WordCamp Phoenix 2023 was a incredible camp! The placement was excellent, the camp was very nicely attended, and the organizers, audio system, and volunteers have been superior.  I’m so fortunate to have been in a position to attend!

Arriving for WordCamp Phoenix 2023

My one-hour flight from LA was very clean. For these of you who’ve flown to Phoenix earlier than, you’d know that on most days, it’s windy and it may very well be a bit of scary to land there. However I used to be fortunate, and every little thing went nice.

After checking in on the resort, I went all the way down to the foyer to fulfill with Ericka Barboza whom I had not seen since WordCamp US in 2022, and we gave one another an enormous hug.

We then had a chew to eat at Barrel & Bushel positioned within the foyer of the resort and we acquired caught up on work and camp stuff.

Speaker-Sponsor Occasion

Thursday evening was the Speaker-Sponsor occasion at Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. positioned in Downtown Phoenix, a number of blocks from the resort the place we have been staying.

As we walked to the placement, we realized how hustling and bustling the world has turn into. Fairly a distinction from the final time I used to be there in 2020.

As we walked in, we acknowledged the group of WordCampers and we couldn’t wait to say hello to everybody.

We bumped into James Tyron from Simply Amused. Ericka and I had not seen James since WordCamp US in 2022 and we acquired caught up on new tasks he’s engaged on along with his firm.

Whereas making an attempt a few of the native beer, we acquired an enormous hug from Adam Warner from GoDaddy and chatted with Dave Ryan with Bluehost and Newfold Digital.

I’ve recognized Dave for a very long time, from many camps in the past. Dave lives in Phoenix and can also be one of many organizers of the camp and he instructed me he had been very busy engaged on the camp.

He had a forged on his arm as he had fallen and injured himself, however he mentioned he was doing nice and was in superb spirits.

I then noticed Kathy Zant of KadenceWP. Kathy and I had recognized one another for a few years and used to run into one another the evening earlier than every camp whereas checking into resorts with bell carts loaded with swag.

I had promised her an enormous hug, and I gave her a extremely large one and I hugged her many occasions throughout the camp.

What can I say, I’m an enormous hugger!

After folks had been having fun with native tacos, Raquel Landefelt, the camp Sponsor Wrangler, went on stage, gave items to every speaker, and thanked all of the sponsors.

Matthew Clancy, the Lead Organizer, additionally got here on stage to introduce himself and say his thank yous. Everyone knows that nothing would occur with out the unimaginable work and fervour of the organizers.

Because the night went on, we met lots of previous and new associates, similar to Maddy Osman from the Blogsmith, and Jessica Spart, additionally a part of the organizing workforce. And we went on having nice conversations with everybody.

First Day of Camp

WordCamp Phoenix 2023 was held at Occasions on Jackson, a big and beautifully-restored former fruits and vegetable warehouse constructed within the Nineteen Thirties inside strolling distance of Downtown Phoenix.

I beloved this venue in 2020 and I nonetheless suppose it’s a excellent location for this camp.

Getting Prepped

Ericka and I walked in and acquired our registration badges. The very first thing we did was cease by the swag desk to get our WordCamp Phoenix swag and to thank the volunteers who have been there for all of the work they do at these camps.

We noticed Michelle Frechette, Director of Group Engagement at StellarWP. Earlier, Michelle had tweeted that should you took a pic along with her and retweeted it with a specific tag, there can be a donation made to BigOrangeHeart whose focus is supporting and selling optimistic well-being and psychological well being inside distant working communities.

So, the very first thing I did was take that image along with her and submit it on social media, as most of the different folks within the camp did as nicely.

Kathy Zant was standing and the Kadence sales space, which was the primary sales space on the entrance of the venue, and naturally, we hugged once more!

Somebody had posted on Twitter that should you have been on the camp, you needed to say hello to Chad Beatty with Rocket.internet, who can also be one of many sponsors, so I appeared for the desk and I did simply that.

I additionally met with Baljinder Singh with wpspins.com who instructed me he is aware of our very personal Marco Berrocal. He was serving to out on the Happiness Bar and we chatted a bit of bit.

Whereas ready for the camp to begin, I bumped into Alex Vasquez whom I met at WordCamp Lengthy Seashore in 2019 the place he was on the organizing workforce, and Matt Kopala with SiteDistrict, whose travels I observe on social media.

It was good to see them once more and catch up.

Beginning Day One

On day one, I used to be in a position to attend a number of displays. “Social Media and Rising Your Viewers” by Darreyl Davis was very attention-grabbing to me.

