Seravo’s pandemic time put a damper on WordCamp participation. During the pandemic, many WordCamps were held entirely as remote online events. While fully virtual events are otherwise suited to the global development of open source software, the on-site experience and networking opportunities of WordCamp conferences are unparalleled.
What Are WordCamps?
WordPress is open source software developed by an international community of volunteers. WordCamps are events where the WordPress community gathers to develop WordPress and plan its future.
WordCamp conferences provide a platform for expert speakers, panel discussions and participatory workshops. The conferences also include other side events, and an exhibition area for companies sponsoring the event.
WordCamps are open to the public and can be attended by anyone, offering programme and interesting activities to suit all tastes. They offer a broad overview of what’s happening in information technology, and are also a good opportunity to search for interesting companies and find potential jobs.
WordCamp Lisboa 2023 and Seravo’s Return to WordCamps
Seravo’s first WordCamp after the break was WordCamp Lisboa 2023. Held in Lisbon, Portugal, the gathering provided Seravo with a soft landing back in the WordPress community. As the world’s most popular content management system originated in 2003, year 2023 was also a year of celebration – the 20th anniversary for WordPress.
The WordPress scene in Portugal is active with international attendance, and Seravo started the event with Contribution Day. The purpose of Contribution Day is to develop WordPress among other volunteers. You can read Seravo’s travel report in our earlier blog post!
International WordCamps
Looking to participate on a WordCamps? They can be found all over the world. WordCamps come in all sizes: the biggest WordCamps can attract thousands of visitors, whereas smaller and more local ones usually attract hundreds of visitors.
No matter where the WordCamp is organized, these conferences attract both WordPress enthusiasts and professionals or those who are new to WordPress – just about anyone whose business or hobby is touched by WordPress in some way.
WordCamp Europe 2023
The most anticipated and biggest WordPress event of 2023, WordCamp Europe, took place in Athens. A total of five people from Seravo participated in the event. Although we didn’t sponsor the event, WordCamp EU offered inspiring and insightful presentations on WordPress – and the IT industry in general. See the presentations on WordPress.tv.
WordCamp US 2023
The year 2023 also offered Seravo an opportunity to explore WordPress development and networking overseas. WordCamp US 2023 was held in National Harbor, Maryland, and Seravo was along sponsoring the event. We were thrileld to meet Matt Mullenweg, the creator of WordPress. You can also see all the WCUS presentations on WordPress.tv.
WordCamp Europe 2024
WordCamp Europe 2024 took place in Turin, Italy. This year Seravo was a sponsor and exhibitor in the biggest WordCamp, which was a remarkable and unforgettable experience for us!
Seravo’s systems specialist Pekka Kortelainen also participated in the event as a speaker, presenting how to use WordPress with command line tools.
Just like in Athens last year, WordCamp Europe was big and awesome, and the event also had plenty of Finnish participants from digital agencies to individual WordPress enthusiasts. You can watch video recordings of the talks in Turin on WordPress.tv.
The Power is Nothing Without Controls – Let Linux Tools and WP-CLI Do the Work For You
Local WordCamps
At the beginning of 2024 we visited the beautiful Vienna, Austria, in April for WordCamp Vienna 2024. The WordCamp community in Vienna was close-knit, and the welcome was warm. The event also attracts participants from other Central European countries, and the programme of WCVIE also offered presentations in English.
WordCamp Porto 2024
Seravo also returned to Portugal this year for WordCamp Porto 2024 in May. Seravo’s systems expert Pekka Kortelainen made his debut in this event as a speaker on the topic of command line tools, including WordPress’ own WP-CLI.
In 2025, the WordCamp of Portugal will return to Lisbon!
WordCamp Germany 2023
The year 2023 also took Seravo to Germany, where the WordPress community reorganized and reactivated itself with the WordCamp Germany (WordCamp Deutschland) 2023. WordCamp Deutschland was the first step towards more unified WordPress development in Germany.
You can see all WordCamp Germany presentations on WordPress.tv. If you’re not familiar with German, you’ll find interesting presentations about WordPress also in English!
WordCamp Madrid 2023
Seravo also attended WordCamps in Spain for the first time after a long while – the last time Seravo met with the Spanish WordPress community was in Barcelona in 2018. Our participation in WordCamp Madrid 2023 was done in collaboration with ProfesionalHosting, where we shared a table in the sponsors’ area. The local WordPress scene is largely made up of Spanish speakers, and this is reflected in the language of the Spanish WordCamps’ programme offerings. See the presentations on video here.
WordCamp Torrelodones 2024
In March 2024, Seravo sponsored WordCamp Torrelodones. This year’s gathering also took place near Madrid. Seravo attracted a lot of interest, as Seravo WordPress hosting stands out from the competition.
WordCamps in Finland and WordCamp Finland 2023
This year there will be no WordCamp in Finland, but last year’s WordCamp Finland was held in Tampere. A WordPress conference in Seravo’s home city was of course important to us, and in addition to sponsoring the event, we organised a warmup party at the end of the contribution day. Thanks to everyone who joined to spend a beautiful September evening with us!
WordCamp Finland brought together the Finnish WordPress scene, attracted a lot of international experts and WordPress gurus to Tampere. All WordCamp Finland 2023 presentations and talks can now be found on WordPress.tv. The presentations cover a wide range of topics, from greener web design to well-being at work and command line tools.
What’s Next?
There’s still one more WordCamp for Seravo to experience this year – WordCamp Netherlands 2024! Originally scheduled for September, WCNL will take place in The Hague in November this year. The European WordPress community has become familiar to Seravo over the past year, and we hope to see many more familiar faces before the end of the year!
The Open Source Community
How and when WordCamps are organized is not a given. Since the development of WordPress is a collaborative and voluntary effort, corporate sponsorships are needed to make these events happen. There are guidelines for sponsoring events set out by the WordPress community, which sponsors must follow. Since WordPress development is itself non-commercial, a common set of rules must be agreed upon for the WordPress ecosystem to function and thrive.
We hope that as many people as possible will contribute to the development of WordPress. As events, WordCamps are also important for maintaining your own professional skills and getting fresh ideas!
WordPress Meetups
WordCamps are not the only WordPress events around. Smaller, yet locally very important events for networking and sharing knowledge are WordPress Meetups. To find a WordPress Meetup event near you, head over to make.wordpress.org!
Conclusion
So, what did we learn from a yearful of WordCamps? In conclusion they have a tremendous amount of insight to offer, no matter who you are: a beginner, WordPress developer, a marketing professional or perhaps a systems expert.
Seravo is extremely grateful and we wish to express our heartfelt thanks to the WordPress community for two very active years of WordCamps. We encourage everyone to explore the development of the world’s most popular CMS! A good way to get started is to visit make.wordpress.org.
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