WordCamp Valencia 2023: the highlights (in our opinion, of course)

Have you ever wondered how a WordPress event can boost your creativity, expand your network, and enrich your knowledge? Well, all of that and much more is a WordCamp like Valencia 2023.

We invite you to take a tour of the highlights of the 2023 edition of this WordCamp, a perspective from us as attendees and sponsors to explain how it has benefited us and what we have learned.

If you couldn’t attend, we hope our story encourages you not to miss the next edition. Keep reading!

Table of Contents

• First, what is a WordCamp?
• Is a WordCamp for everyone?
• Why sponsor a WordCamp?
  • First edition of the School Day
  • Contributor Day
  • Sponsors and Speakers dinner: more networking
  • But were there presentations?
  • Our merchandising, plastic-free
  • But there was more:
• A piece of advice, don’t miss the next one

First, what is a WordCamp?

It’s an event of the WordPress Community, meaning anyone who uses, works with, develops, or simply wants to use WordPress, where there is a day with a series of presentations and talks aimed at showcasing all aspects related to WordPress, and typically another day dedicated to contributing to the WordPress Community, where tables are organized by topics and collaborative work is done.

If you consider that WordPress, an open-source content management system, is used on 43% of the world’s websites, you can understand WordCamps as its ultimate expression of community.

Is a WordCamp for everyone?

Yes.

Anyone working in a WordPress environment will benefit from attending a WordCamp because it is, above all, a collaborative, welcoming, and inclusive environment that seeks to expand boundaries. Even those who are not yet working but are considering using WordPress can attend.

The community is open to new people, and there are talks for all levels.

Additionally, this WordCamp especially welcomed all those starting with WordPress and needing a more comprehensive view on its School Day. Keep reading to see what it was all about.

Why sponsor a WordCamp?

Let’s not kid ourselves, sponsoring a WordCamp provides visibility within the WordPress community, which is huge. But you also contribute to making the WordCamp possible, and that’s the beautiful part.

In a WordCamp like Valencia 2023, where 400 people can come together, a wide range of resources is needed to find a venue, resources, and sustenance for all attendees during the event days. It’s not easy, and without sponsors, there wouldn’t be enough financial means.

In short, as a Managed Hosting company that only works with WordPress, it makes perfect sense for us, and it’s our way of giving back to the WordPress Community by actively participating in making WordCamps happen.

There are various sponsorship levels, but the one that best fits us, by type of company and personality, is the one that allows us to offer merchandise in the welcome bag and have a booth alongside other sponsors. It’s a strategic, high-traffic location, ideal for networking.

We could summarize the advantages as:

• It’s an ideal time to speak directly with people and clarify their doubts, as well as meet many others in person.
• Sponsorship provides information about your customers and the market that is difficult to obtain in day-to-day operations.
• It allows you to introduce yourself to hundreds of people.
• Users can put a face to a brand and meet the people behind it.
• All parties benefit from the networking that takes place.
• As a company, motivation is reinforced, and synergies are created.
• You have access to dinner with all organizers, sponsors, and speakers. An opportunity to break down more barriers.

First edition of the School Day

In its fourth edition, WordCamp Valencia 2023 introduced the WordPress School Day, a morning event focused on beginners.

This event provided an introduction to WordPress, covering basic concepts and fundamentals of web development. Attendees enjoyed the opportunity to ask specific questions and start their learning from scratch, thus establishing a solid foundation for their evolution into experienced professionals in the WordPress field.

The program of the School Day covered these topics:

Session	Speakers
Advanced configuration and security in WordPress	Teresa Saez
Domain, hosting, and installation	Patricia Navarro, Fernando Puente
Full site editing	Flavia Bernárdez Rodríguez
Basic configuration, plugins, and themes	Patricia Navarro, Fernando Puente
Snippets for your website (Catalan)	Núria Ramoneda
Visual editors	Patricia Navarro, Fernando Puente
Frequently asked questions, advanced and basic discussion and debate	–

If you are a beginner and these topics interest you, don’t miss the next editions. Unfortunately, these sessions were not recorded, unlike the presentations, so don’t miss the next one!

Contributor Day

In every WordCamp, there is a day dedicated to contributing to the WordPress community where tables are organized by topics, led by one or two people, and collaborative work is done.

