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We're press media Corp.

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You might even chuckle
when you hear the phrase.

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This experimental initiative
is a team that replaced the

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WordPress marketing team.

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Not commercial WordPress, mind you, but
the open source.org side of the house.

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If you've been following me for any amount
of time, you don't need me to spell out

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how important this initiative could be.

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A chance to legitimize the work.

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Only a handful of people across the entire
globe have dedicated their professional

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careers towards myself, included.

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Before we dive deeper into what
the media Corp could accomplish.

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Let's take a look at
the outgoing struggles.

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With the marketing team.

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How could a volunteer led marketing
team accomplish the fundamental

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responsibilities of marketing with no
access to website traffic data survey

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results, or have a stake in the product?

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That's right.

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It's nearly impossible.

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I know some of the people that were
leading the charge with that effort and

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led it with great care in intention.

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But they were handcuffed.

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Let's face it open source.

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WordPress doesn't function like a
commercial product because it isn't,

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which is why it has succeeded.

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Marketing has to come organically
with no budget or access.

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You're basically building out
tasks for a team to accomplish.

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Take the box, keep moving, but don't, you
dare critically think about how you can

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impact the brand sentiment of WordPress.

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In my previous post, who was responsible
for WordPress marketing are reported

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on the media Corps initiative stating
that I'd reserve my opinion until

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I saw the process mature a bit more

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consider the rest of this, my reaction
as the dust settles on the media

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cores contributor kickoff call.

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Our north star that I've been following
is how do we keep WordPress thriving?

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This was a call to action.

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Put out by Joseph A.

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Hayden jumbo, C executive director of
WordPress in the state of the word 2023.

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It's recognized that in order for
WordPress to escape a growth plateau,

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that the community needs to go
beyond code quality and features.

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Humans need to recognize WordPress
cores worth importance and

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benefits for the greater open web.

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Simply put.

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People need to recommend WordPress more.

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If you can't do it with a volunteer
marketing team, forge a bond with

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the people that have been the biggest
cheerleaders for WordPress WordPress

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media, but this is open source.

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WordPress, why do we need an
official team to wrangle the media?

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What even is WordPress media?

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I've been covering WordPress
for well over 10 years.

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And whenever I needed anything, I
reached out to the person and asked

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if.org was releasing something new.

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I read about it, decided if it was
newsworthy for my audience and then

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reported on it or shared my opinion.

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Yes.

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Something like the WordPress media
Corp helps galvanize the work I've

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been doing here at the WP minute in
my previous podcast, Matt report, but

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the approach has been opaque at best.

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Starting with the initial
WordPress media kickoff call.

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Based on the call to action to comment.

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If you want to be involved from the
initial roadmap post, I was under

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the impression that the kickoff
call was going to include media

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folk and the contributing team.

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I wasn't alone on that assumption.

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Either check out the comments.

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The kickoff call commenced and a
private call with a contributing team.

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And Bob Dunn, founder of do the
Wu who somehow found himself

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with the media liaison title

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record scratches.

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Where did that come from?

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Was it voted on?

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Did WordPress media folks
put Bob's name in a hat?

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Before we go further.

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I have nothing against Bob.

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Everyone loves Bob.

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He oversees some solid content
that helps WordPress thrive.

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That said this was the media course
for a shot at launching a meeting and

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through transparency out of the window.

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We'll get to the media Corp media
partnership requirements in a minute.

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So just hold that thought.

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But there's another issue at hand
that I've talked about ad nauseum.

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WordPress media is tiny, impossible
to turn into a sustainable business.

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And largely depends on in kind
sponsorships that genuinely see value

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in this type of content existing.

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one only needs to look at the lack of
effort to turn around the WP Tavern, to

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see the proverbial proof in the pudding.

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That's if you define WordPress
media, like we do at the WP minute

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versus what WP beginner would
publish nothing wrong with that.

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It's just two different paths.

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Remember the media Corp team
still hasn't released how they

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will definitively define this.

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more on that later, I do this
work because I love WordPress.

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And because I think people should be
informed on certain topics on the most

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widely used web publishing software.

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Do the Wuhan, the WB minute, both jockey
for those in-kind sponsors to keep

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us afloat, to help pay our writers,
production teams and other overhead

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to be included in the media Corp.

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Kickoff call is the equivalent to the.

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The theme team, holding a private
meeting to change how themes get

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included and only inviting Sujay power
from Astro themes on the zoom call.

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But that's just my opinion, which
is also my self-imposed job to

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analyze these community events.

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It's what I do.

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I'll reiterate nothing against Bob
it's just media business brand and

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trust are really the only things
we have and it goes both ways.

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This isn't the only time I've seen
favoritism play out in WordPress media.

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I recall my team being rejected as media
partners for word camp Europe, 2023.

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While I sat back and saw some
other brands, have their logos

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added to the website with barely
a peep out of them on social media

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or blog posts covering the event.

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WordPress media is a perfect storm.

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There's only 10,000 English speaking
people in the world that actually

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care about this type of content.

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Eight people in the world, myself included
who actually care about covering it.

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And so few people that know about
the brands like WP minute and

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repository who tirelessly cover it.

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I miss Sarah Gooding.

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There's only a handful of WP media types.

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As I see it, independent WordPress
news sites, paper of record, WP Tavern.

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General WordPress tutorial, information,
blogs, podcasts, and YouTube channels.

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People that do it for funsies and
people that do it because their company

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tells them to blog about WordPress.

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Which brings me to the current
media core requirements.

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On how they're evaluating us.

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I have a focus on producing content
that is 80% about WordPress.

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Report factual news or produce
relevant educational content.

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Maintain high standards of
content, quality and journalism.

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And here to WordPress community
guidelines and respect

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information sensitivities, if any.

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Have you ever come across
fake WordPress news?

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Who decides what the standards of
content quality and journalism are.

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I mean, I lost that word, camp,
media partnerships, lot to a tech

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YouTuber, and I know I barely pass
high school, so maybe I won't cut it.

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There'll be another debate report
news or relevant educational content.

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Here's a huge gap in scrutiny and
body of work, possibly ethics.

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When you put tutorial brands
on the same level as new sites.

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Hopefully you see the tug of war here.

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A small group of people being held to
high levels of quality and standards.

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Serving a tiny audience for very
little income in an oversaturated

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space of link sharing emails wrapped
in a big capital M media blanket.

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So, what do I want to see?

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Come from this?

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Besides feeling validated, I'm
happy to have a more refined

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process for getting updates about
WordPress releases or features.

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I would like to see a more concrete
definition of WordPress journalism.

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It would be great to get recognition
as WordCamp media partners.

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If you're already a media Corp partner.

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Uh, process to be heard up channel
back to WordPress, the software

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and leadership teams based on what
we're seeing from our audiences.

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I also don't like the fact that
we're slapping the experimental

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label on this it's too.

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easily used as an out, if
this whole thing doesn't work.

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And it's also a way to bulldoze
some of the voices that have

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legitimate concerns or have unique
ways of contributing to media.

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Almost like an internship for
volunteers to do marketing.

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Where have I seen this movie before?

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We need more folks
covering WordPress news.

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We need the Tavern back.

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We need WordPress thriving
so that it continues to grow.

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In the end, I'm hopeful for this
team and effort to flourish.

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With or without the WP minutes
involvement, we'll see how this

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shapes up, because I know that I
would do this without an official

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team or badge or qualification
matrix, or someone saying that my

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work is worthy enough to be included.

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Go open-source and keep
WordPress thriving.

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Oh, and by the way, Happy
birthday, WordPress.