WordCamp US got off to a hot, humid, and rainy start in San Diego, California. A historic event after a week’s worth of record high temperatures and Hurricane Kay off the coast. It was clear that rain or shine, nothing would stop WordCamp US.
The volunteer teams shined as a light rain descended on the hotel grounds. Attendees were greeted by smiling faces (behind masks per event guidelines) during registration, expo setup, sessions, meals, and more. The Cloudways team kicked off WordCamp US 22 by setting up our new booth display while being cheered on by the community! The conference layout was easy to navigate, with all sessions on the left side of the venue and the expo area to the right. After a good workout with the booth, the team joined the Speaker and Sponsor gathering for light appetizers and networking.
Setting up the Cloudways booth for
@WordCampUS</a >! 👋 We’re here at
#WCUS</a >
from Sep 9 through 11. Come say hi! Schedule a meeting with us here ➡️
https://t.co/o4MYBUKmLL
pic.twitter.com/HowQbpfEWH— Cloudways (@Cloudways)
September 9, 2022</a >
Team Cloudways
Sr. Manager WordPress
Product Marketing Manager
AVP Marketing
Lightning Program Manager
WordCamp US Day One:
The first day of WordCamp US started with better news as Hurricane Kay became a Tropical Storm and moved off the coast, providing a better forecast for Day Two and the planned outdoor ending event, but the rain wasn’t done with us yet.
🎉 Day 1 of
#WCUS</a >
is officially underway at the Town and Country Resort in San Diego. 👋
We’re excited to meet you all. Come say hi!@WordCampUS</a >
#WCUS2022</a >
#WordPress</a >
#WordCamp</a >
pic.twitter.com/PyUM380Xzx— Cloudways (@Cloudways)
September 9, 2022</a >
The sessions started with Opening Remarks from the organizing team and an update on the group photo, “You can’t fly drones in the rain .” The program continued with sessions on Growing Your Business with Nathan Ingram, Best Design Practices with Lee Levy, and a WP-CLI workshop with Alain Schlesser.
Watch the Live Stream Day One
Back in the expo hall, we kept busy meeting with happy customers and sharing our latest updates with attendees, all while checking the forecast for our outdoor event later that evening. It was a great time meeting all the talking Zoom faces we have worked with over the past two years, it was wonderful to finally meet in person!
Cloudways Block Party:
As day one came to a close, we made the final call, “Don’t worry about the rain; we control the Cloud,” Mother nature agreed as the skies cleared for most of our event. We enjoyed networking with new and current customers and partners. Taco Love’s tacos were the star, while everyone enjoyed corn hole and the playlist of tunes curated by DJ Wapuu.
🥳 Welcome to the Cloudways Block Party!@WordCampUS #WCUS #WordPress #WordCamp pic.twitter.com/5VBpxiF0xo
— Cloudways (@Cloudways) September 10, 2022
Listen to the DJ Wapuu Playlist on Spotify
WordCamp US Day Two:
Jason Nickerson and Robert started the second day with an early morning interview with Jonathan Denwood of WP-Tonic. The team discussed the latest Cloudways news, the WordPress Community, and Volunteer concerns, amongst the usual banter.
Back in the expo, we focused on our SafeUpdates announcement and meeting with customers and partners. We also had many comments about all the fun we had at our booth. Thanks @renewabelle for joining in on the Cloudways 30-second dance parties!
Watch the Live Stream Day Two
Closing Day Two:
Matt Mullenweg closed the show with a short talk focusing on the WordPress 6.1 new features, the upcoming 20 year anniversary, and the best part of WordPress, the people! Since this was not going to be a State of Word talk, Matt decided to focus on the questions from the community.
Directly after Matt’s talk, we announced our Raffle prize giveaway winners. Vlad Samoletov won the Air Neo Selfie Drone and Adam Silver was the winner of the Raptor Razor Monitor. Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to all that registered. Your registrations and surveys added up to 300 new tree’s to be planted for California Wildfire
Reforestation with One Tree Planted.
WordCamp US 2022 Overview:
WordCamp US might have been significantly smaller than WordCamp EU, but this opened the door to more extended conversations and more value for attendees and sponsors. For the first WordCamp US since the pandemic, all the unique weather conditions reminded us that it takes a lot to produce large-scale events like this. Still, the community and business behind them make for an extraordinary must-attend event.
Owais Khan
Owais works as a Marketing Manager at Cloudways (managed hosting platform) where he focuses on growth, demand generation, and strategic partnerships. With more than a decade of experience in digital marketing and B2B, Owais prefers to build systems that help teams achieve their full potential.
