Do you like WebCamps?

"What's up with this year's WebCamp?" That's a question many a member of the core team has heard a lot during the past few months.

Answering this question is always tough. It usually starts with a bunch of excuses and a lot of self-doubt. First of all, we might be missing that je-ne-sais-quoi to pull it off. But still, we keep organising them each year. Does Zagreb still need this type of a conference? More than 800 people showed up last year, so it's hardly unnecessary. Why do we, as organizers, do it in the first place?

Over the years, answers to all of these questions have changed.

When we put together the first Webcamp conference, the community in Zagreb was just getting started. There were only a few user groups and hardly any large events devoted to web. If you wanted to visit a good conference, you had to take days off work, travel and pony up for a ticket. People were reluctant to do it, especially with their own time and money.

We wanted people to start taking their careers in their own hands. We wanted to build a culture of going to a conference, networking with companies and other developers, learning something new and speaking about things they are passionate about.

Today, the Zagreb tech community is stronger than ever. New user groups are popping up every month and visiting all of their events is becoming impossible. More and more people are speaking, both locally and internationally. Tech companies are recruiting like crazy, new products are being shipped and all that is making Zagreb a good place to be. Especially in October, when we will send out an extra dose of inspiration and motivation through our yearly conference.

All in all, we can only be thankful. Thankful for each attendee, for allowing us to brag around with numbers. Thankful for each supporter, for making it possible to give out wonderful swag. Thankful for each sponsor, for bringing top notch speakers and covering our food and rent. Thankful for each volunteer, for donating their time and energy to build this conference with us. Thankful for each speaker, for sharing knowledge and helping others become better at what we all love doing.

So let us raise our mugs full of coffee, fine porcelain filled with even finer tea, aluminum cans of energy drinks and plastic sippy cups of cold water and toast to another year of building great things on web.

Now go submit a talk. The CFP is open until the end of June!