WDP CON 2025 Recap

A look-back with takeaways, lessons learned (and a breakdown of expenses) of the amazing weekend that was...Web Designer Pro's first in person event conference!

I'm posting this several weeks later and I’m still buzzing, on the highest of highs from what was our first official Web Designer Pro Conference 🎉

I hope you enjoy this full recap as much as I've enjoyed reliving this event 🙏

- Josh

Over 40 amazing members of Web Designer Pro™ came together in Columbus, Ohio, from across the U.S. and Canada for our first ever WDP CON. There were deep connection and friendships formed, incredible conversations, next-level biz strategy talk, belly laughs, mind-blowing karaoke, great food, great drinks and most importantly, heartfelt, often tear-filled expressions of what this amazing community means to everyone.

WDP CON was more than just a conference — it was truly a transformative, energizing, connecting and a real celebration of what it means to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. And today, I’m here with a full recap and breakdown. I’ve broken this down into a few key sections:

• Event Itinerary
• Workshop & Presenters
• Special ASL shoutout
• Lessons learned
• Expenses Breakdown
• Member thoughts

But before we dive in, a big thanks to our sponsors 👇 for making this incredible event possible for our community!

FRIDAY, MAY 2ND

Meetups and Group Social

• Midday Meetup: We gathered for lunch at one of my favorite Columbus spots (R Bar) and got to meet our sponsors and early arrivals—including Harold, a deaf member who was able to fully participate thanks to the ASL services our sponsors allowed us to provide.
• Group Social at Columbus Clippers Game: Our first official event was a private suite at the Clippers minor league baseball game. It was relaxed, fun, and the perfect way to break the ice of 40+ people meeting each other before the big workshop day. Rain did cancel the game halfway through, but the real value was our time together.
• After Hours: And…after getting kicked out of the baseball stadium, in the pouring rain, a crew of us walked over to a classic Columbus dive bar Betty’s to continue the party— carpeted floors, crusty charm, cheap beers, and all. IT WAS AWESOME. The magic on the back patio at Betty’s was caught only by the dozen or so of us left there.

SATURDAY, MAY 3RD 2025

Revenue Boost Workshop

Full-Day Workshop at the AC Hotel (Downtown Columbus): This was the heart of the event. Five presenters (myself included) brought the revenue boosting strategies with practical presentations followed by live Q&A’s.

Our big theme was Revenue Boost Workshop — each speaker focused on tangible strategies for increasing income as a web designer.

• Jay Clouse (Creator Science) - Kicked things off with a deep dive into email marketing, newsletters, and how to build real relationships (and revenue) with your audience.
• Sam Sarsten (Pro Member & founder of Local SEO Academy) - Stepped in last minute and crushed it with a talk on how he scaled his MRR through local SEO. Sam's energy and transparency lit the room up.
• Jebb Graff (17Hats) - Who showed us how to streamline lead capture and client workflows using CRM tools. Even longtime users of 17Hats walked away realizing they were underutilizing its features.
• Shannon Mattern (Web Designer Academy) - Delivered a mind-blowing talk on pricing and anchoring. There were a lot of “aha” moments around packaging and value communication.
• Jason Gracia (Swyft Sites) - Jason has made over $2 million building websites—and he let us in on how. We did a live mock sales call where I played “Jim Shorts,” mustache and all, and Jason walked us through his entire pitch-to-close system.

And I wrapped up with a live coaching/Q&A session where we dove into key takeaways from each talk and how to apply them. The interaction and insights shared in that final hour gave me chills.

All presentation replays are available inside Web Designer Pro™ for community members!

SATURDAY EVENING, MAY 3RD 2025

Group Dinner & After-Hours Hangs

• Group Dinner at Buca di Beppo: A fun, family-style dinner capped the day with deep convos and great food.
• Karaoke After Party: After dinner, we zipped up to a nice open area/bar above our restaurant to an unexpected surprise…karaoke…and Pro members Victoria and Sam straight-up OWNED the night.

❤️ Accessibility & ASL Services

One of the most meaningful aspects of ProCon 2025 was being able to offer ASL interpreters for our deaf member Harold.

We hired two professional interpreters for the entire Saturday workshop. Watching them work was awe-inspiring, and more importantly, it allowed Harold to engage, learn, and connect fully in real time.

