Interview Petya Raykovska Jenny Beaumont - On WP and WordCamps

Hey friends, its time for another chat with some interesting WordPress people! But heres the twist, todays is a double interview, or a mirror interview! Yes, youre getting two for the price of one.This formula came to our minds some time ago but it is only now that we managed to get it done. It means that, for every single question, youre going to get two answers from our gracious interviewees. So, dont miss Petya Raykovska and Jenny Beaumont talking about their contributions to the WordPress community, their projects, non-WordPress activities, and other fun stuff.But before we dive into this double-dose interview, make sure to check out our previous talk with  Brad Touesnard, the founder of Delicious Brains.Petya and Jenny have many things in common: they work as project managers at Human Made,  get involved in local and major WordCamps, and have both left a big mark on the way the overall WordPress community has grown lately.If youre a regular attendee at WordCamp Europe, there s a high chance youve already met at least one of them!Petya RaykovskaJenny BeaumontJenny and Petya both have plenty of technical knowledge, but their communication skills, love for socializing with others, and passion for what they do moved them towards the humanized side of WordPress.They are part of the reason why the WordPress community is now so solid, welcoming and friendly. They started by improving the small groups in their hometowns and continued their work up to the European and international level in subsequent years culminating with their roles as leaders of the WordCamp Europe organizing teams.But lets hear it from the girls in person! JennyI began building websites before the advent of CMSs, and saw them slowly emerge as the solution to two recurring problems. On the one hand, clients were increasingly wanting control over their content, and on the other, we were looking for ways to avoid reinventing the wheel at every turn.For me, it was the technical overhead of my first e-commerce projects that lead me to test these platforms, giving me access to technology that I couldnt master on my own, offering me a rich learning experience and an affordable product to clients.As time went on and new software came out, I would poke at them to find their strengths and limits, adapting my choices for each project. I first heard about WordPress in 2006, and started playing with it in 2007, but found it lacking the sophistication I needed. I favored Dotclear, a popular CMS in France at the time, until the version 3.0 of WordPress and the introduction of menus, which drew me back in. By 2011 I was working with WordPress exclusively.PetyaIn 2011, I left a job in publishing that I really loved to start a small web agency in Sofia, Bulgaria with a couple of friends. We decided were going to try building websites with open source software and thats how we started working with WordPress.For me, it was the best of all the CMSs we tried. Then I fell in love with some one who was heavily involved with contributing to WordPress and the community and they introduced me to the Polyglots team. Once I started contributing, WordPress became a big part of my life, because of people.What does a project manager at Human Made do on a daily basis?JennyMy favorite answer to this question is still, I have no idea. (And my husband thinks Im crazy for saying so.)What Im learning since joining the company back in March is that there doesnt seem to be a typical experience. All of the projects are different, each of us bringing our personal style of management to the table, and each of us participating in the WordPress project in various ways and to varying degrees.My days are divided between project work (communicating with the project team, both internally and client-side, doing my part to ensure that the project is delivered on time, within budget and with our standard of quality), agency work (internal meetings, resourcing, reporting, internal projects) and co mmunity contribution (Im primarily focused on organizing WordCamp Europe at the moment, but have other aspirations).I also make sure to carve out a little time every day for personal/professional development: staying on top of industry news, networking, etc.Every day is a little different, just the way I like it.PetyaSo Im a project manager thats also an event organiser, a community builder and a publicity and marketing expert. So I dont have a daily routine. PMs take care of everything a client project needs from the communication to making sure developers are happy, have everything they need, to documentation, financials, keeping up with project timeframes, resourcing, research about the best solutions to a specific client projects and sending developers lollipop bouquets 😛 (Thats Jenny B for you).But then Im also involved with organising several WordCamps, so there are meetings, logistics, etc there as well. And I do have my Polyglots weekly activities support, chat, ta lking to people, translating WordPress, working with devs to build features for translators, organising global contributor days, going to conferences and talking about important contributing work. So no single day is like the other.Whats your technique for staying productive throughout the day?JennyAs Ive gotten older (if not wiser), routine, which Id often railed against in my youth, has become my best friend. Good habits start first thing in