We spoke with Edmund Turbin from WP Engine who was with us at WordCamp Stockholm 2016. We are very glad that they have decided to sponsor our WordCamp Stockholm once again and excited to hear more about them.
What does your organization do? Give us an elevator pitch!
WP Engine is a WordPress digital experience platform, providing brands and agencies the agility, performance, intelligence, and integrations needed to drive their business forward faster.
How do you help support WordPress enthusiasts and professionals?
At WP Engine, we are proud to support the WordPress community. We do so through financial donations to open source projects, event sponsorships, WordPress core contributions, community support, thought leadership initiatives like Torque, the leading WordPress publication and through over 5,000 hours a year in volunteering time. All in, WP Engine contributes over $1.5 million per year in time and contributions in support of the WordPress community.
What kind of client would be a good fit for you, and who wouldn’t?
Today, organizations of all sizes from SMBs to Enterprises to agencies choose WP Engine to power their digital experiences. The common thread between all of our clients is that their sites are mission critical for their business, which means they turn to WP Engine to innovate and go-to-market faster, improve the performance of their brand’s online presence, deliver actionable insights to improve the ROI of their sites and applications, and enable integrations with the best-in-category technologies.
How does your organization add value to the WordPress community?
One of our values is “Aspiring to Lead, Committed to Give Back”, so we strive every day to support the community. We have team members who contribute to WordPress core as well as offer plugins like our PHP compatibility checker that is available for anyone to use. We also publish Torque Magazine, an award-winning resource for WordPress news that equips new and advanced WordPress users with expert insights and information, in addition to ongoing support through WordCamps and Meetups.
Is there anything in WordPress that you would change, and why?
I’m excited to see how the Customizer will continue to evolve. The Customizer allows for changes to be made in WordPress while providing a live preview. It adds an element of instant visual feedback that is really helpful for content creation and I look forward to how this will work with the Gutenberg editor.
Where will WordPress be in 2 years from now?
While WordPress is already the dominant CMS, powering 28% percent of the internet, I expect that it will continue to grow its market dominance significantly. It wouldn’t surprise me to see WordPress power up to 50% of the Internet in the not too distant future.
Is there anything else that you would like the WordCamp attendees know?
WordCamp events are a great way to learn more about WordPress, chat with the people who use it for content creation, build sites on WordPress and meet people who are doing similar things and learn from the thought leaders and influencers in the community. WordCamp is also a place to become involved with WordPress and give back as a contributor. One of the great things about WordCamps is that there’s something for everyone – from the expert to the beginner. I’d encourage anyone remotely interested in starting something online to participate at a WordCamp event near them – because we’ll give them all the support they need and there’s very little prior knowledge of development and coding required!