The WordPress community can be so strange sometimes. But I mean that in a really good way! The last few days at WordCamp Canada were a great reminder of that.

I always walk away from a WordCamp feeling inspired. The conversations, interactions, and things you learn are re-energizing and invigorating. Anyone reading this who has attended one will know exactly what I’m talking about. I highly recommend going if not just so you can experience this first-hand. You also never know who you will meet!

New Connections

At this camp one of the people I met was Dave Winer. In addition to creating one of the web’s very first blogs, he is also the inventor of podcasting and XML-RPC (among many other things). The technology has completely changed how we consume information and in some ways, entertainment. So it was pretty surreal to meet the person behind the technical aspects of that.

Putting the shock of having conversations with the person responsible for something I use every day aside, one thing stood out from my interactions with him: he was visibly enthusiastic, energized, and inspired by the event and the potential to collaborate. Watching this compound throughout the event as he learned more about how WordPress is maintained, how features are built out before being considered for the core software, and seeing what people are building with WordPress was very insightful to watch.

It was yet another humbling moment that reminded me that the work we all do together to build and maintain WordPress (or any open source project) is important, impactful, and matters. There were two things in particular that stuck with me.

First, he was surprised to learn that the people who build and maintain WordPress are present and approachable within the community (which is also open to anyone and everyone). And the second was what he said when talking about where he chooses to focus his time (paraphrased):

I am very interested in finding ways to revitalize the stagnant web. WordPress has the potential to play such a huge role in breaking down the barriers we have just accepted over the last decade.

He shared several ideas and possibilities to accomplish this that he plans to explore in the context of WordPress in the coming weeks. I also look forward to diving in to better understand them once I’m back home.

The Fediverse

Another theme that was prevalent throughout the event was the Fediverse. I’ve put off learning more about the Fediverse for a while now. I have the Webmention and Friends plugins active on my site, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.

Between the official talks, and conversations with speakers, fellow Core Committer and friend Konstantin who is leading the development of the ActivityPub plugin, and attendees, the event definitely motivated me to take the time to dig in for a better understanding on how it works and what’s going on there.

I’ve gone and activated the ActivityPub plugin and I think that it’s configured correctly. I plan on adjusting things as I learn more in the coming days.

My Talk

In general, I’m really happy with how my talk went. One negative effect of speaking on the afternoon of the last day is that I ended up revising my speaker notes literally until the moment I stepped behind the podium. I had so many great conversations throughout the event that gave me new ideas to include. I’m writing this in my hotel room between the end of the event and the after party. I’ll write up a summary of that separately in the next few days.

Other Random Thoughts

• I had a great discussion about event badges in an Uber ride. It’s probably time for a new edition of the State of the Badge.
• Besides the traffic to and from the stadium, the unofficial side event that I planned was a great time! While a few folks had to bail last minute, 5 members of the community joined me. It was even Dave’s first NHL game!
• The event overall was fantastic. Well balanced and well planned.
• The Carleton University campus is beautiful! Especially this time of year with the changing seasons.
• One other quote that has stuck with my was from Brent Toderash’s talk: “Web 3.0 is just the web rediscovering its roots.”

That’s all for now! Time to go enjoy the after party, more new acquaintances, and have even more great conversations. I’ll leave you with a few photos from the event.