We also found creative ways to communicate—writing on phones, using speech-to-text apps, and having Pro members like Jen (my amazing VA) step in to sign when needed. It created an even tighter sense of inclusion and reminded us why accessibility matters so much.

It wasn’t just a logistical decision—it was a heart-first one. And it’s something we’ll continue to prioritize for all future events.

💡 Lessons Learned

(a.k.a. Curveballs & Takeaways)

Overall the event was a humdinger and it went swimmingly. But there were a few unexpected things and a few takeaways I’d like to share with you:

✔️ Expect the Unexpected

• Two weeks before the event, our videographer/photographer got a cancer diagnosis. While he offered to press on and do the event, I didn’t want him to worry about taking all that stress on after getting such big news. Thankfully, I had a couple other videographers I had got quotes from and we were able to get a backup in place who was awesome!!
• That same week, one of our orignial speakers had a family emergency and couldn’t make it. We thought about opening a slot up and saving more time for Q&A/networking but Pro member and Local SEO king Sam stepped in and delivered absolute MRR gold.
• The AC Hotel’s top-floor bathrooms were out of order that morning. (I know I know, shit happens. But luckily they were fixed in an hour 🙂)

✔️ Protect the Voice

After talking for four days straight—often over loud crowds—I basically sounded like Kermit the Josh. Next year: I’ll remember to avoid super loud bars leading up to the event.

✔️ Accessibility & ASL (American Sign Language) = Worth it!

Offering ASL interpreters was a cost (~$1,200), but it was 100% worth it. If we have any deaf members who plan to come, I’ll gladly bake this into the budget every time moving forward. Harold’s big bear hug when we met solidified how much this event meant for him to be able to attend and it was again, so awesome learning to communicate with voice to text, gestures and facial expressions.

✔️ Expect No-Shows & Wasted Expense

We over-purchased a few tickets for the baseball game and dinner size based on RSVP lists. Not a big deal, but I’ll pad expectations next year to account for excess cost. Better that than NOT having enough tickets or food though 🙂

✔️ Business can be FUN!!

So many members talked about how they had been to other conferences and how boring, dull or uninspired they were. Vastly different from the WDP CON experience. It was a great reminder that when you love what you do, you're in great community with like-minded people and you're surrounded by awesome people...business can be a BLAST!!

✔️ My wife is cooler than me...

Ah yes, the secret got out. My wife is way cooler than me 🙂 She was able to join in on our Friday group social activities and our Saturday dinner, after-hours fun and the final brunch send-off we had and made quite an impression...👇

💰 Expense Breakdown

And now to the numbers...the event brought in $20,250 in revenue, and total expenses were $14,381, leaving a net profit of +$5,869.

💵 Revenue

• Sponsorships: $16,000 (between 17Hats, SiteGround, Termageddon)
• Ticket Sales: $4,250+ (at $150 per ticket)

Total Revenue: $20,250

📊 Expenses

• Venue + Catering: $4,681
• Clippers Game Suite + Tickets & Clippers Cash: $2,569
• ASL Interpreters: $1,190
• Group Dinner: $2,963
• Videography/Photography: $2,000
• Swag & Lanyards: $546
• MISC Gear: $50
• Hotel Stay: $382

Total cost: $14,381

This doesn’t include any of my time with planning, communication with all vendors, sponsorship back and forth, event details and graphics creation, etc but 5k in profit for the amount of expenses we had is great for year one.

The bigger picture was a play here…to strengthen our community and bring us closer together. And it was worth EVERY MINUTE of hard work, overthinking and worry.

🙏 Testimonials

Finally, from the socials, meetups, hangs and workshop, WDP CON 2025 was labeled "transformative" by so many members.

Here are a few thoughts from members after the workshop 👇

🎉 What’s Next?

WDP CON 2026 is already in the works. We’ll be likely be announcing dates and ticket info in Fall 2025. WDP CON 2025 attendees and Coaching Tier members will get first dibs on the (50 spots) that will be available for 2026.

Few closing notes:

• This is available as a full length solo audio podcast here
• A highlight reel video recap is on my YouTube Channel here
• The presentation replays are available inside Web Designer Pro™ for all community members
• Keep an eye on my Facebook and Instagram where I’ll continue to share testimonials and pictures from the weekend that was WDP FRICK’n CON!!

P.S. Check out 17hats' official write-up of the event (from their outside perspective)

- Josh

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