Darreyl is an Ohio native who has lived in Arizona for 15 years. In his presentation, he talked about easy methods to create partaking content material for social media, optimize your web site for max visibility, and measure the success of selling campaigns.

He additionally invited a shock visitor speaker on the stage, Maddison Gaffney, a social entrepreneur, group builder, and educator with over 100K followers on social media who shared her expertise and the way she acquired the place she is whereas answering questions from the attendees.

Earlier than the lunch break, I additionally watched “Make The Unimaginable Attainable: Create a Lasting Affect in your Group by Doing Work Price Doing” by Keely O’Connor. It was an inspirational presentation that left the attendees with the next concept: “Take motion, consider in your self, you’re the director and producer of your life”.

Lunchtime

At lunchtime, we loved taco bowls within the out of doors space of the occasion area. We sat across the spherical tables and chatted with everybody. The Arizona solar was good and heat, though we have been sitting within the shade.

It was an excellent setting for lunch!

Within the afternoon, we adopted Cheryl Marquez, who mentioned a really attention-grabbing and sizzling matter which is “Running a blog within the age of AI: Easy methods to Keep Related and Aggressive.”

She mentioned varied AI instruments and the restrictions of these instruments. I discovered it to be a really attention-grabbing presentation.

After day one of many camp was over, Ericka and I handled ourselves to dinner at The Compass. It’s a revolving restaurant positioned on the very prime ground of the Hyatt Regency in downtown Phoenix.

Dinner was scrumptious as was the wine, and the views of Downtown Phoenix have been superior. However the very best half was sharing private tales between us.

We grew to become a lot nearer that evening.

Day Two of Camp

On Day Two of WordCamp Phoenix, Ericka and I attended lots of the displays.

Within the morning, I watched Alicia St. Rose who’s a part of my native Meetup. She talked in regards to the block editor in her presentation “You’re Invited to a Block Celebration.”

Alicia was very informative, and she or he additionally had occasion music at some factors of her presentation which made for a enjoyable hour.

After that, we listened to James Tyron speak in regards to the new Website Editor in ”Taking pictures Hoops with WordPress’s New Website Editor: Suggestions and Methods for Elevating your Website-Constructing Recreation.”

Earlier than lunch, we watched Maddy Osman discuss Content material UX in “Content material UX: Easy methods to Create a Nice Reader Expertise.” I appreciated it when she mentioned, “ person expertise is sort of invisible”.

I agree 100% with that.

Lunchtime on the Camp on Day Two

Lunchtime arrived and it appeared just like the morning went so quick. We sat within the out of doors area once more and chatted with folks sitting at our desk, together with Maddy Osman, Christina Hills of WebsiteWorkshopCreation.com, Cheryl Marquez, and Donald Luke who’s a part of my native Santa Clarita Meetup.

I’ve been on so many Zoom Meetups as we each attended just about in the previous couple of years. It was good to fulfill in individual for a change and chat about issues occurring in the neighborhood.

Within the afternoon, we watched a number of extra displays, Femi Lewis in “Construct your On-line Presence: Brainstorming Workout routines to Develop your Content material Technique”, Robert Windisch in “Easy methods to Scale WordPress/WooCommerce”, and Subh Sahal in “Securing your WordPress Web site: Greatest Practices and Suggestions for Newbies”.

All of the displays have been actually attention-grabbing!

And similar to that, it was already time for closing remarks. Matthew Clancy invited all of the volunteers to come back to the stage to offer them a particular thanks for his or her work. Volunteers are an integral a part of camps and so they actually deserved our appreciation.

The After Celebration

The After Celebration was additionally held at Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. in the identical out of doors heated coated patio the place the Speaker-Sponsor occasion was held the evening earlier than.

It was a very nice night, and the Arizona climate was excellent. We have been all excited and drained from the 2 days of camp however able to occasion.

We had drinks and meals and talked to lots of people together with Carol Stambaugh and Jessica Spart from the organizing workforce. Then we met a few of the attendees whom we had not met on the Sponsor and Speaker dinner similar to Tammy White and William Bay.

Earlier than we knew it, the clock struck midnight and we needed to head again to the resort and get some relaxation, particularly Ericka who was happening an extended journey again to Costa Rica the following day.

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to Ericka. We hugged many occasions within the resort foyer preventing again tears. I’ll miss Ericka very a lot and hope to see her once more at a camp quickly.

The subsequent day, I headed to the airport to catch my return flight to LA. I took an image of the downtown space from the resort room ground and mentioned goodbye (or so long) to Phoenix.

One other WordCamp Phoenix is within the books!

An enormous thanks to the organizers, audio system, sponsors, volunteers, and naturally, the Phoenix WordPress group.

Till subsequent 12 months!