WordCamp US 2024, Portland, Oregon

WCUS24: the WordCamp That Preceded the Storm

The first WordCamp, organized by Matt Mullenweg and attended by about 500 people, was held in 2006 in San Francisco. It was the first one of 1,273 WordCamps that took place worldwide and helped define the WordPress ecosystem and Community we know today. Eighteen years later, it returned to the spotlight, sparking a significant debate about WordPress.org, which is proving to be profound. The impact of the final keynote was so strong that many forget WordCamp US 2024, in its 18th edition, took place from September 17-20 in the vibrant city of Portland, Oregon.

Once again, we gathered for one of the most awaited events for the entire Community. It was an opportunity for exchange, collaboration, and learning face-to-face without screens. I participated for the first time in WordCamp US, and I did it as an organizer on the Attendee Experience team.

The organization for the event started a year before, with the team leaders preparing the structure and logistics. Once the strategic part was finished, several calls were made to complete the team. In this way, the call was made to organizers, sponsors, speakers, and volunteers.

Team leaders

Let’s meet the team leaders:

Aaron D. Campbell has been a WordPress contributor for 18 years, first through coding and then in the Community team. He is the product manager for A2 Hosting.

Julia Golomb was a team leader for WordCamp US 2023 and 2023 WordPress Community Summit. Automattic currently sponsors her to contribute full-time to the WordPress Community team. 

Katie Richards led public relations and communications for WordCamp US 2023. This year, she participated on the same team, in addition to working with volunteers and photography. Currently, she is the project manager for A2 Hosting’s Community growth team. 

Sandy Edwards served as a mentor for WordCamp Phoenix 2023 and WordCamp Atlanta 2023 and was part of the organizing team for WordCamp US 2022. She is the owner of Data Driven Labs.

One of the organization’s biggest challenges ‒ as Aaron D. Campbell tells it ‒ was how to reinvent the WordCamp US flagship because the structure that used to work before 2019 was no longer effective.* As a result, they experimented with scheduling. Showcase Day, Campfire Talks, and sponsor-run side events were added to the regular schedule of one Contributor Day and two days of talks. These experiments, as Aaron calls them, were well received. At the moment, the four-day duration is already confirmed for the next edition to be held August 26-29, 2025. However, it will depend on the next team to decide whether the entire format will be repeated.

Location

Another very important element to consider was the selection of the location: Portland, Oregon, was a very wise choice. It is a clean, quiet city with inspiring architecture, romantic bridges over the Willamette River, and spectacular nature. On the other hand, its slogan, “Keep Portland Weird,” stands out. A very intriguing phrase that I have not been able to decipher yet. Incredibly, one of the attendees commented to me that he would be moving to Portland after this visit.

The tram from the airport took only 20 minutes to the hotels recommended by the organizers. The hotel was next to the Convention Center, making walking to and from the hotels easy. Many of us stayed in the same place, and during the mornings, which were a bit chilly, we would walk to the conferences and come back together. The bar at the Hyatt became a permanent after-WordCamp, always busy, because those affected by jet lag spent a few hours of their early mornings there.

The Oregon Convention Center was the ideal venue, as its accessibility and sustainability stand out. In 2019, it was completely renovated with a $40 million investment. The center’s design allowed for a natural flow between all activities, conference rooms, and sponsors without the need to change floors, which facilitated cohesion for the 2000 attendees.

Finally, according to Aaron D. Campell, the cost of the entire operation proved reasonable. Add to this a convenient public transportation system that connects directly to the airport and downtown. The local Community’s willingness to actively collaborate was also a determining factor in the selection of Portland.

Sponsors

In the current model, sponsors play a prominent role. In addition to incorporating their expertise, their financial contribution made it possible to offer a reduced entry fee. For them, it was a special opportunity. To illustrate this, I would like to refer to the feedback from Bernard Meyer, Senior Director of Communications and Creative at Omnisend, for whom it was a great experience because it allowed them to connect with a Community beyond a purely transactional relationship.*

Attendees

Attendees were a top priority. From the first contact, through the registration form, we asked about dietary needs, allergies, and accessibility, providing letters to request visas. These requests were then processed with due regard for each individual’s right to privacy.

In this edition, team leader Sandy Edwards says, “One of the great achievements was to successfully address more than 12 very different allergies and organize more than 130 special lunches to guarantee a safe diet.”*

Accessibility was well taken care of. For example, ramps and elevators were installed to access the speaking platforms, and chairs could support up to 500 lb. Likewise, if a specific requirement was requested, the team did their best to solve it; in all cases, they could give an effective response. The facility had escalators, elevators, and restrooms that complied with all regulations. Accessibility lead Scott Vosburgh commented that the Oregon Convention Center met many accessibility requirements, making his job much easier.

