Wordcamp Columbus review

You may remember that I was geeking out and going to a conference just for WordPress. I did, and I thought I’d share a little about what I learned there.

1. Wordcamp, like conferences in any field, is not MOSTLY about the content of the conference. It’s more about the people that you meet at the conference and the connections you make. Conferences are a great opportunity to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Will you talk with people you don’t know? Complete strangers? Will you contribute to the conversation by sharing what you know, even if you’re not the “expert” in the room? Will you ask for help from those who are? Read Never Eat Alone for encouragement in this area.

2. But, about the CONTENT. Apparently, some attendees thought it was a little low-bar for a WordCamp. As a decidedly UN-expert with WordPress, I found some sessions VERY helpful (Legal Issues), and some not so much (WordPress in the Corporate World, and Social Media).  Some were just over my head (unfortunately, it was the very session I needed to understand most: WordPress MU and BuddyPress).

Break in the action: Watching Glee premiere, and love it.

I can understand, though. In my previous life, if I would have gone to a youth ministry conference, and all they talked about was the Four Spiritual Laws, I might have felt a little offended. Even if it would have served as a good reminder of where we all came from. As another WordCamp reviewer has written, “Everyone had to start somewhere.”

Glee update: the show is set in Ohio. Awesome.

3. Having said that, I enjoyed WordCamp. It encouraged me to continue building my business knowing that I have the experience and tools to do so. I suspect that somewhere down the line, I’m going to need to partner with a developer who understands the platform’s backend better than I do. BUT, that’s the great thing about WordPress. You can build some really amazing sites without knowing the details of the backend, necessarily.

So that’s all. No huge smackdown, and no HUGE love. I was encouraged and got the exact answers I was looking for. Thanks to wyliemac for organizing it!