WordCamp Europe is one of the major events organized by the WordPress community to bring together people from different parts of the world who are interested in and/or contribute to the WordPress project.
While it is not the only event organized by the community—in 2019 there were nearly 150 WordCamps and thousands of “meetup” gatherings—what makes WordCamp Europe special, along with WordCamp US and WordCamp Asia, is that they are the largest existing in terms of: attendees, talks, gatherings, sponsors, workshops, etc.
Francisco and Roberto at WordCamp Europe
Both of us have attended WordCamp Europe since its first event back in 2013 in Leiden (Netherlands) and have continued to attend, with only a few specific exceptions.
Attending this event every year provides us with: knowledge, confidence in our path by gaining experience, and the opportunity to meet many other people from the community with whom we maintain contact to, simply, help each other.
Additionally, we have had the opportunity to collaborate with the community during the event and, in Francisco’s case, collaborate with the event itself, being part of the organizing team at WordCamp Europe 2019 (Berlin) and the volunteer team at WordCamp Europe 2015 (Seville) and WordCamp Europe 2023 (Athens).
What is a WordCamp?
The closest definition is a “conference” organized non-profit where volunteers, speakers, and organizers contribute their time to conceive an event open to anyone interested in WordPress.
Financially, the event is funded through ticket sales, which are always affordably priced in contrast to everything the event offers, and which is supplemented by financial contributions from the event’s sponsors.
The event usually lasts between 2 and 3 days and typically includes the following:
- Spaces for contributing: WordPress is open software created and managed by the community; this space helps involve new people in the project who want to contribute and connects those who already do.
- Spaces for learning: With talks and workshops of various types: Content, SEO, marketing, internet, technical, round tables, etc.
- Spaces for connecting: Connect with other people between talks and workshops or during lunch (lunch is also usually included), spaces to connect with sponsors, leisure spaces (there is usually a party), cultural spaces (sometimes there are tourism proposals with event attendees), and other spaces and dynamics to connect with like-minded people.
WordCamp Europe 2023 (Athens)
This year the event was held in Athens, in a large convention and cultural center near the city center, with thousands of attendees and dozens of sponsors, talks, and workshops.
Additionally, it was a WordCamp organized by people we hold in high regard, such as: José Freitas, Estela Rueda, Juan Hernando, Remkus de Vries, Isotta Peira, Wajari Velasquez, Ohia, Nemanja Cimbaljevic, Pascal Casier, Takis Bouyouris, Fotis Routsis, Nilo Velez, Val Vesa, Fede Padilla, David Perez, Wendie Huis in ‘t Veld, Svetlana Guzovskaia, José Arcos, Ángel Moreno or José Ramón (Moncho), among others. And many other people we also hold in high regard attended.
Francisco: On contribution day, I was able to dedicate my time to the plugins team, connecting with other people, helping developers create their plugins in a way that complies with the rules and guidelines for acceptance into the WordPress repository, and addressing security issues. During the days dedicated to talks and workshops, I participated as a volunteer, assisting with attendee reception and workshop organization.
Roberto: 20 years of WordPress was recently celebrated by local communities, and these days it was the turn of the European community as a whole. Personally, this year I wanted to dedicate some time to a new group within the community, the WordPress Photo Directory, a repository of free photos for the community to use in their personal or professional projects.
Athens was a magnificent host for returning to the hallway track, to endless conversations, brainstorming, hours of development, and, most importantly, seeing the human face of a software project.
Beyond this, we were able to do some sightseeing and enjoy Athens with many friends who attended the event.
See you next year in Turin, and remember that a WordCamp isn’t over until you write about it.