I had the privilege of visiting Lithuania’s Vilnius capital for a second time within just a couple of months. And just like when I visited last time, I got to experience a buzzing city in an energised country.
But unlike last time, I wasn’t there to explore the city but rather to witness the first iteration of CMS Conf Local (and by extend the first baby steps of CMS Conf overall). But even though there was not too much time for sightseeing this time, I still managed to visit some of my favourite spots.
CMS Conf Local
But let’s start with CMS Conf Local. It’s a new event format centred around local communities. Vilnius was the first attempt at this, and I know there’s already a couple more in the making, so keep your eyes peeled. To use WordPress terms, I’d place the CMS Conf Local events somewhere between a Meetup and a WordCamp. However, and that’s the appeal: it’s a cross-CMS event. Think Joomla!, Drupal, Typo3 and others.
Here in Germany, I’ve been part of similar events spanning many CMSs and it’s always a great experience. Learning from the challenges other open-source systems faced and meeting people outside our little WordPress bubble is inspiring. And CMS Conf Local Vilnius was exactly that.
For the fun of it!
Also, I took the stage and talked about this very blog and my journey of how I found joy in building websites again. There’s unfortunately no recording of that talk itself, but I’ve uploaded my slides.
Earlier this year, I was a guest on Bob Dunn’s Open Channels FM podcast to talk about the exact same topic. So if you’re into podcasts, check that Open Channels episode out.
It’s officially event season
And just like that, we’ve entered event season again. Later this week, I’ll head to Manchester for their local WordCamp. And next week event season takes me to The Hague for the annual WordCamp Netherlands and from there to Gdynia for the proper CMS Conf.
Manchester is sold out, but for WordCamp Netherlands and CMS Conf in Gdynia, there are still tickets available. Use the code CMSCONF40 for 40% off regular CMS Conf tickets.
