Speaker Announcement – Panel: Fight Impostor Syndrome

On Saturday we are pleased to have a panel to discuss on how to fight the impostor syndrome:

If you’ve ever felt as if you’re “not good enough” to be part of a team, or you feel your success is owed more to luck than hard work and talent, you’ve likely dealt first-hand with Impostor Syndrome. It’s a common affliction, especially in the world of software, but if left untreated it can interfere with career advancement, wreck your personal life, or lead to total burn-out. This panel is meant to be an open and honest conversation about Impostor Syndrome, how it affects all of us, and what we can do to combat it. Attendees will walk away with a better understanding of Impostor Syndrome and tips that they can use to fight it. Audience participation is encouraged; after all, we’re all in this together.

Speaker Interview – Kyle Maurer

KyleMaurerKyle is the co-founder of a Jackson, Michigan based firm called Real Big Marketing which specializes in using WordPress to solve complicated problems for businesses. He is also the author of and a contributor to dozens of WordPress plugins, is the co-organizer of the Jackson WP meetup, is a co-organizer of WordCamp Ann Arbor, plays in a band and is an aspiring beer snob.

Why Do You Use WordPress?
WordPress does an amazing job of making things that are inherently complex very simple. Everything from basic content management, to user authentication to design implementation to serious development is made easy with this powerful and free software. Plus, it is getting better and better as time goes by.

When and How Did You Start Using WordPress?
Those were dark times indeed, the days when my development workflow was “cowboy” coding and my tool belt contained Adobe Dreamweaver and some hideous HTML templates. I was employed at some lousy place making lousy sites with a lousy boss for lousy pay. Then I was introduced to WordPress. Shortly after I started my own business and life has been great since.

What Tips or Resources would you recommend to a new WordPress User?
1. Your local meetup – Attend as often as possible and actively participate. Speak if you can.
2. WordCamps – Attend as many as possible and never sit alone. This community is your biggest asset.
3. Identify your specialties and then figure out who are the leaders in those disciplines. For example, if you’re a front end dev you need to follow Chris Coyier and css-tricks.com. If you’re into BuddyPress follow John James Jacoby. If membership sites are your thing, Chris Lema might be your guy. If you like designing things checkout Michelle Schulp. If beer is your passion, talk to me. All examples and not a complete list but you should get the idea.

What advice would you give someone who’s building a business around WordPress design or development?

  • Have confidence in yourself.
  • Embrace the community and make friends.
  • Speak at meetups and WordCamps.
  • Raise your rates.
  • Wear your seat belts.
  • Don’t edit the parent theme.

How do you stay informed about WordPress (news, tips, etc)?

What’s a cool WordPress based site you’ve seen recently?
I think the new ManageWP plugins directory is pretty cool https://managewp.org/plugins/best

I’m also pretty proud of what we were able to come up with for a plugin we released recently http://renderwp.com

What do you like most about WordCamps?
WordCamps are where I get to spend time with good friends, make new friends, speak and drink some beer, all of which are things I’m passionate about.

Where can we find you online?
Web: RealBigMarketing.com
Web: KyleBlog.net
Web: RealBigPlugins.com
Twitter: @MrKyleMaurer

Speaker Interview – Cameron Barrett

CameronBarrettCameron has been blogging since you were in grade school (well, some of you). He pioneered the blog format in the late 1990s and remembers an eager, bright-eyed young man named Ma.tt being excited to meet one of the “founding fathers of blogging” in 2003.

He’s designed and built web sites for presidential candidates, the U.S. Army, the World Economic Forum, Teach for America and lead the migration of 70+ web sites from a terrifically-bad, proprietary SaaS to WordPress Multisite for New Jersey’s largest public school district.

He hails from Northern Michigan and currently lives in Northern NJ with his family. He is leading the charge for embracing “WordPress in Schools” and his goal is to eventually have all 14,000+ public school districts in this country using WordPress in some way through a services-based company called SchoolPresser.

Why Do You Use WordPress?
I used to be a heavy Drupal user but got tired of waiting for Drupal 8.

When and How Did You Start Using WordPress?
Probably around 2004.

Where can we find you online?
Web: CameronBarrett
Web: SchoolPresser.com
Twitter: @camworld
LinkedIn: Cameron Barrett

Speaker Interview – Sherryl Wilson

SherrylWilsonI have a background in Accounting/Tax Analysis and Real Estate. Currently, I manage several sites, work as a social media manager, brand ambassador, travel writer, speaker, and of most importantly, a mom to seven.

