Meet Magento UK 2020: Now online, and here to raise money for charity
We’ve made the decision to cancel our in-person event on June 17th, at The Mermaid in London.
With everybody else postponing until September – November time, we’re staying put, moving online, and continuing to deliver the great content we have planned.
We believe eCommerce is needed now more than ever – to retain normality for people isolated, to keep people inspired, to enable those retailers/merchants struggling right now to spend this time gaining as much knowledge as they can to utilise this in their upcoming revival. It is our job, to help do our part for those struggling, and to help make as many great comeback stories as possible happen.
For this online event, every single penny spent on tickets and sponsorship will be redirected to charities working on helping those disproportionality affected by the events of the world right now. We will be operating a “pay what you want” model for both tickets and sponsorship, to enable both as much inclusivity as possible, as well as many donations to charity as possible. You will choose the charity you donate to, and we will provide you with suggestions if you are struggling.
As a team, we’ve watched as our country’s shelves go empty, people panic – and those who are vulnerable get left at a disadvantage. I’ve also seen many of the JH team volunteer to help those neighbours, deliver shopping, volunteer for the NHS and anything else they can do. I’m incredibly proud, to see how each team member has reacted and sprung into action.
It is our hope that by the end of the current ‘situation’ happening outside, that we all come through this with a greater appreciation for others in our society. That the homeless, the less able, the elderly, our emergency care workers, our poor and many more marginalised and vulnerable people are treated better than they have been.
To start this drive to help others, JH will be donating £5,000 split across the following charities:
- Age UK – who are helping our country’s elderly with everything they need – from food shops delivered to their houses, to keeping them company with phone conversations and supporting however they can.
- Clifton Community Family & Support Group – who work locally in Clifton, Nottingham – putting all donations in the hands of their volunteers to support families in need that fall out of the system. Working with local shops to redistribute their unsold food to people who need it at the end of each day, as well as auctioning unused items to raise funds for more help. (Their total yearly budget, being a local organisation, is £3k/year, so this will be a big impact donation for this small and local charity)
- Mind – the mental health charity, working with people who have mental health problems and supporting them, ensuring that nobody faces a mental health problem alone.
It is also our hope that our community will rise to the challenge, and join our example to make a difference outside their own businesses. We will list every donation made on the Meet Magento UK website, along with a running total of everything raised. Where possible, we’re asking people to donate directly to their charity of choice.
As for the event itself, expect more detail as time goes by, as we decide internally the specifics. Here’s a high-level of the game plan as we see it working right now:
- We take Meet Magento UK online, with more speakers than we could accommodate in our physical venue (the best-of-the-best, unrestricted by travel, aiming to help get merchants back to their best).
- Introduce live chats, networking and fun events to keep people engaged/together.
- Bringing our community together.
- Having all sponsorship be open, to anybody, so long as the money goes to charities.
- A pay-what-you-want model for both tickets and sponsorships, to maintain maximum inclusivity for all.
- All sessions recorded, for merchants to help themselves to as they get back on their feet in the future.
We hope to see you all online on June 17th. Tickets are now available and are free to all attendees. We will however be encouraging a £20 donation to the The Trussell Trust.