Meet Magento UK – a brief history
With all the excitement of announcing that Meet Magento UK 2023 will be back – in person and hosted by JH for a 6th year – we thought it was about time we delved into the rich history of this exciting conference!
Read on to find out more about the history of this amazing community event…
Where Meet Magento UK all began
Since 2011, the UK has hosted a long tradition of tentpole Magento conferences each year – first as Meet Magento UK, and later as MagentoLive.
The events were originally run by the Magento Commerce Events team, and done wonderfully, setting the bar for eCommerce community events very high. In the early days, the Magento ecosystem was very much built around a community feel, with different parties coming together to learn and work together – so community in-person events were a natural progression of this.
That community spirit and togetherness is what has kept Meet Magento (and MagentoLive) events going all this time – with events around the world under the banner now hosted by brands within the community.
JH take the Meet Magento UK mantle
At MagentoLive 2017, Magento announced they would combine all the MagentoLive events in Europe into one event for 2018.
Not wanting the UK community to miss out on their own event, Jamie and JH stepped up and offered to take the mantle – restoring the original Meet Magento UK name in the process.
Jamie and members of the JH team had been attendees (and often speakers) at almost every UK Meet Magento and MagentoLive event since they’d began – and some further afield in other countries, too.
So when they asked the Magento Association if they could take over hosting the UK’s largest community Magento event, it was no surprise they were given the green light.
Inspired by the community spirit that inspired the events from the very beginning, they set out to build an inclusive event that gives the community a place to continue to thrive.
Meet Magento UK 2018
JH’s first Meet Magento UK as hosts went off with a bang – held at The Mermaid, London, with two talk tracks (Business and Technical) it continued that rich history of the community conference. From merchants to developers, agencies to technology providers – people from across the ecosystem came together to trade ideas, share thoughts, and work to help retailers on Magento be better and better.
Watch back the sessions from Meet Magento UK 2018 here on our YouTube channel.
Meet Magento UK 2019
Building on the previous year’s success, MM19UK was even bigger – attracting 550 attendees, there to watch 17 talks from expert speakers and network with the community. The final line-up of speakers and talks for MM19UK consisted of a variety of engaging and relevant topics, targeting multiple areas of both the merchant and technical team journeys. From learning how to get the most out of your Development Team, to seeing exclusive insights into how a local flower company scaled their business for global success, our split tracks offered something to suit all attendees.
The praise and feedback received in person on the day, as well as the countless tweets and social messages that rolled in, put smiles on all of our faces as we saw all of our hard work come to fruition.
Meet Magento UK 2019’s sessions are all available to watch any time, via our YouTube channel.
Meet Magento UK 2020 – Going virtual
The planning for #MM20UK was in full swing – and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, completely shutting down the live events industry.
Many global conferences were cancelled, but the JH team felt bringing the community was now more important than ever – so we didn’t cancel Meet Magento UK 2020.
Instead, we took it online – and in the process, raised over £83,000 for charities including The Trussell Trust, Age UK, by offering free tickets in exchange for a suggested donation, donating fees from our sponsors and even gifting a sizable donation from JH.
Watch back all the talks from Meet Magento UK 2020 for free, any time on YouTube.
Meet Magento UK 2021 – The biggest year yet
The 10th year of Meet Magento UK called for something special – and in response, we hosted the biggest ever UK virtual event.
The event attracted over 2000 attendees from across the world – 83 different countries, in fact – and hosted 40 amazing speakers, across a wide range of talks. This year we ran a whopping FOUR live-streamed talk tracks, all at the same time – Merchant, Solution, Technical and Platform.
All talks from Meet Magento UK 2021 are available to watch for free on YouTube.
Meet Magento UK 2022 – Back in person
2022 marked the 5th year since JH took the MMUK mantle – and we brought the event back in person at last. With the help of our brilliant sponsors, we returned to our favourite spot, The Mermaid, and gave you an amazing agenda of expert speakers to keep you two steps ahead of your eCommerce challenges. Catch up on everything Meet Magento 2022 here.
Will you join us this year?
We’d love to have you join us at Meet Magento UK in 2023. Head over to the Meet Magento UK website to find out about the agenda, sponsors, and how to book your ticket.