Months ago, when the night was still young, one of my colleagues sent a text to the office group. Everyone should have cellular data because the tickets of WordCamp would be live the following day and God forbid the wifi malfunctions for some technical issue.
The next day came. I went to work. It was just like any other ordinary day. Until it wasn’t. A little after 2, everyone was holding their breaths, there were countdowns about how much time was left till 3. Everyone was waiting with multiple devices ready to get a single ticket.
Finally, the clock struck 3. It took all of 5 minutes for the tickets to be sold out. Luckily, I got one. But most of us at work didn’t. They talked about it for the rest of the day. Honestly, I didn’t get what all the hype was about. I mean the idea of gifts was intriguing, apart from that, I wasn’t so sure.
Fast forward to May 11th, 2024, and the day was finally here. In the city of rain and tea, I attended my first WordCamp. I entered the venue, the central auditorium of SUST, Sylhet, keeping an open mind to learn, mingle, and enjoy. My enthusiasm was tenfold when I found that everyone at the event was just as energetic and cheerful.
Since the venue was my alma mater, I felt more at home at the event. It also allowed me to extend my hospitality to the guests, I could resolve their queries about the place, and help them find what they were looking for.
Do I wish the venue was in a foreign city? Of course I do, me and my wanderlust would raise our 4 hands at that. But I’m also glad I was surrounded by familiarity and could help. Hopefully, in the next one, I’ll get to explore a new culture alongside WordCamp.
Day 1: Contributors’ day
The contributors of WordCamp Sylhet 2024 gathered on the premises of Authlab on May 10th to prepare for the following day. Everyone cooperated to make the event more beautiful. They put together gift bags, arranged the venue, contributed to the WordPress community, and much more.
Day 2: The day of the event
The main event started at 8 on day two. Despite it being pretty early, there was a massive gathering already. At the registration tables, everyone received an ID, a WordCamp t-shirt, breakfast, and other accessories. After that, they made their way to connect and collect swags from different booths, or the auditorium to listen to the precious speeches from experts.
Swag collection
Lazycoders, Spyder Themes, Elementor, Business Globalizer, bPlugins, BD Themes, Bit Integrations, Giant Marketers, WeDevs, Shaped Plugin, Rocket Net, Academy LMS, Jetpack, WebAppic, Bluehost, EFOLI LLC, and Authlab set up their booths with games, fun activities and cool presents including stickers, key-chains, t-shirts, tote bags, mini electric fans, neckbands, iPad, etc.
I spent my morning volunteering at our booth, helping and directing fellow WordPress enthusiasts. We arranged three games, bottle flip, buzzwire, and dart. Most people participated in the bottle flip, and only a patient few went for buzzwire. The excitement everyone showed about the games made our efforts worthwhile. We offered the winners bags, t-shirts, mugs, notepads, fun stickers, etc.
Sessions
Seasoned speakers and panelists spoke on various topics related to WordPress, design, coding, offering support, the tech industry, diversity, equity, inclusivity, etc.
I admire listening to people’s ideas and perspectives. Although I prefer a one-on-one conversation, the sessions felt engaging enough and I found myself immersed. I missed the morning session since I was at the booth. However, I enjoyed the afternoon session so much that I caught up with the previous sessions from the recorded videos.
I took notes on the bits that seemed interesting to me. For example, Wahid bin Ahsan started his design on the note of Inclusivity which was discussed before. He stated that design is for everyone. And that means, a design should be accessible to those not blessed with perfect eyesight as well. Avoiding gradients and making it compatible with accessibility voice-over can make a design comprehensible to the visually impaired.
There was a question on whose job it is to make the sale, the marketer’s or the product’s. Well, the answer is both. Even if a marketer can sell a product, the customers won’t return for a product that’s not good enough.
There was a point on whether to make a product perfect before launching. As a suffering perfectionist, it caught my attention. I learned that there’s no need to add tons of features to a product before releasing it. That way it will take up too much time and resources. On the other hand, if the product is released with some basic features, then the rest can be added one after another with the money that the product earns along the way. Moreover, not everyone needs the same 100 features, the same way not everyone wants pineapple on their pizza. Therefore, some of the features can be there to be added as per request.
Another valuable lesson I’d like to mention is regarding which direction to take with a start-up. You can be doing well with your start-up but still end up wanting to explore more. In that case, you absolutely should. However, if you’ve been trying something for many years but are still not satisfied enough, trying something new might be a better idea.
The session on diversity, equity, inclusivity, and belonging emphasized that we focus on equity, not equality to attempt to bring everyone to an even ground. I think that it is high time that we come forward to make it happen since everyone isn’t fortunate enough to enjoy the same privileges growing up.
Unfortunately, for a shortage of time, the speakers had to run their sessions short, and there wasn’t enough time for everyone’s questions. The speeches ended with honoring sponsors with crests followed by photo sessions.
Lunch and sightseeing
Lunch was arranged at the university cafeteria near the venue. The menu was Kachchi, a Bangladeshi culinary delight.
Everyone could enjoy the amazing greenery of the university campus during lunch break. There were hillocks, sculptures, monuments, green fields, walkways, food carts, etc. The navigation was super easy as the volunteers put direction signs everywhere.
Although I knew my campus like the back of my palm, it’s been a while since I’d been there. I was surprised that it was already the season for Jarul Flower. The fun thing is you could find a Jarul tree from almost anywhere you stood on the campus. If you’re unfamiliar with the flower, it has the delicacy of cherry blossom and comes in a bright lilac shade.
WordCamp Sylhet 2024 at a glance
Attendees: 912
Live Audience: 474+
Social Media Impressions: 77,400+
Speakers: 29
Contributors: 220
Organizers: 34
Volunteers: 67
To sum up the day
Thanks to the sponsors, organizers, crew, and volunteers, the event turned out successful. It was fun, festive, enlightening, eventful, and very organized. Everyone was well-behaved and very friendly. It was an event designed for networking. The best part is that you could make friends who have been in the industry for over a decade just by saying hello. I’m glad I had the delightful experience of meeting some amazing people who I found really inspiring and passionate.
About the author: Sarika Sarmin is a digital marketer at Authlab. She’s passionate about crafting articles on various topics. Her recent interests evolve around WordPress, creative design, and SEO.
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