We’ve successfully survived (or dare I say, thrived in) our third year since starting WTS. I’ve had a few conference organizers tell me that the first three years are the hardest, and allegedly, things become easier afterward. I’m sure there’s at least a bit of superstition and mythology there, but I concede that it increasingly feels like “we know what we’re doing.”
For WTS, 2026 was by all measures a year of growth and volume - which can be considered a good thing. We set out to grow, and grow we did: we achieved and surpassed our 1,000-attendee goal. More importantly, we managed to keep the spirit of the conference intact at that size. It’s still the same by-the-community, for-the-community experience we set out to build. And we have a feedback survey to back that claim up.
Survey results
On a scale of 1–5, our overall score was 4.18, with 75%+ of the responses rating the experience at 4 or 5 out of 5. Talk selection and relevance scored 4.32 out of 5, organization and communication 4.18, opportunities to meet people 4.12, and venue and wayfinding 3.97.
The venue comments were the most interesting of the lot - they were the most polarized. People either loved the choice or hated it, with no middle ground. It was a similar story with the outdoor stage. I can understand both points of view, to be honest: crowding and queues, sun exposure and heat, bad projector contrast, etc. All valid, and we’ll do better next year.
No small part of that was the wayfinding confusion, for which I’m at least partially to blame. Less than 24 hours before the main day, I moved Stage 5 (the fireside chats stage) because it was originally placed between Stages 1 and 2. Not only was the tent we had planned for it too small, but it was literally placed between two sets of speaker systems from Stages 1 and 2 - I don’t think anyone would have heard much at Stage 5 if we had kept it there.
That decision meant having to reprint and redistribute a lot of material around the venue, which resulted in some mistakes and ultimately contributed to the confusion.
Not that we solved Stage 5 perfectly (as also reflected in the survey comments). When we originally tested the relocated Stage 5, we thought we wouldn’t need any microphones or sound amplification. Of course, we didn’t account for how the speakers would sit, nor the fact that acoustics in an empty room are very different from a room packed with an audience - something to fix next year as well.
In contrast, the comments showed us that people were very happy with the content at Stage 5, so we’re keeping the fireside chats next year.
When asked what they’d like to see next year, 55%+ of respondents asked for deep technical talks, around 50% asked for practical case studies, and 32% asked for live demos. I’d like to note that we had all those things at WTS 2026 too, but we’ll take all of this into account when designing the program for 2027.
On the elephant in the room
The meta has changed and is still changing. The way we use LLMs in our day-to-day work has had an obvious influence on how we work, what we pay attention to, and ultimately, what our work is about as tech professionals.
For WTS, and based on the feedback, this likely means a subtle shift toward product and LLM-assisted work. We feel that code is still important, but deciding what to build, designing a good experience, engineering that experience, checking its correctness, and shipping and maintaining it are becoming just as critical.
In our opinion, this doesn’t mean a shift in what we want from speakers and the experiences delivered - we still aim for real-world experience, results, unique insights, and technical craftsmanship (regardless of the shape that comes in). So, the standard remains the same, and to put it simply: quality, not slop.
On quality
While on the topic of quality, we feel like we’ve hit a few proverbial walls. First off, we’re a bit limited by the venue selection in Skopje. We don’t mean for this to come off as a complaint, but that choice (or lack thereof) limits the quality of the experience we can deliver.
It’s too early to share any details, but in practice, that means we’ll likely have to reduce our size. That reduction, however, will allow us to focus more on the quality of what we deliver. Expect better-handled tech and program administration, shorter lines, faster queues, a better app, better food choices, and better swag.
That probably means an increase in ticket price, too. At €50 for the main conference day in 2026, WTS sat at the lower end of paid regional conference prices. I think there’s room to raise that price while keeping WTS affordable - for one, we’ll keep student discounts, regardless of where the price ends up.
What won’t change is who WTS is for: by the community, for the community, and people first. The topics can shift and the venue can change, but the WTS experience will remain what it is.
