Podcast E601 – My WordCampUS 2025 Recap  ## Metadata - Author: [[Podcast – Kitchen Sink WordPress]] - Full Title: Podcast E601 – My WordCampUS 2025 Recap - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/a9a5b049-a945-42c3-943c-e3eb66ea7cf1 ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **Reuniting And Running At WordCamp** - Adam reunited with long-time friends and ran group 5Ks while attending WordCamp US in Portland. - He emphasized the social and community value of in-person WordCamp connections after missing the previous year. Transcript: Adam Silver This week, I'm doing a WordCamp US recap. Yeah, that's why my voice is hoarse. I've been gone all week. And I'm in Southern California now. But it was great to be back at WordCamp US. I missed last year because I was on vacation with my wife. I just landed at JFK literally the day, the night before it started. We went to Scotland. I could have figured out a way to get a ticket and someone's couch or hotel room to crash. But seven, eight days of castles and haggis. No, I didn't have any haggis. I was pretty tired. So I did not go. It was the first Work Camp US I'd missed. Do I regret it? Nope. I mean, I don't think I missed anything last year. That was too earth shattering. I'm just kidding. Of course, there was some news last year. But nonetheless, this year, it was back in Portland, because Work Camp US does two years in a row in the same city. So I was there, I heard that there were about 1,100 tickets sold. Then I dug in a little bit deeper with Marcus from wp.world or wp.world. Yeah, something like that. The real breakdown was 911 tickets sold. 273 were freely distributed. And I think pre-COVID, I could have sworn it was much larger, like double that. But I think it was close to maybe 2,000. I thought it was 3,000 at one point, but Dustin said it was lower. So my memory is a little fuzzy there, but it was bigger back in the day, pre-COVID. And nowadays with geopolitical problems and visas and whatnot and economy, it just wasn't as large, but that's okay. It was great. So how was it? Well, Portland was funky, as I've heard. I've never been there before. I think I was in Portland about 30 years ago when I was doing some work for Apple, but all I remember was being in someone's car, going to get gas, and we couldn't pump it ourselves. Anyway, I arrived on Monday, found some lunch with some colleagues, some WordPress people, and that first night I reconnected with a dear college friend who I have not seen in 25 years. We stay in touch online, Facebook, we text, but we haven't seen each other in literally 25 years. So that was odd, but great. I mean, odd that we didn't see each other. We did the math, but great to catch up. Great way to kick off WordCamp. And then basically, Tuesday was Contributor Day, an amazing turnout. I hung out with the photos team and I also managed that morning to sneak in a run because, you know, I like to run just about, I think I did a 5k. Wednesday was showcase day. Companies and people got to present 45 minute case studies, not a sales pitch per se, more like here's what we built, here's what we learned, here's how you can take action on these things, And kind of just to help everybody out. Pretty neat, kind of fun stuff. Thursday and Friday were the classic WordCamp multi-track sessions and workshops. The schedule, which was out weeks prior, looks fantastic. And I really wanted to go, but I couldn't make any sessions. My schedule was odd this year. I'll tell you about that a little bit. ([Time 0:01:52](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b6707ae4-8082-4d55-997d-5d07fe0ca624)) - **Smaller WordCamp Attendance Trends** - Ticket sales for WordCamp US are lower than pre-COVID levels, reflecting travel and economic headwinds. - Adam notes the event scaled down from pre-COVID counts and that external factors likely reduced attendance. Transcript: Adam Silver So I was there, I heard that there were about 1,100 tickets sold. Then I dug in a little bit deeper with Marcus from wp.world or wp.world. Yeah, something like that. The real breakdown was 911 tickets sold. 273 were freely distributed. And I think pre-COVID, I could have sworn it was much larger, like double that. But I think it was close to maybe 2,000. I thought it was 3,000 at one point, but Dustin said it was lower. So my memory is a little fuzzy there, but it was bigger back in the day, pre-COVID. And nowadays with geopolitical problems and visas and whatnot and economy, it