We had an incredible time at WordCamp Europe 2024 in Torino. From engaging sessions to unforgettable team moments, here are the highlights of our Italian adventure.
A WordCamp is a conference that focuses on everything WordPress. 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.
Ciao, Torino! 🇮🇹
Most XWPeople’s journey began at their local airport…
Our team had a fantastic showing at WordCamp Europe 2024, with 19 team members from 14 different countries attending in person, and many more watching the the event remotely from home.
XWPeople attended WCEU 2024 from: 🇬🇧🇵🇱🇮🇹🇪🇸🇧🇬🇺🇸🇨🇦🇮🇹🇦🇺🇷🇸🇪🇪🇨🇴🇱🇻🇵🇹
XWP Team Day: Part One 🧺
Our team on the ground kicked things off with pastries and coffee at a local café, then explored the city’s charming streets and vibrant markets.
In the afternoon, we grabbed some Italian goodies (including Nutella, of course), and had a sunny picnic in Parco del Valentino. An afternoon of laughter, good food, and great company laid the perfect foundations for the rest of the event.
That evening, some also met for cocktails and traditional padellino pizza, sharing stories from our experiences around Torino so far and planning their itineraries for the next few days of social events.
Day 0: Contributor Day 🙌
Contributor Day is a special day designated for contributing to WordPress. Attendees arrive at the venue the day before talks and workshops begin to co-work and collaborate with new and existing contributors.
This year’s contributor day was a massive success, with 726 contributors working across 25 teams to support the WordPress project. Their accomplishments included translating 79,059 “strings” for the WordPress user interface across 29 languages, updating documentation for the forthcoming 6.6 release, onboarding new contributors for the support forums and testing teams, and identifying ways to improve plugin security.
Day 1 highlights 🚀
Keynote: Sustainable open source is the future — Joost de Valk, Juliette Reinders Folmer
On Day 1, Joost de Valk and Juliette Reinders Folmer delivered a keynote speech on the future of open source. It addressed what open-source sustainability means beyond code contributions, emphasizing the importance of funding and advocacy for enterprise use.
The talk explored practical strategies for making open source sustainable and clarified the benefits of funding these projects. It set an optimistic tone for the event, highlighting how everyone can help keep open-source initiatives thriving through financial and community support.
Gutenberg Speed Build Challenge: A Web Design Duel! — Jamie Marsland, Jessica Lyschik, Rich Tabor.
In this live event, Jamie Marsland, Founder of Pootlepress, hosted a 30-minute competition to recreate a website using only the WordPress Block Editor.
Contestants Jessica Lyschik and Rich Tabor only saw the site they were recreating just before the challenge began, showcasing not only their creativity and skill, but their ability to create something amazing under intense time pressure.
Later, in a Q&A with WordPress Co-Founder Matt Mullenweg, Jessica went on to issue a challenge: That he himself participates in a similar speed build challenge in the future. He accepted!
The recording of this challenge is still being processed. When it’s ready, we’ll be sure to update this post!
XWP Team Day: Part Two 🚃
For part two of our team day in Torino, we boarded a special tram that offered a unique dining experience. As we rode through the city, we were treated to a multi-course meal featuring traditional dishes from the Piedmont region.
The tram ride gave us a fresh perspective of the city, blending sightseeing with delicious local cuisine. It was a unique and enjoyable way to experience Torino together, adding another memorable highlight to our WordCamp Europe 2024 trip.
Day 2 Highlights 🙌
Fixing the ladder: getting more women into leadership at WordPress businesses — Siobhan McKeown, Dee Teal
In an insightful conversation, Siobhan McKeown and Dee Teal addressed the gender disparity in WordPress leadership. They explored why many WordPress businesses are led by men, shared personal challenges they had faced as women in the industry, and discussed how they overcame these obstacles.
They also discussed their work on WPIncludes.me, an initiative co-founded by Siobhan and our Director of Engineering (Learning and Growth) Francesca Marano, showcasing some early results from the Gender Equality in WordPress Businesses Survey.
The survey is still open and will be used to create a full report around September. We highly encourage anyone who hasn’t already to fill in the form—all genders are welcome (and encouraged!) to participate, and you can choose to remain fully anonymous.
WordPress Summer Update with Co-Founder Matt Mullenweg 📣
One of the main events of any WordCamp is undoubtedly the keynote address and live Q&A session with Matt Mullenweg, the co-creator of WordPress and CEO of Automattic.
Matt reflected on WordPress reaching its 21st anniversary since he and Mike Little launched the first version in 2003. He shared 11 things to ensure that WordPress remains sustainable for decades to come:
- Simple things should be easy and intuitive, and complex things possible.
- Blogs and dynamic sites are better.
- Documentation should be wiki-easy to edit.
- Forums should be front and center.
- Plugins and themes with community infrastructure.
- Great theme previews and diverse aesthetics.
- We can’t over-index for guidelines and requirements.
- Feedback loops are so important.
- Core should be opinionated and quirky.
- If you make WordPress, use WordPress.
- Stay close to our end-users
WordCamp Europe 2024 at a glance
WordCamp Europe 2024 captured the essence of Torino through and through. Here are a few stand-out stats from our friends over at NitroPack
- 3 days full of events
- 2,000+ participants
- 70+ countries
- 60 presentations and workshops
- 50+ speakers
- 40+ sponsors
- 1 Location announcement for 2025… See you in Basel? 👀
