WordPress Meetup Zagreb, in Croatia. Impressions by Dario and Serhii

October 21, 2016

On Sept 30th Dario (from Slovenia, Documentation team) and Serhii (from Slovenia, Toolset development team) went to WordPress Meetup Zagreb. It was the first time for Serhii at a WordPress event. For Dario it was the first time at a meetup, although he has attended several WordCamps before, including 2 WordCamps Europe.

I had a nice talk with them about the meetup and this is what they said.

13 WordPress Meetup in Zagreb, Croatia.
13 WordPress Meetup in Zagreb, Croatia.

How many people were there? Why is Zagreb a good place for a Meetup?

Dario: There were around 50 people, only 5 women. For a meetup it was a very good number. Zagreb is the capital city of Croatia and many IT companies are opening offices there, such as Google. Many young people study at university there. It also attracts people from neighbouring countries, like Slovenia.

Dario by the swags table.
Dario by the swags table.

Why were you interested in going to the meetup?

Serhii: I had never attended one and the company encourages us to do so. Also, Dario invited me (we live 20 mins’ drive from each other) and it was a good opportunity for me.

Serhii attended his first meetup.
Serhii attended his first meetup.

Dario: There were 2 WordCamps in Croatia before: WordCamp Rijeka (in northern Croatia), where I gave a talk about usability; and the second one, WordCamp Split where, together with my colleagues Ivan and Dominik, we had a Sponsors table . I wanted to participate in a meetup as well.

 

How is a meetup different from a WordCamp?

Dario: It is completely different. A meetup is more relaxed and friendly. A WordCamp requires registration, stands, more organization; a meetup is hassle-free in this sense. Any occasion can become a meetup, even if it begins with just 2 or 3 people getting together somewhere to discuss WordPress.

 

Finally, how would you describe the whole experience?

Dario:  I liked the meetup atmosphere. It lasted 1.5 hrs. and we got together at a bar for another hour afterwards, which was very good. I am satisfied with my talk (“How to write better and more efficiently”) and people’s reaction to it. To prepare for the talk, I usually rehearse quite a lot at home with my wife and just before the event as well, but that week was pretty busy so I didn’t have enough time. Right before the meetup I told Serhii “I will improvise”. I felt confident as I knew the subject pretty well. The result was very good, I must say. I got good feedback.

In general terms, people were curious about how to begin writing anything, like a blog for example, if you their English is not so good. My response was that practice is the best way to learn. The more they write, the better they will get. And if they have someone who is good/better at the language and writing, to have them review what they have written. A lot of things can be found and learned online as well, of course.

 

Serhii: I liked the way they organized it. It was a good chance to learn, though I expected the talks to be more technical, honestly. You couldn’t feel any stress at all. The people were very friendly. I also felt that it would be OK for me to give a talk, though I still don’t feel very confident with my English. After this experience, we felt inspired to organize the first meetup in our city.

 

 

 

 

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