StellarWP at WCAsia

Devin Walker, Drew Griswold, Chandni Ssirohi, Michelle Frechette, Jeff Betancourt, and Muhammad Shakeel at WordCamp Asia

WordCamp Asia was held from March seventh through the ninth in Taipei, Taiwan, and StellarWP was there representing all of our brands.

From sponsoring to speaking to social events (and some sightseeing), we took it all in, met as many people as possible, gave (and gathered) some swag, and enjoyed time together.

The Event

A massive THANK YOU and so much respect for the organizers, volunteers, speakers, attendees, and other sponsors who made WordCamp Asia so amazing.

Your dedication, hard work, and sheer stamina had us in sheer awe!

A large floor-to-ceiling banner showing the names and faces of the WCAsia organizers

Lead organizers on the stage for opening remarks for WordCamp Asia — Lead Organizers thanking the sponsor for their support of WCAsia

Sponsoring WordCamp Asia

Sponsoring flagship WordCamps is a little different than local camps. For one, there are so many more sponsors at the larger camps – which is awesome! But it also means that space is sometimes limited. BUT…that didn’t stop people from creating custom buttons that aligned with our brands.

The button-making station at our WCAsia sponsor table.

The papers that table visitors can color and customize on the button-making station at our WCAsia sponsor table.

Speaking at WordCamp Asia

I had the honor of being selected as a speaker for WordCamp Asia, and taking the stage to talk about “What Does Underrepresentation Mean? What Is Allyship? And Why Does it Matter?” It’s a subject that is very dear to me, and being able to talk about how we can all do better in tech (and in WordPress) to be more inclusive and make room for others is such an important topic.

Michelle Frechette on the stage at WC Asia. She's siting on a mobility scooter. Above her is a screen showing her slides. The slide on display discusses how inclusion makes products better. — Michelle on the stage at WordCamp Asia

Chandni’s Experiences

My first international WordCamp, WordCamp Asia 2024 Taipei!
It was exhilarating to meet up with the StellarWP folks in person. Seeing all the hustle and bustle of so many different WordPress names under one roof from all over the world, WOW!

What I enjoyed the most was being at our StellarWP booth/stall, talking to attendees about our brand, making badges/buttons for them with their favourite superpower from the StellarVerse.

Also, almost broke the button making machine once, but thanks to Drew, the saviour, he fixed it. LOL.

I loved the opportunity I got for attending the talks, and for having interactions with different brands and people from all over the world under one roof. The connections I got to make are beautiful!

On top of that, I got to experience Taipei as well!

All in all, a 10/10 experience!

P.S. Looking forward to WordCamp Canada 2024!

View of Taipe from the observation level of Taipei 101

Looking out beyond the decorative embelishments on the observation level of Taipei 101

Drew’s Experiences

WordCamp Asia, from my point of view, was a huge success. Beyond being able to connect with our audience in a new location – the organizing team did an incredible job of making sure we (as sponsors) had everything we needed to be impactful. It was wonderfully organized, and really sets a high bar for other flagship WordCamps.

It was also a great chance for our team to change our scenery a bit and engage face to face with some of our colleagues we don’t get to see very often.

Sculpture in the WCAsia venue - made entirely of steel

Ceiling in the atrium of the Taipei 101 building

Shakeel’s Experiences

I want to give a big thank you to StellarWP for sponsoring my trip to WordCamp Asia 2024 in Taipei, Taiwan. Thanks to their support, I had the opportunity to meet many incredible people, learn a lot, and feel re-energized.

Networking at the event was really great, and I anticipate significant personal and professional growth as a result.

Meeting and spending time with the StellarWP team, including Michelle Frechette, Drew Griswold, Jeff Betancourt, Chandni Ssirohi, and Devin Walker was fantastic.

In addition to the event, I explored Taipei 101 Observatory and visited stunning places like the Maokong Gondola.

I’m truly grateful to StellarWP for their sponsorship.

Jeff’s Experiences

Visiting WordCamp Asia in Taipei was an amazing experience. I loved getting to know our team better, and interacting with so many people in the WordPress community. And to do that as a representative of StellarWP makes it even better.

From the talks to the swag to the parties, every part of WCAsia was well-thought-out and every attendee was engaged and having fun.

Our community may span the globe, but it’s still a close-knit and well-connected community, and seeing everyone there was truly phenomenal.

Contributor Day

One of the best days of any WordCamp is Contributor Day. This year I led the table for the Photos Team. Our team moderated into the WordPress Photo Directory over 200 photos in just about 6 hours, welcoming over 20 new contributors.

Overall, almost 700 people contributed across the WordPress teams on Contributor Day, creating a space that was thriving for involvement and contribution.

Thank you WordCamp Asia!

Speakers on the stage for a final photo during WordCamp Asia's closing remarks

Thank you again to everyone that made WordCamp Asia so Stellar! We know the hard work, dedication, and countless hours that it takes to make an event this size come out as though you never experienced any setback. And to us it seemed that all of your plans went off without any issues – which we also acknowledge is hardly ever the case!

And from me, Michelle, I want to thank you for creating an event that was fully-accessible for someone using a mobility device. There wasn’t anywhere in any of the entire event that I wasn’t able to participate. You made WCAsia truly accessible, and I am truly grateful.

Selfies Galore!

And finally, let me leave you with my selfie reel – where community members take and post selfies, which helps me raise funds to help underrepresented speakers and organizers to WordCamp. Thanks for all the smiles!