Venue visit: When the WordCamp Europe organising team headed to Torino!

In late November, members of the organising team headed to Torino, Italy to visit our venue for the next edition of the event and to work with local suppliers and the tourist authority to continue planning for the largest WordCamp in Europe!

To provide background to the visit, planning for WordCamp Europe begins in late summer, when the organising team is selected from the Call for Organisers applications and our teams are formed. We then work together over the course of the following months to prepare the essential elements of the conference.

Our team prepares by visiting the venue on several occasions before the event in June, to help familiarise Organisers with the location, nearby facilities and amenities – and also plan the layout, technical plans and work with local suppliers to ensure we have everything we need when the doors open on the first day of the conference! These visits are open to all members of the organising team, to allow individuals to network with other colleagues and also understand their teams’ role in preparations. 

Day 1 – Thursday 30 November

Several members of the organising team arrived in Torino and met at the entrance of our venue, Lingotto Fiere. We were greeted with the event management team at the venue and taken around the main areas of the complex which we’ll be using for WordCamp Europe.

You can view the thread of our journey on X, and we’ll take you through the items in more detail below.

The Lingotto building was built as a large factory for the Italian automotive company Fiat and opened in 1923. The building was created in such a way that vehicles would be assembled across several floors, working their way up to the top of the building as they progressed, until emerging on the roof where a test track would ensure the vehicles were ready.

Although car manufacturing ended and the factory closed in 1982, the complex is now host to a range of shops, restaurants and even a cinema – plus hotels and conference facilities.

You can find out more about our venue here.

A winding concrete structure built to move vehicles from the ground floor to the roof top test track
Image: A winding concrete structure built to move vehicles from the ground floor to the roof top test track

The team used this opportunity to plan where our main tracks (we run three tracks – or stages) and workshops would be held – along with the expo area and registration desk. A number of new features and plans for 2024 were also discussed and prepared with the relevant teams.

After a morning of meetings at the venue, we were provided with the opportunity to visit one of the local attractions at the Mole Antonelliana which is the tallest brick building in the world – and hosts the National Museum of Cinema, and is currently housing the Tim Burton exhibition….

The team from Turismo Torino also provided us with the chance to use the panoramic elevator which ascends the centre of the building to the 360* views across the city from the roof!

Image of the central hall of the Mole Antonelliana in Torino. A large central atrium with several floors of the Museum of Cinema, people walking around and a panoramic elevator in the centre.
Image: The central hall of the Mole Antonelliana in Torino. The suspended box is the glass elevator which ascends from the basement right up to the top floor viewing centre.

After visiting the museum and taking in the views from the roof, we were warmly welcomed by the local Torino WordPress Meetup group where we discussed our plans and learnt more about their activities with the project. After an evening of networking and pizza we headed back to our hotels for the night!

Image of the Torino WordPress meetup attendees and the WordCamp Europe organising team. Table in middle with drinks and food.
Image: We were very excited to meet the local Torino WordCamp Meetup and discuss with them our plans, and how they’re involved with WordPress!

Day 2 – Friday 1 December

On our second (and final!) day in the city, we were welcomed to the offices of Turismo Torino to find out more about the city and the support they can provide to help us provide information to our attendees. 

One key item was details of a new train connection directly from the Airport to the Lingotto train station which opens in January and will provide seamless access for those travelling by air. We’ll be providing more information on our travel page in the new year, along with details of other routes to get to the venue.

We were also excited to hear that Turismo Torino have the ability to offer discounted entry to various attractions across the city. Again, we’ll provide details of these in the new year.

Image of a courtyard in Torino. There’s a lift in the middle and several shops and levels to different rooms and parts of the building.
Image: The area outside Turismo Torino’s office which showcases a typical courtyard scene in the city

At the same time, we also spent part of the day working with local suppliers, contractors and organisations to plan the needs of the event – specifically down to items such as catering, AV supplies, technology partners and how we’re planning to build our expo space. 

Several people sat around a table and a person is stood at the front of the room against a projected floor plan, pointing at the entrance door.
Image: Members of our team working with local contractors to plan the layout of the venue, stages and AV equipment setup

We hope you’ve enjoyed this insight to our visit to Torino, and find out more about the activities our organising team get up to before the event.

The team had a fantastic time spending a few days together to network, plan and in some cases, meet face-to-face for the first time! Our team is a mix of new and previous Organisers from different teams within WordCamp Europe, all working to provide the best possible experience for you –  our attendees – in June 2024!

Bonus: Video Diaries

Our Sponsors Team lead Anne created two short videos which you can view here and here from our visit which allow you to get a real feel for our venue, and host city!