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WordCamps have always been the ‘place to be’ for WordPress enthusiasts from around the globe.
And what’s better than attending one at the most famous travel destination in Southeast Asia!
So, Multicollab made its way to experience the best of a flagship event at WordCamp Asia 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand – the land of smiles.
Team Multicollab was all aboard. Two of our team members had the opportunity to contribute to WordCamp Asia; Chirag Patel on the organizing team and Harsh Bhatt as a Volunteer.
While initially scheduled for February 2020, WordCamp Asia had to be postponed due to the unfortunate pandemic. But thanks to the many considerate efforts of the organizers and volunteers, 2023 was the time to be.
Now planned as a 3-day event from 17-19 February 2023, WordCamp Asia was all about celebrating the opportunity to meet fellow WordPress people in the bustling yet charming and modern city of Bangkok.
The event was held at the True Icon Hall at the ICONSIAM, which also houses one of the largest shopping malls in Asia. Situated near the Chao Phraya river, the venue absolutely had us in the feels.
Multicollab’s booth @ WC Asia ’23
Multicollab was one of the Nana sponsors for the event, and we took the opportunity to network and showcase our prime product – the Multicollab plugin. And, we were thrilled with the response received at our booth when people told us how they loved Multicollab’s ability to help collaborate directly within WordPress with commenting, tagging, replying, and much more.
We interacted with folks from Automattic, rtCamp, and 10up and received their feedback on our plugin. Petya Raykovska from Human Made made her way to our booth and exchanged thoughts with us. All booth visitors loved the swag at our booth and made sure they snapped a picture with us and shared it on their socials using #multicollab and #WCAsia.
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Day 1: Contributor Day
17th February was marked as the ‘Contributor Day’. As the tradition goes, WordPress fanatics came together and had the opportunity to make contributions to the WordPress core, and things around its accessibility, design, documentation, training, support, and much more.
All-in-all, it was amazing to see over 21 diverse teams working together to supercharge the platform as a close-knit community.
Day 2: Speaker sessions, workshops, and Panel discussions
With over 30 speakers ready to share their expertise over varied topics ranging from core WordPress to Psychology-centred ones, the second day of the event i.e. 18th February was quite significant. The exchange of insights was highly useful for everyone attending the event, regardless of their field or skill set. Sessions around mental health and cultural intelligence were a favorite for many along with other sessions on marketing, writing, success stories, and more.
Day 3: Ask Matt Anything (AMA), Closing day of the event
The third day at WordCamp Asia ’23 included a virtual Q&A session with Matt Mullenweg (Co-founder, WordPress). The Q&A was moderated by Josepha Haden Chomphosy (WordPress Executive Director) and Nirav Mehta (Founder, StoreApps) as the audience came up with their questions. The Q&A was followed by several sessions around mental health, careers, community, project management, etc.
Then was the time to make the closing remarks on day 3. The modern city was to be thanked for, and beautiful remarks were made about its food, culture, and colorful markets, and then it was time to go – not without the promise to gather again at the next WordCamp Asia 2024 in Taipei, Taiwan.
WordCamp Asia saw a huge turnout and was a big hit. The choice of location, the speaker sessions, the diversified crowd of attendees, and the sheer zeal to meet the community after facing many event cancellations made this flagship WordCamp a great success. In total, the event saw 1,724 registrations, 1,299 attendees, 653 contributors, and 3,185 livestreams – all of which are commendable.
The life of the party – the After Party at Lhong 1919 is etched in our memories forever – with people from around the globe dressed in their native costumes/ clothing and proudly speaking their minds and showcasing their diverse cultures. The after-party was a great wrap-up for this amazing event we attended with so many like-minded, knowledgeable, and delightful people.
WordCamp Asia ’23 was a very well-organized event – one that is going to pave the way for many such flagship events in the near future. Thanks to its organizers for bringing a very diverse crowd together and for successfully capturing the inclusive and collaborative essence of our amazing global WordPress community.
