After a gap of more than two years, the Kolkata WordPress Community organized the third edition of Kolkata WordCamp on Saturday, January 18, 2025, at Viveka Tirtha, which is located in Newtown. This year we had a single-day event. Due to budget constraints, we could not organize a contributor day or a pre-event speaker party.
We expected about 450 people would attend the WordCamp. Unfortunately, we missed around 25% of them due to the ongoing visa issue between India and Bangladesh. A large number of WordPress enthusiasts from Bangladesh have always participated in the past in Kolkata WordCamp since 2019! Unfortunately, the situation this year compelled them to cancel their plans to be present at the event!
The Venue
The venue for this year was Viveka Tirtha, which is located in Newtown. The place is situated almost next to the iconic Ecopark.
The campus is surrounded by manicured gardens and vibrant greenery, offering a peaceful environment that fosters calmness and focus. Pathways lined with flowering plants and trees enhance the aesthetic appeal and provide spaces for visitors to relax and unwind.
The auditorium is a marvel in itself, with a capacity of 1100 seating arrangements in two decks. The huge wooden stage matches the auditorium in every aspect. In fact, the audience was looking quite small compared to the size of the auditorium!
Situated close to Eco Park, Viveka Tirtha benefits from the scenic beauty of one of Kolkata’s largest green spaces. The area offers a refreshing ambiance, with clean air and panoramic views, especially during early mornings and evenings.
Food
Food has been one of the major attractions in Kolkata WordCamp from the beginning. The flavour of Kolkata can easily be found in its food culture.
Unfortunately, due to some restrictions imposed by the venue authority, we could not provide the kind of food items this year, which usually we do every year! Although food is not considered to be the most important aspect of any WordCamp, I admit that the way we used to serve food in our previous events had to be cut short and compromised in this WordCamp.
We had to compromise with packaged breakfast and lunch. However, the quality and quantity of food were good enough as per the feedback we received from our attendees.
There will always be a tiny percentage of people who love to disagree, but their percentage was insignificant in comparison to the encouraging comments we got.
Sponsors & Partners
As for every event, the backbone is the sponsors, without whom there would be no event. WordCamp is no different! I extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all our sponsors who stepped up and helped us with their support so that we can concentrate on organizing the event without feeling the financial pressure.
I also take this opportunity to thank all our partners who helped us spread our event from day one and put us on a platform so that we can reach as many people as we could!
Attendees
Besides the seasoned campaigners, this year Kolkata WordCamp has the privilege to host a large number of attendees who attended any WordPress event for the first time in their lives!
I am extremely happy to see that more and more people are associating with the WordPress ecosystem and taking huge interest in open source software. More importantly, they are attending the events in large numbers as well!
Not only in the larger version, I have been experiencing that new faces are coming up in our meetups too, which is indeed a very good sign as per as the community’s health is concerned!
We planned that every member of our organizing team would try to reach as many attendees as possible personally and collect their feedback. Except for a few, the overall experience of the attendees was positive, although we know that there were certain things that could be improved for sure.
Registration & Breakfast
The registration process started at 8.00 in the morning. It went almost smoothly except for a few hickups with the internet. However, those were resolved quickly, and the process resumed with its regular speed.
The registration desk was managed by a mixture of experienced and new volunteers. It was nice to see how the seasoned volunteers were helping out the new ones and teaching them how to handle the rush!
The breakfast was already served at the food court so that immediately after the registration, attendees can have their breakfast. It was extremely pleasing to see everyone talking to each other, making new friends, and exchanging their contacts, no matter where they come from!
The most satisfying part of the WordPress community is that every single attendee is so passionate about helping out each other and concerned about maintaining the WordPress Code of Conduct.
Sessions and Workshops
Kolkata WordCamp has come up with a hybrid mode this year, i.e., a mixture of Sessions and Workshops. I won’t say it was a 100% success, but at least it has created multiple options for the attendees to choose from.
We opted for this mode for the first time, so I admit that the layout needs to be improved. For example, the time we allocated for the workshop definitely was not sufficient. In addition to that, we could have distributed the slots between sessions and workshops in a better way.
Nevertheless, since the attendees were happy, we can consider it a success, at least for now. Next time we will come up with a much better solution!
Conclusion
Overall, the event was useful and insightful, according to most of the attendees. Due to some restrictions, we could not deliver up to the expectations as far as Kolkata WordCamp is concerned. We promise all our attendees to provide everything they expect from us in our upcoming events!
I thank all the sponsors from the bottom of my heart who have made this event possible by extending their help towards us! I thank all of you for standing by our side from the word go and supporting us. Without you, this event wouldn’t be possible!
I take the oportunity to thank all our speakers, who come down to Kolkata all over India to share their valuable knowledge as well as demonstrate a lot of important stuff. You have truly added superior values to our WordCamp by enlightening all of us with various aspects of WordPress.
I am extremely grateful to the entire organizing team for their tireless effort only to make this event successful. We tried our best to appreciate them with a small token at the end of the program.
And finally, I extend my heartfelt thanks to all our attendees. You are the people who make the event colorful as well as successful. Attendee is the heart of every event!
See you all in the next WordCamp Kolkata!!
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