Let’s start with your name. Easy, right?
Enrico Sorcinelli. Easy so far 🙂
Tell us which professional talent helped you the most in organizing this WCTRN.
Rather than talent, I’d call it attitude. The most useful thing in this context is listening to what people really need. A WordCamp works when everyone who attends feels at home. Whether it’s a speaker who needs the projector to work at the last minute, a new contributor who doesn’t know where to start, or a sponsor who isn’t just looking for exposure but wants to feel part of the community and connect authentically with people at their boothe, the real challenge is understanding what people truly need and giving it to them, before they even ask. It’s a bit like a well-made plugin: when everything works, no one notices how much work goes into it, but if it’s missing… well, you definitely notice.
At this point, tell us what you do for a living. What do you work on?
I started back in the late ’80s talking to bits in assembler where if you got one instruction wrong, the computer would glare at you for a week. Then I moved to C, and over the years I’ve explored pretty much every interpreted language out there. Today I could tell you I work in IT (and guess what, that includes WordPress and CMS platforms 🙂), but the truth is simpler: I’m just a curious enthusiast who can’t stop playing with code. And the best part of this journey? Doing it together with others. Open source and its communities aren’t just a place where I work and learn, they’re where I truly feel at home.
What was the most unexpected skill you used while organizing the WCTRN?
Great question! And honestly, I can’t say for sure just yet 😁
I thought I knew pretty much all my skills, but every WordCamp gives you a new discovery!
Maybe this time it’s strategic patience. When you’re organizing a WordCamp, things often don’t happen when you want them to, and waiting for the right moment without forcing it is a skill that really matters.
What’s something people don’t realize about the work your team does behind the scenes?
Okay, let’s start with the assumption that at a WordCamp, all teams start working many months in advance.
For the Sponsor Team, the invisible part is probably the relationship work. We don’t just sell spaces but we try to build bridges. We listen to the sponsors’ stories, their needs, and even their shyness. We try to figure out how to integrate them into the ecosystem so they don’t feel like “the ones who pay the bill.” Because in a WordCamp, a successful sponsor isn’t the one with the biggest booth but the one who has a genuine chat with an attendee over a coffee. And we work to make that coffee happen.
What was the most fun or memorable moment you experienced with your WCTRN team?
Right now, I don’t think there’s a single episode, but plenty of small moments: a witty remark in the middle of a meeting or a liberating laugh after resolving yet another unexpected issue.
The most memorable one, though, will be when the first attendee walks in. Because seeing that face represents the fruit of all our passionate months of work.
Describe your experience at WCTRN so far using only emoji, GIFs, or stickers. Add as many as you like.
🇮🇹📅🗣️⏳👂🧩❤️🤝🙏🧘💻🎵🍕🍺🐱😂😊 🫂🎉🫶
If WCTRN were a music festival, what would your team’s soundtrack be?
I couldn’t pick just one song, our team has a playlist that stays with us through the months of work. At the top of the list is Let It Be by the Beatles, because organizing also means learning to let go, trusting the process, and accepting that not everything is under your control. Then The Nightfly by Donald Fagen: that warm nocturnal melancholy, the soft jazz.… It reminds me of the late nights fine‑tuning the last details, with music keeping us company in the silence. And finally, of course, the De André with PFM live record.
We’re in Turin, city of the Mole Antonelliana and the National Cinema Museum. If your team were a movie, which one would it be? TV series count too.
As a true boomer, I’d say Space: 1999. A story of a united community that supports each other and always finds creative solutions.
Turin was the first capital of Italy. If you had to “govern” something in the WordPress world, what would it be?
The Italian Community.
Which fictional character would be a perfect member of your team, and why?
If I could borrow Marge Simpson’s superhuman patience and Gandalf’s curious wisdom, we’d have the perfect team. But since I have to pick only one, I’ll say Marge.
In the spirit of open source collaboration, what is the most important lesson WCTRN has taught you about teamwork?
With 30 years of experience and a few events under belt (not just WordCamps) ☺️, you think you always have an answer ready. Instead, WordCamps teach you the exact opposite: the courage to say, “I don’t know, help me.” In open source, it’s normal to open an issue and ask for support. Teamwork, it’s the same. Asking for help isn’t always a sign of weakness, but the most generous thing you can do for your team, because it lets others contribute and grow as well.
Convince someone, in 10 words or less, to attend the next WordCamp.
Come for WordPress, come back for the people you meet.
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