GREYD

The perfect finale to @CloudFestUSA: a boat trip around Miami with @CloudLinuxOS. The conference conversations kept going on board, with a better view, music, food and drinks. Thank you to @svilenapeneva for organizing it and to the whole CloudLinux team for hosting us.

We visited @arthurmurray's HQ in Miami while in town for #CloudFestAmericas. Frederic Havez introduced us to the team, showed us around, and talked with us about how they use Greyd.Suite and what they'd like to see next. Thank you for your time and hospitality.

We’re here at @CloudFestUSA!
Looking forward to great conversations, meeting with our US customers and partners, exchanging ideas, and exploring new opportunities.

If you’re here too, let’s connect!

#CloudFestAmericas

"Personal invites triple attendee numbers." Reshaping events in the WP industry – Greyd Conversations #17.

In this episode of Greyd Conversations, Sandra sat down with @CaroleOlinger, head of the @CloudFest Hackathon and the WordPress [Business & Agency Summit], @raquel__karina, founder and executive producer of PressConf and Mark Weisbrod, CEO of Greyd and advisory board member for @CloudFestUSA. Together they covered why attendance and sponsorship numbers at flagship WordCamps are declining, what business-focused event formats are doing differently, and where the real competitive pressure on WordPress events is coming from.

Some of the many takeaways:

✅ When a sponsorship for a WordCamp crosses $75k, "giving back" is no longer a valid return on investment. That shift was never addressed structurally in the WordCamp model, and it is one of the root causes of the numbers dropping.

✅ Asking a potential sponsor to fill out an application form is the fastest way to lose them. They are investing, not applying. The cold email plus form plus rules approach signals a fundamental misunderstanding of what a sponsor relationship is.

✅ A clearly defined target audience is what makes an event sponsorable. Mark explains why he commits his budget to PressConf and CloudFest without hesitation, and why he cannot do the same for events where he does not know who will be in the room.

✅ Sponsors often pitch the wrong thing to the wrong audience. Carole's point: an agency does not want to hear how a hosting company built its infrastructure. They want to know it works. Good event organisers coach partners on what the audience actually needs to hear.

✅ The real competitive threat to WordPress events is not internal fragmentation. It is AI-focused events arriving from outside the ecosystem, with larger budgets and broader appeal, competing for the same sponsorship money.

✅ Budget timing is a structural problem. Enterprise companies plan their event budgets at the end of the year. An event that reaches out in February for an April slot has already lost.

Watch the full conversation to hear how three people who build, sponsor, and produce these events are thinking about what comes next: eu1.hubs.ly/H0xXzqJ0

We’re getting ready for @CloudFestUSA in Miami, taking a tour around the Everglades, with Lasse Hall from @servebolt and @remkusdevries. It’s good to be in the USA again!