Kiko Doran –

Kiko’s curious mind has driven him to learn as much as he can across a vast array of platforms. He has studied music, graphic design, photography, and holds his MBA.

Following his inquisitive nature as well as the strategic thinking honed during his 11 years in the US Air Force, Kiko founded InGroup Consulting. Over the 4 years in business, Kiko and IGC have found WordPress to be the best platform to showcase their capabilities.

When not traveling between satellite offices in NJ, Los Angeles, and the Twin Cities; he sits on the Information Technology Advisory Board at Century College. Kiko also organizes a WordCamp and a WordPress Meetup in the Twin Cities.

Kiko will be speaking on the WordPress Business Owners Panel on Sunday.

Interview with Kiko: Continue reading →

Joe Dolson –

Joe Dolson is a freelance WordPress developer and accessibility consultant. He’s the author of several WordPress plug-ins, with over 1.7 million downloads between them, and is active in promoting accessibility in WordPress core development and in theme development. He’s lived in Minneapolis/St Paul for most of the last 15 years, and is a classical violinist on the side.

Joe spoke on Sunday about “Accessibility & WordPress: Developing for the Whole World”. View his slides here:

Interview with Joe Dolson:
Why do you use WordPress?
WordPress has great usability and flexibility. The offering of power and ease of use in the same package is a must-use.

How do you stay up to date with new information about WordPress?
http://make.wordpress.org

Becky Davis –    

Becky is a solopreneur WordPress theme designer/developer who works out of her house in Lincoln Square. She is very active in the local WordPress community and hosts the Northside WordPress meetup.

She will be presenting a session title From pixel to user – creating themes that satisfy the design and are usable on Saturday

Interview with Becky:

Why do you use WordPress?
Because all of my clients said they wanted to edit their own sites. It’s a great framework that as a developer allows me almost unlimited flexibility.

What do you like best about WordCamps?
The community is what makes WordPress great and WordCamps are a big part of that. I always come away with new friends and at least one “ah ha” that makes the whole weekend worth it.

What is your favorite tip or resource for a new WordPress user?
Going to meetups and learning from others is what saved my life in the beginning. Never stop researching, there probably is a way to do it.

Do you have any advice for a person who’s building a business around WordPress design/development?
Stick with it, don’t be afraid to ask questions; that’s what the community is for and don’t forget to track your time! (How else will you know what to charge?)

Monte Martin –

As digital marketing consultant I spend most of my time glued to my laptop, but when I get a free minute I usually spend it on my bike. I love cyclocross, mountain biking, my wife, and my jack russell, (not necessarily in that order).

He will be presenting a session titled “Optimizing your site for (business) performance” on Saturday. 

Interview with Monte:

Why do you use WordPress?
It both easy to use and extensible. You can start with a small site and WordPress will easily grow with you.

What do you like best about WordCamps?
The variety of attendees. It attracts all types of nerds, from the creative recluse to mathematical geniuses, and average business users still feel right at home in the mix.

What is your favorite tip or resource for a new WordPress user?
Be very careful when selecting the peripherals that support your site, ESPECIALLY your theme. There are lot of really great themes out their. There are just as many, if not more, that I wouldn’t wish on my direct competitor. Look for something that is lightweight and add functionality via plugins. Don’t look for a theme that does everything you want and more.

How do you stay up to date with new information about WordPress?
Code Poet Newsletters and Twitter. I don’t do enough development these days to actively stay on top of all the latest stuff.

Do you have any advice for a person who’s building a business around WordPress design/development?
Make sure your clients can measure the success of what you do for them, and measure what matters to them. If you don’t know how, don’t miss my talk!

Brian Richards –

Brian is a developer with WebDevStudios, creator of the StartBox Theme Framework, and is currently pioneering WPSessions.com.

He will be presenting as part of the  Commercial Themes & Plugins Panel  on 6/29/2013.

Interview with Brian:

Why do you use WordPress?
WordPress is the most attractive CMS to me because it has the largest and most flourishing community, in my experience anyway. I really enjoy using it to build seemingly complex systems (think application famework) that magically become quite simple thanks to all of WP’s robust APIs.

What do you like best about WordCamps?
WordCamps are my favorite event of the year, bar none. I truly enjoy meeting and interacting with the people whom I typically only converse with online. Bonus: learning great techniques from my peers.

What is your favorite tip or resource for a new WordPress user?
Immerse yourself in our supportive community. Find a few people who seem to know more than you and ask them where they learned what they know. Connect with a local meetup group, scour WordPress.tv, follow other WP users and devs on Twitter, and grab a well-liked WordPress book.

How do you stay up to date with new information about WordPress?
All of my WP news comes through my highly curated list of people I follow on Twitter. If you want a shorcut to great content, just follow most of these people: https://twitter.com/rzen/following

Share an example of a really great (creative, cool, unusual) use of WordPress you’ve seen recently.
The projects I’ve been working on with WDS have really blown my hair back as to what is possible with WordPress. Two of my favorites are Web Apps for YMCA in New York called Y-MVP and a similar solution for the Dallas Museum of Art called DMA Friends.  Both of these are powered by a WP Plugin we helped write and release for Cred.ly called BadgeOS.

Do you have any advice for a person who’s building a business around WordPress design/development?
Connect with as many local developers as you can, and follow as many WP developers on twitter as you can stand. I’m constantly turning down work and see so many people looking for help. Also, read Jarrod Pyper’s interview for more great advice!

Gene Hammett –

Gene Hammett is fiercely committed to working with web designers and developers to expand the size, scope and billings of their projects (in weeks, not months). As the managing director of Core Elevation, Inc., Gene helps them transform from broke, busted and disgusted to thriving, growing, and loving every project they touch.

He will be presenting a session titled “Designers and Developers: Creating New Revenue Streams using WordPress” on Sunday,

Interview with Gene:

Why do you use WordPress?
Easy of use, lots of plugins available that can make the website very powerful…and the cool people use WordPress.

What do you like best about WordCamps?
Meeting new people and seeing friends from previous WordCamps.

What is your favorite tip or resource for a new WordPress user?
If you are new to WordPress, learn the INs and OUTs of researching plugins before you just install them.

What is a common problem you see in WordPress sites, and how would you avoid it?
Sliders are OUT! I don’t use sliders.

How do you stay up to date with new information about WordPress?
WordCamp and interacting with friends and clients.

Share an example of a really great (creative, cool, unusual) use of WordPress you’ve seen recently.
RestaurantEngine.com by Brian Casel. This website has extended wordpress to build an industry specific solution that is powerful and quick for the customer to develop their own wordpress site.

Do you have any advice for a person who’s building a business around WordPress design/development?
Well this is the basis of my work as I am a Business Coach to Web Designers and Developers. I help them build their businesses with focus and purpose. One tip…find a real target market to serve (hint: small business is not a target market). Find me to get more about it.