WordCamp Philippines 2008 Highlights: Development Track, State of the Word, Web Standards, Random Fire

My highlights from WordCamp Philippines 2008, held on September 6 at De La Salle – College of St. Benilde:

Matt Mullenweg Arrives

When Matt Mullenweg arrived, he sat right behind me, so I moved away and took a photo of him.

Development Track

I ended up attending sessions under the Development track. Kudos to Gail dela Cruz-Villanueva (Creating WordPress Themes & CSS Power), Markku Seguerra (Developing WordPress Plugins), and Karla Redor (WordPress as a CME/CMS).

It seems many people missed sessions because of time constraints. And unfortunately there weren’t really any concrete demos from the Development Track talks to give you the feeling of how WordPress really works—except for Markku’s Strip! plugin, which was still very brief.

But it can’t be helped. There are only so many hours in a day and the organizers (congratulations, Mindanao Bloggers!) and speakers made the most out of the situation. Overall, the topics were a good mix and it was difficult having to choose one over the other. Next time, I’ll choose the noob route.

State of the Word

Matt’s much-awaited talk, The Future of WordPress (also State of the Word) was amazing, of course. He discussed groundbreaking figures in WordPress usage. He also gave a tour of WordPress 2.7 “Crazyhorse” and discussed plans beyond this upcoming version.

He also mentioned that the WordCamp Philippines t-shirts were the coolest WordCamp tees he’s seen, as he had mentioned a few weeks ago in WordCamp San Francisco. (You can still order online!)

Philippine Web Standardistas Unite!

I loved that Regnard Raquedan‘s talk on WordPress & Web Standards was a plenary session. For those who were wondering why, I think it’s most apt. WordPress has been an upholder of web standards from the get-go. I’m sure many people have learned about proper coding conventions just by looking at the default WordPress theme files or at the HTML text of one’s blog posts. The Web Standards Project also transferred the Browse Happy initiative to WordPress as its official host and sponsor.

I’m also glad he cited Aja Lapus, Mae Paulino, and me as references—though I hardly write about web standards here! On a related note, the three of us met with Shari Cruz to formalize plans the seemingly dormant Web Standards Philippines group. Give her a holler if you want to join.

Random Fire Postscript

WordCamp was a great experience. My tiny wish is that in the future, participants would get rid of their shyness and keep the atmosphere very casual (maybe because it was too cold), but as close to an in-depth discovery of WordPress as possible. I can’t explain, however, why the auditorium was buzzing so loudly during the Powwow with Matt that he had to shush the crowd several times.

I wonder what the Automattic team’s stance is on using WordPress as an e-commerce platform (e.g., using the Market Theme)? If they took interest in Andy Peatling’s BuddyPress, then a WordPress-powered shopping cart should be equally exciting.

Where is the Filipino translation of WordPress? I’d like to grab a complete copy of tl_ph.po (the Tagalog language file). I have a very sparse one. Are there any translation teams out there? I can’t find any! WordPress.com has a very nice system in place for community-powered translating, but it seems just that—it’s for WordPress.com only.

WordCamp = PlurkCamp. Almost everybody on a laptop that day was on Plurk. Also, everybody who had a question to ask had to mention their blog address and Plurk username. If you haven’t added Matt yet, you know his username.

Why on earth did Matt carry that table onto the stage?

I was really hoping they’d raffle off official WordPress goodies at the very least. Speaking of which, why on earth did I not ask Matt to sign my t-shirt? Maybe the WordPress store could sell stuff signed by him!

I think I need a DSLR, if only to take decent photos in darker-than-daylight conditions. And a video camera. And an iPhone. Okay, I’ll stop.

Shoutouts to J. Angelo Racoma, Jonel Uy, Jeff Villafranca, Wilson Tan, Paulo Urriza, ChiQ Montes, and Joni Ang (thank you very much for the Matt-and-me pic!).

