Sunday) at WordCamp Phoenix this past weekend. I wondered if anyone would show up to a business track, but I didn't need to worry. The venue, Gangplank, was filled with at least 50-70 folks ready to hear about the business side of the WordPress world.
[I used my time on Sunday to talk about Virtual Teams. You can see the slides and a rendition of the talk in yesterday's post.]
Making the most of Sundays
Developer days, which normally are on Sundays, are excellent for developers. But what about the freelancer who also has to run his/her business and doesn't want to be a statistic? Every now and then I see a WordCamp do what Phoenix did this past weekend. They set up a set of sessions on Saturday or Sunday that focus on the business side of things.
I want more.
I want a freelancer/business track at every WordCamp. And I think Sundays are fine. There's no need to detract from all the great stuff that happens on a Sunday. And we don't need to toss out Developer Days. Developers can still collaborate. I'm not talking about taking something away. Instead I'm simply talking about adding something. Something that a lot of folks need.
Pressnomics Everywhere
And since we have a term for it already, why not institute a Pressnomics track at every WordCamp?
If we assume a 12-5 schedule and limit it to 30 minute presentations, we're talking about 10 sessions. What might we see covered? How about:
- Staffing
- Client selection
- Pricing
- Contracts
- Scheduling
- Communication
- Project Management
- Execution
- Relationships (post-deliverables)
- Branding
And if we do it in the same place as a Dev Day, then developers could come and go based on what they needed to hear most!
If we're going to encourage the prosperity of WordPress-oriented businesses, it's my take that Pressnomics needs to go on the road. It needs an anchor conference, like we experienced last year, and a regular track at each event so that people can get practical and usable advice that they can put to work on Monday mornings.
So what do you think? Would you come to that track?