WordCamp Europe has always been about getting people together more than anything else. With the conference growing, it’s not that easy to make connections during the conference day, as we also have an amazing lineup of speakers coming to share their knowledge. Even with our networking activities like tribe meetups and speed networking planned, fitting everything in two days can be a bit too tight.

The #WCEUBall is designed for you to have fun or chill and relax after two days of learning, but one party is hardly enough.

Enter the #WCEU warm up events

As we know a lot of you are coming to Vienna early to explore the city and to meet friends before WordCamp Europe, we thought the days before the conference would be a great chance to meet some new people as well! A lot of you are organising informal gatherings and fun things to do, so we decided to try and centralise the information for all of them so if you’re in Vienna on Wednesday and Thursday, you can think of something fun to do and also make new friends!

Wednesday, June 22nd

Coworking and hanging out for early arrivals

Some of the Attendees/Volunteers/Organizing Team are going to arrive in Vienna some days before. The idea is to Meetup in COCOQUADRAT Coworker/Coffeeshop as the main base and from there decide what to do or even where to go altogether.

¡Everyone is welcome!

Hi @WCEurope some volunteers, and anyone that wants, are going to meetup the 22 to cowork/tourism https://t.co/EG1LSpp37d #WCEUMeetup

— Ibon Azkoitia (@ibonazkoitia) June 16, 2016

• Organisers: Ibon Azkoitia
• Starts at: 9am
• Location: COCOQUADRAT Cowork/Coffeeshop
• Registration: https://attending.io/events/wceu-volunteers-attendees-meetup-22-jun
• Expectations: The idea it’s to Meetup in COCOQUADRAT Coworker/Coffeeshop as the main base and from there decide what to do or even where to go altogether. We will use #WCEUMeetup in Twitter to announce the movements that assistants decide.

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Thursday, June 23rd

#WCEU Picnic in the park

Two wonderful ladies are organising a family-friendly picnic in the park. Bringing your family is not a requirement to join 😉

Bring your own food/drink and enjoy the afternoon with other lovely WordPress people.
If you’d like to make the experience extra special for everyone, bring snacks from your home country to share with other attendees: who doesn’t love trying tasty food from other places?

• Organisers: Francesca Marano, Naoko Takano
• Starts at: 13:00 (1:00 PM)
• Location: Burggarten, Vienna 
• Registration: no registration needed.
• Expectations: Collect your badge at Halle E+G before joining (registration will be open on Thursday from 1pm until 6pm) or wear WordPress swag so that we can recognise you.
• Follow the #WCEUpicnic hashtag for a precise location if you decide to join later!

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SacherTour

We have a maitre patissier with our group, so we’ve asked her to lead us in a SacherTour on Thursday the 23 starting at 15:00

• Organisers: Valeria Marolda &Raffaella Isidori
• Date: 23/06/2016
• Starts at: 15:00
• Location: Cafè Sacher Wien Philharmonikerstrasse  4, 1010 Wien
• Registration: no need to register, just show up!
• Expectations: Bring your Chocolate lover, good mood & happy feet!

Event schedule

• (for the taste buds) Cafe Sacher Vienna Philharmonikerstrasse 4
• (for the eyes) St. Stephen Cathedral
  Stephansplatz 3, 1010 Wien
• (for the taste buds) (again) Caffè Hawelka Dorotheergasse 6 , 1010 Wien (an artist-loved Viennese institution)

Everyone who wants to tag along is more than welcome! See you in Vienna!

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WordCamp Europe Warm up Evening

For all people, already arrived at Thursday (23rd of June), we have organized a warmup evening. This is a meet and greet / arriving evening for all WordCamp guests and partners who want to join. In this very first WordCamp Europe warm up evening we would love to welcome you at the Museumsquartier – the place that will host the conference on Friday and Saturday! Right in front of Halle E+G there is a big public courtyard with many cafes and bars.

