Today I want to talk about something that has been lingering in my mind for quite sometime. And that’s a WooCommerce conference. Now trust me, I am not the only one thinking about this, as I have heard it brought up many times over the last few years. Of course Covid plays into this, but yet as we start to bring more events IRL, well, it comes back to haunt me.
I am aware of the more general eCommerce conferences that have started their returns. I also know all about WooSesh, it being the online WooCommerce conference. But I am talking more about my fond memories of WooConf, in real life.
Back in the days of WooConf
Fortunately, I was able to attend all three of the WooConf’s. The first taking place in 2014 in San Francisco, California. Followed by Austin, Texas in 2016 and Seattle, Washington in 2017. In the first one I was part of a workshop, the second one I gave a talk, and on at the last one did an onstage interview. Those were good times for sure.
Now as I recall, the first ones had more of a mix of dev/builder and store owner, with the last one specifically for developers.
After the third one WooCommerce made the decision to put these resources more into growing the product and customer base vs. an event. Which to me makes sense and I certainly understand. Yet, I still miss them.
Thinking of a Woo event
Having just returned from WordCamp Europe got me thinking about a Woo event again. Or maybe it was always there, it just came to the surface. I even had a chat with David from PeachPay a bit about this. I do feel, in my heart, it’s time for something. Now if this means it’s an event put on by WooCommerce, or supported by WooCommerce, I cannot say for sure.
But I do feel that this is one important piece to look at. It has been suggested to do something for both devs/builders and store owners. Well, honestly, I can say I disagree with this. One of the reasons I believe WooCommerce stopped the events was their focus more on store owners. So what am I getting at here?
Developers or store owners?
Developers and builders of both sites and products are hungry for a Woo conference of some kind. But something for them. I don’t feel that a store owner based conference would play out. There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, there is no one funnel to gather and make store owners interested in attending such an event. Woo is different, than let’s say Shopify. Store owners are busy and need to tend to their stores. Many don’t have the time or resources to fly to some event and learn about plugins, marketing, pricing etc. They either hire someone to do it or learn online.
Secondly, through both a WooCommerce meetup I organized several years ago and the podcast, I saw the challenge. Store owners didn’t want to go to some meetup and learn more about their store. Nor did they want to come on the podcast and talk about their store. It was all about running it, making it profitable and spending time focused on the store itself. I just don’t see enough interest from the store owners.
Now someone may want to prove me wrong on this, but, again, the strength in an event will be builders and developers.
What is the solution then?
Let’s face it, something will happen. I have been in short conversations already on how Do the Woo might be part of that. And I’m sure there are going to be some longer discussions in the future. I’m not in the business to run events, but I am certainly willing to put myself and community behind one.
Going back to the question of if WooCommerce should take the lead on this or, instead, put their support behind something is anyone’s guess. I, myself, have certain ideas around the direction of that, but I don’t have any secret insights that have enlightened me.
So it’s on the table. I’m not sure where it will go, who will do it and what it will even look like. But we gotta start somewhere.
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