WordCamp Kerala 2023- An Experience That Was Worth the Long Wait

For three straight years (2017,2018 and 2019), Kerala witnessed WordCamps. The results were as expected. The WordPress community grew, and attendees engaged in deep conversations and exchanged ideas, discovered new opportunities, and so on.  

But there was one question that no one was able to answer confidently. Whether there will be a regional WordCamp in Kerala or not. Every time this question came up, there was no solid reply. Some said it might happen in the future, while others were not so sure. 

The quest for an answer went on and on. Now, 4 years after the last WordCamp, the question has been answered. The state of Kerala witnessed its first-ever regional WordCamp on March 25 at IMA House Kochi and what an experience it was.

Wordcamp Kerala 2023- A Step Closer to Bringing the Community Together

The first regional WordCamp in Kerala was a much-awaited event and it was clearly evident from how fast the call for sponsors and organizers was full. 

Now, this is just the beginning. There’s a lot more work to be done from this stage. If we take a trip back in time, we sponsored and volunteered at the first WordCamp in Kerala way back in 2017. Hence, we know the process and there is a lot to go over to make sure that the long wait was worth it.

The First Regional WordCamp in Kerala and We Played Our Part

We sponsored, organized, and volunteered at WordCamp Kerala 2023. Now there might be a few questions that cross your mind which we hope can be answered in the following way.

Was it easy? No. 

Was it fun? Yes. 

Will we do it again? Absolutely.

We were entrusted with handling the content and other aspects and also our CEO came up with the website design and official logo for WordCamp Kerala 2023.

The rest of the magic happened as the days went by. The speakers and volunteers were finalized and the attendees were also ready, with the tickets being sold out. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the day to arrive. 

A Day That Lived Up to Its Hype

A lot of hard work and preparation made this event a success. Over 500+ WordPress lovers showed up and made the first regional WordCamp a huge success. This was a team effort and kudos to all the organizers and volunteers for making sure that the event went according to the schedule.

Now the speakers covered a wide range of topics and weren’t just limited to the development side. This is what WordPress is all about. Everyone will find a way to put their skills to use and the speakers were here to show the way. Apart from just regular sessions, we also had workshops and panel discussions. Our CEO participated in the panel discussion- The WordPress Economy in 2023: A Fireside Chat with WordPress Entrepreneurs.

As we said earlier, we’ve been to WordCamps before, but this time there was one thing that was different. We had a booth set up and as you have guessed, a lot of swag was there. For a few of our teammates, this was also the first WordCamp experience. Since this is our first time running a booth we were quite nervous but also excited at the same time.

Right now, when we look back, we are really glad we decided to host a booth. The number of people we met who love WordPress as much as we do was just amazing. There were a few familiar faces also. From discussing WordPress to networking and explaining our products and what users can achieve with it, the long wait for a regional WordCamp in Kerala was absolutely worth it.

Now having fun is an important factor for us and we decided to put our spin on it. There were a lot of swags waiting for everyone and all they had to do was try their luck. We developed a spin-a-wheel contest to see which swag the attendees will take home with them.

Watching everyone try their luck and having a good time made all of us smile and we didn’t even realize that the entire day was almost over. Also now it is safe to say that WordCamps always holds a surprise for us. This time there were two surprises.

Firstly, Nandhu Raj (Associate Project Manager) ended up winning one of the contests and Balu B (UI/UX Designer) won another one.

Wrapping Up

Well, it was memorable and a day to be remembered. From meeting new people to making new friends, the first regional WordCamp was a huge success. The next WordCamp will be in Kozhikode and we will be there.