Before I start with WC Madrid 2019 I must tell you that this post has been in draft since April and I was hesitating whether to publish it (I have about a dozen more posts in draft), but even though it is nothing new anymore, I am going to publish it, if only for myself and as a souvenir.
It’s been more than a week since the return of WordCamp Madrid and I had this post pending, because it is well known that a WordCamp is not over until you have written about it. .
I am writing this entry offline, on a trip to London to attend an event, in this case a photography event, and before boarding I was already seeing the mails from some of the Galician delegation for the trip of the WordCamp EuropeI have not yet written about WC Madrid and we are already preparing the next one, but let’s get to the subject of this entry.
Friday
After about seven hours of train travel, I arrived at Chamartin station in Madrid, metro to the vicinity of our apartment and… the pre WC begins.
I meet Ana Belén Rodríguez, Aislin, Juan Hernando and Carlos Sobrino in a cafeteria near the apartment; I thought I was going to get soaked because of the hailstorm that had fallen a while ago, but I was lucky not to get wet at all, the sun was even hot, incredible weather changes.
After a beer and a good time chatting, we headed to the Airbnb. Nothing to review about the floor, it doesn’t give me enough for an entry like last year.
The Galician delegation, made up of nine people on this occasion, was right to stay overnight. Just to mention that the apartment incorporated a feline tenant, so Carlos went down to the pharmacy to get some medicine to avoid major problems at night. On the floor we awaited the arrival of Gerardo, Jorge and Fernando, who joined us for dinner. We also had a gun shop at the door of the apartment, but in the end it was not necessary to resort to it.
After dinner, while we were having coffee we were joined by Julio, Juan, José Luis and Wajari, who, being volunteers or speakers, were at the official dinner. From there we went home, because fatigue was starting to take its toll and the WC had not yet begun, at home were Ana Belén and Aislin, who did not come down because of fatigue.
Saturday
We left early for La Nave, although not as early as José Luis and Wajari who, as volunteers, were already there an hour earlier.
Registration was very fast, something to highlight in an event with 600 participants. First shot of coffee, something indispensable for me in the early hours of the day, in addition to having pastries and fruit, in this aspect, as last year, all ten.
We started the talks with the excellent introduction of Itziar Sistiaga with WP Loves Carla.
Then I attended the talk El fin de la programación by Ester Serra and Ser dev WordPress y mujer by Marta Torre.
After the churros, I continue with Data Driven Design with WordPress by Pablo Moratinos, excellent as always, Pablo is a crack.
Next WP-CLI – Learn how to manage your WordPress from the command line in 10 minutes by Jesús Amieiro and Avoiding the ÑAAS “Ñapas As A Service” masterfully conducted by JuanKa Díaz.
I continue with Retos de WordPress para llegar al 50% de internet de Fernando Puente, nothing to add from one of the Fernandos, that pair of cracks that has given our community and to which we will always tend, but we will never reach.
Then a little rest and networking in the corridors until after lunch.
Food
And then it was time for lunch, and I found the distribution and distribution of the food to be very fast. The hardest part was finding a place to eat.
I joined the Galician delegation, although my back suffered a bit from the lotus position, I am no longer able to eat comfortably sitting on the floor.
The food, for me who doesn’t like salads and sandwiches with little more than ham and cheese, I can’t say it was bad, but if I were to choose the food, it would be different. But I don’t want this to be taken as a criticism, far from it, my culinary tastes are very strange and include very little green; besides, I have to say that I had no problem whatsoever since I had several coffees and a banana, so I wasn’t even the least bit hungry… as to make food to the liking of 600 people.
Afternoon lectures
I started the afternoon session with the talk by Paloma Monzón, Alicia Sánchez: Beyond WordPress: developing hardware with Raspberry Pi.
And now, since I had already done a lot of networking, skipping the other talks (for good reasons), until Juan Hernando’s closing speech with 12 things you should do after a WordCamp. What to say about Juan… that when I grow up I would like to be like him… well maybe when I was younger I would have liked to be like him… well, he’s another great of the WordPress community, a real crack.
Afterwards, the panel discussion: Where is the future of WordPress headed? with Isa Gómez, Álvaro Gómez, José Ramón Padrón, Carla Saiz, Fran González “Madrillano”, Iván Expósito, Roberto Vázquez “Weiko” and Nilo Vélez.
End of the day
To end the day, we had the After Party at La Nave, with lots of fun and good networking. For me this is one of the best moments, because this is when you talk about the day’s summary, get to know people better and make good friends with a lot of people.
Then we went to have a bite to eat in Madrid and we went into a bar that was Italian, no, Chinese, no, Turkish…. well, I think it was a mixture of everything at the same time and nothing in particular, but since we were in good company, the evening was great … and This is as far as I can read (for those of you who have not lived through the era of the One, Two, Three, you can always look it up), because what happens at the After Party… stays at the After Party 😉
Summary
I liked the short talks, I thought it was a great success, among others I attended Juanka’s talk, with whom I had the pleasure of talking afterwards. Although we had met in several WC, I had not had the pleasure of talking to him, a wonderful person and professional whom I admire for his career.
I had the pleasure to meet Nilo later at the After Party, I was looking forward to meeting him. I also met Jesús Amieiro, Javi Díaz Agudo, Marta Torre or José Ángel Vidania and so many other people with whom I had the pleasure of sharing a few minutes, that I don’t even remember most of their names, and even if I did, I’m sure I would forget someone.
This summary of WC Madrid 2019 will live up to the word summary by being brief. I was unable to attend the next day’s Community Day, as I had to travel back before the event started.
My feeling is that WC Madrid is a reference, and if nothing prevents it, I will be there again in the 2020 edition and of course, if the Galician delegation accepts me in their ranks, I will go with them, I could not find better company.
Nowadays, I think that a WordCamp is a must-attend event for all of us who work with WordPress, people who are related to the industry, who like it, who have a Blog…
You go to a WordCamp to learn, but more than that, you go to share, to have a good time with people who share your same tastes and concerns and you go to do networking… what I mean, human relations, chat, laugh, make others laugh… to know that even if you work alone in a room, behind a screen, there are many more people like you out there who support you and are willing to give you a hand even if they only know you through the networks (no, I am not talking about social networks, but about the networks that make up the WordCamp, the WordCamp). web, internet itself).
I can only end this summary by telling you that if you have never been to a WordCamp:
- You must go to one, to any of them, but the one in Madrid is a must have, after the one in Pontevedra, of course 😉
- You should go and look for the father of WordPress, not Matt, no, Jose Luis. Once you get to know it, you’ll be a bit more of a WordPresser.
- If you can’t stay for the After Party, you have missed 90% of the WordCamp… well, maybe I have exaggerated a bit, but you will have missed a big part of it.
- If you want to stay in the most select of the place, do not forget to hire the services of Wajari (yes, for SEO too), he will recommend you the best of the best and the most in terms of stays.
- If you see Juan, remind him that we can’t live without his permalink, that if he abandons it, he will have to deal with the whole WordPress community in Spain.
- If you see something mistranslated in your WordPress… I was going to recommend you to tell Gerardo, but you’d better tell Nilo’s ruber duck.
- You can’t leave a WC without a signed Tellado book, nor without some Moncho socks, sorry, from SG.
- We could go on with the list for hours, but it’s about time to put up The End.
