WordCamp Europe 2018 Speaker Applications Now Open

WordCamp Europe 2018 has opened the call for speakers and will be accepting applications through January 15. The organizing team recommends that speakers already have some experience ahead of applying to speak at the largest WordPress event in Europe, but a dedicated Content Team will also be available with resources for helping speakers create a successful presentation.

The 2017 event received a total of 235 speaker applications and 43 were selected for the main event. Organizers plan to stick to the same format and are calling for 40-minute talks (30 min + 10 min Q&A) as well as 10-minute lightning talks. This year the event will experiment with hosting community workshops and organizers plan to open a separate call for workshop leaders next week.

The Content Team put out a specific call for more technical talks at the 2018 event after a community survey showed that more developer-oriented talks are what the audience is looking for. More than half of those surveyed identified themselves as developers (54%), with business owners (12%) the next largest demographic.

The survey also showed that 37% of respondents have been working with WordPress for more than 9 years and roughly 90% of attendees have been using WordPress for 4-9+ years. Advanced development was the most highly requested topic for presentations, selected by 53% of respondents, followed by design (45%).

The survey results offer some insight about which topics might fare well at WCEU in 2018. Organizers have also compiled an extensive list of ideas and topics to inspire speaker applicants.

A batch of 1,000 Early Bird tickets recently went on sale and there are still 680 available. Attendees who purchase a ticket before December 31, 2017, will receive a limited-edition swag item. The organizing team plans to release tickets in batches, as in previous years, but will not be setting specific expectations on sales this year, according to PR representative Letizia Barbi. The Sava Center venue, an international congress and cultural center, is the largest audience hall in Serbia and will accommodate all who want to attend WCEU 2018. Barbi said it should also scale down nicely in case of a smaller turn out.