Why Do You Use WordPress?
I use WordPress because I don’t know enough about coding other than to get myself in trouble.

WordPress offers such a simple way for anyone to have an online presence without having to know, learn or hire a developer.

When and How Did You Start Using WordPress?
I was forced, lol I say forced to WordPress back in 2010 when I could no longer use Frontpage to edit sites. Why was I upset? I can’t believe I had not been using it all along!

What Tips or Resources would you recommend to a new WordPress User?
I tell people that are thinking of setting up a site to think long term. A small investment now can save a fortune in time and money down the road.

Also, make sure to only use WP endorsed products. Once you are up and running, if you want to play around with after market plugins, that is up to you. Just starting out, use the verified products. Trust me, spending days trying to figure out why you can’t justify an article when it was a bad plugin all along is not worth it.

What advice would you give someone who’s building a business around WordPress design or development?
Same advice, think long term. Yes, you can be up and running within a few minutes, but taking a little time and planning for growth from the start will save time, efforts and money down the road.

How do you stay informed about WordPress (news, tips, etc)?
I read anything that comes out about WordPress.

What’s a cool WordPress based site you’ve seen recently?
I can’t say there is one that is my favorite. I visit about 15 sites daily to catch up on things and to interact. That is the best thing about WordPress, you can make your site your own…even if using the same theme as someone else. There are so many options that the sky is the limit.

What do you like most about WordCamps?
I love hearing all the “insider” information and being able to put faces with names/handles. Of course I feel like the Momma of the group but that’s ok.

Where can we find you online?
Web: SherrylWilson.com
Twitter: @SimplySherryl
Facebook: Simply Sherryl
LinkedIn: Sherryl Wilson
Google+: +SimplySherryl

Speaker Interview – Bobby Bryant

BobbyBryantBefore jumping into the WordPress Community, I spent 13 years managing high performing teams of electronic technicians, while serving in the United States Marine Corps. During that time I witnessed a lot of technological change, and know first hand the importance of learning new skills.

Recently, I fell in love with all things WordPress. Over the past two years I have spent an unhealthy amount of time, learning everything there is to know about WordPress. During this time, I have worked with a number of clients who have picked WordPress for their primary website, and I find it exciting, that more and more Enterprise clients are using the platform too. Helping clients, solve tough problems, with custom tailored solutions built on WordPress, is what makes me excited to start each and every day.

In September of 2014 I joined a WordPress Development Agency called 10up. At 10up I am currently serving as a Project Manger. I spend my days coordinating the efforts on a number of WordPress projects, and my nights improving my skills as a WordPress developer.

Why Do You Use WordPress?
I like WordPress for its core tenant; to democratize web publishing. I think it is really cool when you can build a highly customizable site, with well structured content, that is simple for end users to modify.

When and How Did You Start Using WordPress?
I was honestly just looking for a new career, and given my technical background, the web offered the most promise. It didn’t take long before I became enamored with the WordPress Platform. When I first started selling WordPress solutions, I would outsource some of the heavy development. However, as time went on, I slowly started doing more and more of the development myself. That allowed me to grow as a developer, while still providing a quality product to the client.

What Tips or Resources would you recommend to a new WordPress User?
As far as web resource I tell people to visit WP Beginner and WordPress.tv. However the best thing a new user could do is attend their local WordPress meetup. You will find everything you need once you join the WordPress Community.

What advice would you give someone who’s building a business around WordPress design or development?
Don’t be afraid to offer your opinion to clients. Oftentimes they have a very limited understanding of what WordPress can do, and it can be easy to just say yes and build something that fills a need, but could have been better. Unless you provide that knowledge, you are simply a keypuncher, and you will never be able to charge more for your services. Anybody can build a website. It is your knowledge that separates you from the pack.

How do you stay informed about WordPress (news, tips, etc)?
I follow a lot of really cool WordPress developers and users on Twitter, but one of my favorite sites to check out is managewp.org. This is a community driven site where people share trending articles about WordPress. I go there everyday.

What’s a cool WordPress based site you’ve seen recently?
I would just point to the amazing list of clients using WordPress VIP. I think it is awesome to see so many large publications choosing WordPress as their platform of choice. Having an opportunity to work with many of the clients on that list, I am always amazed at far we’re pushing the limits of what WordPress can do.

What do you like most about WordCamps?
Honestly I just enjoy meeting new people.

