WordPress needs WordCamps. I don’t think that is controversial. But I also think WordPress needs more events like PressConf 2026.
That is the angle I keep coming back to this week.
Not because PressConf is trying to replace WordCamps. It is not. And it should not. But one of the healthier things happening around WordPress right now is the growth of non-WordCamp events with a clear point of view.
According to the official site, PressConf 2026 is running April 8 to 11 in Tempe, Arizona, built for the people “driving the WordPress economy.” The event leans into a two-day, one-stage format, unrecorded talks, and a more intimate environment designed for candor, connection, and practical conversation.
That alone makes it worth paying attention to.
Because if you care about the future of WordPress, it is probably time to stop thinking of WordPress events as one-size-fits-all.
WordCamps are important, but they are not the whole answer
WordCamps still do something really well. They create broad community access. They bring new people in. They give local and regional communities a place to gather. They remind the project that WordPress is bigger than whichever discourse cycle is currently eating the timeline.
That is valuable. We need that.
But broad community events and focused industry events are not the same thing. They solve different problems.
WordCamp is usually at its best when it opens doors.
An event like PressConf can be at its best when it helps the people already inside the room have more honest, more specific, and more future-focused conversations.
And WordPress needs both.
PressConf seems built for the conversations people do not always have elsewhere
One of the more interesting things on the PressConf site is not a speaker name or a sponsor logo. It is the format.
One track, unrecorded talks.
Why does that matter?
Because people talk differently when they are not performing for clips.
They admit mistakes more freely. They share context they would probably trim out of a recorded session. They say the uncomfortable-but-useful part out loud. They compare notes like peers instead of polishing everything into conference-safe language.
That kind of room is good for WordPress.
And honestly, it is good for any mature open-source community that is trying to think clearly about business, leadership, sustainability, products, hosting, agencies, and where the web is actually heading next.
A 2025 recap from The Repository described PressConf less like a typical conference and more like a retreat, with honest conversation, real connection, and a strong sense that showing up still matters. That feels like a useful description, especially in a WordPress season where a lot of people have been craving more nuance and less theater.
Independent WordPress events are worth supporting on purpose
I think this is the bigger point.
If the only WordPress events that survive are the biggest official flagships, the community loses something important.
It loses experimentation.
It loses rooms with a distinct personality.
It loses events designed around a narrower problem set or a different kind of attendee.
It loses some of the weirdness and creativity that have always made WordPress feel more human than a lot of other corners of tech.
Independent events do not need to compete with WordCamps to be worthwhile. They just need to be useful, intentional, and well-supported by the people who say they want a stronger WordPress community.
That support can look a few different ways:
- buying a ticket when the event fits your work
- sponsoring when your company wants to invest in the people shaping the space
- showing up prepared to contribute, not just consume
- telling other people when an event is genuinely worth their attention
- helping newer events earn trust instead of expecting them to arrive fully formed
The goal is not to support every event equally. The goal is to recognize that a healthy WordPress event landscape probably should not depend on only one format.
How to get more out of PressConf 2026 if you are there
If you are attending PressConf this week, I would not approach it the same way you approach a big conference.
This is probably not the event to spend your whole time bouncing between surface-level conversations and trying to collect every possible talking point.
Here is the practical angle.
Try to get a little deeper than usual.
- Pick three conversations you actually want to have. Not generic networking. Real conversations about business models, products, partnerships, hiring, leadership, or where WordPress feels stuck.
- Ask better questions. What is getting harder? What is getting easier? Where are people quietly finding momentum? What do they think the broader community is missing?
- Treat the smaller format like an advantage. One-stage events can create more shared context. Use that. If everyone heard the same talk, the follow-up conversation can get better fast.
- Write down the part you would normally forget. Not just the quote or headline. Write down the nuance, the caveat, the pattern you keep hearing, or the name of the person you need to follow up with next week.
- Look for ideas worth bringing back into the broader WordPress community. A good niche event should not become a private club. It should generate insight that strengthens the wider space.
Non-WordCamp events can make the larger WordPress community better
This is the part I do not want to lose. The value of an event like PressConf is not just what happens in Tempe. It is what happens after.
If people leave with stronger relationships, clearer thinking, more trust, better ideas, and a little more courage to have hard conversations well, WordPress benefits.
That is true even for the people who were not in the room.
Good events create second-order value. Better products. Better collaboration. Better leadership. Better language for problems the community has been circling but not naming clearly enough.
That is one reason I think non-WordCamp events deserve more support than they sometimes get. They are not side quests. At their best, they are part of the infrastructure.
The takeaway
PressConf 2026 is valuable not because it is trying to be a better WordCamp. It’s valuable because it is trying to be something different on purpose.
And WordPress needs that.
It needs flagship events. It needs local events and meetups. It needs contributor-focused spaces. And I think it also needs smaller, independent rooms where business, product, community, and leadership conversations can breathe a little.
If WordPress wants a stronger future, it should not just protect the big familiar gatherings.
It should also make room for more events like PressConf, then show up ready to get something real out of them.