As we countdown to WordCamp Asia 2024, each week we’re inviting you to go behind the lineup and get to know the folks who will be taking to the stage. In today’s post, we chat with Pascal Birchler from Google and a long-time WordPress contributor.
Q. Firstly, welcome to the lineup! We’re so glad to have you here. Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself? Where will you be joining the event from, and what does your day-to-day look like?
I am a long-time WordPress community member and contributor based in Zurich, Switzerland. Over the years I have done a lot of things around WordPress, be it organizing and speaking at events, developing popular plugins, or building new features in core itself. Today, I am part of a team at Google that is passionate about making the web and especially CMSes like WordPress faster. So my day-to-day involves mostly contributions to the core performance team. This goes from analyzing latest trends to identifying and fixing bugs to writing tools and documentation for developers so they are well-equipped for building performant solutions.
Q. We’re lucky to be welcoming a diverse range of speakers to our program in 2024. What interested you to apply to WordCamp Asia as a speaker?
I have fond memories of the few times I have been to events in the APAC region, for example WordCamp Tokyo, which was a blast. People are super friendly and eager to learn about all things WordPress. Originally I wanted to attend already in 2023 (and in 2020 before it was cancelled) but couldn’t make it. So this time I am extra excited to attend. And because there’s so many exciting things going on in WordPress that I want to share with people, I figured WordCamp Asia was the best opportunity to do so.
Q. What can audiences expect to learn from your talk/s? Are there any advance sneak peeks or knowledge bombs you can offer us?
In my talk I will share the latest and greatest around performance in WordPress and what it means to try to make good performance accessible for everyone. Things are moving fast, so I hope to be able to share some cool demos and facts about upcoming developments in this space.
Q. What are you most looking forward to at WordCamp Asia 2024? Is there someone you’re looking forward to rubbing shoulder with, or a local delicacy you’d like to sample?
I’m generally eager to meet old and new friends alike and get to know a new city and culture. Haven’t done any planning so far but I’m open to suggestions!
Q. Tell us something about yourself that we might not know. Party tricks? Secret hobbies?
Tough one! No party tricks I’m afraid. A recent new hobby is running. I suppose I took my interest in performance “offline” as I started running more regularly and even finished my first half marathon in 2023!
Q. Lightning Round!
Website: probably github.com, followed by google.com
Gadget: my phone
Book: I usually only read them once, so none in particular
Podcast: a few ones about Swiss football (soccer)
Find out more about Pascal’s appearance at WordCamp Asia 2024 here.