Where can we find you online?
Twitter: @MrBobbyBryant

Speaker Announcement

Andrew Walsh

Building an Email List With Your WordPress Blog for Traffic, Revenue and Influence

When successful bloggers are asked “what’s one thing you’d change if you could go back to the beginning?” the answer is very often “I should’ve built a list sooner!” This presentation will demonstrate why building an email list is one of the most powerful ways to grow your WordPress blog. It will cover the best plugins and services to use; tips on where and how to configure them on your blog; strategies for increasing conversions; and how to use your new list to drive visits, sales and conversations.

http://andrewjwalsh.com

walshand


 

Andrew Duthie

WordPress as a Backend

With the release of the WordPress JSON API expected later this year, WordPress is primed to serve as a viable backend for single-page web applications of the future. The presentation will explain the benefits of using WordPress in this context and include a short demonstration to show how WordPress can be integrated in a typical single-page application technology stack. This is an advanced topic targeted at developers familiar with RESTful APIs and JavaScript.

http://www.andrewduthie.com

andrew_duthie


 

Daniel J. Lewis

How to Podcast with WordPress

Podcasts are rising in popularity and allow you to connect more personally with an audience. You can share your passions, or build your business. Learn the plugins, tools, and techniques you’ll need to launch and host a successful podcast from your own WordPress-powered website.

http://TheAudacitytoPodcast.com/

 http://DanielJLewis.net/

theRamenNoodle


 

Ryan Rhoten

Build your Personal Brand with WordPress

It used to be that the only way to meet someone was in-person or over the phone. During that meeting, you typically gave a first and lasting impression. Today however, you are making that same first impression even while you sleep. If you are not actively managing your online profile, then you are leaving the impression you make on others up to Google. I know, because not long ago I did the same thing.

Imagine my surprise when I Googled myself only to discover that I was not the only Ryan Rhoten in the world. Worse, one of the other Ryan’s was on page one four times because he had recently been arrested, again. Today, I “own” nearly every result on the first 3 pages of Google.

Learn how I use my WordPress blog to build my personal brand, Become Visible and push the other Ryan’s further down in the search results.

http://ryanrhoten.com

RyanRhoten


 

Riley Paulsen

Premeditated Architectural Bliss – Post Types, Taxonomies, and Advanced Custom Fields

This session will cover how to conceptually plan and architect your site to collect and store data the same way that the big sites do. Rather than giving end-users the keys to the site and wishing them the best with the WYSIWYG, we’ll look at how to set up a WP site to eliminate confusion and ensure consistency through a properly thought-out WP Admin setup using Custom Post Types, Custom Taxonomies, and the Advanced Custom Fields plugin. Minor code examples will be shown to demonstrate how easy it is to take advantage of a properly structured site, but most of the talk will be discussion-based for ease of access. These are features that everyone can take advantage of today regardless of technical proficiency. Familiarity with The Loop may be helpful, but is not required.

rileypaulsen.com

rileypaulsen


 

Cyrissa Carlson

Small Business Photography

This course will focus on my five key tips and tricks to creating better product photos for social media, marketing, and website use. While we will focus heavily on the photography side of things, there will be social media tidbits thrown in along the way.

www.immersephotography.com

immersephotos

Speaker Interview – Stoney deGeyter

StoneydeGeyterAuthor of The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period!, speaker, teacher, husband, father, and web marketer, Stoney deGeyter is the president and pit crew leader of Pole Position Marketing, a results-driven web presence optimization and marketing agency established in 1998. In addition to business training events, Stoney speaks at nationwide conferences, such as WordCamp, PubCon, Search Engine Strategies (SES), Search Marketing Expo (SMX), Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), and International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

Stoney’s articles about how to navigate the web marketing landscape have been published on Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal and Visibility Magazine, and he has been quoted in WSJ.com and Chief Content Officer Magazine.

He also shares how to accelerate your web marketing efforts in several e-books, including E-Marketing Performance: Effective Strategies For Building, Optimizing and Marketing Your Website Online; Keyword Research and Selection: The Definitive Guide to Gathering, Sorting and Organizing Your Keywords Into a High-Performance SEO Campaign; Destination Search Engine Marketing: SEO Without Compromise.

Why Do You Use WordPress?
As a web marketer I’ve found that WordPress is the single best out-of-the-box solution for building a search engine friendly website. That’s not to say it doesn’t take some customization, but those customizations are far easier done in WordPress than most CMS solutions. In fact, most can be easily accomplished using existing plugins.

Having a search engine friendly site is the foundation for solid web marketing efforts. If you don’t have that then all the marketing you do for your site will simply not perform as well as it otherwise should. WordPress is a great starting point.

