In less than a week, I’ll be on my way to WordCamp Asia 2025 in Manila, Philippines. These flagship events always seem to sneak up on me, but WordCamp Asia feels especially quick—probably because it’s so soon after the holiday season.

I’m very much looking forward to getting back out there among the community. It’s always inspiring to see how people are using the software you build in the real world.

Speaking about WordPress Security

In addition to attending and spending time at the Bluehost booth (make sure to come by and say hello), I’ll also be speaking. My talk is titled: The unavoidable truth: WordPress is insecure. Here is the abstract:

Every day countless WordPress sites are compromised or hacked. This simple fact has led site owners around the world to ask one question: why is WordPress so insecure?

The reality is the exact opposite. With a security team composed of many experts and security researchers constantly working to patch all discovered vulnerabilities, a fresh WordPress site in isolation is incredibly secure.

Security is a journey, a process, a practice, and a mindset. The security of a website begins with an authentic copy of the WordPress software and ends wherever you and your team lead it. This session will teach you how to think with a security first mindset, how to write secure code, and how to protect your site against the number one threat: humans.

In my talk I’ll explore common misconceptions about WordPress security, how the human experience makes us insecure by default, how we can protect ourselves, and how to prevent our systems from being compromised.

This won’t be my first time speaking at WordCamp Asia. Here are my two previous talks:

• If you’re interested in past years,
• 2024 – Taipei, Taiwan (announcement post)
• 2023 – Bangkok, Thailand

Open Office Hours

I’ve also decided to try something different at this event. I’ve blocked off some portions of my calendar as designated open office hours. If you’d like to reserve some time to chat with me, just head over to my scheduler. I’ve set up 15 minute increments for you to come talk to me about WordPress Core, contributing, the community, or anything else is that may be on your mind.

The only thing I ask is to not sign up for help desk style requests. I am not looking to troubleshoot specific individual problems. This is about being available to and listening to the community as a full-time contributor and someone who serves on release squads. It should be something we can have a conversation about without a computer.

Local Recommendations

This will be my first time in the Philippines. I love trying new foods and exploring local culture. If you have any recommendations for things to try while I’m in Manila, please share them in the comments!

Featured image credit: CC0 licensed photo by Tirth Doshi from the WordPress Photo Directory.