just wasn't as large, but that's okay. ([Time 0:02:42](https://share.snipd.com/snip/49a2e36e-cad3-4891-9a8b-16c6b560ab74)) - **Contributor Day And Showcase Highlights** - Adam described Contributor Day activities and joining the photos team while fitting in a morning run. - He highlighted showcase day presentations and community workshops as valuable learning formats. Transcript: Adam Silver Day, an amazing turnout. I hung out with the photos team and I also managed that morning to sneak in a run because, you know, I like to run just about, I think I did a 5k. Wednesday was showcase day. Companies and people got to present 45 minute case studies, not a sales pitch per se, more like here's what we built, here's what we learned, here's how you can take action on these things, And kind of just to help everybody out. Pretty neat, kind of fun stuff. Thursday and Friday were the classic WordCamp multi-track sessions and workshops. The schedule, which was out weeks prior, looks fantastic. And I really wanted to go, but I couldn't make any sessions. My schedule was odd this year. I'll tell you about that a little bit. The best part really was seeing so many filmmaker faces. I haven't seen anybody in over a year since I missed last year's camp. So I've been to work camp US in DC, which I was only in attendance for like a day and a half because my wife's birthday was on that day as it was this year. But anyway, I flew right back from DC to North Carolina and we went on vacation after the camp and stuff. So anyway, I also got on a run Thursday morning with a group of WordPress people, which we did also in DC. It's kind of fun to keep that going. We called it the WP loop because, you know, the loop in WordPress. ([Time 0:04:02](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9f6c60e7-513e-481f-bb39-ca40e3bf8dd1)) - **WordPress Growth And AI Focus** - Matt's State of the Word emphasized growth in contributions and new users without giving specific market-share numbers. - WordPress announced Telex, an AI tool, and demonstrated meta workflows like building blocks and publishing plugins via AI. Transcript: Adam Silver So, and then Friday we wrapped up, of course, with Matt's state of the word, the WordCamp talk. He discussed briefly the elephant in the room, if you will, but he didn't really go into it, which was fine. He just said, it's going through the courts and that's that. That's all I will say on that as well. He then dove into some of the growth, contributions were up, new users are up, but no percentage was given on the overall usage of WordPress. So I'm still guessing it's hovering around the 43, 44%. Then he announced the next WordCamp US locations, even though rumors were back in Portland for some reason, which is odd. They've never done that yet, so it didn't happen. So next year's WordCamp is in Phoenix, Arizona. A lot of people are in the Phoenix area. Carol Stambaugh, who was on that team back at Work Camp Phoenix, was shocked, apparently, but happy. And but, and, and, but, it's both in August. It's on a Sunday through Wednesday. So August in Phoenix, you're going to want to make sure you hydrate. So for anyone bringing swag, bring water bottles, bring ice bandanas. I can tell you right there. I was a runner in Phoenix when I was there this past May. Yeah, it's going to be more. And I was in May. This is going to be August. Anyway, so that's kind of crazy. But nonetheless. Also, WordCamp Asia will be in Mumbai in 2026. So Phoenix, 2026, 2027, apparently. Asia will be in WordCamp Mumbai. And somebody actually asked the question during the Q&A session, when is there going to be a WordCamp, a regional one, like in South America kind of thing? So no answer from Matt was given on that. It's just a matter of trying to figure out who can lead that kind of thing. So in Matt's continuing discussion, the big theme that might take away was WordPress and AI. They launched service called Telex. It's an AI tool. Matt really did seem very excited about its potentials. Videos are not up yet on WordPress.tv, but keep an eye out. Worth a watch, especially that one. It was pretty neat. Some of the demos were pretty neat and interesting. Very meta. Asking it to build a block and a video about itself and then publish it as a plug-in. Pretty neat. So kind of neat stuff. ([Time 0:05:41](https://share.snipd.com/snip/44281431-dac2-41f0-9d0d-fa0716e0d42b)) - **Prepare For Phoenix Heat** - If you're attending WordCamp Phoenix in August, prepare for heat by bringing hydration and cooling swag. - Adam recommends water bottles and ice bandanas for attendees traveling to Phoenix. Transcript: Adam Silver It's on a Sunday through Wednesday. So August in Phoenix, you're going to want to make sure you hydrate. So for anyone bringing swag, bring water bottles, bring ice bandanas. I can tell you right there. I was a runner in Phoenix when I was there this past May. Yeah, it's going to be more. And I was in May. This is going to be August. Anyway, so that's kind of crazy. ([Time 0:06:34](https://share.snipd.com/snip/5629f37f-f959-45ce-9fa3-8185e8c861bd)) - **Career Move To WebDev Studios** - Adam announced he's winding down Concierge WP and accepted a role at WebDev Studios as an account manager. - He cited family needs, financial stability, and the chance to work with enterprise WordPress as reasons for the move. Transcript: Adam Silver And there were a whole bunch in the opening remarks. There were a lot of hands that went up, but as I mentioned, schedules didn't line up. And the reason for that is some personal news. After nearly a decade of running Concierge WP, just shy of a decade, I'm winding things down there. I mean, I've been honest about it and transparent. I've been building things in public that didn't go so well in the last couple of years. You know, my parents are aging out a bit. My son's accident, et cetera. And so I'm talking to a few folks in the community about taking it over. But the real, and the purpose, not the purpose, the timing of this is the main reason is that back in May, my good friend, Jen Miller, who works at another company reached out to me. I just realized Jen's never been on this podcast and she needs to be here. Anyway, she reached out to me to connect me with Brad Williams over at WebDev Studios. Brad and I have chatted on and off for over a decade. Literally, it's been over a decade that we've been friends and we chatted about opportunities and this and that, but working together. But the timing never clicked until now. So after a few weeks of conversations, they made an offer and I accepted it. So I am now an account manager over at Web Dev Studios with plans to also work on content, some podcasting, some video edits, some video production work as well. Basically, the stuff I'm already doing, which I'd love to do, just on a much larger and bigger stage, which is pretty cool. I mean, they are an amazing company. They've been around for 17 years. They do some amazing work on projects. Depth of talent there from the developer perspective is just awesome. It really is. So why did I make the move? Like I said, it's a solid opportunity to learn from some incredible smart people, see how the enterprise WordPress works at scale. It also takes some of the financial pressure off. You know, like I said, my parents, my son's recovery, and it frees me up, of course, to keep experimenting with some side projects. And that being said, yes, I did just buy two new domains last week. Some habits are really tough to give up. Those are going to be coming soon. One of them is in the running space. And the other one is probably more in, it's an offshoot a little bit of like a silly little goals, more of a kind of get stuff going thing. So anyway, don't worry, podcast is not going anywhere. In fact, you might even hear more behind the scenes and insights now that I work from a larger team in an enterprise space. So I'm excited about that. So there you have it. My little update from the past week, why my voice is hoarse, my future plans. And yeah, if you want to share anything from your takeaways, if you were at WorkCamp US, let me know. I would love to have your voice on the podcast if you want to talk about it. And we can talk about that stuff as well. So I'm looking forward. If you you have questions regarding enterprise and processes, it's been a fire hose. ([Time 0:07:52](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4703499b-df98-45e3-987b-af42e0a6c442)) - **Try Telex For AI Experiments** - Try Telex by visiting telex.automatic and experiment with its AI content and block-building features. - Adam plans to test Telex and invites listeners to share their experiences. Transcript: Adam Silver I'm going to mention Telex. So it's telex.automatic It's, you know, T-E Check it out. I'm going to play with it this next week as well. Let me know what you think on that as well. ([Time 0:10:52](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9ac72056-370e-49d3-a546-406ee3a47ce9))