Location: Museumsquartier, Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Wien | Map

• Organiser: Sven Wagener
• Starts at: 7pm and it it’s open end!
• Expectations: We recommend all people who want to join us, to register before at Halle E+G (registration will be open on Thursday from 1pm until 6pm) and to wear something with a WordPress logo so you’re easy to spot. 
• Registration: https://attending.io/events/wordcamp-europe-warm-up-evening
• What happens if it’s raining? – If it’s raining, we’ll move to several different locations we have selected. We will add those on his page a little closer to the event if the weather forecast shows high chances of rain. Stay tuned! 

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A Touristy Day In Vienna!

Many people are showing up in Vienna the day before WordCamp Europe kicks off. If you’re up for hanging out with some other WordCampers and seeing some of the sites, here’s an itinerary you can jump into and out of at any point.

• Organiser: Jenny Wong
• Date: June 23rd
• Starts at: 9 am
• Meeting point: At the front gate of Schonbrunn Palace at 9am | MAP
• Please RSVP: https://attending.io/events/tourist-day-in-vienna

Tour schedule:

• 9:00AM – Schonbrunn Palace — the summer home of the Habsburg royal family.
• 11:30AM – Lunch at Brandauers Schloßbrau (large eating area for bigger groups, features beers and schnitzel and lots of other European deep fried delights).
• 1:30PM – St. Stephan’s Cathedral, Imperial Treasury, Vienna Opera House, Hofburg Palace. All in the city centre and we’ll traipse around and see what we can see.
• 3:30PM – Ringstraße Tour (tram around the centre of town that’s a hop on, hop off style where we can decide what we want to see). This may feed into some of the other attractions we want to check out.
• 6:00PM – Send off for those who aren’t going to the themers dinner.
• 7:00PM – Themers dinner at Tian Bistro (Vegetarian).

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Themers Meetup

Themers meetup will be on Thursday at 19h in Tian Bistro: http://www.tian-bistro.com/de/bistros/am-spittelberg/. This is a themers meetup evening to hang out, eat, drink & talk about WordPress themes & other interesting topics.

Next week we are on our way to the @WCEurope & orginized themers meetup. Can't wait! https://t.co/0xg1NnTHML #WCEU pic.twitter.com/A23tyI6tg5

— Ana Segota (@Ana_Segota) June 15, 2016

• Organisers: Ana Segota & Sami Keijonen
• Date: June, 23rd
• Starts at: 19:00
• Location: TIAN Bistro am Spittelberg Schrankgasse 4
• Meet up Info: http://www.anarieldesign.com/themers-meetup-wordcamp-europe-2016/
• Registration: Capacity is limited please contact @Ana_Segota or @samikeijonen
  via Twitter if you’d like to attend
• Expectations: Good mood

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Friday, June 24th

Finnish WordPress Community Meetup

Short description: Have fun and relaxed Juhannus (Midsummer) in the city of Wien. While eating and drinking we might also discuss WordCamp Finland 2017

• Organisers: Antti Kuosmanen & Sami Keijonen
• Date: Friday, June 24th
• Time: from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
• Location: Das Campus – 1 Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020 Wien
• Map: https://goo.gl/maps/EGB7eTL37EU2
• Registration: We are getting fully booked but contact @anttiviljami and @samikeijonen on Twitter for more info
• Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/suomalaisyhteison-illallinen-wceu2016-tickets-25567600381

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TinyMCE Meet and Greet

TinyMCE is coming to WordCamp Europe 2016. Join their founders Joakim and Spocke for an informal meet and great where people can meet the founders of TinyMCE, chat about the latest developments with the TinyMCE editor core while having a drink (or two) on them.

The organisers will be providing free refreshments for the guests. This will be an intimate gathering limited to the first 50 registrants. (though if there is a high demand, we may open it up to more – venue permitting).

• Organiser: Jessica Lee
• Date: Friday, June 24th
• Time: 6 pm -8 pm (18:00-20:00)
• Location: Lutz Bar – Mariahilfer Straße 3 , 1060 Vienna, Austria – View Map
• Registration: https://goo.gl/7gUP5O

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Organising a meetup or activity and you’d like to invite more people?

Maybe you’re a local and want to organise a walking tour around the city, a visit to the Prater or a kareoke party for WordPress people? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add your event to this post so more people can join you!