Woo! A couple of us just came back after a very exciting and inspiring weekend at WordCamp Phoenix. Maria and I met up with one of our most talented extension developers, Brent Shephard, for some learning, presentations, and face to face time in Phoenix.
![There was a lot of pink hair at WordCamp Phoenix.](https://woocommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/pink-hair-620x465.jpg?strip=all&w=1500)
The Conference
↑ Back to topThe conference itself was great. There were over 700 people to meet and they came from all over the spectrum. We met with people from some of the WordPress VIP agencies like WebDev Studios, & 10up; people who work for hosting companies like WPEngine, & SiteGround; Modern Tribe; Automatticians; and dozens of bloggers, freelancers, and people from local agencies.
The Talks
↑ Back to topThere were so many good presentations (seriously there were five tracks on Friday!). Some of our favorites include:
- Cain & Obenland in the Morning by Michael Cain & Konstantin Obenland
- Security Best Practices by Brennen Byrne & Sam Hotchkiss
- Sane Plugin Updates and Releases by Pippin Williamson
- Escaping the Impostor Syndrome by Chris Lema
- 101 Ways to Elevate Yourself and Demand Higher Fees by Troy Dean
Brent Shepherd also had a fantastic talk, Wooing eCommerce with WordPress, which talked about how easy it is to sell online using WooCommerce.
I presented Building a Sustainable Business with the Freemium Model where I got to talk about one of my favorite things which is releasing a free product and how it can positively impact your business.
Face to Face
↑ Back to topOne of the best parts about meeting up at WordCamps is the face to face time. This is so important for a remote team where we rarely get to talk about plans face to face. In just a short time we were able to discuss a new way for us to handle support requests (news coming soon!), discuss new products we’re about to release, and about the future of WooCommerce itself.
We also had to opportunity to meet our customers face to face. We fielded dozens of questions from both experienced developers who are looking for advanced customization advice and newbie developers who haven’t even set up their first site and were looking for general advice. We love these meetings. They reconnect us to the needs that every developer has.
More WordCamps
↑ Back to topWe love WordCamps and one of our objectives here at WooThemes is to meet the rest of the WordPress world. We’re encouraging everyone at WooThemes to hit up the WordCamps around them so we can keep a pulse on the community. If you’re planning on going to a WordCamp this year please let us know in the comments so we can try to get at least one of our ninjas out there.
About
Great wrap up Patrick! Was a fun weekend for sure! I don’t have any set plans for the rest of the year yet, but I am looking to apply to speak at at least 5 different WordCamps. I’ve got my eye on Chicago, Charleston, San Diego and Seattle for now. 🙂
It was a great WordCamp and it’s always great to hangout with you and Maria. 🙂
I especially like that every WordCamp I go to these days, I notice an increase in the percentage of people there who’ve used or are planning to use WooCommerce. Makes for great conversation!