JUNE 20-22, 2019
ESTREL HOTEL AND CONGRESS CENTER, BERLIN, GERMANY
#WCEU #WCEU2019
Life happens in a flash, but memories are forever. WordCamp Europe 2019, the biggest WordCamp ever ended with thousands of smiles, talks, swags, fruitful conversations, and many more. I would like to share my entire experiences on this journey of WCEU in the beautiful city of Berlin.
WCEU travels to a new European host city every year and this time Berlin (Germany) got this amazing opportunity to host the event. I’d attended WordCamp Europe 2016 in Vienna, Austria. So this is my second time at this global conference. And this time, I’d contributed as a Volunteer PR Support.
Volunteering at WCEU 2019
For me, volunteering at WordCamp Europe 2019 was an impressive experience ever. We, all the volunteers were wearing pink shirts. We’d separate Volunteer HQ where all volunteers can rest, talk and work when we didn’t have shifts. Unlimited tea, coffee, drinks, and foods were supplied there. About 167 people from different countries contributed here as volunteers.
The easiest part of WCEU as a volunteer is: we do not have any pressure. We’ve chosen the shift and besides that shift, we have no specific responsibility at all. And when you are not in the shift, you are not strict to wear Pink Shirt but volunteers were wearing the ping shirts event they didn’t have any shifts because helping people is the main goal of volunteering the event. Each volunteer is self-responsible for his/her own role.
I really appreciate for overall arrangements, planning, and execution process. I was doing volunteer for PR Support. My role was to arrange interviews with speakers, organizers, volunteers, sponsors and highlighted attendees. We’ve assigned Team Lead and co-ordinating with him/her, we have everything scheduled separately how and when to meet speaker for an interview with allocated Media room and Media Partners. Media partners felt relief cause they should not have to hunt to take an interview, all are well scheduled before the event.
The great venue
Estrel Hotel is also one of the biggest hotels in Europe. The same venue hosted Contributor day ( 20 June ), the two conference days (21-22 June) and also after Party.
WordCamp Europe 2019 held at the Estrel Hotel and Congress Center. The venue is well connected with public transport and accessible to everyone.
Estrel Hotel and Congress Center
#WCEU
The Roadmap
WCEU managed everything within a roadmap. I found this was a really helpful tool for every attendee. You can check the perfect roadmap of full venue, which provided through .pdf online and also with the attendee’s name Card.
Accessibility
The venue was fully accessible. I believe that WordCamp Europe 2019 created an accessible and inclusive environment for the WordPress community, making #WCEU for everyone. For all presentations, there were live captioning in English.
Free childcare at #WCEU
There were childcare services on both days of the conference (21-22 June) from 8:00 to 18:00. The location was near the nursing and lactation room. We could find it just right of the main entrance which was a short walk away from the main conference halls.
Nursing and Lactation Room
WCEU provided also a nursing and lactation room for anyone who requires it. The location was near to the childcare area
Multi-faith Room
A multi-faith room was provided for all attendees. This room was for religious purposes only.
Quiet Room
For people with autism, anxiety or neuro divergence, Estel hotel provided Quite Room for all attendees. This room was intended to provide a quiet space to relax away from the main conference areas.
Food and dietary
An assortment of beverages, including tea, coffee, fresh water, and soft drinks were provided unlimitedly at the venue. There were provided snacks and lunch. For attendees who wanted to eat something additional, there was a restaurant in the lobby.
Here are the details about Food at #WCEU 2019
Alcohol, tobacco and unlawful drugs were not permitted at the venue. A smoking area was available just outside of the main Halls.
Tools Developed By WCEU
WCEU developed some of the exciting tools at this WordCamp. I found them very unique and it really worked well.
Charity T-shirt Drop
For the first time at WCEU, there was a Charity Drop for past event t-shirts which no longer you want or need. There was a nice collection of Past WordCamp t-shirts at this charity drop.
Kids Workshop
WCEU introduced WordPress to future generations with a brand new session during Contributor Day. Petya Raykovska and supporting volunteers guided children to create their own websites using WordPress.
