JordanH.net

WordCamp UK 2009

Well I’ve just about recovered from a superb weekend down in sunny Cardiff for WordCamp UK. It was interesting, to say the least, and I met up with loads of amazing people who I have a lot of respect for in the industry!

Having booked the hotel at the last minute, I headed down early Saturday morning, made it down in about four hours. The morning started with a quick introduction session, going around the 130 people in the room, each giving quick overview of themselves and something they do with WordPress. I thought this worked really well and showed off the many interests and uses people have for WordPress. Surprisingly, it seemed that over half of the room make some living from WordPress too.

One of the notable sessions I attended was Jonny Allbut’s presentation about the WordPress site development process. It was really interesting and quite detailed, and named quite a few useful plugins. Another interesting session was Simon Dickson’s talk on WordPress being used in the government, and the controversy surrounding the launch of Number10.gov.uk on WordPress.

The evening social on the Saturday was really good. It was great to chat with people and I could put names to faces of people I’ve known for quite a while on Twitter and the like! I also had some time to chat with Matt Mullenweg, who was really interesting and called me a ‘natural’ with David Coveney’s camera

There was quite a bit of heated discussion in the wrap-up session when it was suggested that an enterprise-aimed event along the lines of WordCamp should also be run. Personally I don’t like the idea that much because I fear of it alienating the community and taking away the community spirit from WordPress.

However, on the whole, the weekend was a great success and I am looking forward to WordCamp UK 2010, which has been penned in at 17th-18th July 2010. However, I’m sure I’ll see a lot of you around before then, if not in conversation online! Thanks to everyone who organized, presented at, and attended the event!

Jordan

UPDATE: Can’t believe I forgot about the highlight of the weekend – the free bricks mints given out by the hotel. Oh we had a lot of fun with those

Conferences, Conferences, Conferences!

If you hadn’t guessed already… I’m gonna give a quick mention to two conferences coming up:

First off, WordCamp UK is taking place in Cardiff in less than a month’s time! I’m going and I’m rather excited about it – I was planning on going last year but didn’t quite get round to it. There are still a few tickets left I believe and they are well worth it. It’s a 2-day conference with Matt Mullenweg making an appearance too.

Secondly, the PHPNW’09 conference has just opened for ticket sales – it will be held on 10th October 2009 at the Manchester Conference Centre near Manchester Piccadilly station. There is also a Call for Papers and local members of the community are encouraged to give speaking a try. I really enjoyed last year’s conference!

Just thought I’d give a quick shout out! Will you be attending?