My experience at WordCamp Europe 2025 can be summed up in five words:

• Whirlwind – life comes at you pretty fast. WordCamps, even faster!
• Nonstop – from the moment we landed in Basel, we were busy morning ’til night.
• Momentous – big things are happening: shifts in how we make the web, how we use “AI,” and how WordPress packages get distributed.
• Connecting – seeing friends & collaborators—old and new—and experiencing treasured face-to-face moments.
• Heavy – I carried more video and audio gear with me than ever before (videos to come!).

StellarWP’s experience at WCEU involves some different words:

1. Investment – StellarWP is a WordCamp sponsor (which I’m incredibly proud to be involved with), but our strategy for recent WordCamps is a little different than some other sponsors. Instead of putting our budget into having the biggest booth, we prioritize sending more of our people. We’ve come to recognize that there is incredible value that comes from face-to-face connections—both with each other (we’re a fully remote company) and with the WordPress community.
2. Feedback – We dedicated our booth primarily to demoing a single, new product, which we’ve never done before. Seeing reactions to StellarSites and listening to questions, comments, and input from everyone who stopped by was invaluable. The enthusiasm for what we built was palpable, and the firsthand insight we gathered from attendees was priceless. We’re lucky to be able to bring that back to all of our team members who couldn’t be there to witness it for themselves.

I asked Zach Tirrell, General Manager of StellarWP (AKA our fearless leader), to comment on the value of sponsoring and being present at events like WordCamp EU. Here’s what he had to say:

There’s a lot of value to pull from a WordCamp. Some of it comes from relationship building, like catching up with colleagues or meeting team members you’ve only worked with online. Some of it is more direct, such as helping customers, introducing products, or connecting with future users.

We also get to observe where attention in the WordPress community is shifting and hear candid reactions to those changes. FAIR was a prime example this year.

It’s also a great way to welcome new people into the community. Our new CEO, Bob Lyons, joined us for his first WordCamp this year, and it helped spark his excitement about the opportunities ahead.

For me, the greatest value comes from developing partnerships. A 30-minute conversation at WordCamp can lead to big things for our customers. I’m excited to turn those connections into real outcomes that benefit both our users and the broader WordPress ecosystem.

5 Golden Tickets

No event happening in a country famous for chocolate would be complete without golden tickets! We sent several lucky demo participants home with their customized swag plus a locally crafted Swiss watch!

We had cameras at the ready for 4 of our 5 lucky winners. Congratulations to Anastasia Michail, Ximena Vinitzca, Mukesh Panchal, and Frans Pronk!

WCEU 2025 in the Words of StellarWP Team Members

Meeting colleagues you work with remotely every day in person was definitely the highlight of this WCEU for me. After so many meetings and Zoom calls, you feel like you already know them, but it’s only after meeting face-to-face that the relationship truly takes shape. The conference itself, as well as the location, were both top-notch.

Mate Šimić
Web Developer, StellarWP Web Team
Croatia/BiH

This is THE thing about WordCamp: meeting a colleague who you’re working with daily face-to-face for the first time gives so much extra depth to the “relationship” that it always blows my mind. I could compare it to regular sight, and then putting on AR glasses and suddenly everything becomes 3D and the colors become more vivid.

Andras Guseo
Support Engineer, The Events Calendar
Geneva, Switzerland

I lived not far from Basel in the early 2000s, and returning for WCEU reminded me why this area still holds a special place for me—it’s genuinely one of the most gorgeous places on earth. It’s amazing how pristine everything remains, with the city effortlessly combining charm and efficiency. Despite initial concerns about Switzerland’s notorious costliness, Basel was perfect for the event. Everything was within comfortable walking distance or just a quick, free metro ride away. The venue itself was spacious, beautiful, and perfectly designed for the presentations and spontaneous hallway conversations that truly make a great WordCamp. It was exciting to experience Switzerland again and especially gratifying to share it with our StellarWP team.

Matt Cromwell
Senior Director of Customer Experience, StellarWP
Braunfels, Germany

It’s always great to meet up with colleagues to share the WordCamp experience. It’s also very rewarding to meet people who use and love our products and learn about how they’re implementing them.

Joel Liriano
Director of Quality Assurance, StellarWP
A Coruña, Spain

This was my first-ever WCEU, and it was a wonderful experience. I shared my WordPress origin story at a side event, networked with people from around the world, and connected with some amazing folks from StellarWP — including Zach Tirrell, Matt Cromwell, and David G. Johnson, the famous beard guy & Brand Bard.

I also had the chance to meet Matt Mullenweg, WordPress Co-founder, and enjoyed a quick chat with him.

After the event, I visited Interlaken, Switzerland, and got completely lost in the natural beauty of this stunning resort town.

Muhammad Shakeel
Tier II Technical Support Engineer, LearnDash
Lisbon, Portugal

Meeting your collegues in real life, in 3D is always an amazing experience. You get to talk about stuff that you wouldn’t talk about while being remote first. So you get to meet the actual person you are working with, resulting in stronger bonds and maybe even friendships! I also had the pleasure for the first time to talk to people about our products as part of the StellarWP’s booth, which I absolutely loved! Talking nerd comes easy to me and most of the crowd in WCEU understands nerd pretty well!

Dimi Pantazis
Engineer, The Events Calendar
Athens, Greece

This was my first WordCamp! As a longtime WordPress user, but someone who’s still fairly new at StellarWP, WCEU gave me a lot of insight into the community that isn’t really possible via internet conversations. The highlights for me were getting to see crowds gather for our (outstanding) StellarSites demos, meeting so many friendly and interesting folks from around the industry, and getting to collaborate with Stellar colleagues IRL. And hiking in the Alps—turns out they’re famous for a reason!

Gordon Ryan
Director of Brand Marketing, StellarWP
New York, USA

One of the best parts of WordCamp Europe was being surrounded by people excited about building the future of the web. With AI changing the landscape fast, it’s clear that WordPress has a unique opportunity. WordPress is unmatched in its extensibility, security, and configurability, which makes it the ideal foundation for AI-driven site creation. The challenge has always been how to harness that power. Tools like MCP could allow AI to simplify the complexity and unlock massive new potential. What felt like a stretch goal internally is now something the whole community seems energized about. The future of WordPress looks brighter than ever.

Zach Tirrell
General Manager, StellarWP
New Hampshire, USA

Photo courtesy of Maksym Kaharlytskyi (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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Want More Takeaways from WCEU 2025?

Don’t miss this free webinar with Kyleigh Fitzgerald from Liquid Web on Thursday, June 26th at 2pm EDT. She and I will share more of what we saw, heard, and learned in Basel—including key insights about what’s shaping the WordPress ecosystem right now.

Space is limited. Reserve your spot right now.

See You In Portland!

After that whirlwind week in Basel, we’re already looking forward to the next WordCamp. We’ll see you at our booth at WordCamp US 2025 in Portland, Oregon from August 26–29, 2025!