According to wpmudev blog: WordCamps are unlike any other web industry event. They have a format and an atmosphere all of their own and thats what makes them very special.

You will find this article to be a little bit long hoping to convince you that if you can attend a WordCamp, you really should. You’ll get more from a WordCamp than you could from years of reading WordPress blogs, buying WordPress books and subscribing to WordPress vlogs.

But first, an introduction to what WordCamps are.

The first WordCamp took place in San Francisco in 2006. Since then, 846 WordCamps have taken place in 72 cities, 65 countries and in 6 continents all over the world.

WordCamps happen almost every week. At the time of writing there are more than seven coming up in the next month, in different locations of the World.

Here In Kenya (where we are at the moment) we’ve had two WordCamps, all took place in Nairobi. 2016 and the recent WordCamp Nairobi 2017, which was attended by 200 WordPress users and developers from all over Kenya and its neighboring countries; Uganda, Sudan and Rwanda.

WordCamps are aimed at everyone and anyone who uses WordPress. You don’t have to be experienced in order to benefit from a WordCamp – there are sessions for users, too, as well as for designers and people more interested in the business of WordPress.

WordCamps are all run with support from WordCamp Central and are not-for-profit. Organizers don’t take a penny for their work, speakers and volunteers give their time for free. This keeps costs down for everyone attending. So cost definitely is not a barrier.

The fact that speakers are not paid and are able to put their names forward and propose talks instead of just being invited also makes for a diverse and ever changing line-up of speakers at every WordCamp.

Speakers are not all experienced veterans of the speaking circuit, in fact most of them are “ordinary” WordPress users and developers who want to share their knowledge with other people in the community. The call for speakers is still available, you are welcome to come and share in WordCamp Mombasa 2018.

So that’s some background on WordCamps, but what will you get from going to one?

1. You’ll Learn. Lots.

Most WordCamps have more than one track of talks aimed at different audiences or skill levels, so you might find a user track in one room at the same time as a developer track in another. This means that there’s a huge range of topics being covered by the talks and a wide range of levels they’re pitched at.

At a traditional web design conference you might pay a lot for a ticket and attend maybe five hour-long talks each day. The speakers will be experienced veterans of the circuit perhaps but you’ll still only learn about five things.

At a WordCamp however, you’ll pay less for your ticket and you might see ten or more talks in a day, because they tend to be shorter. The speakers might not be experienced at speaking but they’ll have new and interesting ideas they want to share with the community. Things you won’t hear about anywhere else.

At some WordCamps you can also attend one or more workshops: at WordCamp Mombasa we are planning to run workshops at the same time as talks. During these workshops people will be able to learn skills such as how to install WordPress for the first time; how to manage their site; how to attract more customers; and how to create their first theme. Learn from WordPress experts at workshops.

And outside the formal sessions you’ll meet people whom you can learn from too. Speakers at WordCamps are only too happy to chat to people about their topic and to answer questions, and aren’t too proud to learn from the people who attended their talk and have complimentary ideas. And there are plenty of other people you can learn from. During the coffee breaks and social events you’ll get talking to people with a diverse range of experience and knowledge of WordPress: you’ll get ideas from them and learn how to be better at WordPress yourself.

2. You’ll Be Inspired

I think the way in which I have benefited most from a WordCamp I attended (one), is in the inspiration I got from them. In the early days of running my own blogI gained huge inspiration about ways I could take my business forward and explore new opportunities. As I spent more and more time writing using WordPress. I have also been inspired by the personal stories of the people I met and the way they have developed their careers with WordPress.

Image courtesy of WordCamp Nairobi 2017

Aside from all the things you’ll learn at a WordCamp, you’ll hear about new trends in web development and ideas for taking WordPress further. You’ll meet people working with WordPress in as way you haven’t thought of but would love to try. And you’ll learn about career opportunities with WordPress that you might not even have known existed.

You’ll also be inspired to make a contribution to the WordPress community: at many WordCamps there’s a contributor day, where you can learn how to give something back from people who are already making a valuable contribution to WordPress. Unsure how to give your five for the future? After attending a WordCamp you won’t be the same again.

Be inspired by the people you’ll meet and learn from. Because of the fact that WordCamps have a large and varied group of speakers, some of them speaking at their first web event, you’ll find that new and different ideas are explored in a way you don’t always find at more traditional web conferences, where speakers may be talking about a topic they’ve been working on and speaking about for years. Some of these talks will be specific and detailed and open your ideas to new methods of development that you didn’t know about.

3. You’ll Meet Some Amazing People

The best thing about WordCamps, and about WordPress in general, is the people. WordPress has a massive community of users and developers with an ethos that’s quite different from many other sections of the web industry. People from the WordPress community aren’t afraid to share their knowledge, expertise and code, and no-one worries about trade secrets.

These are the people you’ll meet at a WordCamp. People who are more than happy (eager even) to share their knowledge and experience with you and help you learn about what they do. People who don’t worry that you’ll steal business from them if you know what they know, because that’s not how WordPressers think. People who are very welcoming and don’t treat new WordPress users any differently from how they treat old hands.

I attended my first WordCamp alone and didn’t know a soul there: by the end of the weekend I’d made contact with people who I stayed in touch with and even worked with. I made contact with yet more people, some of whom are now best friends and colleagues. I would never have met these people if I had not been to a WordCamp, and they are my network of WordPress experts, skills, support and friendship.

Don’t be afraid to go to the social events if you’re on your own: people will welcome you and if you’re prepared to talk to them, they’ll happily talk to you. After all, you have got an instant conversation opener if you ask what they do with WordPress. A lot of agencies go to WordCamps with the specific aim of recruiting developers and designers.

Sometimes they’re looking for full-time employees, sometimes freelancers. If you’re a talented WordPress developer there’s a good chance that someone in that room is looking for your skills.

So… You’re Convinced. What Next?

So I’ve convinced you that you should attend a WordCamp, fantastic! The next step is to find one you can attend. here it is!

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Summary

WordCamps are great. They’re one of my favourite ways to spend a weekend: having fun and learning loads.

Attending a WordCamp will cost you a lot less than most other web conferences, especially if you don’t have to pay for accommodation or travel too far. And you’ll benefit from the event just as much as you would from something ten times the price, at least in my experience.

Maybe I’ll see you at WordCamp Mombasa in the coming days, please say hi!

Image credits: WordCamp Nairobi 2017