The WordCamp Europe 2015 conference’s second day is now closing, and it’s been a weekend full of fantastic and diverse content. This was the 3rd, of a now annual, pan-European WordCamp and every year it gets better.
That’s a pretty exciting prospect, as we receive the announcement of next year’s WordCamp Europe 2016 which will take place in Vienna, Austria, 24-26 June 2016.
On larger WordCamps
As described on WordCamp Central:
WordCamps are informal, community-organized events that are put together by WordPress users like you. Everyone from casual users to core developers participate, share ideas, and get to know each other.
Generally speaking, WordCamps are based around a local community in a specific city. WordCamp Europe is one of two annual WordCamps that span a larger region. The other is WordCamp San Francisco, which is widely considered to be “the mother ship”, and will likely evolve into WordCamp US in its next incarnation.
This new approach of embracing larger WordCamps seems to me to be a sign of a maturing community and project. The content of these WordCamps also seems to reflect this maturation, as topics tend to be less technical and more high level. Covering issues like ethics and cross-community relations.
Other regions
As individual regions begin to reach similar levels of maturity, the move toward these larger WordCamps is a natural progression. Earlier this year at WordCamp Brisbane in Australia, there were a number of attendees from the wider Asia Pacific region. The same will be true of WordCamp Kansai in July this year with attendees from outside of Japan travelling to attend and speak.
I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the not-too-distant-future, we’ll also see a pan-Asia Pacific WordCamp being organised. Particularly when you look at the size of WordCamps already in places like Tokyo, with attendance approaching 1500 people.
Moving forward
The European community has set a wonderful example of how a large, roaming, pan-regional WordCamp can and does work. Embraced by the community, and growing every year, with attendance from all over the world.
I’m very much looking forward to WordCamp Europe 2016 in Vienna, Austria, as we all continue to grow as a community and push WordPress together. Hope to see you there!
Special thanks to Marcel Schmitz for the featured image.