Participation of Community members from around the world was paramount, and support was provided to facilitate attendance from other countries. In this regard, at least 100 requests for visa letters were handled.

Once up and running, a small “INFO Hub” station was set up to deal with queries and questions on site. The basic premise was to provide clear guidance. If the answer was unclear, precise information was sought, and the attendee was guided accordingly. In addition, pins were distributed to indicate whether people were available to interact with others, an initiative that began in the autism Communities. COVID masks and tests were available. An active public transportation ticket was also provided during all event days. This small table also functioned as a mini lost-and-found department. In short, it was a center to welcome all attendees, a meeting and greeting point.

Communication

Another highlight was PR/Communication. The team was led by Brett Dunst, who was already part of this team at WordCamp US 2022 and 2023 and was sponsored by DreamHost. The team’s main objective was to generate buzz, promote the speakers and sponsors, and communicate effectively with all attendees.

National and local press outreach was done before September, placing WordCamp US in several tech event roundups and on the radar of local reporters. They created almost all the web content and managed the four digital channels. Likewise, they opened the first WordCamp US LinkedIn page, necessary to connect with the audience now that Twitter/X has dropped in popularity.

This year, they included new features such as the WordCamp US digital card, offered by sponsor Nova Registry, which allowed notifications and links about ongoing activities to be sent to Google and Apple wallets.

Most of the work was done before the event. During the event, the team shared photos on social media, communicated last-minute changes, ensured that scheduled posts went well, and helped other teams.

Graphic Design

he graphic design accompanying this hype was spectacular and connected so well with Portland. Sam Garner T was the design lead and developed the brand from an exploratory process inspired by Portland’s vibrant atmosphere and the recent renovations to the Oregon Convention Center. The hand-drawn illustrations, logo, colors, and details told attendees about aspects intimately tied to the city in a subtle way that invited you to investigate and take an interest in your surroundings. In this way, I learned that Portland is the city of roses and that the American beaver is the official animal of Oregon. There were plenty of references to the props needed to explore the wonderful topography of the Cascade Mountain Range represented on the Portland Convention Center’s roofs and in the WordCamp’s design. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to visit this time, but I was able to enjoy the roses.

Photography

Photography was also a key and enjoyable aspect of WordCamp, especially the tradition of taking the classic “family photo” at each gathering. Gale Wallace ‒ the photography squad lead ‒ has been working on the photography team since 2019 and as a lead since 2020. And what were her goals? Gale tells us, “To capture the essence of the event, people meeting again or getting to know each other for the first time, our speakers and their audiences, as well as the interactions between attendees and sponsors.” Among her challenges were ensuring all the activities were covered, selecting all the photos, and uploading them for storage. The most complex was uploading HighRes photos in real-time to share with the social media team.

The photos authentically testify to WordCamp, and it is a pleasure to relive those moments through the perspective of all the photographers.

Volunteers

Finally, after all the preparation and organization, came the staging. Most of the organizers’ work was already done after months of collaboration, and the on-site result was spectacular. Then came the big moment for the volunteers led by Machelle Cox, who was also part of this team last year. They were at the accreditations, in the conference rooms, in the Info Hub, in the sponsors’ area, and taking pictures of the entire event. The call for volunteers always has a positive response from the Community. This year, about 70 people from various parts of the world participated. Some attended for the first time, and others were repeating the experience.

And the WordCamp Began

Day 1: WordCamp US 2024 opened its doors with Contributor Day

In a huge room, many gathered to collaborate and interact with the rest of the Community, some of whom they only knew from Slack. Others came for the first time, and these meetings aimed to incorporate new contributors to the project and offered many opportunities for networking and collaboration.

Courtney Robertson, the lead of this team, has been involved with WordPress for years and is currently sponsored by GoDaddy. Although she feels that the attendance could have been higher, significant strategic work was done between the teams, and she connected with large companies interested in supporting WordPress.

Almost all teams were represented: Community led by Kevin Cristiano / Taco Verdonschot, Accessibility led by Amber Hinds / Joe Dolson, CLI led Brian Henry / Alain Schlesser, Core led by Joe McGill, Core Fields led by Scott Kingsley Clark / Alex Standiford, Core Performance led by Adam Silverstein / Felix Arntz, WordPress Coding Standards led by Rodrigo Primo, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging led by Kristy Burgoine, Design led by Rich Tabor, Documentation led by Leonardus Nugraha, GatherPress led by Mike Auteri / Mervin Hernandez, Hosting led by Lucas Radke / Jason Nickerson, Marketing – Showcase led by Bernard Mayer / Emma Young, Meta led by Bernard Kau / Otto, Mobile led by Jeremy Massel, Openverse led by Zack Krida / Krystle Salazar / Madison Swain-Bowden, Photos led by Michelle Frechette / Marcus Burnette, Playground led by Antonio Sejas, Plugins led by Evan Herman / Chris Christoff, Polyglots led by Marija and Roberta, Support led by Predrag Zdravkovic, Sustainability led by Louise Towler, Test led by Brian Alexander, Themes led by Jessica Lyschik / Tammie Lister, Training led by Laura Adamonis / Kathryn Presner.