PWA
PWA stands for Progressive Web Application. WCEU has created a PWA for the 2019 conference. We were able to view content optimized for our mobile device and therefore improved our experience. The PWA gave us instant and continuously updated information about what is happening at the event in real-time. It showed you what is on now and what is up next in each of the tracks, workshops, Wellness and WP Cafe sessions on the conference days.
For More Info, see the details here
WPcafe
This newly introduced feature WP Cafe is really delightful. It is space for all attendees to meet, connect and chat about a range of topics, and it encouraged attendees to make it own by booking a slot at WP Cafe with the topic you want to discuss. I have seen people speaking with relaxed chats about anything related to WordPress.
Wellness at WCEU
I think this is one of the most popular Tools developed by WCEU 2019. This Covered a series of relaxing sessions including yoga, mindfulness, and meditation. It was delivered by qualified practitioners.
Raffaella illustrated the principles and the applications of Mindfulness and Mindfulness Practice and shared her experience and examples of practice. Mindfulness is a state of being, an approach to life (and to our work, regardless of its genre) that calls for presence and awareness, care and purpose.
Similarly, meditation was Guided by Jenny Beaumont and Helen Odia instructed for Yoga.
Community Help Desk
There were amazing volunteers helped politely to users with their WordPress questions and help them find an answer. I can see this is also a kind of networking desk where you can interact with your questionnaires.
Contributing Area
There was dedicated space located close to the registration tables at the Estrel. There were provided tables, power sockets, and seating. People who had not finished works on the contribution day, they continued their works here and also attendees, sponsors, speakers, and volunteers used this area to coincide with the talks and workshop sessions.
Online Information
I found that this year WCEU made everything online as much as possible. Even a piece of tiny information was supplied through their website. I think this is the best of the best approach to keep everyone up to date about the conferences.
Sponsor’s Area #WCEU 
Foods at WCEU 
Sponsor’s Area #WCEU
The Social
WordCamp Europe 2019 entitled the before party as a WordCamp Europe 2019 Social. It is the event for the volunteer/speaker/sponsor. The Social for Sponsors, Volunteers, Speakers, Media Partners, Teaching Assistants, Emcees, and Wellness Instructors is a personal way of thanking all for contributing to the event.
Here are the details where the social happened amazingly.
Date
Thursday 20 June 2019
Started at: 19:00
Ends after: Midnight
Location
Spreespeicher Eventloft – Website
Stralauer Allee 2
10245 Berlin
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/KY7edcJSnBdxyeM68
After Party
I am not going to write anything about After Party. Because I didn’t attend the party. This time, I had to travel to Prague, the Czech Republic in the early morning. So I left the event place just after the closing ceremony. But I heard amazing things happened at the after-party.
Codeable Experts Dinner
Codeable is organizing the Experts dinner party just one day before the main conferences of WordCamp Europe each year. It is only and especially for the Codeable Experts. I was amazingly surprised by the biggest crowd ever at the dinner party.
Date: Thursday, June 20th, 2019
Time: 7 pm sharp
Where: SAGE Restaurant
Head To Head Snaps
There are too many super people I met head to head before after and during the event. But I am unable to include each of them. Here are some amazing people who are contributing and managing to WordPress in very specific ways.
The Team Behind the Scene
Amazing Team behind WCEU 2019 
WCEU 2019 Organizers
Last but not least, I would like to thank the entire Organising team and all the Leads for giving us a relaxing WordCamp Experience.
The glorious moment of this event was “farewell to Milan”. Thousands of audiences gave him a standing ovation for his amazing leadership to this event and each audience got stuck for a moment when he left the stage.
Finally, WordCamp Europe 2019 officially concluded and announced another WordCamp Europe 2020 at Porto.
WordCamp Europe has a new home! For its eighth edition, WCEU will take place in Porto, Portugal on 4-6 June 2020.
See you all again in WordCamp Europe 2020.
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