Thinking back to the great time we had, I’m writing a recap of our experiences. We had such a great time, not only during the WordCamp but also in Athens itself. We fell in love with the culture, the food (!), the city and so much more! Also a couple of first times…
- First WordCamp for my girlfriend.
- First time in Greece.
- For the first time, I landed by plane without any ear pain (thank you nose spray!)
- First time for a lot of Greek food, yum! 😋
The venue
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/megaron-athens-1024x470.jpg)
The WordCamp took place in the Megaron Athens International Conference Centre. It’s a nice, huge and modern place which was a good fit for a WordCamp this big. Track one was in the big concert hall and that was impressive, see photo below:
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/concert-room-megaron-1024x470.jpg)
I liked how the tracks, the sponsor areas, and the workshop locations were split and easily accessible. Big props to the signage team too!
The community
![WordPress community family photo](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/WCEU-family-photo-full-1024x684.jpg)
If you need to know one thing about me, it’s my love for the WordPress community. Since 2016, I’ve been attending WordCamps and WordPress meetups; this was my fifth WCEU. The vibe of everyone around and the willingness to talk to one another is amazing. Sharing skills and knowledge is underestimated.
Each and every WordCamp I meet new people and go home with new skills, tips, and tools to try out.
The talks
Not being a volunteer this time, I had time to join talks. A few things I remember and which I recommend watching on WordPress.tv when they publish them.
- WordPress performance: community perspectives
- A nice opening panel about performance in general, ranging from hosting to plugins to caching to everything in between.
- How to ask for web design feedback by Ana Cirujano
- Going into detail why feedback is so important, not only at the end of your design/development. Get your client involved in the process.
- The brand of You by Vassilena Valchanova
- I had seen a piece of this talk during WordCamp The Netherlands, but this time I wanted to see the whole story.
- The freelancers’ guide to client onboarding by Laura Elizabeth
- Nice takeaways here! Tips for automating and templating processes. I’ll need to rewatch it on WordPress.tv someday.
- Tomorrow’s generation’s perspective on WordPress by Tycho De Valk
- A good view from a teenager using WordPress, and where we should do better.
- Create a theme using the site editor – without coding! – workshop by Carolina Nymark
- A deep dive into the Site Editor and the newest Gutenberg features coming into WordPress core soon. Nice to see so many nice improvements across the project.
The vacation
Whenever I travel for WordCamp Europe, I try to book a few days before and after the event to explore the host city. This time was no different. I really enjoyed every moment in Athens together with my girlfriend. There’s a lot to see and enjoy. I only selected a few pictures out of the hundreds I have 🙈 to show you.
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/athens10-1024x681.jpg)
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/athens9-681x1024.jpg)
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/athens6-1024x681.jpg)
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/athens5-1024x681.jpg)
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/athens2-1024x681.jpg)
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/athens1-1024x467.jpg)
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/athens4-1024x467.jpg)
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/athens11-1024x467.jpg)
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/athens16-467x1024.jpg)
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/athens14-467x1024.jpg)
![](https://jeroenrotty.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/athens15-467x1024.jpg)
(click on the photos to view them in original size)
With all that said, I’d love to go back and see more of Greece! 🤞🇬🇷
The next stop for WordCamp Europe is Torino, Italy! It’s been almost 15 years since I visited Italy and I can’t wait to go back!
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