There were tables for:

• Photo and video
• Design
• Plugins
• Analytics Workshop
• Translation
• Support

We joined the analytics workshop led by Carlos M. Díaz Honrado, as analytics always generates many doubts and keeps us all quite busy. With him, we were able to gain a clearer understanding of some aspects that differentiate the new GA4 from UA, and the best part is that we picked up a couple of tips for our website from the “SEO guys.”

We still have pending active contribution since we weren’t actively contributing in the workshop itself, something we did in the following days, providing plugin translations and copyright-free photographs.

Sponsors and Speakers dinner: more networking

If there’s one thing that identifies WordCamp Valencia, it’s that food is never lacking, and this occasion was no different. After the Contributor Day, the organization of a WordCamp usually thanks the collaboration by inviting sponsors and speakers to dinner.

The atmosphere is very relaxed, and it’s a great opportunity to expand your circle of acquaintances.

The organizers of WordCamp Valencia 2023 took on a great challenge to find a venue that was up to hosting 100+ people who had gathered for dinner. The dinner did not disappoint, there was something for everyone. It was amazing that they could attend to so many people so efficiently. Congratulations to the organization for the choice!

But were there presentations?

We admit it, we did a lot of networking and skipped most of the presentations on Saturday, November 11.

Partly because networking is as good as presentations, and as a last resort, the latter are always published on wordpress.tv.

Even so, we managed to attend a couple of them. Specifically, we were intrigued by the topic of computer forensics, even if it didn’t have much to do with WordPress, we wanted to learn more about this topic.

Talking to people is something you can’t miss, a sea of opportunities. As a company and as a freelancer, talking to as many people as you can is the most recommended thing you can do at a WordCamp. Regardless of your level or specialty, dive in and ask questions, you probably won’t have the opportunity to speak with that person in person for a long time.

Our merchandising, plastic-free

Why did we give away a plantable cookie?

The gifts from sponsors to attendees at a WordCamp are like little treasures, one of the most talked-about and sought-after things.

For several editions now, the WordPress sustainability group has been advocating for reducing waste at WordCamps and opting for new ways of doing things. The welcome bag is questioned by this group as it tends to contain elements that meet few of the advocated parameters (carbon footprint, waste, plastics, sustainability, necessity, etc.).

At Wetopi, we want to bring some sense to the act of giving gifts, offering value, and improving the environment. This time was no different, and we chose to give away Plantable Cookies. On other occasions, we have given away bamboo toothbrushes, organic cotton toiletry bags, pine seeds, and more.

How did we get here?:

• It started with volunteering at WordCamp Barcelona 2023 and meeting Jordi Bosch from Mamafermenta, who collaborates with the Eixarcolant collective.
• It continued with a conversation with Nahuai Badiola, team leader of the WordPress “sustainability” group.

What could unite something that didn’t need a production process, that was local, sustainable, and that represented an improvement to the environment?

• The plantable cookie from Eixarcolant, who aim for a fairer, more sustainable, and ethical food consumption and socioeconomic development, gave us that answer.
• Similarly, we were collaborating with the AcidH association, which works for the care of people with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF) and Mild Intellectual Disability (MID).
• It’s a gift that even if discarded, does no harm to the environment, contains zero waste, no plastic, and is local.
• It is durable and replicable.
• We felt that all of this aligned with our principles and those of the WordPress sustainability group.

🌱Both wild mustard, arugula, sugar lettuce, and wallflowers are easy to sprout and are part of a traditional culture. If you were lucky enough to receive one, show us how it grows!

What will we think of for the next one? Do we continue distributing traditional varieties?…

But there was more:

In addition to this cookie, attendees also received a €20 discount to try our hosting. Don’t have it? Don’t worry, here’s the promo.

A piece of advice, don’t miss the next one

From an event like WordCamp, you always come out better than you came in, with more experiences, contacts, and synergies that help you move forward.

Whether you go as a speaker, sponsor, or just as an attendee, it’s not only recommended but also essential if you want to thrive in the WordPress environment.

From here, we encourage you to attend the next one that’s closest to you if you haven’t already. You’ll see a big change from before and after.

We are techies passionate about WordPress. With wetopi, a Managed WordPress Hosting, we want to minimize the friction that every professional faces when working and hosting WordPress projects.

Not a wetopi user?

Free full performance servers for your development and test.
No credit card required.

This might also interest you: