San José, Costa Rica to Host Its First WordCamp November 5-6

WordPress enthusiasts in San José, Costa Rica are getting ready to host the city’s first WordCamp November 5-6. Roberto Remedios is one of 10 organizers working with a Rocio Valdivia, the team’s mentor from WordCamp Central. He said that WordCamp Miami inspired him to want to host an event in Costa Rica.

“Back in 2014, Rommel Castro and I attended WordCamp Miami and I was so impressed by seeing so many people sharing about WordPress that I decided someday I would put together something similar in Costa Rica,” he said. “Some of the lectures I checked into inspired me to get in touch with a group of people that later became the WordPress community of Costa Rica. I was motivated by the desire to share what I had learned and I wanted other people to have the same experience I had at the WordCamps.”

Remedios organized the first WordPress meetup held in Costa Rica, which started with 20 attendees. After changing their marketing to target the right audience, the meetups became a success, gathering up to 90 people per event. The group is now averaging 35-40 regular attendees.

“The WordPress community in Costa Rica is very global and welcoming,” Remedios said. The country is home to many people of different nationalities and he said it is not uncommon to find colleagues and WordPress community members who came from outside Costa Rica.

“People from Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Nicaragua, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Guatemala and the US all call Costa Rica their home,” Remedios said. “In my case, I was born in Ukraine, grew up in Cuba, and now I am a ‘tico.’ As we say, the community Costa Rica is Pura Vida, which literally means ‘pure life’ but also symbolizes the idea of simply enjoying life and being happy.”

WordCamp San José organizers are planning to host 220 attendees and 20 speakers. The call for speakers is now open and organizers welcome presentations in Spanish or English.

“For designers and developers in Costa Rica, the English language is an everyday thing,” Remedios said. “Although we haven’t choosen the talks yet, we are very open to having lectures in either language.” The deadline to submit a proposal is October 1.

WordCamp San José will feature a developer track that is very JavaScript-oriented. Remedios said the organization team is working closely with the country’s large JavaScript community.

“JavaScript is a major part of the web, as it is the basis of several libraries and frameworks,” Remedios said. “With the REST API and possible integrations in themes and plugins using libraries such as React.js, Angular, and Backbone, the possibilities are endless.

“In Costa Rica there is a very large JavaScript community. Collaboration with this community and others, such as Drupal, UX, and designers, is the future.”

Remedios said that within the team of organizers they have several developers who are responsible for preparing the track. They plan to cover all topics from basic to advanced integrations, and will feature a couple of leaders from the JavaScript community as speakers.

“The event will be special, since it is the first WordCamp in Costa Rica,” Remedios said. “We are working very hard to assure it is a high quality event. We are also planning to have a coffee bar at the event, because we are really passionate about good coffee and Costa Rica has the best.”

If you want to increase your JavaScript knowledge and connect with the diverse Costa Rican WordPress community, this historic WordCamp is a good one to add to your calendar. In addition to the developer track, the event will also include a Blogger track and a UI/UX design track.

“If you want to enjoy a weekend of fun, Costa Rica is a nature-lover’s dream,” Remedios said. “So attendees are not only going to be able to enjoy our first WordCamp but also a visit to the beach or the mountain or even a Metallica concert that is going to be held that night in downtown San José. Have you ever heard of a more exciting plan?”