WordCamp is the premier event for WordPress users and developers. WordPress is arguably the #1 blogging platform in the world today. Apart from the fact that it is feature-packed, highly customizable and flexible, WordPress is open source, and therefore has a large community dedicated to advancing its development. And so, WordCamp is the best venue for WP enthusiasts to come together and get updated on the latest. Bringing it to the Philippines will strengthen the foothold of WordPress among its users, as well as bring more bloggers into the fold, so to speak.

WordPress, however, as a downside to its power as a content management system, is probably not the most user-friendly blogging engine. Many bloggers still find self-hosted WordPress (as opposed to the free wordpress.com blog platform) rather daunting. Having a WordCamp here will hopefully demystify the software for them.

Participants of WordCamp Philippines can expect to learn about the latest developments in, and future plans for, WordPress; hopefully from Automattic representatives themselves. What we plan is to create two tracks: one with technical sessions for hardcore WordPress developers, PHP coders and theme designers; and, one for front-end users and beginners. Aside from that, there will also be an “install-fest”, where we’ll invite everyone to bring laptops or even desktops to the venue for a guided installation of the latest version, the most important plugins, and for demonstrations on how to tweak WP themes. Of course, there will also be socials after the sessions.

One of the objectives of WordCamp Philippines is to encourage more developers to use and deploy WordPress, not only as a blogging engine but also as a full-featured content management system for Web sites. Another is to increase the number of WordPress users and developers in the country. By developers, we mean programmers of WordPress plugins and designers of themes & templates.

We expect to see all WordPress bloggers to join, as well as those who don’t use it but are curious about it. We will also invite programmers and Web applications developers, especially those who are proficient in PHP and XHTML, as well as graphics artists who specialize in Web design.