WordCamp Long Beach to Debut a “Future of WordPress” Track

The first-ever WordCamp Long Beach is happening October 5-6 at the Pointe Conference Center at Walter Pyramid (CSULB). Organizers are planning to host practical, skill-building talks and panels, abstract discussions, and networking events at locally-owned eateries. The event will be the only WordCamp happening in Los Angeles county this year.

Last week organizers opened the call for speakers and announced a new concept for the schedule. Saturday’s program will include two traditional tracks, one geared towards users and another towards professionals. Sunday will feature a “Future of WordPress” track with more philosophical/concept style presentations focused around the topic.

“This concept was inspired by the desire to have some ‘bigger’ conversations about WordPress, its place in the web/tech ecosystem, and where WordPress is headed,” co-organizer Sé Reed said. As a former WordPress Growth Council member, Reed has a special interest in facilitating discussions on these ideas.

“These topics come up occasionally, like with the WP Council/Advisory Board and the WP Governance Project, but they always seems to be relegated to a side conversation,” Reed said. “We need to be having these conversations openly and honestly, as a community. The future of WordPress is a big issue that affects everyone who works with WordPress.

“Since there doesn’t seem to be a place where these conversations are put front-and-center, I suggested we do it at our camp, which just so happens to be one month before WCUS.”

WordCamp Long Beach’s Call for Speakers post include a few sample topics to inspire potential applicants:

Internal Governance (WP Project)

External Governance (WP, WC3, GDPR, other acronyms)

Accessibility

The Future of WordPress

Future of the Web (technology, standards)

The WordPress Community

Backwards compatibility

WordPress’ impact on the open web

Third parties, browsers, operating systems, etc.

These are the types of big picture presentations that you rarely see at smaller WordCamps. They are usually sprinkled in with other topics at larger camps, so having an entire track dedicated to the Future of WordPress is a unique opportunity for attendees to join in these important conversations.

WordCamp Long Beach has space for a total of 250 attendees. Although it is the only camp happening in the county this year, the area has a strong group of local meetups throughout.

“We are lucky to have a really large number of active meetup groups spread through the county, so even though we are based in Long Beach, we are representing more than just our local meetup.”

Speaker applications are open to anyone, regardless of speaking experience. Each presentation should be 30-40 minutes in length, and applicants can also propose a workshop or panel. Applications will be open through August 23, 2019.