Having worked in the WordPress ecosystem for close to 4 years now, I was quite familiar with WordCamps. This familiarity, however, didn’t come first hand. It was from articles, blogs, videos, and people talking so highly about it with numerous stories about the numerous WordCamp’s they’d been at. I removed my notepad and I had another item on my bucket list: “Attend a WordCamp”.
As soon as the chatter about WordCamp Mumbai 2023 started, I knew this was my chance, and I grabbed it. The expectations I had for WordCamps were just an inch above the clouds, thanks to stories I’d heard. I got in touch with one of the volunteers to coordinate the rtCamp setup at the event and with the level of preparation involved, I knew it was going to be a hit.
With bags packed and hopes high, I reached Mumbai, eagerly waiting to mark this off my bucket list. Day 1 started off early morning, with registrations and collecting my first WordCamp name badge:
We quickly set up our booth, met fellow rtCampers who travelled from different parts of the country and were ready to face the day. The sheer number of people was overwhelming, beyond what I expected, and what was even better was with warmth with which we were greeted by everyone. So many people enthusiastic about WordPress, some associated with the industry for over 10 years and some just curious to know what is WordPress all about. I was delighted to meet a few people whom I’ve interacted with virtually before, a few whom I’ve worked with before, and the conversations with all took my first WordCamp experience to the next level.
I had the opportunity to attend a few interesting sessions throughout the event, the learning experience is something I’ll always treasure. Whether it was the importance of translation for websites, tips on writing, personal branding, AI, security, the art of storytelling and a deep dive into privacy sandbox, all valuable lessons that I wouldn’t encounter in my day-to-day otherwise.
After the event concluded, seeing the empty booth was upsetting. Tired, exhausted but with a ton of memories, it’s safe to say that my first WordCamp experience was phenomenal. Ticked off, and waiting for the next one already.
In a glimpse:
