I was recently invited by a friend to be a last-minute presenter at a local WordPress meetup. I’ve been looking for ways to be more involved with the WordPress community and was immediately excited and flattered for the opportunity to talk with this group about a topic I love.
I’d barely read the email confirming my attendance before I received a second email from the meetup organizer with the subject line “NOT APPROVED to present.” I went back to my friend to find out what was going on. The bottom line? The organizer was concerned about me as a competitor and cancelled the meetup.
Now, I’m not saying I had something amazing to offer this audience, but I am disappointed. I’m losing out on an experience. A group of WordPress users are losing out on a networking/learning opportunity. One person was worried about “the competition” and the WordPress community lost.
5 Reasons Carrie Dils is Definitely Not Your Competition
(I realize YOU may not be worried about ME as competition, so feel free to pretend I’m the freelancer sitting one table over from you at the coffee shop…)
#1) I’m Limited
I’m a one-woman shop with a limited capacity for active clients and projects. Last year I probably worked with 20 clients. Let’s say this year I’m able to increase my efficiency and workflow and can *maybe* double that to forty clients. Maybe.
With over 5 million people in the Dallas Fort Worth area, I’m hogging up only .000008% of my fellow WordPress developer’s potential market. And that’s assuming I only work with local clients, which is not the case.
I’m being ridiculous and literal with this example, but you get the idea. There’s plenty of market share to go around for us freelancer types.
#2) I Can’t Use Your Portfolio
Your craft and the quality of workmanship you produce is yours alone. If your work is good, it’ll speak for itself. And when your work speaks well for you, your business will grow.
I can’t compete with your portfolio and I don’t even want to. Why? I’m focusing on making my product better.
#3) I Don’t Have Your Experience
We may all call ourselves something similar – WordPress developers, web designers, internet nerds, whatever. The fact is we all offer a different combination of experiences and skills that translates into a unique offering for our clients. Maybe you have a background in finance, fitness, or retail that helps shape the way you interact with clients or the exact WordPress services you offer.
I can’t replicate “that special something” you bring to the table for your clients. And I’m okay with that.
#4) I Can’t Leverage Your Network
It takes time and energy and trust to build a solid network. It’s also a very personal thing.
Networking is what’s going to expand your reach in the industry you’re in. When you build your own network of reliable sources (people you can trust and do quality work) than you’re in actuality, building up your business!
- Jon Perez (from Social Networking, Why is it not being used?)
Trust me, I can’t prance into your world and sneak off with your network, like some WordPress Pied Piper.
#5) I Want You to Succeed
Nope, that’s not a typo. I want your business to be successful. Why? On a macro-level, I believe in the benefits of capitalism to society. On a micro-WordPress-level, I believe that when one member of the WordPress community wins, we all benefit to some degree.
Call me crazy. Just don’t call me your competition.
/ End Rant >
You may think I’m writing this because my pride is wounded (it’s not) or I want to enact some social justice against the meetup organizer (I don’t). I’m sharing my experience to encourage thought around the subjects of competition and community.
As I’ve become more involved with the WordPress community via social media, I’ve discovered a group of people who are SHOCKINGLY GENEROUS with their knowledge and skills. I want to be like that. It’s the reason I write tutorials on my site and try to help out in support forums now and then. I’ve witnessed an amazing ecosystem develop around people who pour back into the community what they’ve gotten out of it.
As fellow WordPress junkies, we’re not all competing for the same slice of pie. I’d rather spend my efforts collaborating with you and learning from you than calling you my competition and shutting the door on a possibility.
Once again, you’ve hit the nail right on the head!
Wow! I can’t believe you were uninvited to speak – how petty is that?
I’m not a WP developer or designer – I’ve never designed a site for anyone but myself, but I enjoy learning about WordPress (and specifically StudioPress), and I love sharing that knowledge, which is why I spend way too much time on the StudioPress forum. I’m not doing it in hopes of making millions, or whatever – I like the product, and like learning from like minded individuals. I’m sorry someone was so closed minded.
