WordCamp Turku Wrap-up

Posted on by Teemu Suoranta

A few weeks have passed since WordCamp Turku and it’s time to look back and wrap-up the event.

First, I’d like to thank you for all the organizers, volunteers, speakers, sponsors and guests for everything. The people and the community really make the event.

Photos

We had two exchange students from Germany taking a few photos from event. Thank you Sven Wiegmann and Dennis Wilke!

Some of the guests have also taken pictures:

Videos

The presentations were recorded and uploaded to WordPress.tv. The publishing process is still going and we will update the link here when it’s done.

Slides

Blog posts

There’s a few blog posts written about the event. They are all in Finnish.

Feedback

After the event we asked feedback from all the attendees. We got 42 submissions and here’s some things to note.

Who attended to WordCamp Turku?

  • Mostly people from Helsinki (36%). Next up was people from Turku (21%). There were people from all around Finland like Tampere, Vaasa, Espoo, Hämeenlinna, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Lahti, Oulu, Pori, Rovaniemi and Seinäjoki.
  • Over half travelled by train. This should be noted with schedule as some people missed breakfast or first presentations because of train schedules.
  • Mostly people who have already been in WordCamps as there was only about 25% of first-timers.
  • Roughly 50% WordPress developers and 25% from companies that offer WordPress services. The rest were users, freelancers, students and hobbyists.

How did people hear about WordCamp Turku?

  • 26% First announcement on WordCamp Jyväskylä
  • 21% Co-worker asks to come
  • 19% Knowing organizer/volunteer
  • 12% Social media (Twitter/Facebook)
  • 12% WordPress Finland Slack
  • Also WordCamp Central website and friends

What did people think about presentations?

  • Some people found something useful from all of the presentations.
  • Daniel Koskinen’s presentation on the web accessibility directive was found most useful.
  • People in back had sometimes hard to hear or see the slides. This should have been tested better in advance.
  • The speakers have received more detailed feedback and greetings from their presentations. Thank you for your comments!

How did the panel discussion go?

  • WordCamp Turku had the first panel discussion in Finnish WordCamps.
  • The questions were a bit too generic and didn’t get deep enough for advanced listeners. There was also too little time for questions from audience.
    • It might be better to choose a topic that will be more specific.
    • Around five questions would be a good amount.
  • Most people still got something useful from the panel even though there is a lot room for improvement. We hope to see panel discussions in future WordCamps as well.

What did people think in general?

  • 29% Brilliant
  • 62% Great, but definitely room for improvement
  • 7% OK
  • 3% I wasn’t impressed by it
  • 0% I didn’t enjoy the event at all

There were some issues with WiFi, fresh air, availability of coffee, lack of tables and electricity. All in all, the organizing team did a great job and got the big thing right.

What would people want to see in future?

  • More presentations for non-developers and more advanced talks for developers – multiple tracks
  • Contributor days and workshops
  • Better possibility to work during the event – tables, better WiFi, electricity
  • Working air condition (is there one?)
  • Faster sharing of presentation slides and videos even sharing them during the event
  • More coffee ☕

See you at WordCamp Nordic!

The next WordCamp in Finland will be WordCamp Nordic 2019 on 7.3.2019. Subscribe for updates on the official site and we’ll hope to see you all there!

– WordCamp Turku 2018 Organizing Team

Join us for the after-party!

Posted on by Jukka Rautanen

The after-party will be held at the same venue (Panimoravintola Koulu) on 1st floor room Historian luokka (“History class”) on Friday 28th September from 20:00 (8 pm).

This is a great opportunity for you to meet some of the local WordPress communities from Finland and get a chance to share your experiences from the conference.

Remember to wear your badge, you will need that for getting a drinking ticket when entering. We recommend that you eat before joining the party, Turku city centre is full of different dining options.

Submit questions for the panel discussion

Posted on by Jukka Rautanen

We will be the first Finnish WordCamp to host a panel discussion: “What matters when choosing hosting for a WordPress site?”

