What if you need to change your registration?

April 28, 2010 by Heather Acton • Comments Off on What if you need to change your registration?

We are SO close to WordCamp Chicago! As the event gets closer, I am getting a lot of email asking me to change registration details. Because of the sheer number of people that have registered – its very hard for me to keep track of each individual who needs to switch an email, change a Twitter ID, change attendee information, edit company names, etc.

If you need to change anything about your WordCamp Chicago registration details – I am not able to do it for you. The beautiful thing about EventBrite is that they empower you by giving you the tools to do it yourself. When you registered, you received an email from EventBrite that has a link in it that says “To view all of your purchased tickets Click Here” – click that link and you can view your tickets, print your tickets and manage attendee information.

Please do not email me and ask me to do it for you – more than likely, you won’t get a response on it because there are so many other details I’m trying to attend to over here as we get closer and closer to the event. Please use the tools that EventBrite makes available to you.

Also, a reminder, on our EventBrite registration page it notes that WordCamp Chicago tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable. I am not able to refund ticket purchases, nor am I able to help you transfer a ticket from one person to another. Last year, I ended up helping several users transfer tickets to others and it was a minor migraine to accomplish – – so this year, I’m leaving the details of your registration up to you. If you’re able to transfer your registration details to another user – then please do. If you want to sell your registration to WordCamp Chicago to another person – please handle it all on your end. I cannot handle those details for you.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

37 Days Left!!!!

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Speaker slots have opened up

April 27, 2010 by Heather Acton • Comments Off on Speaker slots have opened up

Hey Chitown Wordcampers!

You DO realize we have only 39 days left until WordCamp Chicago kicks off, right?

To help us all communicate a bit better this year – I’ve added the fabulous BuddyPress features to this site. You can register and start chit chatting with other Chicago WordCampers here – and stay in touch before, during and after the event. Have fun!

We have also rounded up a really fantastic lineup of speakers for WordCamp Chicago – check out the program listing, and the speakers page to see what you have to look forward to!

WordCamp Chicago also has had a few speaker slots open up in BOTH the User and Developers track. If you’re interested – contact Brian Gardner directly: brian AT studiopress DOT com and he will be able to hook you up.

Also want to shout out to our generous sponsors for helping us make the event happen: For Dummies from Wiley Publishing, ServerBeach, DigitalPure and Margaret Roach. Sponsorships are still available up until May 25th – if you’re interested, get in touch!

Before WordCamp Chicago happens – I, and other Chicago WordCampers, are also attending WordCamp San Francisco and WordCamp Raleigh in May. I will be at both, and would love to touch base with Chicago campers — let’s track each other down and say hi!

Posted in Announcements, Blog, Registration, Speakers, Sponsors, WCChicago 2010 | Comments Off on Speaker slots have opened up

76 Days Left — Register and Book Your Hotel Early!

March 21, 2010 by Heather Acton • 1 Comment

We’ve gotten some feedback that it’s becoming a little difficult booking hotels in the downtown Chicago area for the weekend of June 5 & 6. We have been warning folks all along that there is a very large medical convention the very same weekend – so it’s important to register and book early!

However – do not despair! I’ve updated the area hotels page with some local hotels that are anywhere from 0.4 – 12 miles from the venue. There are more to be had – and the list that I’ve provided is not, by any means, exhaustive.

I used TripAdvisor.com to check room availability as of today, March 21, 2010. You may want to try TripAdvisor.com to book your hotel – – they’ve got all the listings at some great rates. (NOTE: That is not an affiliate link – just me trying to be helpful 🙂

76 Days Left!!

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March is Dummies Month

March 19, 2010 by Heather Acton • Comments Off on March is Dummies Month

Wiley Publishing, the fine folks behind the fabulous ‘For Dummies‘ series that we all know and love, is one of our very generous sponsors of WordCamp Chicago. For the second year in a row, ForDummies.com has sponsored WordCamp here in Chicago and if you can stop and give them a round of applause and great big thanks for their generosity – we’d appreciate it a great deal!

I have published two different books for Wiley under their For Dummies brand (WordPress For Dummies and BuddyPress For Dummies) – and can personally attest that Wiley Publishing gets it. They get community and they get empowering users by giving them the knowledge and references they need to get it done; everything from WordPress to Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies – there is seriously a For Dummies book for anything you can imagine!

March is Dummies month and 2010 is bigger and better than ever – so big that it has been extended for two months this year! It’s easy to save big when you shop Dummies during the months of March and April.

Buy any For Dummies book or audio set, priced at $6.99 or more, between March 1 and April 30, 2010 and get $5 back. Visit Dummies.com to browse their large selection of For Dummies books and to download the rebate form (you can also download the rebate form here).   The rebate is good for Dummies.com and bookstore purchases made during March and April 2010.

There’s still more! You can also save at a store near you. Check out the Dummies Deals page to take advantage of special offers from some of your favorite retailers during Dummies Month!

From Facebook to fashion, WordPress to wine, and everything in between, Dummies is making everything easier.

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Glitch with @Eventbrite Registrations..and other notes

March 5, 2010 by Heather Acton • 12 Comments

Good morning, WordCampers!

