Over the weekend, I attended WordCamp Dublin. I experienced what a great conference with a dedicated team behind it looks like, and I held two talks about preventing burnout.

When I learned that WordCamp was happening again in driving distance of my home, I took the opportunity to propose the talk “Under Pressure: How to build up resilience and keep burnout at bay” that I created for DrupalCon Amsterdam. Mental health has become an important concern for me, so I try and share my experience in this area just as much as my technological expertise. My talk got accepted, but at first only for a 10-minute lightning talk slot. However, the WordCamp organisers shared my perspective on the importance of this topic, and in the end they arranged a whole track on wellbeing in parallel with the more common topics like WordPress themes and plugins. This allowed me to do the lightning talk as well as a full 30-minute presentation. Sadly, not many people attended the longer talk. I assume the main reason was that the wellbeing track didn’t get included in the printed programme handed out to attendees. However, the feedback I got on both my talks was 100% positive, so I’m excited to bring it to Amsterdam next week.

Only a few days ahead of the conference, I found out that not only had I failed to tell my wife about my plans but also that she had some of her own. In consequence, I had to stay home on Saturday while she was attending a course. Judging from my great experience on Sunday, I probably missed more than half of all the WordCamp fun. At least I was able to attend the volunteers dinner on Friday and chat a bit with some of the other speakers.

I had a great time at WordCamp Dublin. The most impressive side of WordCamp Dublin wasn’t even the conference itself but the organisation beforehand. Abha, Marcin and the rest of the team did a tremendous job at making sure everything and everyone was lined up correctly. I’m sorry that they had to chase me via email several times because my busy mind kept failing to comprehend what detail information they needed from me. I have to commend them for their patience and diligence. Their work gave me a much more realistic view on the effort required to put together a successful conference.

As an attendee, I felt welcome and secure from start to finish, and that’s a great achievement by the organisers. I wholeheartedly agree with Marijana Kay:

Thank you to the @WordCampDublin team for working hard to create such a diverse, inclusive, safe space for everyone! What a privilege to be part of this 💙