Now it’s your time to submit your questions for our amazing panelists, what would you like to know? You can submit your questions easily here.

Let’s make the discussion interesting!

Panel discussion: Joonas Vanhatapio, Otto Kekäläinen, Roni Laukkarinen and Tapio Nurminen

Posted on by Teemu Suoranta

Say hello to the final set of speakers from panel discussion at WordCamp Turku 2018!

Joonas Vanhatapio

I have been running my own Managed WordPress hosting company (WP-Cloud.fi) for around 2 years and on May 2018 one of the biggest hosting companies in Finland (Zoner Oy) acquired WP-Cloud & technology used to provide the service. I moved to work with them as WordPress Business Lead to help them develop the fastest, scalable & easy-to-use Managed WordPress hosting.

What matters when choosing hosting for a WordPress site?

WordPress should be easy, fast and fun to the end user. I believe that a good WordPress hosting should handle all technical aspects for the end user including WordPress installation, WordPress updates and enhanced security and performance features. The user should be able to focus on their core business instead of worrying about the technical stack behind the site and to be sure that site is running smoothly.

We at Zoner WP-Cloud take care of each site by offering fully Managed WordPress hosting, tested updates, excellent customer service and the fastest infrastructure possible.

Otto Kekäläinen

Otto Kekäläinen is the CEO of Seravo Oy and also works for the MariaDB Foundation. Otto has been using and advocating Linux and other open source technologies for over 15 years. His first blog in 2004 was made with WordPress and he has been deeply involved with the platform for a number of years. As a software developer Otto has insight into the technical side of open source development, and as an entrepreneur he also knows how to use open source in business successfully. He enjoys sharing his experiences on how to use open source methodologies to maximize the potential benefits it can have to the world at large.

What matters when choosing hosting for a WordPress site?

My take on the topic is that hosting should be affordable, have best practices and security by default, easy to use and offer freedom to those who want to tinker more. For WP I also think people should factor in how they money goes to advancing WordPress and how involved the hosting company is in open source.

Roni Laukkarinen

Roni is a full stack developer which practically means he knows his stuff from design to development and all the way to server configurations but his main skills lie on the front end and theme development side of the cake. Rolle (as everyone calls him) has been doing WordPress from year 2005, professionally in his own digital agency Digitoimisto Dude Oy since 2013. Accessibility is also very close to heart as his wife has a hearing and vision impairement. Always curious and eager to learn more!

What matters when choosing hosting for a WordPress site?

As a “server guy” of the company we’ve had our own servers almost from the beginning in our digital agency which is not that common you would think. As many devs know, it’s good to have full control to be able to optimize both WordPress performance and workflow. I’m going to be talking in the panel about pros and cons of hosting your own servers and providing bundled web hotels for your WordPress customers.

Tapio Nurminen

I’m a historian turned IT entrepreneur. I’ve spent the last 20 years building websites and been an entrepreneur since 2005. I am running Flo Apps Ltd, a Helsinki-based web agency. We develop FloMembers, a SaaS membership management, and build websites on WordPress.

What matters when choosing hosting for a WordPress site?

Flo Apps Ltd is running WP sites on a number of hosting companies. Over the years we’ve been using 10+ different hosting providers. For fail-safety, we have distributed our sites on an array of different servers, spread over several partners and several countries.

Tickets are sold out, but small batch will maybe be available later! Subscribe to updates from the sidebar or follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with more details about the event.

Full-length talks: Daniel Koskinen, Ilmari Wärri, Todd McMurtrey and Toni Laakso

Posted on by Teemu Suoranta

Say hello to our second set of speakers from full-length talks at WordCamp Turku 2018!

Daniel Koskinen

I started building websites as a hobby in 1999, and very early on became interested in the usability and accessibility of the Web. After graduating from university in 2006 and a very brief visit to the world of academic research, I started my own freelance business in 2008, building and maintaining mostly WordPress-based sites for clients and ad agencies. I then moved on to work at H1 in 2012, which was acquired by Zeeland Family in 2016. There I’ve been supporting and developing an ever growing number of WordPress installs and working to to increase awareness of accessibility matters within the company. Since 2009 I’ve been leading the volunteer effort for maintaining the Finnish translation of WordPress and co-organized three WordCamps.

