Recap: WordCamp Northeast Ohio 2016 and Announcing WordCamp Kent 2017

The dust has settled on WCNEO, and for a first-time WordCamp, we’re happy to report it was a huge success!

With over 100 tickets sold to this two-day event, the WordCamp Northeast Ohio organization team is thrilled that the event went off without a hitch.

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Speakers & Sponsors

At WordCamp NEO we included a full lineup of great speakers spanning a variety of topics to ensure we had something for everyone. We skipped the tracks and let our attendees select their schedules based on their personal interests.

We kicked off each day with our keynotes, Eric Meyer (Saturday) and Chris Lema (Sunday) followed by three simultaneous sessions at a time, offering a wide-range of topics for designers, developers, and beginners alike, leaving no WordPresser behind! If you missed any of our sessions, be sure to tune into WordPress.tv and check us out. You’ll find the speakers slides there, too (if they shared them).

Of course WordCamp NEO wouldn’t have been possible without our sponsors. Their funding and in-kind contributions made this event a great success, and we couldn’t have done it without them! Everyone was grateful to have their awesome swag, too, and we were thrilled to have the awesome folks from A2 Hosting and SiteGround on-site, sharing some insight into their services during the hallway track and between sessions, too.

Venues

One of the toughest parts of planning a WordCamp is finding the right venue. Well, we knocked it out of the park with the Kent State Hotel and Conference Center. This boutique hotel in the heart of Kent was the perfect location for our event. The staff was phenomenal, attending to our every need, and we were just steps away from the many artisan shops and restaurants in downtown Kent, which made breaking for lunch on Saturday an easy and seamless escape to explore the area. The conference rooms were comfortable, easy to navigate, and situated close to one another, allowing ample time for hallway conversations between sessions. And on Sunday, the catered Taco and Burrito bar was a big hit with all our fellow WordCampers.

Our After Party venue, Kent Lanes – 11th Frame, was another perfect find. Our party-goers had plenty of positive feedback about the event, letting us know the staff, food, and festivities were a hit a hit all the way around.

What’s Next?

WordCamp Kent 2017
Our team of organizers have already started planning to make next year’s event even better! And we’re really excited to announce we’ll be hosting WordCamp Kent 2017 in the same location next year! Don’t let the name fool you, same camp, same location, we’re just following the new naming conventions in place by our governing body, WordCamp Central.

So save the date June 24th & June 25th 2017 to join us at the Kent State Hotel & Conference Center for another great WordCamp next year at WCKENT2017!

Be sure to check out our new site, WordCamp Kent 2017, and subscribe for updates to stay in the loop as details unfold throughout the year, or follow us on Twitter @WordCampKent.

Monthly Meetups
Can’t wait until next year? Then drop into one of our Northeast Ohio WordPress Meetups near you!

Join the Conversation in Slack
Stay connected and join in on the conversation at our Slack Channel. As things get moving, we’ll keep the conversation flowing here. You can get a Slack invitation here.

Thank You!
A big THANK YOU to everyone who made WordCamp NEO such a special event this year. Our community of Attendees, Speakers, Sponsors, and Volunteers are what make these events possible each year and we look forward to seeing you again next year!

 

 

WordCamp Kent is over. Check out the next edition!