WordCamp San Francisco: Favorite Things

WordCamp San Francisco State of the Word

WordCamp San Francisco State of the Word

WordCamp San Francisco

WordCamp San Francisco (or #WCSF) hadn’t even begun yet, and I could tell already that limiting myself to just one post was going to be very difficult. Now, if you’ve never been to a WordCamp, it’s a community of people interested in WordPress who gather to present, share, and tell stories. At the volunteer dinner, there were already some cool things to share. For starters, we got volunteer t-shirts from the uber friendly Automattic folks, and got to break bread (well, thick-crust pizza with spinach) and fancy-pants salad with the other volunteers. Not only that, but I got to carpool with Phyllis Garland! If you’re curious about how WordCamp San Francisco compares to a smaller WordCamp, you can read my post about WordCamp Orange County.

WCSF Automattic Headquarters

WCSF Automattic Headquarters

Accessibility

One of the first things you notice at #WCSF, is how accessible everyone is, and how genuinely happy they are to see you! It was as if the souls of golden retrievers had magically been transferred to humans: everyone was that happy to see you.

WCSF: Library at Automattic

WCSF: Library at Automattic

WordCamp Run by Volunteers

Secondly, getting to meet the other volunteers at WordCamp and seeing Automattic’s library, was an eye opener. The library includes t-shirts from previous Wordcamps from all over the country, a cool wooden map of Automattic’s location, as well as swag, like stickers, buttons, and water bottles.

WordCamp San Francisco Badge

WordCamp San Francisco Badge

Laminated Badges

Third, a detail that might get overlooked is the wonderful laminated badges with our avatars and Twitter handles right on them. And volunteers had them all organized when we got there, complete with the lanyards that would be recycled later. Yes, everything ran smoothly because all the details like badges were covered.

Friends Online and IRL

Fourth, and my most favorite thing about WordCamp, was getting to meet  new friend Ruby Rusine (@SocialChirps on Twitter) in person. We had met and tweeted to each other, but had never met in real life. Live-tweeting is one of my favorite things and it turns out that Ruby also loves to live-tweet. So we happily retweeted each other’s tweets while sitting right next to each other. Nerd Heaven!

State of the Word

Fifth was the State of the Word address by Matt Mullenweg (@PhotoMatt on Twitter). Secretly, I was afraid that I would be trapped inside a hot conference room for a long, boring talk, but was pleasantly surprised. He’s a great presenter, funny and witty, and the crowd absolutely adored him.

Have You Been to a WordCamp?

What did you like best about your WordCamp experience? Tell me in the comments below!

WCSF Me and Ruby Rusine

WCSF Me and Ruby Rusine

Comments

  1. Best Sentence Ever: “It was as if the souls of golden retrievers had magically been transferred to humans: everyone was that happy to see you.”

  2. Hey Carol… I was, actually, a bit nervous at the prospect of meeting you but when you pointed to me the seat that you saved for me that’s how I figured out that you are for real online and offline. The speakers’ faces and topics shall long be forgotten but not you – friend.

    P.S. Also, thank you for the link. That is very kind and generous of you.

    • So glad that we did get a chance to meet, Ruby. And I’m sure we’ll get to meet again. Meeting offline makes it real. And you gave me candy from See’s!

      Of course~ you’re welcome for the link, my friend!

Trackbacks

  1. WordCamp Birmingham #WPYall | Next LevelNext Level says:

    […] for everyone, from beginner to very advanced. I really wanted to attend WordCamp after reading Carol Stephen’s posts on WordCamp San Francisco and when I was given the opportunity to go, I jumped on it. (Carol was a […]

  2. WordCamp Birmingham #WPYall | Next Level says:

    […] for everyone, from beginner to very advanced. I really wanted to attend WordCamp after reading Carol Stephen’s posts on WordCamp San Francisco and when I was given the opportunity to go, I jumped on it. (Carol was a […]

  3. PoCchat: Driving Online Connections Offline | Women of Technology says:

    […] WordCampSF, I met up with friend Ruby Rusine (@SocialChirps) who had traveled from Sacramento for her first […]

  4. WordCamp Birmingham #WPYall - Next Level says:

    […] for everyone, from beginner to very advanced. I really wanted to attend WordCamp after reading Carol Stephen’s posts on WordCamp San Francisco and when I was given the opportunity to go, I jumped on it. (Carol was a […]

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