Author: Teemu Suoranta

Senior Developer at Evermade, plugin author, Meetup/WordCamp organizer and GTE/Locale Manager of Finnish locale.

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

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.

Ticket Sales Open Now!

Posted on by Teemu Suoranta

Tickets are now available.

Click this link to purchase tickets.

There are two kind of tickets available:

  • Regular tickets
    • A ticket to the event including breakfast, food and coffee.
    • Price: 25€
    • 90 pcs
  • Micro-sponsor tickets
    • Sponsor the WordCamp in small yet visible way and get a ticket to the event including breakfast, food and coffee.
    • Price: 50€
    • 12 pcs

The organizers, volunteers, sponsors and speakers are excluded from these amounts. In total there will be a little shy of 150 people attending total to WordCamp Turku.

PS. We will call for volunteers after summer vacations. If you are not able to get a ticket, there is still a chance to attend as a volunteer or speaker.

Reminder for This Week: Ticket Sales and Call for Sponsors

Posted on by Teemu Suoranta

This is just a quick reminder that ticket sales and call for sponsors opens this week:

  • Ticket sales: Tuesday 22.5.2018 at 10:00 (purchased through Paypal)
  • Call for sponsors: Wednesday 23.5.2018 at 10:00

Be prepared as tickets and sponsorships are usually sold out at the same day and even in the first hour. You can subscribe for updates in the form at the end of this page so that you get a notification when new posts are published.

Call for Speakers

Posted on by Teemu Suoranta

Call for speakers has ended and all applicants will be notified in coming weeks.

Speaking at a WordCamp is a great way to give back to the community. If you have some knowledge you think might be worth sharing, please consider applying to speak at WordCamp Turku 2018.

Topic ideas

We want to hear speakers from various backgrounds from developers to marketers, publishers, bloggers, agencies and clients. Organizer team brainstormed some ideas for topics but you can always surprise us with your own idea.

  • How Gutenberg affects content creation and existing sites
  • Workflow for writing or publishing content with WordPress
  • Practical GDPR
  • Becoming a professional WordPress developer
  • Accessibility
  • Practical examples of using REST API
  • Doing business with WordPress
  • Starter themes
  • Working ergonomics
  • Designing with WordPress
  • Theme development
  • Plugin development

You can also find ideas by viewing past presentations on WordPress.tv and reading official guide on speaking of WordCamps.

Session lengths

There are two types of sessions (same amount of both):

  • Long: 30 min presentation + 10-15 min questions from audience
  • Short: 15 min presentation without questions from audience

Language

WordCamp Turku 2018 will mainly be in English but there can also be a few Finnish presentations. We do recommend using English if possible as there will probably also be non-Finnish speaking attendees.

Workshops

WordCamp Turku doesn’t have a special day or track for workshops.

Panel discussion

For the first time in Finnish WordCamps there will be a panel discussion included. The topic will be “What matters when choosing hosting for a WordPress site?” We are looking for hosting providers, clients, developers and agencies that host their clients’ sites.

This will be total 60 minutes that consists of introductions, arguments and questions from audience. To apply as panelist write “Panel discussion” on Topic Title field and describe how you relate to this topic.

Application form

If you’d like to propose multiple topics, please submit the form multiple times, once for each topic. If your topic gets chosen, your bio and topic description will be public.

Submit your application before 1.8.2018 23:59.