the morning and set the tone for the day:Get a good nights sleep.Eat well and at regular intervals, avoid snacking.Stay hydrated.Know whats on my calendar and keep it up to date.Turn off social media notifications only check in periodically during breaks or downtime.Try to schedule downtime after meetings and not schedule too many in a row (these tire me out the most).Take frequent breaks.Get physical exercise every day, and make sure to stretch frequently if Im stuck at my desk all day (which is most days).And my number one productivity tech nique: do only one thing at a time (which Im still not very good at).PetyaLove what you do. Drink plenty of water. Take a break every time you need one.You are part of the WordCamp Europe organizing team. What do you love most about this experience?JennyThe teamwork is by far the most satisfying aspect of organizing a WordCamp for me. Its also what inspired me to stop freelancing and join a company. The second most rewarding is, of course, seeing all the happy campers enjoying the fruits of our labor. Nothing quite like it.PetyaI was a part of the organising teams in 2014, 2015 and I led the team in 2016. I decided to dedicate my time to other things this year and in the future and its important for WCEU that there are new people on the team who can learn to go through the motions and bring new fresh ideas and developments to the event. I loved organising WCEU in those three years the impact that event had on the European community, the global community and building connections is worth all the sleepless nights and effort thats put into organising it.You wake up and theres only one week left before WordCamp Europe starts. Whats your daily schedule as an organizer?JennyThis will be my third year as a WordCamp Europe organizer, and my third role on the team, having started out on Speakers and Sponsors, then moving to local lead in Paris, and now taking on the role of global lead for 2018 in Belgrade. These all have very different responsibilities throughout the year and as the event approaches.At a week out the heavy lifting is done and the team as a whole is trouble-shooting with vendors, speakers, sponsors, volunteers, and MCs; helping people resolve problems, tying up loose ends and hammering out the hour by hour logistics of the event days. At a week out weve all pretty well surrendered to the idea that no matter what might go wrong, itll be okay.PetyaA week before WordCamp Europe youve already done everything you need to do for the event. You also are prob ably already on location, so whats left to do depends on your role. The most important part is to not overdo it, to try and stay energised and fresh for the event so that you can survive it.Youre traveling a lot. What is the nicest place youve ever been to?JennyI think that what I classify as a nice place is anywhere that makes me feel welcome. And of course, the joy of traveling is to see new things, meet new people, discover different cultures and experience local cuisine and customs. A lot of times the way you experience a new place can depend on who youre traveling with and under what circumstances. Traveling for WordCamps, for example, hasnt always afforded me the opportunity to get more than a glimpse of the city.My favorite vacation spot? Brittany. Oh, and Id love to return to Guernesey and visit Jersey some day. Two of my homes away from home? Chicago and London. Some places Ive visited and would love to return to? Vienna, Berlin, Torino, Sofia and Zurich to name a few. And there are so many places Ive never been to! Australia is on the top of my listUpcoming trips to new places include Marseille, Belgrade and Petritoli.PetyaHome. The best thing about constantly traveling is coming home. If you have not been to Bulgaria, you should definitely visit. There are a lot of things to love.How do you define being successful?JennyI keep a 5-minute journal as part of my daily routine. Success for me is signing off with, It was a good day, measuring daily how Ive managed my time, my energy levels, my interactions with people, and whether or not Ive accomplished what I set out to do that day. Have I made a positive impact? Have I contributed to both my short and long terms plans? Have I been good to myself and those around me? Success!PetyaBeing content and happy with my present. Being autonomous in my work, making an impact with it and being able to constantly learn and improve.What do you like to do when youre not WordPress-ing?JennyOff the job I enjoy hiking, yoga, cooking (read: eating), reading and visiting with friends. Im also slightly addicted to American television, and love home improvement projects (especially those involving power tools).PetyaGo to gigs, dance, play music, sleep.Any cool personal or professional projects coming up?JennyOn the WordPress side of things, and beyond WordCamp Europe, Im hoping to jump back into some WordCamp site development projects, notably the WordCamp Talk Proposals project that I worked on earlier in the year, but which is currently on the back burner. Then, a personal project Ive been working on for some time is completing my yoga teacher certification, which I delayed this year as my professional workload grew, but am picking back up again.PetyaIm organizing WordPress workshops for kids and Im hoping to inspire WordCamp organizers to do those around every WordCamp.What do you wish more people knew about WordPress?JennyThat it is made by the