Impressions from WordCamp 2014 Sofia

This was my first WordCamp ever. And one of the coolest event by far I have ever participated in.

These are the take-aways that I left with:

1. 22% of the top 10M websites are run by WordPress. This explains the huge demand for WordPress services.
2. There were about 1000 participants at the event. Roughly speaking 80% of them were Mac users. Two months later I switched to Mac as well, after being a hardcore Windows user for 20 years. The transition was extremely smooth and pleasant.
3. The WordPress community is a bunch of really wonderful people. Really-really wonderful. They are kind of “giver’s gain” guys and girls, always open and eager to share real stuff with you. As a consequence we (see the picture below) decided to create our own WordPress Meetup in Bucharest, our hometown. Currently I am the host and co-organizer of this wonderful event in Bucharest which brings together WordPress enthusiasts from the city.
4. The Contribution Day was really well organized. I’ve learned a lot of interesting stuff on how to contribute to WordPress core. After the event I do find sometimes time to read WordPress code. Still working on my first patch 🙂

Below you will find my presentation at the first edition of the Meetup on this same topic:

And here is our small team driving home from Sofia, full of enthusiasm, ideas and plans for the future: