[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #3878: Adding Badges for WordCamp Volunteers and Attendees

[Making WordPress.org]

#3878: Adding Badges for WordCamp Volunteers and Attendees
-------------------------------------+---------------------
 Reporter:  sebastienserre           |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement              |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                   |   Milestone:
Component:  Profiles                 |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  needs-patch 2nd-opinion  |
-------------------------------------+---------------------

Comment (by jonoaldersonwp):

 Wearing my marketing hat, this is a big deal.

 >Gamification that makes someone return to their company. So even if
 WordCamp attendees didn't add any value for the WordPress project, it
 would still be interesting to reward their efforts, so that they want to
 come back.

 If we value and want to encourage engagement and contribution, we need to
 reward it. Doubly so when it is 'free' for us to do so.

 As others have pointed out, the text from
 https://make.wordpress.org/meta/handbook/documentation/profile-badges/
 states that badges are "added based on your contributions to the WordPress
 project". Event attendees contribute, in a thousand important ways. They
 teach us about use-cases. They listen to our talks, which forces us to
 improve our messaging and own understanding. They become users, customers,
 builders, developers, evangelists. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

 More significantly, perhaps, the words on
 https://make.wordpress.org/meta/handbook/documentation/profile-badges/ are
 neither sacrosanct nor set in stone. To make decisions based on an
 arbitrary interpretation of those words - and to continually reinforce
 that decision based solely on its existence - feels unpleasantly myopic
 and cultish. We can change our behaviour and our policies, and change the
 words appropriately. Or, we can expand our definition of 'contribute' to
 include the new audiences and attendees whom our treatment of determines
 whether we can keep the lights on or not.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/3878#comment:22>
Making WordPress.org <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/>
Making WordPress.org