This weekend saw the next in a series of conferences about WordPress (the software I use to build websites with) happening in Bristol. This weekend was the very first WordCamp Bristol and was an opportunity to visit a city which I have not been to before.
Having booked a lovely looking AirBnB house this time I decided to have a little road trip, picking up a friend and fellow WordPress enthusiast Jonny. The journey down to Birmingham to collect Jonny and also onward to Bristol was wonderful with no traffic issues. We have one stop near to Bristol to get some lunch.
Jonny and I spent the afternoon working in our accommodation for the weekend which was a lovely Victorian terraced house very near the centre of Bristol.
For this weekend I was a volunteer, helping the organisers get things sorted. My duties where helping out at the happiness bar, assisting attendees with their WordPress related problems and also being master of ceremonies for a couple of the sessions of talks. I was also a speaker, giving a talk on Saturday lunch time.
All this responsibility(!) meant that we have a social event on the Friday evening. This was a fun get together for all the volunteers, speakers and sponsors at the Spike Island cafe in Bristol.
The walk to the venue in the evening saw us walk across the river Avon which we thought was very low. On the way back the river was very high which at first we thought strange, only to remember that the Avon is tidal.
We had a lovely evening chatting with WordPress friends. I had a rather delicious Bean and Chorizo stew with rice for tea which was something very different.
Saturday morning was an early start. As a volunteer I had to be at the venue at 08:00 in order to help set up the registration, signage and assist the sponsors getting their stands set up.
The day lovely and went really well with a lovely atmosphere. As is usual I met some really nice people and watched some great talks learning a lot. I also presented a talk which went really well and I received some excellent feedback.
Sunday began a little later than Saturday morning with a lie-in until around 09:00. After grabbing a light breakfast we headed to the venue to being talks at 10:00. The atmosphere all weekend was fantastic and and everyone really feel at home.
I would just like to say that Bristol was a beautiful place to hold a WordCamp – a great city and the Watershed was a great venue. Many thanks to all the organisers, volunteers and of course the speakers. I look forward to attending next year!
For reference my presentation slides are here.
Featured image credit: @jonnyauk
