A week from today on May 1, hundreds of WordPress users, developers, designers and general enthusiasts will descend upon San Francisco for the 4th annual WordCamp SF. Since that first WordCamp in 2006, back when WordPress was on version 2.0 (Duke), the number of people using WordPress to power their web publishing — from personal blogs to large-scale commercial sites — has grown by millions. It’s no wonder this year’s event is going to be so great.
If you’re unfamiliar with WordCamps, here’s the skinny: the San Francisco event is the flagship, put together each year under the direction of WordPress co-founder and lead developer Matt Mullenweg, who traditionally reports on the “State of the Word” and assembles a lineup of speakers that have inspired him over the past year. This year’s lineup includes luminaries such as Richard Stallman, the father of Free Software, best-selling author Scott Berkun, and Salon.com co-founder Scott Rosenberg. As the final speaker list is finalized, the remaining speakers will be added to the WordCamp SF website, but a surprise or two is still possible.
Though the main event is on Saturday, May 1, there are additional days of WordPress goodness in store. Saturday, May 1 will be the main conference with scheduled speakers. There will be keynotes, session tracks for both bloggers/end-users and developers, and lightning talks to provide a broad mix of content, followed by a raging afterparty. Sunday, May 2 will shift location and tone, with a low-key developers’ unconference for the super-code-focused attendees. May 3 and 4 are conference-free, but a WordPress core contributor in-person code sprint will span those two days, bringing together core contributors old and new from around the globe for two days of intense hacking (and let’s face it, 3.0 bug fixes).
If you’re in the Bay Area, or can be, and want to attend WordCamp San Francisco, go get your ticket today!
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It’s definitely WordCamp season; just check out the growing list of upcoming WordCamps over the next couple of months! If you don’t see a WordCamp near you listed here, check the rest of the schedule at WordCamp.org. In the meantime, don’t forget that many WordCamps post video of their presentations on WordPress.tv.
April 24 (today!) – WordCamp Orange County
Irvine, CA USA
April 29 – WordCamp Nashville
Nashville, TN USA
May 1 – WordCamp San Francisco
San Francisco, CA USA
May 8 – WordCamp Paris
Paris, France
May 8 – WordCamp Argentina
Buenos Aires, Argentina
May 8 – WordCamp Chile
Santiago, Chile
May 15–16 – WordCamp Denmark
Copenhagen, Denmark
May 15 – WordCamp Victoria
Victoria, BC Canada
May 21–22 – WordCamp Italy
Milan, Italy
May 22 – WordCamp Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
May 22–23 – WordCamp Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina USA
May 29–30 – WordCamp Fayetteville
Fayetteville, Arkansas USA
May 29 – WordCamp Yokohama
Yokohama, Japan
June 5–6 – WordCamp Chicago
Chicago, Illinois USA
June 12 – WordCamp Reno-Tahoe
Reno, Nevada USA
June 12 – WordCamp Vancouver
Vancouver, Canada
June 18 – WordCamp Catania
Catania, Italy
June 19 – WordCamp Columbus
Columbus, Ohio USA