WordPress really is an amazing platform, with a huge wealth of online information to help newbie users quickly become competent — there are a number of great resources out there, including the one you’re reading now!
As great as the online material is, nothing beats attending a WordPress event, though.
Not only do you get a rare opportunity to learn from the industry leaders in person, but you also get the chance to meet and collaborate with like-minded people. This makes them great places to learn the information needed to become a proficient WordPress user, launch a WordPress-related business, or take an existing one up to the next level — there’s a lot of value to extract from these events.
With the number of WordPress users exploding in recent years, it’s little surprise that more of these WordPress events are cropping up than ever before, in locations all across the globe.
Today, I want to help anyone planning to attend an event by sharing the most eagerly-anticipated WordPress conferences scheduled for 2015.
WordCamp: Year-Round Events
If you’re looking for the most accessible WordPress events on the planet, look no further than WordCamp.
Unlike one-off or annual events — which can exclude some people if, say, you’re on a different continent — WordCamp events are run regularly and are located in destinations all over the world. To date, there have been 346 WordCamps in 172 different cities, in 48 countries, and on six continents. This means there’s a good chance that there will be an event within a reasonable distance of you coming soon. The events are planned at short notice, but here are the events confirmed for 2015 so far:
- Paris, France—January 23-24
- San Antonia, Texas— January 24
- Oslo, Norway—February 7-8
- Maui, Hawaii—February 13-14
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania—February 28
- Birmingham, UK—February (Date TBC)
- Prague, Czech Republic—February (Date TBC)
- Mumbai, India— March 7-8
- London, UK—March 20-22
- San Diego, California—March 28-29
- St. Louis, Missouri—March (Date TBC)
- Dayton, Ohio—March (Date TBC)
- Atlanta, Georgia—March (Date TBC)
- Belgrade, Serbia—April 18-19
- Bratislava, Slovakia—April (Date TBC)
- Minneapolis, Minnesota—April (Date TBC)
- Belo Horizonte, Brazil—June (Date TBC)
Plus there are 25 more events in the early stages of organization, with some held in completely different countries like South Korea, Japan, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Finland, and Switzerland. Keep checking the schedule, as new events are added regularly.
WordCamp events are always popular due to their affordability, chilled-out atmosphere, and the fantastic wealth of information shared with attendees. Each WordCamp is different and will cover a unique set of topics depending on the organizers, though all WordCamps must be created to meet a specific set of guidelines — this ensures that the quality is consistently high, and the topics covered are highly relevant.
The events are suitable for WordPress beginners and experts alike, with a focus on sessions that educate on using and developing WordPress. As such, you can learn about WordPress-related topics like WordPress businesses, blogging, and social media, but the vast majority of talks will be on the WordPress core.
WordCamp conferences aim to avoid excluding anyone, with ticket prices pitched at affordable levels — a one-day event will cost around $20, with a two-day event setting you back just $40.
PressNomics — Jan 22-24, 2015
If you’re more interested in the business side of WordPress, PressNomics is the event for you. 2015 will see the third iteration of the PressNomics event, which promises to bring together all kinds of WordPress entrepreneurs, from theme and plugin shop owners, to hosting services, to agencies, to freelancers. In other words, all the people who drive the thriving WordPress economy.
As such, a lot of big names in the WordPress-space will be involved, including Envato, GravityForms, Pagely, MOJO, and WP Engine.
The three-day event will be held in Phoenix, Arizona, and will run from January 22 through January 24 at the stunning Tempe Mission Palms hotel. Two of the days include speakers, the other is for networking/socializing. The event will cover everything aspirational WordPress business owners need to know, including talks on growth hacking, community considerations, and customer relationship management.
