It’s been a wild year since my last talk (the keynote at this very conference), and while the whole virtual conference scene is very different than the talks that I’m used to, I couldn’t sit out on one of my favorite WordCamps.
That’s right, folks — for the first time in a year, I’m dusting off the ol’ slide tools and giving a brand new talk at WordCamp NEO 2021!
I’m not shy when it comes to talking about my love for WordCamp Kent (formerly WordCamp NEO, WordCamp North Canton), which has become one of my can’t-miss WordCamps over the past few years. You can imagine my excitement, then, when Lead Organizer David Brattoli reached out and asked if I’d be interested in keynoting WordCamp Kent 2020.
This year, I’ll be changing up my usual “give a couple tech-heavy presentations” approach and instead be giving a brand new keynote, The World Beyond WordPress, focusing on how we in the WordPress community can learn from other communities.
Of the major social networks, Twitter is about the only place I regularly participate. It’s far from perfect (and I’ve become quite skilled at the ol’ report-and-block maneuver), but for me, Twitter is that right combination of breaking news, tech discussions, and comedy (safe to say we could all do without the white supremacists and bots on the service, of course).
My employer, Liquid Web, is a Platinum Sponsor of WordCamp US this weekend, and we’ll have a few different hashtags we’ll be promoting. While I’m not directly in sales/marketing, I still wanted to find a way to stay on top of both WordCamp US and Liquid Web-related posts.
There are certainly tools out there for monitoring multiple hashtags, but I was hoping to find a native way within either Tweetbot or (shudder) the official Twitter app. Unfortunately, neither seem to [directly] offer this feature natively.
The term “WordCamp” can encompass a number of types of conferences. Some are friendly homecomings, groups of a couple hundred people, a few tracks, and a small group of volunteers working tirelessly to spread the love of WordPress to their local communities. These are the camps where I spend most of my time: Dayton, Detroit, Kent, Grand Rapids, and Ann Arbor are all a fairly short drive away, and hotels are typically affordable.
There are other WordCamps, though: the destination camps. The WordCamps that people will travel from all over the country for. WordCamps Miami, Chicago, Phoenix, Orange County — places where people will flock from all over the country to attend and rub elbows with some of the biggest names in WordPress.
The biggest of these whale-sized WordCamps, however, is WordCamp US. Like it’s European counterpart, WordCamp US is meant to be the country’s premiere WordCamp. That’s why I’m pleased to announce that this year, I’ll be speaking at WordCamp US 2019!
WordCamp Ann Arbor is a fantastic camp, run by some amazing people. The only downside to the camp is that it has a nasty habit of falling on my wedding anniversary, so it’s typically a hard-sell to drive the family up to Ann Arbor (we did it once with a one year old and yikes!).
Fortunately for me, WordCamp Ann Arbor 2019 has been moved up to August, so I’m free to travel. As such, I’m excited to announce that I’ll be giving my talk, Software: For the People, at WordCamp Ann Arbor 2019!
Grand Rapids is one of those towns I just can’t get enough of: hot on the heels of Beer City Code 2019, I’m excited to announce I’ll be returning to Grand Rapids for WordCamp Grand Rapids 2019!
I’ll be giving my Confidently Testing WordPress talk, which has been making the rounds this year (it’s almost as if people need a bit of help getting into testing 🤔)
WordCamp Kent has grown to be one of my favorite, must-attend WordCamps, and they keep accepting me to speak. This year, I’m fortunate enough to again be giving two talks at WordCamp Kent 2019!
Just over a year after publishing an article of the same name, I’m proud to announce that I’ll be presenting A Crash-course in PHP Namespaces for WordPress Developers at WordCamp Detroit 2019 this May!
I’m so incredibly proud to announce that this March, I’ll be giving my first ever keynote — Software: For the People — at WordCamp Dayton 2019!
You may recall that WordCamp Dayton is one of my can’t miss WordCamps — I’ve spoken at every WordCamp Dayton since 2015. Maybe it’s the great community, or maybe it’s because Dayton’s just about an hour and a half away. One thing I know for sure: the organizers keep accepting my talks, so I keep showing up to speak.
I’ve written in the past about my love for WordCamp Grand Rapids, and I’m excited to announce I’ll be returning this year for WordCamp Grand Rapids 2018 on Saturday, June 30! Even better, I’ll be joining two of my colleagues — Chris Lema and Andrew Norcross — as Liquid Web (apparently) takes over the conference!
The theme for WordCamp Grand Rapids 2018 is around tools and services (an area I’m particularly passionate about), so I’m especially excited. This year, I’ll also be giving my first-ever lightning talk, Up and Running with WP-CLI.
Be excellent to each other.
