The WordPress Conference We Need Next  🔗 **Source:** [The WordPress Conference We Need Next](https://remkusdevries.com/the-wordpress-conference-we-need-next/) I just got back from WordCamp Europe in Kraków, Poland. A wonderful event, one I helped start and shape. But… if you’ve been hanging around me at any WordPress event in the past couple of years, you may have heard me share my thoughts on what we’re missing in the world of WordPress events. WordCamp Europe included. It’s not that the WordPress ecosystem suffers from a lack of conferences. Not at all. Over the years, we’ve seen every flavor imaginable, from local WordCamps to massive flagship WordCamps. And of course, purely commercial ones; think [PressConf](https://pressconf.events), [CloudFest](https://cloudfest.com), [CaboPress](https://cabopress.com), [LoopConf](https://www.loopconf.com/), and many others. They’ve all serve a purpose. But if you step back and look at the landscape, you’ll notice something missing. A modern WordPress conference about learning shouldn’t just be about using WordPress. Events like LoopConf, PressConf, CaboPress, and CloudFest’s WordPress Day already cover important ground in technical skill, business, community, and inspiration. When I helped start WordCamp Europe all those years ago, the goal was clear: create an event for the European WordPress community to come together, share, and connect. That mission was, and still is, incredibly valuable. But WordPress itself has changed. The people building with it have changed. The work we’re doing today is often business-critical, complex, and highly professionalized. The conversations we need to have have evolved, and the way we learn together has to evolve with them. What remains missing is a conference with a singular purpose: to advance every attendee toward a higher standard. A form of mastery, if you will. I don’t think we need just another space to share knowledge, but we absolutely need a carefully designed environment dedicated to refinement. One where those building for the enterprise leveled clients feel just as at home as those aspiring to work at that level. Refinement of Refinement means taking what already works and improving it, making it more intentional, more robust, and more professional. That’s the heartbeat of what learning in WordPress should look like today. It’s at the heart of what I’m building with the [Within WordPress Guild](https://remkusdevries.com/announcing-the-guild/). It’s no longer enough to know which plugins to install or which theme to start from. The real learning happens when we talk about: * How to make websites faster, more stable, and easier to maintain * How to design workflows and deployment processes that scale gracefully * How to measure conversions, performance, and impact and translate that into business value * How to connect development, design, content, and operations into one cohesive practice The tools we use change constantly, and a great learning conference builds around the pursuit to keep up-to-date. We need this form of refinement. A proper learning conference shouldn’t just rely on a call for papers. It should be largely curated. Talks must fit into an intentional narrative and follow a thread. The vast majority of speakers should be invited for their expertise and their ability to teach through experience. Those speakers should also be compensated properly. Sharing knowledge is work, and expertise deserves respect. When we pay speakers, we raise the standard for the entire event. And on that thread, talks shouldn’t stand alone. For a two-day event, each day should have one or more red threads, unifying themes that tie each session together. Every talk should contribute to a broader idea, so attendees leave with a structured understanding rather than a collection of disconnected insights. And learning doesn’t stop when the lights go out. There should be a follow-up after the event, whether through recorded sessions, additional materials, or direct communication between speakers and attendees. Every talk should include handouts when possible, practical frameworks, checklists, or guides that help translate ideas into action. Learning is only valuable when it can be applied. The typical WordPress event still defaults to beginner-level sessions. That’s fine, we absolutely still need on-ramps, and I think WordCamps in general are perfect for that. But what about the professionals? The solo developers who build incredibly sophisticated sites with page builders? The agencies juggling multiple client deployments? The engineers scaling WooCommerce stores for serious revenue? They don’t need tutorials. They need refinement. They need the space to learn from peers who are not just good at what they do, but great at it. Talks that explore how process, performance, and professionalism intersect. Discussions that bridge technical and business realities. Speakers who don’t just show what’s possible but also how to sustain it. That’s what a real learning conference for WordPress looks like. If WordPress is the platform, WooCommerce is the economy built on top of it. E-commerce deserves to be treated as part of the craft, not a separate discipline. A true learning event should explore the entire ecosystem, from code to checkout, from server optimization to conversion analytics. Because at the end of the day, what we build isn’t just websites. It’s the infrastructure for real businesses, real customers, and real impact. That’s not something you learn from a tutorial. That’s something you craft together. That’s what craftsmanship is about. It shouldn’t just be about the talks, though. There’s a reason the hallway track is often the most valuable part of any event. It’s where theory meets experience, where builders compare scars, and where you learn the details that never make it into slides. Networking shouldn’t be an afterthought. It should be prioritized and embedded into the schedule, with long, intentional breaks and spaces designed for connection. If learning is the core, connection is the method. A great WordPress learning conference should leave you changed, not just inspired. You should come home with frameworks, ideas, and methods that make you reexamine how you work. It shouldn’t be about the quantity of sessions. It should be about quality of understanding. It shouldn’t reward the loudest voices. It should spotlight the most thoughtful practitioners. It shouldn’t aim to entertain. It should aim to elevate. When people see the recap, they shouldn’t just wish they’d gone. They should feel like they missed the conversation that will define the next chapter of WordPress. That’s the bar. That’s the opportunity. The result of this thinking is what I want to organize. A two-day, single-track event built for those who already know their way around WordPress but want to go deeper. *Much* deeper. To learn from people who are exceptional at what they do. To explore the intersection of craft, development, business, and community. Because WordPress doesn’t just need more people building with it. It needs, no, *requires* more people building better with it. What do you think? Whether you’re here for personal reflections or deep WordPress insights, there’s more where this came from. I write two newsletters worth your time. Each serving a different part of my brain (and maybe yours too)., The WordPress Conference We Need Next, remkusdevries.com, 01ktpnfk47k79mjys5gd59y8pb.