2023 and Me: My WordPress Year with StellarWP

One of the things I love best about the work that we do at StellarWP is meeting the WordPress community face-to-face at events like WordCamps.

Whether we’re sponsoring, attending, or having StellarWP team members speak or organize, WordCamps and WordPress events are a great way to give back to the community, learn more about our customers, share opportunities, and get to know one another.

Since the return of WordCamps, StellarWP has been happily contributing to them. And I’m happy to have been–and continue to be–part of that. This post is a bit of a personal memoir of WordCamps, State of the Word, and other WordPress events and involvements for 2023 with my recollections and thoughts, though many Stellarians (I think I just coined that term) have attended many events.

State of the Word

OK, so I know State of the Word (SOTW) happened in 2022, but I had to include it here. Our own Timothy Jacobs got some recognition for Engine Awesome.

“With Engine Awesome, you can build anything you can imagine. CRMs, Order Systems, Project Management, and more!”

This was the second in-person State of the Word post-pandemic, and I was honored with an invitation to both. SOTW was held in the Tumblr offices in New York City, which have an amazing view, and a beautiful aesthetic with Tumblr user art on every wall.

And if you know me, you know I asked questions at both of them, first around bringing more youth into WordPress and then around continuing to build the WordPress Photo Directory.

WordCamp Asia

February 16th marked the inauguration of WordCamp Asia which was held in Bangkok, Thailand. This camp was three years in the making. Originally planned for 2020, WCAsia was postponed until it was safe for the community to convene again.

The wait was worth it!

I was honored to be selected as a speaker for WCAsia. My talk, Look for the Good, highlighted the positive attributes of the WordPress community and how we helped one another through the difficulty of lockdown and beyond.

WordCamp Phoenix

Riding on the excitement of WordCamp Asia, I joined Kathy Zant in Phoenix, Arizona, where we were both speakers. Kathy spoke about security and I talked about inclusion in WordPress. The speaker swag was a really cool basketball jersey, which I had as many attendees sign as possible and then framed and hung in my home office.

Out of this camp, we launched LGBTQPress.com, a safe space for WordPress community members who are also part of the LGBTQIA+ community (and allies).

WordCamp Buffalo

This was my 6th time helping organize WordCamp Buffalo, which took place in May. We had a great turnout and, despite losing some speakers because they had to stay home due to COVID, the sessions were amazing. We had some first-time speakers and lots of first-time attendees, too. I was happy to give a talk about starting a podcast. My favorite questions came from a 10-year-old who wants to teach the world about how to save the planet. 🌎

Happy Birthday, WordPress

Also in May, we celebrated the 20th anniversary (birthday?) of WordPress. Launched May 27, 2013, WordPress has definitely stood the test of time.

I had the pleasure of traveling to Oklahoma City for a family event that happened to coincide with the Post Status party celebrating WordPress and was excited to attend that as well.

WordCamp Europe

June found me traveling to Athens, Greece, for WordCamp Europe! What an exciting time that was! My daughter traveled with me (which makes international travel a whole lot easier as a disabled person).

There she got to see me “in action” as I presented about how WordPress has changed my life in so many good ways. (I think she was impressed by how many people actually knew me, and she dubbed me the “WordPress Madonna, Purple Ambition Tour!)

WordCamp Montclair

From a huge WordCamp (WCEU) to a smaller regional camp, WordCamp Montclair was a wonderful event.

Tiffany Bridge (Nexcess) and I were both speakers. Tiffany gave a great talk called “I Just Got This WordPress And Don’t Know How To Use It!” and I gave a talk on starting a podcast.

Emily Garfield even created a GIF of me speaking!

WordPress Community Summit

The 2023 WordPress Community Summit took place during the two days leading up to WordCamp US this year, and in the same location, Washington, DC (well, right outside of there in Maryland).

The Summit brought together WordPressers from all over the world to discuss what works well and what we can improve for the global WordPress community.

Sitting in those conversations reminded me anew of the talent, passion, and dedication of so many people who make our community amazingly vibrant. It was an honor to be included.

WordCamp US

Following the two days of the Summit was WordCamp US, including a well-attended Contributor Day.

I worked with photographers that day helping them understand how to upload photos to the WordPress Photo Directory, what makes a good photo, what can’t be included, and other best practices.

Then came the fullest two days of WordCamping I think the StellarWP team has been involved with. We had a phenomenal booth with in-demand swag, including banners, buttons, and the coolest tech bags. The talk sessions were well-attended, and the whole team had a blast meeting so many awesome WordPressers in the hallway track!

And we cohosted an amazing Pride Party in a 2-story lounge with the most amazing views. The food. The party swag, the music, the ambience, and the fiercest drag queens you’ve ever met made this party an 11/10!

I did a special episode of our WP Constellations Podcast at WCUS interviewing eleven different attendees about their experiences, their work, and the community. I’m grateful they all took time during the event to share their thoughts with us. It’s definitely worth a listen!

WordCamp Rochester

The end of September found me as lead organizer for WordCamp Rochester along with fellow StellarWP team member Jeff Betancourt. It was a small but mighty WordCamp with Nyasha Green as our keynote speaker and a warm welcome from New York State Senator Jeremy A. Cooney.

So Many Amazing Online Events

This year I also found myself speaking at many online events like WP Campus (held online and in New Orleans), WordCamp Montreal, Kadence Amplify, Cloudways Webinars, Post Status Webinars, and more.

I had the opportunity to emcee our own Kadence Amplify fall event, meeting some amazing speakers and learning more about how to make your WordPress website even better.

Guesting on podcasts (and running a few of my own) was so fun, too!

We Launched a Podcast at StellarWP

In 2023 we also launched the first StellarWP podcast: WP Constellations. Together with Jeff Chandler, I spoke to many people both within StellarWP and in the WordPress community in general, learning about everything from plugins to a 1:1 with Josepha Haden Chomphosy about the Women and Nonbinary Release Squad for WordPress 6.4.

Looking forward to 2024!

I can’t tell you what we have in store for next year yet…but I can promise you that it will be good…and that I’ll take you along for the ride.

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