It’s with immense gratitude that I dedicate this post to Polylang, whose sponsorship made me recover my costs for WordCamp Europe 2024 as an organiser (2 venue visits and the event). My costs were previously stated on my Sponsors page, and are now moved at the bottom of this post.
What is Polylang
Polylang is one of the most popular Multilingual plugins for WordPress.
For those exploring the vast possibilities of web globalisation, Polylang offers an intuitive way to manage multilingual content. The base plugin is free and available on the WordPress plugin repository, and their Pro version expands the functionalities, providing advanced features. For e-commerce enthusiasts, Polylang for WooCommerce integrates seamlessly, ensuring that your store speaks to customers in their language, enhancing user experience and reach.
Moreover, the Polylang Business Pack bundle, which combines Pro and WooCommerce capabilities, stands out as a comprehensive package for those looking to make their WordPress sites globally friendly and commercially successful.
Polylang constant support to the community
Polylang has been a sponsor to WordPress events as long as I can remember.
But this goes further! First of all, all their staff contribute their time to the WordPress project, such as Frédéric Demarle, Christelle Drevon, Hugo Drelon, Emmanuel Hesry, Gregory Viguier, etc and I’m especially thinking of my friend Sébastien Serre, who is translating to French so many plugins and parts of WordPress core and thus contributing to the Polyglots team.
And they understood my blog post about contributing by being an organiser and the cost it implied for me.
Frédéric Demarle
Here is a conversation I had with Frédéric Demarle by email when I thanked him (I have Frédéric’s authorisation to share here).
Cela fait de nombreuses années qu’on te voit organiser des événements et nous savons bien qu’il n’y a pas de miracles. Les organisateurs (et les orateurs…) des WordCamps qui ne sont pas salariés financent une partie substantielle de l’événement sur leurs propres deniers (personnellement, je serais pour que le défraiement des organisateurs et orateurs vraiment bénévoles soit inclus dans le budget). Ton article permet à tous ses lecteurs de ne pas l’oublier. De notre coté, nous profitons de ces WordCamps, donc voilà, on peut le faire.
Nous ne demandons bien sûr rien en échange (ne te sens pas obligée d’écrire un article). Tu as déjà tant donné de ton coté et nous savons que nous n’avons couvert qu’une petite partie de ce que tu offres aux utilisateurs de WordPress.
Frédéric Demarle, WP-Syntex/Polylang
Translation, and this is important, and shared with the Five for the Future team
We have been seeing you organise events for many years and we know that there are no miracles. The organisers (and speakers…) of WordCamps who are not employees finance a substantial part for the event with their own money (personally, I would be in favor of the expenses of the organisers and speakers who are truly volunteers being included in the budget). Your article allows all its readers not to forget it. On our side, we benefit from these WordCamps, so there you go, we can do it.
Of course, we do not ask for anything in return (do not feel obliged to write an article). You have already given so much on your side and we know that we have only covered a small part of what you offer to WordPress users.
Frédéric Demarle, WP-Syntex/Polylang
Sébastien Serre
Part of a conversation with Sébastien when I thanked him for sharing my blog post with Frédéric (I have Sébastien’s authorisation to share here).
C’est cool, il faut s’appuyer sur la communauté. Tous les plugins Premium WordPress devrait faire pareil. Notre business fonctionne bien et c’est grâce à la communauté, les WordCamp, etc
Je suis content, on sponsorise aussi Olivier Gobet qui fait un énorme travail pour le WordCamp Bretagne à Rennes, comme il l’a fait pour beaucoup d’autres WordCamps en France dans le passé.
Sébastien Serre, Polylang
Translation
It’s cool, we have to rely on the community. All Premium WordPress plugins should do the same. Our business works well and it’s thanks to the community, WordCamp, etc.
I am happy, we also sponsor Olivier Gobet who does a huge amount of work for WordCamp Bretagne in Rennes, as he did for many other WordCamps in France in the past.
Sébastien Serre, Polylang
They understand the importance of contributing back!
My WordCamp Europe 2024 costs
My costs were previously stated on my Sponsors page, and are now here as they have been covered by Polylang ❤️. I keep them listed for transparency.
All prices below are listed in euros. Conversion rate on 27 July 2024: 1 EUR = 1.09 USD
As a co-organiser of WordCamp Europe 2024, I went 3 times to Torino, one time in November, one time in April for venue visits and then for the event. More information on my blog post.
Travel costs
3 times Geneva to Torino, highway and Mont-Blanc tunnel tolls and gas.
See here, ViaMichelin says €105 for one way (€210 both ways) but taking a “both ways under 7 days” for the Mont-Blanc tunnel toll is about €50 cheaper (April) and in November and June, I didn’t come back through the Mont-Blanc tunnel.
Real costs: November both ways €105 + €55, April both ways €105 + €65, June both ways €105 + €55, total €490 and not €630.
Accommodation costs
- 1st visit and 2nd venue visit: 2 times * 3 nights * €67.- = rounded to €400.-
I chose a cheaper option and was in a room with hosts present in the apartment. This allowed me to meet a wonderful couple, Rahissa and Herman who even became volunteers at the event after I told them about WordPress! I recommend staying with them on Booking. And anyway I would not want sponsors to pay for expensive hotel nights. - June during WordCamp Europe: 6 nights for me (necessary as an organiser) and sponsoring a friend (who was a volunteer) 5 nights in the same apartment = €810.-
I will not list additional nights and miscellaneous dinners and going out as this is out of scope and not to be paid by a sponsor!
Total travels and accommodation EUR 1700 or USD 1850.
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