This year several IQComputing team members attended WordCamp US 2019 in downtown St. Louis.
WordCamp US is the largest WordPress conference in the nation and had more than 1,700 attendees this year. WordCamp US, which started in 2015, consists of an array of sessions and workshops on various WordPress development and design topics led by speakers from around the world. Although this national conference happens once a year, this year there were 141 mini WordCamps and more than 5,000 Meetups.
WordCamp US traditionally ends with a “State of the Word” address from WordPress’s co-founder Matt Mullenweg. During the address this year, Mullenweg said there have been two releases so far this year, WordPress 5.1 and WordPress 5.2. WordPress 5.1 included the “site health” screen along with multiple bug fixes. WordPress 5.2’s release featured block previews and better block management. WordPress 5.3 is scheduled for release on Nov. 12. This release will feature the new Twenty Twenty theme. Mullenweg also discussed the backlash over Gutenberg and the many updates made to it, including full mobile capability and a quicker load time.
Mullenweg also mentioned during his address that there were 47 organizers, 122 volunteers, and 90 speakers who made possible WordCamp US 2019 in St. Louis.
One of those organizers was a member of our own development team. He was an organizer for venue and logistics during WordCamp US and said this about his experience volunteering as an organizer: “It was both exhausting and fulfilling being able to be a part of a conference as big as WordCamp US. Our organizer team was almost 50 [people] strong and all completely stellar. My main focus was A/V; making sure the stage looked nice and everyone could hear the speaker. I’m happy to hear that it sounded like everyone was happy with all those things so I consider it a job well done! I certainly look forward to making next year even bigger.”
The annual camp is held in the same city for two consecutive years, so St. Louis will play host city to WordPress US again next year and IQComputing looks forward to helping make it another good conference.