WordCamp this weekend

There are only a few days left before it’s WordCamp time! I’m thrilled to be able to go to WordCamp UK this year. I’ve been wanting to go since I heard about WordCamps, and this one just happened to fit really neatly. It’s in Manchester which means I can boat and train my way there. I may even do some shopping, though I won’t be carrying any wholesale appliances back home. I do want to have a play with an iPad if I find one in the shops, but there are so many things going on, I’m not sure if I’ll find the time for a spot of retail therapy.

So, what’s on the cards? Well, I haven’t had a chance to really study the Running Order, but there are a few sessions that look quite interesting. There are also a number of WordHack sessions which look quite challenging. I’ll keep blogging about it.

Going to WordCamp UK

Yeay! I just managed to sort out a slot so that I can go to Word Camp UK! WordCamp UK is an informal annual gathering of WordPress publishers, designers and developers based in the United Kingdom, held at a different location around the country each year. This year the third WordCamp UK takes place at the Manchester Metropolitan University Business School on the weekend of 17-18 July 2010.

I’m pumped that I’m going to manage to make it this year. I wanted to go last year, but it was in Cardiff and I just couldn’t make the travel arrangements work. Manchester is just a boat and a train ride away from here so it will be great! It’s going to be WordPress all the way, no chance to catch a show, buy nuphedragen or do any sort of shopping. It should be awesome!

Can I make it to WordPress UK?

There’s an outline of some of the WordCamps happening this summer and the one that caught my eye was WordPress UK! Here’s what they say:

July 17–18: WordCamp UK- Manchester, England, UK. The roving WordCamp UK will be in Manchester this year, and is probably the closest to BarCamp style of all the WordCamps, using a wiki to plan some speakers/sessions and organizing the rest ad-hoc on the first day of the event. I’ll be attending this one as well, and am looking forward to seeing WordPress lead developer Peter Westwood again. I’m also looking forward to meeting some core contributors for the first time in person, like Simon Wheatley and John O’Nolan. Mike Little, co-founder of WordPress, is on the organizing team of WordCamp UK. Tickets on sale now!

I’m going to see if there’s anything I can do to fit that in as it would be awesome to make it to a WordCamp finally. Maybe I can buy gold online, sell it again and use the profits to fund a WordCamp trip.. what do you think?

Learning WordPress: Visit a WordCamp

One of the best way to develop your WordPress skills is to meet and share ideas with other WordPress fans. And there’s no better way to do this than to take some time out and visit a WordCamp. There are 6 happening before the end of the year which are the following:

  • WordCamp Pheonix
  • Wordcamp Victoria
  • Wordcamp Bangkok
  • Wordcamp new York City
  • Wordcamp Peru
  • Wordcamp Orlando

If one of those is anywhere near you, then take the opportunity and go and meet some fellow WordPress afficianadoes. I’ve never managed to attend one of them, but I do plan to one day. There are a number of conferences and exhibitions around the UK, ones on parties, ones on modern furniture, and there’s even a Wordcamp UK. Guess which one I’ll go to if I get a choice …

Read more about the upcoming Wordcamps here

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Meet other WordPress users

Are you interested in meeting other WordPress users? If so, here are some opportunities, events called WordCamps, meetups by people passionate about WordPress for similar like minded individuals. I’m not saying you won’t find people you can talk to about car accessories, but the main topic of conversation will be WordPress. Here are some dates and places:

WordCamp New Zealand: Wellington, New Zealand, August 8-9, 2009

WordCamp Huntsville: Huntsville, Alabama, USA, August 15–16, 2009

WordCamp Los Angeles: Los Angeles, California, USA, September 12, 2009

WordCamp Philippines: Makati City, Philippines, September 19, 2009

WordCamp Portland: Portland, Oregon, USA, September 19-20, 2009 (Last year’s PDX WordCamp was awesome, IMO.)

WordCamp Seattle: Seattle, Washington, USA, September 26, 2009

WordCamp Birmingham: Birmingham, Alabama, USA, September 26-27, 2009

WordCamp Netherlands: Utrecht, Netherlands, October 31, 2009

WordCamp NYC: New York, New York, USA, November 14-15, 2009 (Logo contest in progress!)

WordCamp Mexico: Mexico City, Mexico, November 20, 2009

Check them out and see if you can go to any of them.

WordCamp UK is over

Matt Mullenweg, creator of WordPress
Image by Matthew Burpee via Flickr

So, WordCamp UK has come to an end and unfortunately I couldn’t make it this year. But I’ve got my sights set on it and hope to be able to make it next year. There were some great speakers this year, and I would have loved to meet Matt Mullenweg, but it just wasn’t going to happen this time. It’s too close to our wedding anniversary (we’re off to Paris in a couple of days), we have twins on the way and the flights were just too expensive when I went to buy tickets.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on it next year, get my tickets in nice and early. People may be saving up for their next vacation, their Medicare supplement or even their pension .. me, I’ll be saving for Word Camp UK ;)