MWUG postponed until further notice

I’m sorry to have to announce I am postponing all MWUG meetings until further notice.

I have been running this meetup group since June 2009. In that time, I think there have only been about 10 meetings cancelled (most of them in the last 12 months). And in that time we have had around 25 – 30 speakers besides myself. The rest of the time I have had to provide the talks or do something to make the meeting worthwhile for people to attend.

Despite having a dozen different volunteers over the years, I have mostly managed the meetup on my own. And I’m tired of having to do that.

In the early years I thought that was how it had to be. Then for a few years I had some help from Saz Bailey. But she’s had her own valid reasons for not being able to help for the past few years. Then for some of 2018 and 2019 Sue Fernandes helped keep the interest up by running her successful breakout sessions. But I still ran the main session. Others have occasionally helped out too. Belinda, Hugo, Siobhan, and more. And I am very grateful for that help.

But the last year has been difficult for everyone and running the meetup had mostly fallen on me.

So, until someone else — in fact, several people — step up to find speakers, organise, publicise, and run the meetings; MWUG meetings are postponed.

Several people already have access to this website, the meetup account, and even the twitter account. If you don’t need that anymore, please let me know. If new people want access, let me know.

I don’t want to be a gatekeeper to the success of this group. It’s one of the oldest, if not the oldest, WordPress-specific meetup in the UK. But I at least have to know who you are or you need someone I do know to put your name forward.

If you feel you want to start your own Manchester WordPress meetup, details are here.

— Mike Little

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Mike Little

Mike Little is the co-founding developer of WordPress and a director at zed1.com Limited, a web development and consultancy firm specialising in WordPress. You can find his blog at mikelittle.org and follow him on twitter @mikelittlezed1 He has been running MWUG since June 2009, and thinks having a pool of WordPress-savvy people; for learning, community, networking, sharing and so on; in the Manchester area is a really good thing.

3 thoughts on “MWUG postponed until further notice”

  1. Hi Mike,
    Sorry to read this but fully understandable.

    Just wanted to say thanks for all your help and advice when I needed it all those years ago!

    Cheers

    Malcolm

  2. Hi Mike,
    I totally appreciate all the amazing times I have been to MWUG over the years, if the folks at WordPress Leeds can help at all we would love to help.

    It would be a real shame for MWUG to vanish entirely.

  3. Dear Mike,
    Completely understand your decision, and admire all the work you have put into the group over the years.
    I was an early member and enjoyed the basic meetings where we just sat around and talked WP. The guest speakers and presentations became less interesting to me.
    WP has changed dramatically since it began. The thousands of plug-ins and themes and page editors and website builders have made it a nightmare for me. (and sorting out quirks in various add-ons is not something that fits into the MWUG).
    Hope to keep in touch.
    Bes wishes
    Chris

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