Ilmari Wärri

Started doing web development in 1996. Last 14 years been working at the University of Turku in University Communications and IT services, main focus on consulting and training staff concerning our intranet and web services. I spend my free time with family, and making art and organizing art and music events in Turku.

Todd McMurtrey

Todd McMurtrey runs CX and marketing automation for Healthgrades – a website that provides physician performance data and attracts over 20 Million monthly visitors. Todd has extensive experience in the healthcare and marketing automation space working with several Fortune 100 companies to enhance how they reach and engage their customers.

Toni Laakso

I’ve worked in software development, mobile games and higher education for the past 20+ years as a producer, communicator, designer, facilitator, and then some. I’m passionate about polished user experiences and engaging storytelling. Currently working at Seravo.

Tickets are sold out, but small batch will maybe be available later! Subscribe to updates from the sidebar or follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with more details about the event.

Lightning talks: Elisa Heikura, Marko Tanaskovic, Tiia Rantanen and Timi Wahalahti

Posted on by Teemu Suoranta

Say hello to our first set of speakers from lightning talks at WordCamp Turku 2018!

Elisa Heikura

Elisa is a compassionate extrovert who has a considerably long history working alongside developers of all sorts. During those years she has made so many communication mistakes she has probably learned something along the way.

Marko Tanaskovic

Creative, data-driven, problem-solving and customer-focused, IT & marketing professional with a passion for driving social impact through technology solutions that deeply impact peoples’ lives. Dedicated to helping other web professionals save time and grow their businesses. Serving as a Product Marketing Manager at GoDaddy on the ManageWP / Pro Sites initiatives.

Tiia Rantanen

Senior WordPress Developer and cyber security enthusiast who can’t get enough of developing secure web services.

Timi Wahalahti

Timi is a back-end developer and WordPress enthusiast from Jyväskylä, Finland. He works at boutique digital agency Digitoimisto Dude building highly customized websites and -stores, co-host of first Finnish WordPress podcast, WPJKL Meetup co-organiser, WordCamp organizer and deputy in Global Community Team. Outside of WordPress bubble, Timi spends his time riding a bicycle, organizing races or speaking about cycling.

Tickets are sold out, but small batch will maybe be available later! Subscribe to updates from the sidebar or follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with more details about the event.

Thank you to our Bronze Sponsors

Posted on by Laura Kari

Organizing the event would not be possible without our sponsors. With their support we are able to keep the event low cost and accessible to everyone. Big thank you to all our sponsors!

 

We grow businesses by creating digital experiences. We bring the disruptive thinking needed to grow your business combined with the ability to execute. We create world class WordPress services and visual design. We are Moretag.

 

Zeeland Family is the most diverse marketing communications group in Finland.

The professionals of Zeeland Family know marketing communication like the back of their hand. This is the expertise we use every day to make our customers shine. Thanks to our wide range of services, our customers can use precise methods and channels of marketing communication in the right context.

Our core competence is to increase our clients’ sales through marketing, communications and expert services in Finland and in the Nordics.

Members of our skilled WordPress team have been active in the Finnish WordPress community since its early beginnings, and we are pleased to support WordCamp Turku in 2018.

 

Zoner has over 10 years of experience with WordPress hosting and we are currently hosting over 10 000 WordPress installs.

Zoner WP-Cloud is a Managed WordPress Hosting that we have built for the needs of business owners and developers. WP-Cloud is a managed platform that runs on the fastest servers in the world using the latest technologies to supercharge your site performance. We will keep your WordPress site secure, plugins and themes updated and also offer selected well known premium plugins.

Our priority on top of WordPress hosting is to provide an excellent support experience by recruiting more WordPress experts for the launch of WP-Cloud. Our customer service is ready to assist you with any WordPress related matters.