{"id":9063,"date":"2025-10-23T20:48:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T00:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada.wordcamp.org\/2025\/?p=9063"},"modified":"2025-10-26T15:09:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T19:09:07","slug":"thats-a-wrap-for-wordcamp-canada-2025-wceh2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada.wordcamp.org\/2025\/thats-a-wrap-for-wordcamp-canada-2025-wceh2025\/","title":{"rendered":"That’s a Wrap for WordCamp Canada 2025 #wceh2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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And just like that… we’ve #wceh2025 in the rear view. Have you had a chance to think about what happened? What went well? What could have been better? Have you dug out the business cards, connected on LinkedIn and socials?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lois Chan-Pedley said this about the After Party: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The after party at Craft Beer Market was so incredibly well attended that many of us had to squish together in booths to chat! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“When food and drinks flow freely, so do relationships. Everyone was super generous with their time and conversation. Many took deeper dives into the conference topics, made professional connections, perhaps even advanced the open source community in the beautiful incremental way that true and lasting change does. (We also watched the Blue Jays win, which is also beautiful!)”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Credit Where It’s Due<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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We can’t pass up the opportunity to thank the incredible community that made this event happen – the volunteers (organizers, speakers, registration folks, bloggers, social media, designers, photographers – all of you).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In lots of the feedback responses we heard about your impact on the overall event:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Screenshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kudos and Successes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Community & Atmosphere<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We got lots of feedback, as organizers, on the community of WordPress and open source in general. From attendees to sponsors, the reports range from warm and fuzzy to downright inspiring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The open discussion, even by the co-founder of WordPress, created an even more open and accessible discussion. Matt Mullenweg, didn’t shy away from the tough questions, and reminded us all that \u201cEvery saint has a past, every sinner has a future,” <\/em><\/strong>he said. \u201cI never want to define any company or any person as permanently good or bad.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> (Read the overview at the Repository<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Matt<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Venue & Location<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Carleton University in Ottawa was beautiful this time of year. And the accessibility made it easy for every attendee to feel welcomed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Attendees<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Topics & Sessions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Topics<\/strong> such as accessibility, dev workflows, full-site editing, AI in WordPress, and the broader \u201copen web\u201d narrative were featured. On this we’ve had a wide array of feedback – from ‘excellent’ to too narrowly focused. And several respondents wanted more development – focused topics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Attendees<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Networking & business value<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sponsors and agencies commented positively about being able to attend, connect, and share in the event. Vortex Solution<\/a> said the event was \u201cnothing short of inspiring; a mix of learning, connection, innovation, and community pride.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sponsor<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some commentary noted that attendees ranged from beginners to advanced users, developers to agencies\u2014so the conference provided both entry-level and advanced value to our sponsors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Challenges & Needed Improvement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Depth vs. Breadth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As is often the case with conferences of this nature, if we go broad in topics (which is the goal), the depth can often suffer. For future reference, we may want to be intentional about choosing speakers who will go in-depth on a few topics, as well as introductory sessions. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dave<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recordings & Live Streaming<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This year we didn’t get the live-streaming set up and I gather it was missed by a few folks. Matt<\/strong> live-blogged his pepared talk<\/a> ahead of the question period, and we got the video of his Townhall Q&A session uploaded rather quickly to WP.tv. We’re working on the other sessions as I write this \u2014 thanks to our amazing post-processing volunteers and photographers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Attendees<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Value Capture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We had a few comments on the lack of official networking opportunities. Generally, networking is relegated to the ‘hallway track’ – wherein we mingle and try to meet folks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think of the idea of prescriptive networking? Like speed-dating for agencies\/ attendees? I’d love to hear your thoughts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Winner<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cI 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.\u201d ~ Jonathan Desrosiers<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What comes next? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WCEH 2026 of course! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re interested in getting involved in making this event a possibility for 2026, please complete an interest form here<\/a>. Join us for an information session! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fellow Attendee Thoughts & Wrap-ups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a bunch of wrap-ups that I could find online and were tagged in Slack. If you have one \u2014 add it in the comments. We’ll read up and see what you thought and what we can do to make it better next year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n