History of Webstock in Timeline

By Popular Timelines Editorial Team · Updated: March 26, 2026

Webstock is a web technology conference held in Wellington, New Zealand. It features high-profile speakers covering a variety of web-related topics, including accessibility, usability, ethnographic design, and development practices, providing attendees with insights into the latest trends and best practices in the field.

2005: Webstock Creation

In 2005, Webstock was created by a small non-profit group including Mike Brown, Natasha Lampard, Debbie Sidelinger and Ben Lampard.

2006: First Four-Day Webstock

In 2006, the first four-day Webstock was held, featuring speakers such as Dori Smith, Roger Hudson, Russ Weakley, Rachel McAlpine, Douglas Bowman, Heather Hesketh, Russell Brown, Tony Chor, Darren Fittler, Kelly Goto, Ben Goodger, Rowan Simpson, Donna Maurer, Joel Spolsky, Kathy Sierra, Andreas Girardet and Steve Champeon.

February 2008: Second Webstock Conference

The second Webstock conference occurred from 10–15 February 2008. Speakers included Shawn Henry, Simon Willison, Scott Berkun, Amy Hoy, Peter Morville, Nat Torkington, Dan Cederholm, Kelly Goto, Michael Lopp, Cal Henderson, Jill Whalen, Russell Brown, Jason Santa Maria, Rachel McAlpine, Sam Morgan, Tom Coates, Liz Danzico, Damian Conway, Luke Wroblewski and Kathy Sierra.

February 2009: Third Webstock Conference

The third Webstock conference was held from 16–20 February 2009. Speakers included Jane McGonigal, Nat Torkington, Derek Powazek, Meg Pickard, Matt Jones, Matt Biddulph, Fiona Romeo, David Recordon, Cameron Adams, Pamela Fox, Adrian Holovaty, Heather Champ, Michael Lopp, Ze Frank, Russell Brown, Derek Featherstone, Annalee Newitz, Joshua Porter, Toby Segaran, Jasmina Tesanovic, Russ Weakley, Ben Goodger, Tom Coates, Bruce Sterling, and Damian Conway.

February 2010: Fourth Webstock Conference

The fourth Webstock conference took place from 15–19 February 2010, featuring speakers like Jeff Atwood, Shelley Bernstein, Daniel Burka, Ben Cerveny, Sebastian Chan, Mike Davidson, Regine DeBatty, Esther Derby, Brian Fling, Thomas Fuchs, Adam Greenfield, Lachlan Hardy, Lisa Herrod, Bek Hodgson, Amy Hoy, Mark Pesce, John Resig, Eric Ries, Rives, Kevin Rose, Toby Segaran, Chris Shiflett, Scott Thomas and Jeffrey Veen.

February 2011: Fifth Webstock Conference

The fifth Webstock conference was held from 14–18 February 2011.

February 2012: Sixth Webstock Conference

The sixth Webstock conference ran from 13–17 February 2012 and was attended by over 800 delegates.

February 2017: Webstock 2017

Webstock 2017 took place from 13 to 17 February 2017, featuring masterclasses and a conference. Scheduled speakers included Lindsay Aitchison, Genevieve Bell, Jonathon Colman, Anil Dash, Katie Dill, Janine Gianfredi, Kim Goodwin, Jeff Gothelf, Cal Henderson, Lara Hogan, Indy Johar, Sacha Judd, Tim Kadlec, Darius Kazemi, Patricia Moore, Ashley Nelson-Hornstein, Stefan Sagmeister, Jared Spool, Lisa Welchman, and Marcin Wichary.