WordCamp US 2022: Recap & Highlights

After two years of a long wait, WordPressers from all over the world flocked to WordCamp US. The event took place September 9-11 in San Diego, California.

For starters, it rained. But if you think groups that traveled long and short distances to enjoy San Diego’s fantastic weather and miles of white-sand beaches were dismayed by this, you’re wrong. After a short period of disappointment caused by the lack of lying by the pool, our team was ready to start spending time with the most amazing people in the WordPress community – people we’ve only interacted with over the internet for a long time. And there they were, just a hello away. 

#WCUS Talks: Diversity FTW

Attendees at America’s most awaited WordCamp were treated to an innovative and diverse schedule of sessions that included lightning talks, standard talks, and workshops.

The event hosted 42 speakers and 41 sessions, mainly focused on the newly introduced block features of WordPress, Marketing and Business. Tracks from the Sun and Palm rooms could be watched in real-time and free of charge.

#WCUS Quotes: Tips, Highlights and Key Happenings

A Standout at WordCamp US that opened eyes in many ways to accessibility issues — whether from an end-user or a developer perspective. Amber Hinds and Alex Stine starred in one of the moments that filled us with greater empathy. The nearly two-hour workshop made us really think about development practices to find solutions that promote inclusion among the most diverse groups of people.

Amber is the CEO of Equalize Digital, Inc., a Certified B Corp specializing in WordPress accessibility, and the lead organizer of the WordPress Accessibility Meetup and WP Accessibility Day conference. Alex is a Cloud Platform Engineer at Waystar, a member of the WordPress core accessibility team, and an organizer for WP Accessibility Day. Are you interested in accessibility requirements for the web? You should reach out to these guys!

During the two days of sessions, our team attended as many activities as possible and tweeted live content straight from WCUS. Below are some highlights from the event, followed by links to watch recordings of the talks. Want a tip? It’s all worth watching.

Taming the Whirlwind – Growing Your WordPress Business While You’re Busy with Client Work

Best Design Practices to Create Engagement

Embracing Minds of All Kinds: Making Digital Content Usable for People with Cognitive Disabilities

Meeting Your Customers Where They Are – How Businesses Can Thrive in a Digital-First World

Gamify Your Content

Developing Cultural Intelligence

Tackling performance in the WordPress ecosystem at scale

Clue: A Detective’s Guide to Troubleshooting in WordPress

#WCUS Q&A: A Chat With Matt Mullenweg

Closing the second day of WCUS talks, Matt Mullenweg participated in a Q&A with the attendees for 50 minutes. Some key takeaways from the conversation are the following.

1. The upcoming Twenty Twenty-Three (TT3) default theme comes with 10 style variations. 

2. The co-founder of WordPress would love to see more of the design processes like user testing being published to encourage design contributions. 

3. The block editor is the future of WordPress, and users should start migrating from the classic editor. 

4. The accessibility of the block editor is evolving. We can expect new keyboard shortcuts, more testing, and new interfaces to allow faster keyboard-based navigation.

#WCUS Community: Contributor Day

20 of the 21 WordPress teams participated in Contributors Day, which took place on Sunday, September 11th. Only the Plugins team was absent in this edition of WordCamp US. Community members who could not attend the event in person could participate in Contributor Day from home via the #contributor-day channel on Make WordPress Slack.

Anyone can join the Make WordPress Slack workspace to listen, learn, and continue to deepen the discussions started at WordCamp US.

#WCUS 2023: See You All in Maryland!

There is no other way to put it: WCUS was fantastic, and it always is. The next WordCamp US will happen in National Harbor, Maryland, from August 21st to 25th, 2023, and will begin with a community summit. While we all wait for that, the schedule of WordCamps happening all around the globe is available here.

Now, we leave you with the photo gallery from the TK members that attended #WCUS 2022. 


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