WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg will be delivering his annual State of the Word (SOTW) address from Madrid before a live audience on December 11, at 15:00 UTC.
Last year’s event took place in New York City with attendance by invitation only, and 2023 will mark the first year the SOTW will take place from a city outside North America. This change may be a deliberate recognition of the majority (51.4%) of WordPress users who run the software in a non-English language. WordPress adoption has the most potential for growth in emerging markets and locales where Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese languages are spoken.
Traditionally, Mullenweg has used the State of the Word address to make important announcements, share progress, galvanize the contributor base, and recast the vision for WordPress. As the Gutenberg project is now into Phase 3 focusing on collaboration, I would not be surprised to see a demo of functionality that users can expect to see in 2024.
Live attendees will need to reserve a ticket for their seats at the in-person event. A live stream will be available for the vast majority of the WordPress world who will not be able to attend. As in previous SOTW events, anyone will be able to submit questions for the live Q&A portion. The team managing the event plans to release more details in November.