With a rather hefty price tag of $350 for two-day’s worth of speakers — staying at the hotel costs an additional $194 per night — PressNomics has understandably scheduled some high-profile speakers. (For comparison, a one-day WordCamp event costs just $20.) To date, the speakers include:
- Chris Lema — ChrisLema.com
- Syed Balkhi — founder of WPBeginner
- JR Farr — founder of MOJO Themes
- Danny Sullivan — founding editor of Search Engine Land
- Karim Marruchi — CEO at CrowdFavorite and VeloMedia
There is also a strong social element to the event, with the entire last day dedicated to networking at the golf course or on an artistic guitar-based excursion.
Unfortunately, tickets are sold out for the 2015 event, but you can put your name on a waiting list in case of cancellations — the organizers have also said they may drip-feed some extra tickets onto the market. Plus, this ensures you will be among the first to hear details of PressNomics 4.
Prestige Conference — Feb 27-28, 2015
Similar in nature to PressNomics, Prestige Conference is a conference aimed at WordPress business owners, and those wishing to enhance their career prospects in the WordPress arena. This is the second iteration of the event, after the success of the inaugural Prestige Conference event held in Minneapolis in 2014. This time the event will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the two-day event running from February 27 to February 28 2015.
There are still Semi-Early Bird conference tickets available for $149 (regular price $199), or, for those of you unable to attend in person, you can buy a streaming ticket for $49 (regular price $69) — you can also pay to watch videos recorded at the previous event. This makes attendance highly affordable, and represents great value for money.
The focus of the event is business, business, business. This makes it perfect for any WordPress entrepreneurs out there, whether you are yet to launch or you are looking to take your business to the next level.
There are a variety of high-profile speakers confirmed for PrestigeConf, including:
- Chris Lema — ChrisLema.com
- Ben Fox — Co-founder of SIDEKICK Pro
- Carl Hancock — creator of GravityForms
- Pippin Williamson — founder of Pippins Plugins and EasyDigitalDownloads
- Andrew Norcross — lead developer at Reaktiv Studios
A big shout out to the sponsors who are making this event possible, including WP Engine, GravityForms, MailChimp, and EasyDigitalDownloads.
LoopConf — May 6-8, 2015
Billed as “the greatest conference ever created for WordPress developers,” the inaugural LoopConf event will be taking place from May 6 to May 8 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The event is targeted primarily at developers and technically-minded WordPress users, with the bulk of the speakers talking advanced WordPress engineering and development topics.
The two-day event is crammed full of speakers, with 33 confirmed to date. This impressive roster goes a long way towards justifying the controversially high ticket prices, which upset and priced out a large chunk of the WordPress community — the Early-Bird tickets will set you back $600, with the regular price a whopping $800. However, with so many high-profile and expert speakers, those who can afford to attend will inevitably come away with a lot of new knowledge from the top minds in the industry. Speakers confirmed so far include:
- Andrew Nacin — WordPress Lead Developer
- Scott Bolinger — co-founder of AppPresser
- John O’Nolan — founder of Ghost
- Patrick Rauland — Product Manager for WooCommerce
- Chris Wiegman — Developer of iThemes security
The schedule is building up nicely, giving you some insight into the topics that will be covered at LoopConf. Confirmed so far are talks on coding “big” plugins, the economics of open source, testing plugins, WordPress security, and debugging WordPress.
LoopConf, however, is not just about learning the technical aspects of WordPress, it’s about having fun, too. As such, there’s a range of planned activities and an after party so you can let your hair down and network with other WordPress users.
Final Thoughts
If you want to attend a WordPress conference in 2015, these are some of the top events on the WordPress-calendar. Most events include Early-Bird pricing, so if you want to save money make sure you get your tickets in as quickly as possible — the events regularly sell out, too, so buy early to avoid disappointment.
As fun as it is to read and learn about WordPress online, it really is no substitute for learning from the experts in person. In addition, you can meet other like-minded individuals, and most conferences include social activities to ensure all attendees have fun.
We regularly announce big WordPress events on Torque, as well as covering some of the developments of the events themselves, so stay tuned for more information.
Are you planning to attend a WordPress event in 2015? Let us know in the comments space below!
Shaun Quarton is a freelance blogger from the UK, with a passion for online entrepreneurship, content marketing, and all things WordPress.
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