WordCamp NY 2009 – the only thing to make me get up at 7am on Sat Morning

by Alin Wagner-lahmy on November 13, 2009 · 0 comments

in Community,Online Networking,Product Management,Social Media,Web 2.0

: Image via CrunchBase

4 months ago I attended the San Fransisco WordCamp to celebrate my favorite software’s 6th birthday. This was a 2 day event bursting with really fun and light and yet inspiring sessions, on which I reported here in my blog.

And that is why, tomorrow, following a crazy workweek with an avg 5 sleep hours a night, I am going to set the alarm for 6am so I can arrive in time for the NY WordCamp – this is NOT an event to miss out on.

It’s enough to read the WordPress.org and wordcamp sites to understand who this software has gathered so many followers and fans, why is it such a strong community of people thirsty to learn more about it, and give of their time to grow it.

I was first introduced to WordPress in 2005 when the community started talking about what a really great and easy software this is to use to put your content on the web. “Truthfully, the point of going to a WordCamp is to meet people face to face and interact with them, not to hang out online. Try cutting the cord for a day…” says their site. Right we all say, we’ll all be there with our netbooks and notebooks, but not not as a ‘peer’ but as an extension of ourselves.

It is really hard not to be in awe of this brilliant software and people behind it. First of all the organization behind these events is always meticulous, read their ‘day of‘ instructions. This really big event includes 8 panels targeting and encompassing all of the various WordPress users: newbies, bloggers, developers, open source peeps and as this is held at an academic settings: an academic panel.

I saw Matt Mullenweg, WordPress’ founder and creator in the SF conference and was really full of awe (ok, and jealousy too) of him. Humble, charming, in-it-for-the-community-benefit, and you know, as much as this is a cliche, it’s true – the community is as good as it’s members, and wordpress is a real life example of that.

I will be live blogging tomorrow from Wordcamp, be sure to tune in to the conversation using #wcny on twitter , WP peeps did alert of an extremely week wifi , but I am sure even here the power of community will surpass reality limitations .