WordCamp Geneva 2016

I attended my first WordCamp 3 years ago. It was WordCamp Switzerland in Zurich and it was one of the most important events in my career. This year WordCamp Switzerland moved to Geneva and I just couldn’t miss it.

Changes

The event went through a lot of changes compared to the previous 2 years. It was moved to Geneva, had a new group of organizers, the date was changed from late September to late November and from Saturday to Friday. But it still felt normal – a local WordCamp with a great variety of speakers and attendees.

Geneva

I’m in Switzerland for over 9 years, but it was my first time visiting Geneva. It feels like in a totally different country compared to Zurich. It’s not just that people speak in different language (French), it’s also a different architecture and general vibe. But I really liked the place and hopefully can come back to do a bit more sightseeing.

Speaking

One of my goals this year was to speak at a conference. I really wanted to speak at the WordCamp Europe in Vienna, but in the end I didn’t send a proposal. I had no clear idea for a talk and I was a bit afraid of the size of the audience. When the call for speakers for WordCamp Geneva was announced, I immediately had an idea for a talk in mind. I’ve sent a proposal and was accepted just few weeks later.

I will write about my talk in details in a different post, but to summarise my experience – it was good. I spoke about Work / Life Balance, so something that is not covered much at WordCamps. I think my talk was pretty interesting and it was really well received. I was really stressed right before the talk, but it went rather smoothly which I’m super happy about.

The Conference

Because of the stress related to speaking, I didn’t attend many of the talks. The ones I did were really interesting. Other ones I will definitely watch on WordPress.tv. Most of the time I spent volunteering at the registration desk. Great way to meet new people.

I also had few valuable conversations with people. It’s awesome to pick brains of people with more experience and knowledge in some areas.

Oh, and the After Party and the Contributor day were great too!

All in all

I had a blast at WordCamp Geneva this year. Like usually I heard some great talks, met some great people. It was a nice boost of motivation. I wished there was a little bit more attendees (than 99), but still, it was a quality crowd none the less. I’m already looking forward to next year. But first, WordCamp Europe 2017 in June… or maybe another one somewhere else.