Did you know there is only 92 days left until WordCamp Chicago??  Hoping you’re as excited as I am – because this year is going to be amazing!

Couple things to go over this morning for you all….

  1. Registration FAIL! There appears to be somewhat of a glitch in the Eventbrite registration system.  If, when you registered, your payment got processed via PayPal – but you got a message saying “Your registration for WordCamp Chicago is not complete” – let us know via comments here.  We’ve had a handful of people who have paid for registration but, for whatever reason, Eventbrite did not include them in the attendees list and has not sent out the printable ticket and confirmation.  I apparently need to gather all the names and transaction ID’s to provide to Eventbrite so they can look into it…and that’s a pretty timely process to compare payments to our attendees list manually, but I’m making my way through it and you could greatly help if you happen to be one of the aforementioned people and can just leave me a note here.  Thank you, in advance!
  2. Speakers and the schedule!! I know you all are very very patiently waiting for us to get the speakers list and program available – and we are working on it.  We were delayed by the earlier issue we had with the venue, which completely threw us off schedule over here.  Once Brian has a suitable level of Starbucks caffeine in him (seriously, Starbucks should sponsor us, don’t you think?), however, he is working to get this published.  Once again, thank you, everyone, for your continued patience, and I do promise that we are making progress with the program and should have one up for you shortly!
  3. Sponsors! Sponsorship opportunities are still available and we are still looking for sponsorships to help cover expenses such as catering, t-shirts, bags, name tags/lanyards and other incidentals.  Ch-ch-checkout our sponsorship information on this page.  We’ve also placed a Donate Now! button in the sidebar (over there –>) for those of you who want to help out, but cannot afford full sponsorship.  We have had a couple of individual donations, and we’re listing them, with a link, on our sponsors page, as well.

That is it for now.

92 days left until WordCamp Chicago – – are you coming?  Are you bringing a friend, or two?

Posted in Announcements, Blog, Registration, Speakers, Sponsors, WCChicago 2010 | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Do over!! WCChicago 2010 Venue Announcement Part II

February 19, 2010 by Heather Acton • 3 Comments

Hello Chicago WordCampers!

Thank you SO much for your patience this week! I know I mentioned I would be updating the site with additional hotel information on Monday. Monday became Tuesday, then Wednesday….and now it’s Friday already – how did that happen??

So, due to circumstances WAY beyond our control (and budget, and capacity) – I would like to introduce you to our newest venue for WordCamp Chicago 2010. Forget what we announced a couple of weeks ago about the Congress Plaza – – we have nulled our contracts with them, and have moved WordCamp Chicago down the street a little and have contracted with, and secured, a new and different venue for our event. This time it’s solid (I swear!) and we’re ready to put all planning efforts in full motion. I won’t go into details here on the reasons for the switch – – if you’re curious, ping me and I’ll fill you in… but let me just say that for a volunteer role here at WordCamp Chicago, this has become somewhat of a full time job over the last couple of weeks trying to wade through some of the issues we’re facing.

But – we’re golden now and I have tons of info for you – so without further ado….

The Chicago Mart Plaza
350 West Mart Center Drive
Chicago, IL 60654

Tel: +1 312 8365000 Fax: +1 312 2229508

View Larger Map
Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza is located atop the Apparel Center (the building with ‘CHICAGO SUN-TIMES’ sign)

We have secured the Sauganash Grand Ballroom for our event — the ballroom has the capacity for 500, and has an electronic door that we can use to split the room in half to enable us to hold two break out sessions for a User Track, and a Developers track. Sliding the wall closed takes about 20 minutes – during which time we can take a break, enjoy some breakfast and chit chat with our fellow Chicago Wordcampers:

Some quick facts:

  • Find Transportation information here.
  • I have provided you with a long list of area hotels within walking distance of the venue – the venue, itself, does NOT have rooms available and , as such, we were not able to contract with them for special rates for our group (sorry!)
  • Driving direction and different ways to get to the Chicago Mart Plaza can be found here
  • WordCamp Chicago will provide a nice continental breakfast on BOTH mornings – lunch is still up in the air.
  • Registration starts Saturday June 5 at 7:30 am – attendees MUST have tickets and ID’s to present at the door. As of right now, it us unclear whether or not we will be accepting walk-ins – stay tuned.
  • On Sunday June 6 – – the official panels and presentations will end at 4pm – however, we have the Grand Ballroom scheduled until 6pm . . so we we have unofficial WordCamp Chicago networking and general milling around form 4-6, but for those looking to plan their travel – the official event will conclude at 4pm on Sunday June 6, 2010.
  • We cannot emphasize this enough – – there is a large medical convention being held in downtown Chicago on our same weekend – – plan accordingly! This means book your rooms as soon as possible and plan for a little extra time getting to and from different places . . . and Brian – that probably means longer lines at the Starbucks, FYI

More details forthcoming as we have them – – we’re still working on the programming portion of the event, but rest assured we have a fantastic line up for you all! Those of you who have submitted proposals for speaking opportunities – thank you for your patience during this time. Honestly, the delays here were unexpected and unavoidable – – but we have things well in hand at this point. The devil is in the details, my dad always says!

105 days left!!

Posted in Announcements, Blog, Venue and Location, WCChicago 2010 | Tagged , , | 3 Comments