Very well said, Carrie. That’s a bummer you had to deal with that. One of things I love most about the WordPress and Genesis community is how helpful and transparent most people are in helping each make each others’ businesses more successful.
It’s too bad that the organizer felt that way. I run a meetup group here in Tampa based around WordPress and SEO and I’ve never even considered disallowing someone because they might be competition.
Even if someone is your competition you’re better off making friends than enemies. As you said, they can’t service everyone and at some point they’re going to have overflow. Are they going to send it to you if you turn everything into a war for who can get the most business? Nope, probably not.
Collaboration > Competition in most cases.
I’m writing something similar, but a different angle. I’ve never been stiffed like that, but my experience also revolves around a WP Meetup group.
Overall, we are the most generous group of professionals I’ve ever encountered. I’ve yet to have someone say, “nope, I can’t show you how to do that, that’s how I make my living.” Not once.
Dallas missed out on your contribution, that’s certain.
Hear, hear!
Not to mention that I learn an incredible amount from my interactions with the WP community just about every day — why would anyone want to cut themselves off from all of that just to spend all that time and energy on being paranoid instead?
This should never happen. So sorry that you had this experience. Don’t sell yourself short. If someone perceived you as a threat, you might just be one.
That said, there’s nothing wrong competition, but there is something wrong with running a WordPress meet-up with the motive of using it to promote your own business and/or abilities more than others.
WordPress meet-ups are about WordPress, not about the organizers. If you have other issues with your local meet-up, get in touch and I’ll see if we can influence a better, more positive approach.
That is really dumb. I pass code along to other developers all the time with no payment at all so that they can get their work done. I’ve only ever found that they pass work/code back. I have always felt like I’ve got more return from the long term relationship then I would have got from charging for some code. I never even ask for a ‘finders fee’ when I pass work on, I don’t care about that.
I’d really wonder if the organizer has a struggling business? With that type of attitude it would not surprise me. You should start your own meetup and accept all comers.
Great article, Carrie, and a great way to look at what was an awkward situation. I apologize again for putting you in it, but you are 100% right. I like the fact that we can help each other out on projects and (technically) be competitors without being competitive. Huzzahs for today’s pearl of wisdom!
What JJJ said.
I also hope this person realizes that there is far more available work out there than either one of you can handle alone.
And if it’s expertise on one area of WP… well there’s hundreds of people with the same expertise. But again, tons of work.
Awesome post
I actually had a client of mine take a moment to talk about how she wasn’t looking to compete with me or steal my other clients. It was bizarre, to say the least. I also had a developer friend refuse to put a “contact” link on the website because the competition didn’t have one….wha?
For me WordPress is all about the collaboration and camaraderie between professionals in the community (developers, designers, bloggers,…)
Without that there is no WordPress community.
This is just astounding to me… The WordPress community has been amazing. Absolutely amazing.
Any chance of you coming to speak in Birmingham? I’d totally welcome you in with open arms – you are brilliant and I’d love to pick your brain more
Thanks, Karla.
If I ever find myself if Birmingham, I’d love to meet the locals. 
We have a great wealth of info here! (Sara Cannon, who has created the dashboard palette options is a local, and leads our WordCamp)
Great article, Carrie!
Sorry that happened to you. Treating you like that was very parochial and small-minded.
I run into that in my city, which is way behind the curve on lots of things. It has the websites to prove it, too. It isn’t as direct as the slap in the face that you received, but is emblematic of the zero-sum game attitude, where the goal is to hoard all the work and not let anyone else have any. Pitifully childish. In short, we’re perceived as a threat. Of course, they don’t understand that in the end, word about their foolishness will get around one way or another.
What’s even sillier about it is that I’m not competing with them at all, really. Nearly all my work is at a considerable distance.
