WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress, the free and open source personal publishing software that powers over 75 million sites on the web.

Everyone from casual users to core developers participate, share ideas, and get to know each other. At a WordCamp you will learn about how to use WordPress and create awesome content and sites for the web, but that’s not all. You will also be able to network with other designers, developers, business owners, freelancers, bloggers and more. It’s an event where you can learn, connect, and have fun!

WordCamps come in all different flavors, based on the local communities that produce them, but in general, WordCamps include sessions on how to use WordPress more effectively, beginning plugin and theme development, advanced techniques, security, etc. To get an idea of the types of sessions typically seen at WordCamps, check out the WordCamp channel at WordPress.tv.

The first WordCamp was organized in San Francisco by Matt Mullenweg in 2006. Since then, local communities around the world have organized over three hundred WordCamps, and we anticipate that number will pass a thousand within the next couple of years.