Finally, check out the very impressive roundup of WordCamp Philippines blog posts by Jehzeel Laurente:

The New Media Coverage:

1. The Best and Most Memorable Blogger Event in the Phils by Jehzeel Laurente
2. I Got Wordcamped! by Tess Termulo
3. The First WordCamp in Southeast Asia by Adrian Jeric Peña
4. My WordCamp Experience by Master Betong
5. WordCamp Philippines by Hannah Rika Villasis
6. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Nina Fuentes
7. Matt at WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Binary Silver
8. Matt Mullenweg Highlights from WordCamp Phils by The Bachelor Girl
9. WordCamp Philippines Report by Fear the Spork
10. WordCamp Philippines Shirt Please by Evenly Piece
11. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Alrenz Cabasa
12. WordCamp Philippines 2008: A Success!
13. WordCamp Phils, 1st Southeast Asia WordCamp by Ana Katharina Pena
14. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Aftermath by Zero Blade
15. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Mae Paulino
16. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Green Bucks
17. Matt Mullenweg by Charmed Mom
18. WordCamp PH 2008 and Afterparty by Carlo Reid
19. WordCamp Philippines After-Party by The WordCamp Philippines Blog
20. WordCamp Philippines 08 by Project 365 Days
21. WordCamp 2008 Philippines by Karla Redor
22. Live Blogging from WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Spilled Lustre
23. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Aja Lapus
24. Experiencing WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Here’s to Life!
25. WordCamp Manila Blow-by-blow by Jonel Uy
26. Just got home from WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Jayvee Fernandez
27. Bloggers’ Event: WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Ada Lajara
28. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Winners and Bloopers by Funny Sexy
29. WordCamping 2008 by Billycoy
30. Ernie Meets Matt Mullenweg by AJ Matela
31. Matt Mullenweg, Volunteers, and WordCamp Phils by Misteryosa
32. The WordCamp in Philippines by Mark Aethen Agana
33. Matt Mullenweg by Animo Hosting
34. WordCamp Manila 2008, I was there! by Sha Ang
35. On WordCamp 2008 and Meeting MrWordpress by Diventare.org
36. My WordCamp Philippines 2008 Experience by Regnard Raquedan
37. WordCamp Philippines Status Report by AWB Holdings
38. Live from De La Salle CSB, Marocharim is at WordCamp! by Marocharim
39. For the Love of WordPress by Kristina Ana Matanguihan
40. WordCamp Pilipinas Success by Ikabon
41. WordCamp 2008: For Healthy and Wealthy Blogging by Hitokiri Hoshi
42. WordCamp 2008 Philippines Success by Arvin’s Thoughts
43. WordCamp, Meeting Matt Mullenweg by Miss Wicked
44. Meeting Matt at WordCamp 2008 by Urriza.net
45. Finally, WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Estan
46. Toothache VsWordCamp Philippines by George Putong
47. Notes and Photos, WordCamp Philippines a Success by Tonyo Cruz
48. Some WordCamp Philippines Afterthoughts by Undercover
49. Live Blogging in WordCamp by Pageman
50. My WordCamp Experience by Junele Malaga Caravana
51. WordCamp Philippines A Success! by WordPress Philippines
52. Bakla Goes to WordCamp Philippines by Bakla Ako
53. My WordCamp 2008 Experience by Micaela Rodriiguez
54. WordCamp 2008 Philippines: It’s a success! by Joyceish
55. My WordCamp 2008 Experience by Fitz Villafuerte
56. A Personal Evaluation of WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Danny Arao
57. An Event Which I Failed To Attend by Dexter Panganiban
58. The WordPress WordCamp Fever by Pinoy Web Listing
59. WordCamp Philippines by Batang Yagit
60. Philippine WordCampers 2008 by Sabrina Lajara
61. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Roanna Roro
62. On Meeting with Mr. WordPress, Web Standards and Other Stuff by Shari
63. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Highlights by Sophia Lucero

The Old Media Coverage:

1. WordPress developer previews new version in RP by Inquirer.net
2. WordPress enthusiasts meet for WordCamp by GMANews.tv
3. WordPress Developer lauds RP blogging community by Alexander Villafania

Some WordCamp Photos from WordCampers:

1. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Jehzeel Laurente
2. WordCamp 2008 Photos by Jayvee Fernandez
3. First WordCamp in Southeast Asia by Hannah Rika Villasis
4. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Tess Termulo
5. WordCamp Philippines by Ada Lajara
6. WordCamp 2008 by Regnard Raquedan
7. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by AJ Matela
8. WordCamp at Benilde by Normz
9. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Micaela Rodriguez
10. WordPress Philippines 2008 by Shari