WordCamp

WordCamp Europe 2013: It’s Time

18 December 2012 by Zé Fontainhas

Yes, you read it here first: WordCamp Europe in 2013. Our mailing list is ready and ~~you can sign up to get updates.~~

Beginnings

The idea for WordCamp Europe developed slowly. Come to think of it, it was in much in the same way WP Realm itself was born. We kept running into each other at various WordCamps in Europe; the conversation went on, each city a different chapter.

It mostly did not feel like a different country at all. It didn’t feel like any particular country, actually. It just felt like, well… Europe. The fact that we could just as well be having the conversation over liquid nitrogen desserts in Amsterdam, tapas in Sevilla or drinks in Lisbon has had no impact on a fundamental, unspoken principle, which is this: all those places are home.

Given the nature and history of Europe, all of us easily and often cross national borders and languages to meet each other. This is why so many WordPress enthusiasts from Europe, regardless of their specific country of origin, attend and speak at so many WordCamps in other European countries, probably more so than anywhere else in the world.

What’s in a Name? Moving Beyond Hack Days

17 December 2012 by Siobhan McKeown

It’s become pretty standard for WordCamps to have a hack day, or a developer day, following a day or two of conference activity. The most notable of these is the Developer Hack Day that follows WordCamp San Francisco. The idea is that WordPress people get together to work on WordPress core – this could be on tickets, bugs, or developing features. Developers hang out with their laptops, drink coffee, eat, and hack. [Read more…] about What’s in a Name? Moving Beyond Hack Days

WordCamp Lisboa 2012 This Weekend

25 September 2012 by Zé Fontainhas

WordCamp Lisboa 2012 is happening this weekend and will spread over two days, the second being a developers’ hack day. You should definitely attend if you can, and here’s why:

Most of the WP Realm team will be in town and some of them will be presenting!
Lisbon is a very cosmopolitan european city where most, if not all, WordPress enthusiasts are fluent in (at least) English. Last year’s WordCamp had a dozens of attendees from other countries, including speakers such as Drew Strojny, Scott Berkun and Isaac Keyet.
In keeping with the portuguese sea-faring tradition, it is also the home of a very active WordPress community, with very strong ties to users, designers and developers all around the world, not to mention the fact that it is also the home of our very own CodePoet.
I like to think that the city is one of the places in Europe which you simply must visit. Don’t take my word for it, by all means, take a peak at what the New York Times has to say about Lisbon.
Also, after-party; you know you want to.

Here’s a little shameless bait:

When is a WordCamp a WP Camp?

10 August 2012 by Zé Fontainhas

The Potsdam (Germany) WordPress Meetup group has recently announced that it is putting together a WordPress-dedicated event called WP Camp, in Berlin, on the 13th of October.

For all purposes, and from the description, it sounds almost like a normal WordCamp. In their words:

A cross between the looseness of a Barcamp and the structure of a conference.

I, for one, applaud any initiative which tries to bring WordPress users, designers and developers together, no matter which format is chosen. Given the size of the community today and the rate at which it is growing, many more meetups, WordCamps, WP On Tours and other events are sorely needed as nothing replaces meeting people face to face to create ties. Case in point: WP Realm. It would probably have not happened had not its founding members met (and had drinks) at some point.

However…

Michael Kimb Jones Launches WOWPlugins.com

17 July 2012 by Siobhan McKeown

WOW Plugins is a staple of WordCamp UK. Each year Michael Kimb Jones gives a rundown of plugins that he’s using that he finds useful and wants to share. It’s always a really popular presentation, partly because of the content and partly because Kimb is so good at presenting it. Kimb has just announced that he’s launching WOW Plugins, which will be an archive of all of the plugins he has covered each year (and will in the future I assume). I covered Kimb’s WOW Plugins talk on WPMU.org, but now you can follow them all on wowplugins.com. ∞

I Attend WordCamps: You Should Too

16 July 2012 by Siobhan McKeown

Today I’m travelling home from my third WordCamp since March. As I write, the other WP Realmers are having transportation troubles. Noel Tock is stranded at Heathrow Airport, while Tammie Lister and BuddyPress Core Developer Paul Gibbs are stuck on a broken-down train between Edinburgh and London. The British transportation system is its usual reliable self. The weather is grey, it’s threatening to rain; I, and no doubt all of us, are suffering from post-WordCamp blues.

Sitting on a rattling train, I became aware that it’s my week to write an editorial for WP Realm. No doubt Zé, who is my own personal editor, will be grumbling about this, but it’s my prerogative to tell the ~~wise~~ grumpy old man to stfu (love you! 🙂 ). I thought I’d use my slot to reflect not only on WordCamp Edinburgh, but the series of WordCamps I’ve visited over the past four months and on WordCamps more generally.

[Read more…]