people, for the people. The open source community is still poorly understood, in my opinion, by those outside of it. Why do I think its important for people to know this? Because unlike most other products, there is a real opportunity in open source to make a difference, to play a part in making WordPress better for everyone.There is also a better appreciation to be had about how the project is built and maintained, about how technology evolves in general, which I believe is important to understand in order to for people to fully take responsibility for their websites. PetyaI think WordPress is popular enough. I wish more people knew they could help make WordPress. And Im working every day to make that happen.Whos doing things that are just cutting-edge and incredible in the WordPress space right now?JennyI dont know about cutting-edge, but the Gutenberg project will be the biggest game-changer maybe since menus and custom post types were introduced. Im a late-adopter, and so still a bit of a skeptic about Gutenbergs ability to effect ively implement this block content system, but there is no denying that its coming whether we like it or not, and the debates around it are interesting to follow.Ive always firmly believed that one of WordPresss greatest strengths is the ability to work around any of its apparent limitations. Im sure it will be the same with blocks, and that we will learn and iterate until it succeeds in opening up new audiences or leading us in a new direction entirely.The other interesting space to follow, IMO, is hosting. So many mergers and acquisitions, so much riding on that user experience and coming up with solutions to make it a seamless one, from install to updates, guarding against hacks and providing metrics. Lots happening in this arena and still more to be done!PetyaEveryone building things with WordPress and the REST API. You should check the videos from A Day of REST, the WordPress REST API conference we at Human Made organise to showcase what can be done and is already done with the REST API. The WordPress core team is also doing amazing things with WordPress. Looking forward to Gutenberg!Describe the WordPress community in one word.Life-changing.JennyWarmth.PetyaWhats the one thing youd like to change about WordPress?JennyThere are of course loads of improvements to be made to WordPress across the board, but if you ask me what is the one thing, it brings me back to your earlier question about what I wish people knew about it. If there was one thing I would change it would be peoples perception whether it was around the nature of open source, taking it seriously as a scalable high-end solution, or the simple difference between WP.org and WP.com. I believe there is a lot of work to be done around the branding of WordPress.PetyaFinding a recipe for not burning contributors out would be amazing.What was the first big thing youve bought with your first WordPress earnings?JennyHa! Well, this doesnt really apply to me since WordPress, despite its huge presence in m y life in recent years, is really anecdotal to my career. I do remember the first laptop I bought in my early years, with my own earnings and without financing, and yeah, that felt pretty great.PetyaI dont remember exactly, but I bet it was either a concert ticket or a plane ticket.What was the most challenging thing youve done during your career?JennyPivoting. Knowing when to get in and when to get out. I started out by building an agency and then went freelance. I then started a commercial venture, closed it, started another agency, closed it, and somehow kept freelancing on the back burner to come back to.Since that first company back in 1998, my work has revolved around the web, but in different capacities, adapting with the market, technology, circumstances, collaborations, my evolving skill set, and the impact of my personal life. Twice in that time I took time off to rethink things. Staying fluid, adapting to change, doing regular health checks and course-correcting when need ed Id say these are the most challenging things Ive faced and the most essential to sustaining a career thats spanned nearly two decades.PetyaLearning to let go of things, to delegate, and to pass the torch to others when it was time. Learning to accept people from all over the world, to love their quirks and differences. Learning to listen. Thats not one thing, but a list, I realise that. But I cant pick a most challenging one from all of those.What does it take for a WordPress-er to become a WordCamp Europe organizer if they were to apply for this role?JennyStrong candidates are/have:Based in the EUPrior experience volunteering at WCEU in some capacityPrior experience organizing a WordCamp or running a MeetupStrong written and communication skillsPrior experience organizing other types of large events (1000+ people)Comfortable with remote workWe open organizer applications every year in July. This years team is already in place, but if youre interested for future years, do keep a n eye out for the call for volunteers and join us! Its a great way to see how things work and gain the extra experience that will make all the difference. You can sign up for our newsletter on the website to be notified about the call for volunteers and other announcements.PetyaOh, the WordCamp Europe team just posted the answer to this question in detail. Be prepared to give it everything you have and you will be handsomely rewarded. Good luck!