# I was at WordCamp Europe in Athens - Author: Maciek Palmowski (https://maciekpalmowski.dev/) - Published: 2023-06-11, updated 2023-12-01 - Topics: conferences, wordpress - URL: https://maciekpalmowski.dev/blog/i-was-at-wordcamp-europe-in-athens/ > WordCamp Europe 2023 Athens recap — Contributor Day highlights, Enterprise Gap side event, community meetings, and honest thoughts on the city itself. What a conference it was. Like every year, it was amazing to meet all of my friends, meet some new people and learn something new. Like, last year, I traveled to WordCamp Europe with my wife and my kid. This means Nicolas (2 y.o.) has already been on two WordCamps Europe. That's quite an achievement. ## Athens Let me start with the bad part - **Athens**. I had a feeling that this city was trying to kill us constantly. The roads, the sidewalks, the lack of accessibility on the streets, and the constant noise and heat. This is also the first WordCamp city where we saw people getting robbed. *[Image: Black-and-white photo collage of Athens street scenes: scooters, tyres, a shop front and apartment blocks.]* *Different places in Athens* Of course, I would lie if I said Athens didn't have its moments. Especially after dark - with all the lights and music. Also, **Pireus** was a lovely place (apart from the robbery along the way). The food and coffee were very nice too. But even if we compare all the good with all the bad, I will still remember it as a city I don't want to visit again. ## WordCamp While the city left a bad impression, the WordCamp itself was unique. In my case, it started with the **Enterprise Gap** side event organized by some of the best WP agencies. During this event, I had a chance to learn a bit more about the enterprise side of WordPress. Personally, I enjoyed Noel's talk the most. He already created a short [Twitter thread](https://twitter.com/noeltock/status/1666696423281229824) so that you can learn about his findings too. *[Image: A speaker gesturing in front of a screen reading 'New WordPress sites Q2-23' in a small room, with attendees' backs in the foreground.]* The **Contributor Day** was an amazing experience (apart from Wi-Fi, but this has become a tradition). This year I spent some time at the WordPress Playground table and provided a minor enchantment for the Playground's documentation - a search module. You can see it on the [website](https://wordpress.github.io/wordpress-playground/) already, as Adam merged it very quickly. *[Image: A large circular hall at the WordCamp Europe contributor day with people at tables and a laptop showing code in the foreground.]* Most of the main events I spent having meetings and talking with friends I hadn't seen for a year. This means I missed most of the talks - I only had a chance to see Matt, the closing remarks, and I was able to take part in the WP Connect session about DevRel (which sadly ended before the discussion started). On the other hand - all the talks were recorded, so I will catch up with the ones I wanted to see. *[Image: Collage of selfies with people Maciek met at WordCamp Europe in Athens.]* *Some of the people I met* Like last year, kudos for organizing the child daycare. We had a chance to spend 15 minutes alone - this was something huge for us. I think no other conference thought about having something like this. ## Kinsta things This year I was representing **Kinsta** together with **Marcel** and **Alex**. And we were all really busy with all the meetings and talks about how to benefit from the things learned during the **WordCamp**. We also organized a nice party. What really made me smile was what **Tomek Lach** said - "Siteground (they had a party two clubs away) is welcoming you with flags, Kinsta is welcoming you with open arms". *[Image: Two men posing inside a large photo frame reading 'The European WordPress Conference #WCEU23'.]* *Marcel and me* ## Next stop - Torino The next WordCamp will take place in Torino. This means a lot of pizza, pasta, and visiting the Juventus stadium. I'm also working already on a talk that I will want to submit. Maybe Italy will be my lucky place, and I will have a chance to talk onstage.