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See You at WordCamp US 2015, Philadelphia, PA

Finally, after a hectic month of preparations, we have successfully organized WordCamp Nepal 2015, on the heels of a natural disaster; the April earthquake, and the middle of a political disaster, the acute fuel shortage that has brought everything to a standstill. We are exhausted, but proud of overcoming great odds to put together a very successful event. Read more here.

Now that WordCamp Nepal is over, I have finally found a moment to catch my breath, and am already thinking ahead to my next WordCamp, in less than 10 days, WordCamp US in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (also known as WordCamp Philly). I must say, I am really looking forward to it.

This will be my second time attending a WordCamp in the US. When I participated in my first US WordCamp in San Francisco last year, I was a whole lot greener. I wasn’t sure of my abilities, and more than awed by the group of international WordPress heavyweights, so was hesitant to speak out or contribute. I was surprised that I actually ended up walking away with contributions to the core, and lots of friends that I have since started working together with on various projects. You can read about that experience here.

This time, I am more experienced, more prepared, and more focused on what I want to bring to WordCamp Philly, and what I want to get out of it.

I really hope we can focus on improving the theme review process. The process has now become unruly; it takes a really long time to review themes for wordpress.org, and get them live. Last I looked, there were themes that had been waiting for 7 weeks, 8 weeks, just for their turn at a review. As a result, people are now bypassing the core and putting their themes up on GitHub, or their own website, which is not optimal. I want to focus on finding a solution to this and improving time and focus of the process. Look out for my separate post, coming tomorrow, which I hope will move the dialogue forward on this.

I am also looking to be more involved with the “Community” team. We have been organizing WordCamps in Nepal since 2012, but I haven’t really been too involved with the organizing team in the US, so I would like to see if we can change that. I want to also brainstorm ways to improve our community in Nepal. I am hoping to meet WordCamp organizers from all over, learn from them, and bring that new learning back to WordCamp Nepal. I hope to share our experience with WordCamp Nepal with other colleagues who might find it interesting, or informative.

This time around, I am also going to be much more active in networking. Last time, I wasn’t confident enough to talk to people, or market my companies. I am looking to collaborate with other companies, looking for designers and developers to work with, looking for joint venture possibilities, and looking to meet potential clients. I look forward to finally meeting my partner on Theme Review, Co.Justin Tadlock. I also want to meet Emil Uzelac himself. So many people, and so little time. You will definitely not see me huddled in sessions like last time.

Then there are certain things that I would like to learn more about in order to take my company forward, and land larger, more high-end clients. I want to get updated on the changes to WordPress VIP Hosting and enterprise hosting services. I am planning to talk to the team to understand what we need in order to ensure we can handle these larger clients. I want to be able to create a team that can work to the VIP standard of coding, and become a service partner at that level.

Another thing I would like to do is learn a lot more about accessibility. This area is neglected in Nepal, and I plan to form an accessibility team to get it started. In WordCamp Nepal this year, we had a session on accessibility, and I think this area is very important, to ensure our websites are accessible to all, and also to be able to serve clients for whom this is a priority.

A lot to get done. And I can’t wait. See you soon, Philadelphia!

 

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Author: sakinshrestha

Hello. My name is Sakin Shrestha, and I am a technology entrepreneur from Nepal. I am passionate about helping this sector grow, for many reasons. The technology sector creates jobs for many young Nepalis who would otherwise migrate to foreign countries. It lets Nepali professionals develop skills for a fast-changing global workplace, and compete at a high level with anyone, anywhere in the world. If it grows, it will provide a viable career option for many young Nepalis, and help us reap the benefits of a global economy.