YITH attended WordCamp Europe 2022

WordCamp Europe in Porto, Portugal has finally been celebrated physically as we slowly enter our post-covid era, and the feelings caused by the event have us overthrown with joy and excitement. It’s been 2 years since the last event we attended in the flesh and to witness such participation in numbers, can only make our hearts skip a beat! As many as 2304 attendees showed up – from a total of 2746 sold tickets -, to show their love and support for the WordPress community. 

In addition, as this was the largest WordPress event worldwide it was an opportunity also for our team not only to participate but to enjoy a little team building time, since members of both our Spanish and Italian teams were sent as representatives. We could not be happier to hug and see each other after almost 2 or even 3 years with some of them.  

Francesco Grasso

“After two years of pandemic and online-only events, an in-person event was as if we started breathing again! The energy throughout the event and of all participants was the same: let’s connect, share, learn and enjoy like we used to in the past. To recognize so many eyes (yes, masks still suck!) and meet new ones asking about us and what we do was so exciting and made us proud to be part of the YITH family.”

We arrived at Contributor’s Day early in the morning anticipating a quiet day as Contributor’s Day goes, only to experience an absolute breakout of attendees, creating a New Record of 800 people! This only shows how much we needed to get back to real life events, and how much we missed each other in the community. Entering the venue of Super Bock Arena left us mesmerized by the tranquillity all over the park that was surrounding it. Animal life was more than present as roosters, birds and peacocks were gallivanting around the venue area. Peacocks were more than happy to show off their amazing feathers to us!

At the entrance we found some Newfold family members, from Yoast and were overjoyed we could finally meet them in person. Same goes for some of our Bluehost colleagues we later met and took pictures with. 

Alberto Ruggiero

“It was very nice to meet the other members of the Newfold family and collaborate on the contest aimed at the participants of the WordCamp.”

Day 1 was an absolute success too, as we arrived early to set our booth and merch, with our fantastic energy and laughs. 

Soon the first attendees arrived asking to get our famous YITH t-shirts and stickers or ask about our services and future plans. We were delighted to speak to all of you! 

For this year’s event though, we had a little surprise for all WordCamp Europe attendees, and along with our fellow brothers and sisters from Yoast and Bluehost, held a competition where the winner would get a MacBook Air, a mini drone or a bundle of products from all 3 companies. To participate, our lovely attendees had to play SUDOKU for Day 1 and a puzzle game for Day 2. Playing at each booth of YITH, Yoast and Bluehost was obligatory in order to get all 3 stamps and get a chance to win. What a fun day it was and how excited we still are with such prizes!  

Athena Kiourka

“It was an amazing experience, bearing in mind it was the first physical event after COVID. I get emotional thinking about it! We are part of a truly beautiful community! <3”

During Day 2 we celebrated the awarding of our 3 winners as we selected the best slogan for next year’s WordCamp Europe 2023!  

We present to you our 3 winners for this year’s contest! Thanks for participating everyone!  

For the closing part we could not have left out WordPress’ founder, Matt Mullenweg, who gave a live Q&A session while attendees approached to ask questions. Important matters such as WordPress’ future, sustainability and even diversity were brought to the table and the answers were more than promising! During the closing remarks the grand reveal of next year’s WordCamp Europe location took place leaving us in awe as it will be celebrated in Athens, Greece!

Marco Salvo

“I really appreciated our desire to be together as a group. While people from other teams were divided, we were always together, and we had no need to divide. We are a great force!”

This trip has really been an amazing journey for us as a team and we’d like to thank everyone we met, the organization, our loyal customers, and of course the WordPress community, that with meetups and events like these, remind us of the importance of contribution and companionship. We leave you with a photo from the After Party which took place at the Super Bock Arena. Till next time folks! 😀