5 Must-See WordCamp Presentations

Attending a WordCamp is an opportunity that every interested designer, developer and user should take advantage of. No matter your level of experience with WordPress, you are almost certain to rub elbows with some fascinating people while picking up some useful knowledge along the way.

Each event has an interesting mix of presenters. You’ll find anyone from WordPress core contributors to passionate users willing to share some tips and advice. But the presentations aren’t just about technical knowledge. You also get a healthy mix of business advice and other forms of inspiration. What you end up with is a day (or two) of hearing from different people with different perspectives.

In that spirit, here are a handful of terrific presentations that run the gamut of subject matter. Each is worth taking the time out to watch.

Aaron Jorbin: The Website That Almost Didn’t Launch

I was in the audience for Aaron Jorbin’s talk at WordCamp Lancaster (US) 2017. It is by far one of the most compelling presentations I’ve ever seen. Jorbin tells the story of how a very large publication (hint: they’re famous for their satirical cartoons) went about re-launching their website using WordPress and all of the unexpected challenges that they had to face. There are no slides, no special effects – just an edge-of-your-seat story that will leave you quite impressed.

Tammie Lister: Getting to know Gutenberg

Tammie Lister is the team lead for the Gutenberg project, the brand-new editing experience that ships with WordPress 5.0. Therefore, she is the perfect person to provide some behind-the-scenes info on how the editor works and how it will change the content creation process.

Aaron Campbell: How The WordPress Security Team Works

Aaron Campbell is head of the WordPress Security Team. He’s also someone we interviewed awhile back regarding another of his sessions about finding success while being an introvert. Here, he provides a fascinating look at how WordPress handles security issues.

Panel Discussion: How Do You Build a Custom Theme?

WordPress enables us to accomplish our design and development goals in a variety of different ways. A great example of this is in custom theme development. At WordCamp London 2017, a panel of experts spoke about their process for building themes. It’s interesting to learn about some of the various approaches that are taken.

Morten Rand-Hendriksen: CSS Grid Changes Everything (About Web Layouts)

CSS Grid is one of the biggest advancements in web design layout that we’ve ever seen. Morten Rand-Hendriksen introduces us to what CSS Grid is and demonstrates the power of what it can do. But this talk is also a prime example that not all WordCamp sessions are about WordPress, specifically. There are sessions that cover a variety of topics that relate to design, development and business in more general terms.

Always Worth the Time

I’ve attended a number of local and regional WordCamps over the years and I can honestly say that each one has been a worthwhile experience. There is always an opportunity to learn a development technique, a new plugin, a business strategy or you may even benefit from a valuable piece of advice.

Then there are the attendees. If you visit the same camp more than once, you’ll find a great mix of new and familiar faces. People (even this somewhat shy guy) tend to be very willing to strike up a conversation. The atmosphere is very fun and relaxed, while the tickets are quite affordable.

The talks above are examples of both the variety of subjects discussed and presenters you’ll interact with. I would encourage you to seek out a WordCamp in your area and experience it for yourself. But even if you can’t get out to the next gathering in person, you can still enjoy the presentations via WordPress.tv.

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