New at #WCEU: Attendee Services

Since ticket sales doubled in Vienna in 2016, so have the requests from attendees. Ticket invoices, visa invitation letters, dietary requirements, and other special needs used to be services that we could absorb across our existing teams of organizers. Now that your numbers have grown and are clearly not subsiding, we realized that these tasks needed a team of their own to make sure that attendees get the care and attention you deserve, before, during and after the event.

Introducing: Attendee Services!

We are very proud to introduce the Attendee Services team to the WordCamp Europe organization, the second original team we’ve added following the Public Relations team created last year. If you’ve requested a ticket invoice, a visa invitation letter, sent a general inquiry or looked for information on our FAQ page, then you have already seen Attendee Services in action.

But wait, there’s more!

The Info Booth

Situated near the Wormhole meeting place at the epicenter of the Sava Centar, the Info Booth will serve to answer all of your questions. Schedule changes, directions to the After Party, accessibility needs, the nearest restroom, how to order a taxi, as well as the lost & found – volunteers will be stationed in this convenient location all day Friday and Saturday to help you with whatever you might need to enjoy your time at the conference.

New tech for badges

It’s about time that WordCamp Europe got a bit of an upgrade, so this year we’re bringing in some technology that’s ubiquitous elsewhere. Attendee badges will be printed on-site and will contain a barcode on one side, giving you an easy way to stay in touch with sponsors should you so choose.

Having the badges printed on-site means no more blank badges and markers if you bought your ticket or swapped with someone at the last minute. Change companies? Have a new twitter account? Those updates can be made too so that your badge has all the updated and relevant information you need to connect and network at WCEU.

Almost 40% of attendees have said “Yes”, when registering for the event, that they would like WCEU to send them special offers and discounts from sponsors. This tells us that you are interested in connecting with them! The barcodes are a closed technology that can only be scanned by the devices we will distribute to sponsors, no other apps are able to glean any information from them. This is a quick and easy way for you to sign up to receive more information directly from sponsors and is 100% opt-in. Don’t like having a barcode on your badge? Cover it with a sticker! We’ll have plenty of those for you.

And maybe next year we can take it to the next level and use barcodes or QR codes to do a quick check-in at registration. Now wouldn’t that be something?!

The Official WCEU App

It’s almost like we’re in 2018…oh wait! There have been un-official apps floating around for a couple of years now, but newly equipped with a dedicated team that is passionate about the web and giving attendees an excellent experience at WCEU, we thought it was high time we produced our own.

The one and only official app for WordCamp Europe 2018 will be where you can find all of the essential information, with any last minute changes, in one lightweight, easy-to-access spot.

What you will find

• Schedules (On now, up next and full schedule with all sessions ordered by tracks)
• Information on sessions (including time and location)
• Information on speakers
• Venue maps
• Announcements
• Lunch menus
• Code of conduct and reporting information
• Other useful information about Contributor Day, the After Party, etc.

Features

• Instant loading: the app is designed to load nearly instantly and reliably, even if you are under uncertain network conditions.
• Security: the app is served over HTTPS, a secure connection that protects sensitive information. This way you don’t get exposed to attacks and vulnerabilities.
• Favorites: use the Favorites feature to add stars to all talks of their interest or the ones that they plan to attend (look out for the ⭐ icon). Marked talks will automatically appear under the “Only favorites” option in Full schedule.
• Push notifications: these are optional instant messages that pop up on your device. They are sent with the sole objective of keeping you notified of updates and important notices. Only available for Android.
• Offline support: the Official WCEU App is aimed to be reliable if the network fails. This means that if you temporarily lose your connection, you will not be interrupted while using the app and will continue accessing the site offline. You may not see the newest data but a stored version instead. On iOS, this feature is only available for 11.3 version or above.
• Add to Home Screen: when you visit the Official WCEU App, you will have the choice to add it to your home screen. This feature helps you save the app for instant access and start using it regularly without running out of device space.

Minimum requirements

• Android: Chrome 40+ or above
• iOS: Safari 9.0 or above

Where do I find it?

You will have nothing to download. The Official WCEU app is a PWA (Progressive Web App), an app-like web page that can be accessed instantly from a mobile browser. It will deliver the same native experience as a mobile app without the hassle of installing it.

The Official WCEU App will be available starting June 11, with content updated throughout the week to make sure that you have the latest information. All attendees will receive a final welcome email from us on June 11, with the URL for the PWA and lots more info. We’ll be communicating it over social media as well, so make sure and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram if you don’t already.

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