In an age where the internet’s attention is hyper focused on the most recent tweet, only to be distracted the next minute, WordPress’ decade-long staying power can be attributed to its diverse and dedicated open-source community.

WordPress values and strives to grow its community, and one of the ways it does that is through WordCamps. Philadelphia is home to one of the oldest WordCamps in the United States, and the annual daylong event is returning this weekend, Oct. 5 and 6, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

What is a WordCamp?

WordCamps are technical conferences with talks on just about any aspect of WordPress and web topics you can imagine: development, design, content, SEO, accessibility, running a business. Every event is different, but they share a focus on learning, networking and providing opportunities to contribute to WordPress.

Business leaders, writers, designers, developers, freelancers and students alike will attend lectures and workshops centered around many of the hot topics in WordPress development, taught by experts in the industry.

WordCamps are an opportunity. Many of the folks working professional with WordPress today started their technical career by attending a WordCamp or a WordPress meetup in their area.

A WordCamp is about inclusion. To quote the code of conduct, we “believe our community should be truly open for everyone. As such, we are committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, religion, preferred operating system, programming language, or text editor.”

What’s at WordCamp Philadelphia?

We’ll kick off the talks on Oct. 5 at 9 a.m. with a keynote from Tessa Kriesel titled “The Art of Building Community with WordPress.” Following her talk you may choose from three tracks of talks — a total of 21 speakers over the course of the day. There will also be a panel titled “The Art of Getting Found Online.”

If you have never set up a website before, feel free to stop by the Happiness Lounge where volunteers can walk you through the entry-level steps of creating and owning your own blog or business website, beginners are encouraged to attend.

The second day of the event, known as Contributor Day, will move to 1776 Rittenhouse. WordPress is a powerful, free software because the concept behind it is rather simple: Pay it forward. Most WordCamps have a day that allows the community to contribute back to the core software in a variety of disciplines. Whether you’re a full stack developer, a support technician writing documentation, or a multilingual polyglot, there is a place for you at our Contributor Day.

Register for WordCamp Philadelphia

A $25 ticket provides access to both days, lunch and beverages on Saturday, the after-party at Lucky Strike on the first evening, and all the swag you can carry. But beyond the tangible benefits is the invaluable access to the WordPress community and the opportunities it can provide. We’d love to see you there. Get all the details, including the full schedule and speaker information, below.