When and How Did You Start Using WordPress?
I started using WP back when it was just a blogging platform. But as it grew into a more robust CMS we began encouraging many of our clients to make the switch whenever a re-design was imminent.

What Tips or Resources would you recommend to a new WordPress User?
I’d immediately look for lists of plugins that will help you accomplish your goals. There are a number of plugins for SEO, forms, navigation and just about anything else you might need. Plugins can save you hours of development time.

With that said, sometimes a plugin isn’t the right way to go and you may benefit from incorporating features into the build to ensure overall site stability.

What advice would you give someone who’s building a business around WordPress design or development?
Just because WordPress is free and easy to install doesn’t mean that the site you want will be cheap. It’s all about the whistles and bells. Any good developer can build you the site you want, just be ready and willing to pay for those features that need to be built. Or go without them.

Don’t think of WordPress as a free solution so much as a free foundation for the solution you want to build.

How do you stay informed about WordPress (news, tips, etc)?
The web marketing industry does a good job of promoting WP news and updates. I tend to keep up on that through the normal streams and social channels I follow for web marketing purposes.

What do you like most about WordCamps?
They are a blast. The presenters are all very knowledgeable and intelligent and overall, the attendees seem to be great people. It’s just lots of fun!

Where can we find you online?
Web: PolePositionMarketing .com
Twitter: @StoneyD
LinkedIn: StoneyGD
Google+: +StoneydeGeyter

Speaker Interview – Joe Rozsa

joerozsa
I’ve been a graphic designer for over 25 years. I love everything design. Once I started to design for the web, I started using WordPress. My studio Trailer Trash Design provides complete graphic design services for start-ups, small and medium sized companies. I love to eat pizza and try different kinds of beer.

Why Do You Use WordPress?
I use WordPress because of it’s flexibility and ease of use. My clients have wanted to become increasingly involved in the day-to-day operations of their websites and WordPress allows that to happen.

When and How Did You Start Using WordPress?
I started using WordPress about 8 years ago when we started a blog for the company that I was working for at the time. Since moving on, I’ve made WordPress my only choice for working on the web.

What Tips or Resources would you recommend to a new WordPress User?
Don’t get frustrated. Ask questions. Lots of questions and keep learning. WordPress has tons to offer… you just need to be willing to learn.

What advice would you give someone who’s building a business around WordPress design or development?
Stay involved in as much WordPress as you can.

How do you stay informed about WordPress (news, tips, etc)?
I follow a lot of different blogs, LinkedIn groups, Facebook groups and attend as many WordCamps as possible.

What do you like most about WordCamps?
Meeting new people and finding new tips and techniques to use with WordPress.

Where can we find you online?
Web: TrailerTrashDesign.us
Twitter: @trailertrashus
Facebook: Trailer Trash Design

Speaker Submission Closed

One word: wow.

We had over 60 submissions this year and some GREAT topics. We have been digging through all the submissions and want to thank each and every one of you that submitted a topic or two.

We will be announcing the final schedule soon. Sign up for updates on the sidebar.

Speaker Announcement

Topher DeRosia

Crowdsourcing A WordPress Project

Lessons learned and technologies used in the HeroPress Kickstarter project.

Website: http://topher1kenobe.com

Twitter: topher1kenobe

Pam Kocke

Making Blogging a Habit

People start new blogs all the time, only to abandon them with just a few entries written. I’ll talk about how to

– give your blog focus
– get started on serial posts
– create an editorial calendar
– where to find inspiration

I want to give bloggers the tools they need so they won’t want to give up after just a few posts.

Website: http://pyjammy.com

Twitter: pyjammy

 

Cameron Barrett

WordPress in Schools

Learn how Newark Public Schools (NJ’s largest school district – 40,000 students; 70 schools) cut their annual web site technology budget in half by migrating to WordPress from a closed-source, proprietary, expensive, vendor-controlled SaaS CMS. Hear stories from the trenches about budget battles, angry/clueless technology vendors, frustrated administrators from one guy with a vision to disrupt the market and bring better web site technology to our public schools.

Website: http://cameronbarrett.com

Twitter: camworld

 

Kyle Maurer

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Shortcodes (plus some)

Shortcodes are one of the coolest and most powerful features in WordPress. They empower us and enable us to do things far beyond simple word processing within our content.In this session we will: – Cover the many useful applications of shortcodes – Discuss why they are so cool – Walk through creating a basic shortcode – Explore creative ways to make shortcodes more user friendly Will cover the basics as well as some intermediate concepts.

Website: http://realbigplugins.com

Twitter: MrKyleMaurer