WordCamp Sacramento 2017 was held the weekend of September 16-17 at the Sacramento Convention Center. WordCamp Sacramento covers everything related to WordPress – a popular website platform. It was the third year the locally organized conference was held and my first year attending.
The conference had multiple sessions in three rooms on the second floor of the Sacramento Convention Center. All told there were 48 sessions and 50 speakers sharing their expertise and knowledge!
The event sold out several days in advance so I was very glad that I registered when I did. Cost of registration was a mere $40.
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Saturday was a full day with sessions starting at 9:00 a.m. and ending at 5:00 p.m. When I checked in that morning I received my nametag, the printed schedule, a WordCamp Sacramento 2017 tee shirt and a lunch ticket.
Lucky for me WordCamp Sacramento expanded the program this year to include a full day Beginner Track on Saturday. A variety of sessions focused on teaching attendees (step-by-step) how to use WordPress. The Beginner Track included sessions on the Dashboard, Themes, Plugins, and Deployment, with lots of time for newbie questions. While I am not quite a novice, I am self-taught and have a LOT to learn.
In the foyer on the second floor, conference sponsors had tables set up and were available to answer questions about their product. I stopped by and visited with the folks at SiteGround – my website hosting service.
The foyer was also set up each day so attendees could help themselves to various beverages (water, coffee, tea, lemonade) throughout the day.
WordCamp Sacramento is entirely put on by volunteers – including the organizers and speakers. They are to be commended – it was a great event and everything seemed to run smoothly. The only (temporary) glitch I noticed was one that the organizers could not have anticipated. Attendees moved from room to room to attend the sessions that were of most interest – and it turned out that there was significant interest in the Beginner Track sessions. Switching the Beginner Track after the first few sessions to the largest room solved the problem.
During or after most sessions there was time for Q&A, and if you still had questions most speakers were available immediately afterwards in the Happiness Bar (a room off the foyer) to chat. Volunteers also made themselves available to answer questions and help with website glitches.
After the Saturday morning sessions we broke for lunch – and attendees made their way to Capitol Park. Three food trucks were parked on L Street – Squeeze Inn Food Truck, Hefty Gyros Food Truck and Slightly Skewed Food Truck. I secured a beverage and headed for the Squeeze Burger line. Once I received my order I made my way to the State Capitol Building steps where I settled in to eat my lunch and enjoy the beautiful sunny day.
Refreshed (and full), I made my way back to the Sacramento Convention Center for the afternoon sessions. Afterwards there was a Networking Reception from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The Sunday sessions started at 11:00 a.m., and the conference ended at 5:00 p.m. I attended sessions on WordPress Performance, Legal Considerations for Designers, Developers and Users, Blogging Success and Monetization, WooCommerce, Custom Post Types, Setting Up Podcasts and Vlogs, and Best Technical SEO Practices, among others.
At several of the sessions the speakers asked for a show of hands as to the number of designers, developers or users in the room. It was a very mixed crowd – all different skill levels – but I suspect that everyone at the end of the conference walked away having learned something new.
If you missed WordCamp Sacramento 2017 you will be glad to know that all of the sessions were video recorded and will eventually be posted on WordPress.tv. I say eventually because this task is also handled solely by volunteers.
If you have a website, or you are thinking of creating a website, I highly recommend that you consider attending the next WordCamp Sacramento! Those of us who live here are really lucky to have such an active WordPress Community here in Sacramento.
Comments on WordPress Sacramento?
If you attended WordPress Sacramento 2017 – what was your experience?
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What a great summary of the event. I attended for the first time this year and I will definitely be back. I was so impressed with how organized and efficient the event coordinators were. I was so impressed that Sacramento has an event like this. The other attendees I talked to at this event were inspiring and positive. It really felt like “community”.
Thanks Melani, I plan to put WordCamp on my “must attend” list. Kathy