As a frequent attendee and contributor to the WordPress world, I always ask myself: What can we do to make a difference? And every time I attend a new WordCamp, I realize that the answer is very simple:

It’s not necessary.

The differentiating factor is created by the incredible people behind the organization of these types of events, who selflessly give their best for all attendees.

Valladolid is a typical WordCamp organized with great care, and its location and people inherently give it an essential distinctive value.

WordCamp Valladolid 2020 Organizing Team and Volunteers

This WordCamp’s main feature is a single track, plus a workshop room running all day.

In this case, many WordCamps tend to change the order and put the contributor day on the first day. For professional reasons, I couldn’t attend the first day (I’ll tell you why in my podcast).

I do want to thank Jose Luis Losada and Fernando Tellado for picking me up in Tordesillas on Friday at 11:00 PM. The only way I could attend the WordCamp was via a BlaBlaCar that dropped me off there. That favor was a huge gesture, and I will always be grateful for it.

On the day of talks (second day), I divided my time between talks and workshops. In the morning, talks, and after lunch, workshops.

My great friend CiudadanoB (Juan Hernando) had the honor of opening the WordCamp with a talk typical of his style: A mix of monologue, open source, best practices, networking, motivation, and defense of the blog as a communication medium.

His advice is very useful, especially at WordCamps, where regulars already know each other, but we don’t realize that there’s a much larger group attending for the first time, facing the typical fears of going alone or not knowing the environment or the dynamics.

If you also have a shy personality, those first steps are always difficult, so it’s appreciated when someone sensible gives you advice and explains what a WordCamp is, making you feel supported from the very first moment.

The second talk I attended was by Laura Carracedo. I already knew Laura from WordCamp Pontevedra. Her vision is: Find your differentiating factor for your brand and services. I liked her reflection:

“Branding is slow-baked, little by little”
Laura Carracedo

Next was one of my most anticipated talks, by Daniel Primo, titled: “JavaScript Lessons for WordPress from an Optimistic Stowaway.”

I know Daniel Primo from his podcast: Web Reactiva, one of my favorite podcasts. It’s a luxury to meet someone you listen to every week and learn so much from. I love his content, his newsletter, and personally, he’s a great guy!

His talk, which I highly recommend for anyone in the WordPress world and learning JavaScript, as I am, has very good tips. One of the most notable is a fantastic book called:

JavaScript inspírate by Ulises Gascón González. I bought it when I got home and started reading it—a true gem. Clear and entertaining writing, good resources, I’m delighted.

Pablo Moratinos? That’s an absolute guarantee of a talk that will surprise you and teach you a lot.

His talk focused on one of the most famous and misunderstood aspects of digital analytics: The bounce rate.

With a basketball metaphor featuring Dennis Rodman, he guided us step-by-step to understand what bounce rate truly is, how it’s calculated, and above all, how we can measure it better based on our type of website, our niche, and especially: Our context.

José Ángel Vidania, Mr. Gutenberg, followed with a retrospective talk on the evolution of the editor, 2 years after its incorporation into the WordPress core.

And as we can see… the world didn’t end, nor did 30% of the world’s websites break.

Quite the opposite, the market expanded to other technological paths, to blocks and more creative ways to create content on our websites.

In the afternoon, after lunch, I switched to the workshop track because I couldn’t miss the great Molo Cebrián with his podcasting workshop.

I always say, Molo may not be aware of it, but he has inspired many people to start a podcast and disseminate content through this fantastic medium.

My SEO for WordPress podcast is directly influenced by his talk at WordCamp Pontevedra.

He is a creative, kind, charming person who deserves all the success he is achieving with his podcasts: Entiende tu mente and Saliendo del círculo.

After Molo’s workshop, I wanted to see our friend David Viña‘s talk on sustainable development, but it coincided with the start of Fernando Tellado’s Rank Math workshop. So I was able to watch his talk on WordPress.tv. 🙂

Didn’t I tell you? Yes… all the talks are already uploaded to the web thanks to the great work of the WP community: WordPress TV WC Valladolid 2020

What can I say about Fernando Tellado? He is an incredible, honest person from whom you learn a lot.

I still need to thoroughly examine the Rank Math plugin to dedicate a podcast episode to it, but I haven’t had time. So, attending his workshop and understanding the differences and similarities it has with the leading plugin: Yoast SEO, was enlightening.

Furthermore, he not only provided a point-by-point review of the entire plugin configuration but also analyzed the company and its potential monetization model, something that often goes unnoticed but is crucial for understanding this company’s existence and future steps.

After Tellado’s session, only the final talk remained: Gutenberg in Large Media by Ignacio Cruz.

The development story of a British media outlet like The Sun and how the new editor has fit into their publications was surprising.

Final Notes

The closing of the event, as expected: Emotions from an incredible organizing group that gave us a fantastic weekend.

Good after-party with wine and good company. What more could you ask for?

We were a good Galician troop, whom I won’t mention by name because it would be an immense list. Many thanks to Jose Luis for handling all the logistics and accommodation.

It will always be a pleasure to see good friends whom you only meet at these events. Please excuse me for not mentioning everyone, but there are so many of us 🙂

I do want to mention the people who were in charge of the organization: