After WordCamp Mumbai earlier in the year I decided to keep attending WordCamps across India. Ahmedabad came up quickly on the calendar, and I brought Harshaja along, hoping she would connect with WordPress agencies for 13 Llama’s development needs. The schedule looked genuinely compelling.
Getting There
We took an early morning flight to maximise time at the event. Since we had no prior connections in the city it made sense. We travelled light with overnight bags, which made airport transit remarkably efficient. I wanted to see the city but we planned that for a future Vadodara visit.
The Venue: Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University
The venue impressed me significantly. Located thirty minutes from the airport, the sprawling campus offered multiple halls, classrooms, and generous spaces for congregating between sessions. A venue of this size would be prohibitively expensive in Mumbai.
Scale
By 8 am, despite expecting minimal early activity, crowds were already gathering. The event ultimately attracted over 1,100 attendees — Asia’s second-largest WordCamp, surpassed only by WordCamp Asia itself. More than double Mumbai’s attendance.
Talks
Nirav Mehta’s closing presentation on public speaking stood out as particularly valuable — practical and applicable well beyond WordPress. Other notable sessions covered link building, custom blocks, and Yoast’s acquisition journey.
Observations
Ahmedabad’s PHP developer community is notably larger and more active than Mumbai’s equivalent. I left wondering seriously about opening a secondary development office there. There is a clear trend of fintech companies relocating technical operations to tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and Ahmedabad seems well-positioned.
અાિજો (Goodbye, in Gujarati).