This year WordCamp Europe was truly quite special. I’ve attended quite a few WordCamp’s – and particularly a couple in Europe – and although I’ve been in the WordPress community for over 20 years and run our own little WordPress meetup in my local town, I have always been that introverted, shy, and retiring attendee. My enthusiasm for WordPress has never wavered from the day I discovered it, but coming together with a community as massive as this can be daunting.
However, up until about three years ago, things began to change. After meeting Jamie Marsland for a couple of chats and some coffees, he encouraged me to drive forward with my YouTube channel. Since then, and with a couple of shares from prominent developers in the community – particularly Rich Tabor, whom I met at WordCamp Europe 2026 in Kraków – my reach grew. I wanted to thank Rich and just let him know that he took my subscriber list from 10 up to 1,000 literally with a single tweet, so thanks again for that, Rich!
With that, my profile has risen a little and attracted some other prominent members of the community, particularly Michelle Frechette, who has introduced me to several people. To cut a long story short, my profile has been raised somewhat, which is what made WordCamp Europe in Kraków 2026 a particularly special one for me. This time, there were a whole bunch of people that over the last 20 years I wouldn’t dream of walking up to and saying hello to, but this time it was a completely different story. I’m grateful to everybody in the community who has created this opportunity for me. Although it has been exhausting and overwhelming dealing with that many people in small spaces in a condensed amount of time, I can tell you it was absolutely worth it.
Day 1: Contributor Day
So, Day 1 was Contributor Day, and it was my first one. I have to say, when you rock up at a table and sit there not knowing what to say, or not knowing the people you’re sat with, it is pretty overwhelming. But with a friendly hand on my shoulder and a loud, booming voice saying, “Elliott!” in a rich, crisp, rhythmic South African accent, I turned around to the warmest and most welcoming hello from Jonathan Bossinger. He immediately sat down beside me and started chatting. Let me tell you, he’s one of those guys – a really experienced educator – who can just talk and make you feel comfortable immediately. It was the first time we’d met face-to-face, although we’d conversed online and I had contributed to the WordPress Training Team in the past. It was an absolute pleasure to meet in person.
Then came another familiar face with a soft, rolling, melodic Spanish accent: JuanMa Garrido, who is also a super friendly and well-rounded educator at the forefront of WordPress development. He introduced me to more people, and I met some of the Core team working on Playground development. Later that day, I found myself at a table having a chat with Ryan Welcher, who has that cozy, warm, easygoing Canadian accent and is an all-around super nice guy. We talked about Studio and setting up some parameters.
I should probably also mention meeting Nathan Wrigley for the first time at some point during Day 1, and then hanging out for a while in the afternoon. I first met Nathan online this year after I announced I’d be working with Automattic to promote WordPress products. Nathan runs the WP Builds YouTube podcast, which is my go-to source for WordPress news, and he also interviewed me for WP Tavern!
All in all, the whole process of attending Contributor Day has literally given me so many ideas for content creation that it’s probably going to take me about two weeks just to organise my mind and let the dust settle. It was super, super cool, and I’m grateful to the whole community for welcoming me into what was my very first Contributor Day – and it for sure will not be my last.
Day 2: Talks, Swag, and Travel Logistics
Day 2 was a case of walking into the venue and seeing not just cool developers, but also other attendees who I knew of. I attended some keynotes on Track 1 and Track 2 across four floors (if I remember correctly!) and also just dropped by some of the sponsor booths to say hi and have some interesting conversations. And, of course, I collected as much swag as possible, trying not to worry about how I was actually going to take it back home with Ryanair! I only had a limited-size bag that I could travel with, as advised by my thrifty wife so as not to get ripped off by those up-sells and cross-sells where Ryanair drills a deep hole in your pocket.
It was also really nice to catch up with some old friends from across Europe whom I’ve met at previous WordCamp’s, as well as some new friends from Automattic whom I’ve been working with for the last six months – namely Alexa, Ronnie, and Erin. Even though it was only Day 2, I was just so exhausted. I had to forego any soirées or party invites and just go home to get an early night. The first two days were intense, and I wanted to be as fresh as possible for the final day.
Day 3: Conversations, Keynotes, and Pizza
The last day was pretty much the same, except there was a lot more crammed in. I tried to catch as many keynotes as possible, but I also hooked up with some more Automattic folks, Britt and Nick, who were again super welcoming and nice. We discussed the warm USA weather, the Cotswolds and thatched cottages (where I’m from), and cold Poland – even though it was pretty sunny on this day! I guess when you are accustomed to a particular climate, it gets into your bones. 🙂 We also discussed aging cats and cute little dogs. It was so heartwarming to not just talk about WordPress – although I do love talking WordPress any time of the day!
I also got a chance to sit down at a table and just chill after doing a workshop with Jonathan Bossinger about setting up my first WordPress AI interaction using the Abilities API, which was super cool. After so many interesting conversations and interactions, I’ve come away with some fascinating ideas thanks to the chats I’ve had with several people about AI.
Then, of course, there was what we’re all there for on the last day: the Keynote. Sadly, Matt Mullenweg couldn’t be there this year, but there were some super interesting fireside conversations with Rich Tabor, Mary Hubbard, and Matias Ventura about the future of WordPress and where it’s going. More importantly, they spoke about why we need to keep the web open and not succumb to the closed web of some AI tech bros – and why we should be absolutely shouting about this. What better place to do that than a WordPress community full of enthusiasts and open-source advocates?
Finally, the after-party. Needless to say, there was a lot to cram into this day. As you can see from my TikTok, it’s a little bit more fast-paced than my first day. The after-party was super good because it was just a case of walking around, getting introduced to other people, and meeting folks that I’d known of for years. By the way, it was great to meet Danny van Kooten after all this time, and again, we weren’t chatting about WordPress but about one of my other favourite pastimes – pizza!
I remember chatting with a few folks and not realising that they knew who I was. Hearing the phrase, “Oh, you’re Elliott, the one with the weird half-face profile thing…” was ace! It was just the weirdest experience I’ve had in a really, really good way from my years of attending WordCamp’s, and particularly WordCamp Europe.
And I can’t leave it there without mentioning John Blackbourn, a friendly Englishman who also resides in Italy – one of my favourite European destinations for obvious reasons. I feel like I’ve known John for years, but we’ve never actually met; in fact, his brother Simon and I know each other much better! It was also great to meet Joe Dolson and chat about more contributions to WordPress. WordPress is more than just software; there is an underlying community of people who are more than just colleagues – they are like extended family members who you just haven’t met yet. It’s wild!
Day 4: Dragons and Reflections
I had one more day in Kraków just to wander around the Old Town. Coincidentally, the city was celebrating a dragon festival that weekend, so although it was really busy, there was a special kind of buzz. It allowed me to just chill out, wander the beautiful streets of the Old Town, and soak up the atmosphere. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and on reflection, it allowed me to just think about a special WordCamp and some of the amazing conversations and connections that I made this time around.
I loved Kraków so much that I think we – myself and my wife – will be revisiting to celebrate our second wedding anniversary, which happened to be this very WordCamp weekend. My wife, being the absolute star that she is, allowed me to attend WordCamp, but I will return the favour by taking her back to Kraków so we can share the experience together.
I cannot wait for Málaga! It will be my birthday on the 28th so even better! (Yes the day after WordPress) I hope you’ll be there. If you know me, do come and say hi or make sure to put something in the diary. Thank you so much to the WordPress community. I love you so much, and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2027!
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