Why would a WordPress person go to a hosting industry hackathon? On This Week in WordPress 359, I made the case for the CloudFest Hackathon, coffee in hand from a “capital P dangit” mug. I joined Nathan Wrigleycolleague, Michelle Frechettecolleague and Jesse Friedman on the panel.
🎙️ Episode details
- Show: This Week in WordPress 359, “Lover,” from WP Builds
- Host: Nathan Wrigley
- Panel: Michelle Frechette, Jesse Friedman and me, Courtney Robertson
- Live: Monday, December 15, 2025. The podcast followed on December 16.
- Topics: how the CloudFest Hackathon works, sponsored seats, and open source beyond WordPress
- Show notes: This Week in WordPress 359 on WP Builds, with news links and a transcript
The captions are YouTube’s automatic captions, cleaned for repeated lines and names but not checked against the audio. WP Builds also publishes a full transcript on the show notes page.
🛠️ How the CloudFest Hackathon works
I’d been to the hackathon and hoped to return. So that people don’t get discouraged by the cost, I explained the model as I understood it: companies like GoDaddy, where I worked then, sponsor staff to attend, and each sponsored staff place also funds a spot for someone who isn’t sent by an employer.
At the previous CloudFest Hackathon, I was the one who explained SBOMs, software bills of materials, during the final presentations, while other teams went theatrical on stage. There may have been exploding whipped cream. For context, the event takes place at Europa Park in Germany. I also told the story of a group of us from North America arriving extra early to adjust to the time zone, before the shuttles were running, and then hitting a train announcement mid trip.
🌐 Open source beyond WordPress
Events like this were high on my radar because I looked at open source beyond WordPress. For example, GoDaddy had long sponsored OpenJS, added the PHP Foundation the previous year, and supported the W3C. For an individual in WordPress, I said the CloudFest Hackathon makes the most sense if you live nearby or travel budget isn’t the barrier.
🧪 What can you take from the CloudFest Hackathon talk?
- Employers: sponsoring a staff seat can also open a seat for an independent contributor.
- Developers: if you’ve never explained an SBOM to a room, a hackathon demo is a forgiving place to start.
Also, more conversations like this one live in my podcast and speaking archive.
🗓️ Archival note
This panel streamed live on December 15, 2025, and WP Builds published it the next day. I added this post on November 9, 2026, from the publisher’s automated transcript. I reviewed the transcript, not the recording.