Sitting in the front row at the fireside chat with Matt and Mary talking about the state of affairs of WordPress, I came across a term again that I haven’t read in a while:
“data liberation“.
It perfectly reflects what I’ve been thinking and working on over the past few years. You have to own your content, you have to own your data, and be free with it to share it with the platform that you like.
This isn’t only true for CRM systems that I’m focused on—it’s fundamental to how we should approach data and personal information online everywhere. This was a key moment across the three days, and I’m getting ahead of myself because there’s a lot more to unpack.
From Spontaneous Discovery to Strategic Insight
Four weeks ago, I didn’t even know about the WordPress community. Then, thanks to the WordPress dashboard (which needs some strong improvements, by the way—I agree with Matt on that one), I discovered WordCamp Lisbon and attended it spontaneously. That’s where I met the vibrant people of the community and learned about the event in Basel.
Despite all odds, I booked the flight and attended without any time to build expectations. In this approach, you’ll find my honest impressions. Since there’s substantial ground to cover, I’m creating three parts: this raw take from the event, a deep dive into the sessions I strategically attended, and a detailed analysis of that revealing fireside chat with Matt and Mary.
The Community Pulse: Alive and Evolving
WordPress is alive and powering roughly 50% of the internet, with Google and Salesforce there as title sponsors. The vibe was vibrant—everyone discussing what’s genuinely interesting about WordPress, what they can accomplish with it, and expressing gratitude for what the platform offers. The hundreds of volunteers working on the event is a statement by itself. This volunteer-driven approach mirrors what I see in successful CRM implementations—community ownership drives better adoption than top-down mandates.
The Elephant in the Room
Of course, there were dark clouds—not only over Basel’s sky but within the community. I won’t dive into anything that’s in progress, but the launch of Project FAIR was something that surprised many and will definitely impact the path forward.
What I took away was Matt’s statement: “A lot of great inventions in the WordPress community started with ‘we don’t like the way this is done. Let’s do our own thing.’” Then later, these innovations made it back into core. That’s a productive mindset, but the situation was definitely a discussion topic on and off stage.
Three Moments That Shifted My Perspective
1. The AI Team Formation
I didn’t see many AI buzzwords across the booths and speeches, but AI was part of numerous conversations. The fact that WordPress is forming its own AI team proves this matters strategically. This reminds me of how forward-thinking organizations approach CRM—not chasing every trend, but methodically building capability where it delivers real value.
2. The Block Editor Evolution
Gutenberg Block Editor and Interactive API were huge topics. Everyone was discussing them, and my take is that most have converted to block editor advocates. There’s still ongoing discussion, and it’s productive to observe.
As a satisfied user of WordPress 6.8 with standard Twentytwentyfive theme, using Gutenberg blocks, I can confidently say this is remarkable. I used to purchase premium themes for commercial projects. Now I can accomplish more than 80% of the work with everything available in the free version of WordPress, which creates tremendous opportunities.
3. The Unexpected Q&A Dynamic
Something few people anticipated was an actual Q&A session during Matt and Mary’s fireside chat, which included genuinely direct feedback from the community. I’ll examine this in a dedicated analysis, so stay with me through this series.
What Nobody Was Discussing
Something absent from conversations was WooCommerce’s current limitations and the competitive landscape against platforms like Shopify or Wix, who make user onboarding significantly easier. For WordPress to compete effectively, substantial work remains—particularly around WooCommerce’s checkout process, which is still restrictive with considerable development needed.
This presents future risk, as confirmed by several one-on-one conversations I had with community members. This connects to a principle I call “CRM as a mindset“—the best systems prioritize user experience over technical features, and WordPress still has work to do here.
The Generational Challenge
There’s a saying: “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” I like to adapt this to: “If you’re the oldest person in the room, bring in more young people.”
In this event’s context, I felt great company, but I was particularly intrigued by something Matt mentioned about bringing younger people into the developer community. I’ll dissect that comment and its implications in my upcoming analysis of the fireside chat—it reveals more about WordPress’s strategic challenges than most realize.
Coming Next: In Part 2, I’ll break down the three strategic sessions I attended, including insights on enterprise WordPress implementation, potential CRM use cases and integration patterns, and the technical demonstrations that revealed WordPress’s actual capabilities and what plugins might make it even more fit for purpose.
Coming soon Part 3: The complete fireside chat analysis—including the uncomfortable questions, strategic admissions, and timeline revelations that most attendees missed but every WordPress professional should understand.
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