Day 2: Showcase Day.

One of the novelties of the program was real and successful examples of the use of WordPress. The talks highlighted the innovative use of WordPress through the presentation of websites from companies such as Disney, The New York Post, Amnesty International, RecipeTin Eats, Vox.com, Polygon, The Verge, Harvard Gazette, Mrs.Sporty, and Pew Research Center. The use of some functionalities through plugins such as Block Visibility, Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker, CodeWP, and AgentWP were explained. In addition, applications used in the WordPress ecosystem developed by companies such as Human Made, Automattic, Google, Dub.co’s link & analytics, Elementor, and Patchstack were shown.

Day 3 and 4: Talks Days

During these days, there were three simultaneous rooms. The Campfire and the sponsors’ room were open to the public. There was a total of 29 talks.

Campfire

Campfire was one of the new sessions of this edition. In the sponsors’ area, a space was created with chairs around a prop campfire. It was planned as another talk with topics such as content marketing, diversity, hosting, and learning WordPress discussed. It was an opportunity to enhance the closeness between the speaker and the attendees, creating very interesting discussions.

Sponsors:

The sponsors’ area was well integrated with the rest of the event because it created a dynamic and positive interaction with the flow of attendees while visiting the booths or moving from one talk to another. Lounge rooms, Campfire talks, and activities such as Paint by Number and the Code is Poetry room where a charismatic Typewriter Troubadour poet would write you a poem were available.

Talks: 

It was a great success that the talks reached all audiences. One of the principles of WordPress is that someone without technical knowledge and of any age can create a website full of up-to-date features with the latest technical trends. 

There was a total of 29 talks. The main themes were as follows: Entering the WordPress Profession, WordPress for enterprise, The future of WordPress, Essential WordPress skills, and Data liberation. On Thursday, the sessions opened with the keynotes of Joseph Jacks and the talk  “Open Source is eating software faster than software is eating the world.” Friday ended with keynotes by Matt Mullenweg. All talks can be viewed on. WordPress TV.

Every Day:

During the four days, side events held by sponsors and MeetUps were planned at the end of the WordCamp activities. They enhanced attendee participation by offering related events to occupy the entire day. I especially enjoyed the visit to the Google Portland offices for the Site Kit like a Pro Workshop presented byr James Osborne,  a BlackPress WordCamp US 2024 Social hosted by Ken Elliott, and Brian Griffin,   and a Do the Woo gathering with Bob Dunn.

OMSI:

Nothing better to close the experience than a celebration at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). This is an impressive architectural space next to the Willamette River. We had an incredible sunset, visited a 20th-century submarine, visited the Planetarium, took pictures at the Photobooth, and almost said goodbye. From there, we took the tram across Portland and went to the after-WordCamp bar at the Hyatt to celebrate the Community with a few beers.

WordCamp US 2024 was spectacular. This was an incredible experience to live from the inside. It takes a tremendous amount of time and energy to plan and execute a world-class technical conference like WordCamp US, where the most widely used CMS is discussed. The planning and attention to detail prove many contributors’ dedication. They have managed to harmonize their daily work with a movement that aligns with their values and desires to improve the web. It was great to meet so many people who are genuinely committed to the project and came from many parts of the world to make it real.

Surely, now you’re following the latest WordPress news, and don’t forget this:  #WCUS. Remember that this incredible Community of passionate people gathered in Portland with the same open and participatory spirit that characterizes it to celebrate not only the present of WordPress but also to work and think about its future. Let’s celebrate all the work done by the Community, from the Community, and for the Community.

To all of you who repeatedly told me, “Thanks for organizing,” I want to return the favor by thanking you for being there, for your energy, and for your daily collaboration to contribute to the mission of “democratizing content publishing on the web.” 

Sources:

*Interviews with Aaron D. Campbell, Katie Richards, Sandy Edwards, Brett Dunst, Gale Wallace, Ken Elliott, Scott Vosburgh, Courtney Robertson, and Sam Garner.

Podcast: Let’s Talk WordCampUS 2024 with Julia, Aaron, Katie, and Bernard. Guests: Aaron Campbell, Bernard Meyer, Julia Golomb and Katie Richards. Podcaster: Bob Dub.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *