This past weekend was a steamy one in Boston with temperatures almost hitting 100 degrees and humidity ratings around 80%. The hot temperatures didn’t stop WordCamp Boston, hosted at Boston University, from having a great turn out of WordPress fans eager to learn the latest trends around their favorite CMS and participate in the WordPress community as a whole.
Community is definitely the keyword I would highlight,to sum up the WordCamp experience to anyone that has not attended one before. The entire event was organized and executed by an amazingly friendly team of volunteers and gracious sponsors. No matter what level of WordPress knowledge one has the people that make up the community are willing and happy to help address any questions that come along.
The diversity of WordPress users attending the camp always impresses me as well. I talked to a full stack developer curious about adding WP to his skills over a breakfast muffin, chatted with a guest speaker who has a WP maintenance company, and even had lunch with an architect looking to utilize the platform for growing his business. There really is a place for anyone with an interest.
This year’s WordCamp was set up as a series of 40-minute lectures held 3 at a time to give attendees a broad choice of topics to learn about. There was also plenty of breaks in between to socialize, attend the sponsor booths, or get one-on-one support for specific WP questions via the “Happiness Bar”.
The lecture topics were as diverse as the crowd with very technically-oriented talks like “Intro to the WordPress Transients API” over to more broad topics like accessibility for all internet users covered by “A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Accessibility”.
Overall, I was very happy I made the drive into the city to participate in such a great event. I met a lot of new people in the WordPress community and gained some new insights that we can apply to improve processes at White Label Agency. If you find yourself with the chance to attend a WordCamp in your area, I would highly recommend it.