Best, Dave
Is there a way to stand up and clap on line? Clap, Clap, Clap. I totally agree. WordPress has such a growing and thriving community that supports and helps one another. People do business with people they know and/or trust. Good rant!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this! Point #3 spoke to me more than the others because I’m new in this field,
I may not have a portfolio that is as deep or a fancy client management system, but I have 15 years of insane customer service experience and I pour passion into my customers products and team/partner/bribe/barter/or sweet talk my fellow creatives and developers for help along the way. Those of us that get this community can really thrive and those of us who cling to the old way… will be stuck there forever. Carrie you can speak in Austin 8 days a week.
Also, I’d be interested in a pair of those shorts. I’m getting beach ready over here.
You can totally borrow them. I call them “WordPress Community Drawers” – kinda like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but grosser.
Hi Carrie
Sounds as though the whole situation was badly handled – to be asked and then to be dropped like that is pretty poor form.
Maybe your friend was a little premature in asking you?
I’m not sure what the protocol is at a ” local WordPress meetup” but if they are simply informal meetings of WordPress people then the organisers were clearly going against the spirit of the event in withdrawing their invitation.
If the idea is to push their own WordPress services then I can understand that they wouldn’t want you to meet their potential clients.
They clearly saw you as a threat and maybe that tells you…. just how good you are!!!!!
Whatever the purpose of a ” local WordPress meetup” the whole thing could have been handled much better!
BTW – have you gone over to the dark side… “Jetpack”?
I couldn’t get the “notify me of follow up comments” check box to work, do you need to activate it?
If you’re ever in south-central Pennsylvania, we’d love to have you (or anyone else who wants) do a WordPress Lancaster meetup! Trying to use it to stifle competition really is antithetical to the nature of WordPress, the GPL, and I’m honestly embarrassed for them. http://vimeo.com/8939365 “Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”
Thanks, George! Been a long while since I made it up to PA, but glad to know there’s a WP bunch I can fit it in with.
What happened to you was incredibly petty and sad, not to mention, as George Stephanis so eloquently put, completely against everything WordPress represents.
I have been taught a lot by this community (and still have so much more to learn it’s uncanny) and I’ve taught things to others – from my experience, and not just limited to WordPress but in general, sharing your knowledge with others is not only satisfying on a personal level, as it’s also one of the best ways to learn yourself, because the people you’re teaching end up teaching something back. That meetup organiser should rethink what he’s doing organising meetups if he’s denying people the chance to network, teach and learn.
Monica, you’re spot on in every way!
Wow that’s pretty disappointing, and I bet it’s more common than we all think. Like you I am amazed by the generosity of those that *get* what WordPress is all about… And shocked by those who plainly don’t.
Perhaps you should start your own meetup instead. Not to snub this one closed-minded organizer, but rather to give the attendees a choice instead. I’m sure you’d do a great job, build a much better learning environment, and prove through your example the maxim that “a rising tide lifts all boats.”
Thanks for the kind words, Jerry. There’s actually a meetup closer to me in Fort Worth that is wonderful. And the meetup group in question is probably great, too – just ruined by a bad apple in this case.
WOW!
What a bummer. I’m always amazed when people get snarky or get worried about competition (I recently heard an entrepreneur use the word “co-opetition”…which I dug).
WordPress is SO huge and there are so many opportunities and experience levels that not every teacher, designer, programmer, user, etc. will bring the same thing to the table – not to mention personality. I know I’m not everyone’s flavor and that’s o.k. (maybe it’s because I’m my best audience…haha).
Unfortunately one person deprived others of a great experience in this case.
There are a handful of great meetups in the Bay Area… should you be up for a trip!
Hi Carrie,
I’m sorry to hear about your experience. (Due to our geographic proximity, I do want to comment here that the incident did *not* occur with the DFW WordPress Meetup.)
Hey Tony,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I hear great things about the DFW Meetup group (*really* wanted to attend the one with Sean Jackson last weekend, but I was out of town). Keep doing what you do!
Carrie