WordCamp US 2026 Recap: The Artist and the Algorithm
Two months after my first WordCamp, I landed in Phoenix, AZ, for WordCamp US to experience it again, this time in another part of the world but with a similar group of people equally passionate about open source. At first glance, the Arizona desert seems simple, barren. But look closer, …
Two months after my first WordCamp, I landed in Phoenix, AZ, for WordCamp US to experience it again, this time in another part of the world but with a similar group of people equally passionate about open source.
At first glance, the Arizona desert seems simple, barren. But look closer, and there is an elegance in that simplicity that is art in and of itself.
Like good technology, everything has a purpose, nothing is wasted, and there is beauty in that. At WCUS this year that I saw art and technology converge.
A four-day family reunion
WordCamp US 2026 ran August 16–19 at the Phoenix Convention Center. Over 1,100 people registered, with thousands more watching the livestreams. There were over fifty sessions across four tracks. Contributor Day drew 425 participants — 29 of them contributing for the first time — who organized into 26 teams around goals they could achieve in a day.
So why make the trip when the talks are livestreamed, recorded, and recapped?
On the walk to the event hall, I asked Anne McCarthy the same question (yes, we braved the heat!). She nailed it: it’s a family reunion. In the age of screens, AI, and video-meeting culture, people are not only craving human connection but also their chosen family.