We are honored to have Code Poet as a sponsor for WordCamp Chicago 2013. Their support permits us to have one of the finest WordCamps in the country.

Code Poet is a resource for anyone building sites with WordPress. Their goal is to be your one-stop shop for WordPress information and resources that will help you grow your WordPress skills and knowledge.

To achieve that goal, Code Poet has:

• articles that cover a wide range of subjects
• books on responsive design, pricing and charging, and locking down WordPress
• interviews with members of the WordPress community
• resources that have been hand-picked by the Code Poet staff

If you want to test your WordPress chops, they even have a WordPress IQ Test.

Take the time to check out the Code Poet site and tell them thank you for sponsoring WordCamp Chicago 2013.

[Editor’s note: We are very lucky to have WP Engine as a sponsor of WordCamp Chicago 2013 and want to thank them for their support.]

Hey Chicago!

We’re looking forward to seeing you all for WordCamp soon! Participating and attending WordCamps is one of the best parts about being part of WP Engine, and we can’t wait to meet all of you. Whether you’re brand new to WordPress, or have committed code to WordPress Core, whether you’re a blogger or run a large organization that uses WordPress, WordCamp Chicago is going to be awesome for you! Continue reading →

In our earlier blog post thanking Bluehost for being a sponsor of WordCamp Chicago 2013, we neglected to mention Bluehost recently launched a new VPS Web Hosting service. Their VPS solutions are built on powerful cloud technology and use Bluehost’s enhanced cPanel environment for configuration. Other features included in the new VPS service are root access, guaranteed server resources, instant provisioning and multi-account management. All of this is backed by a team of in-house experts who are available via email, chat, or phone, 24/7.

Thanks again, Bluehost, for your support of WordCamp Chicago 2013 and the Chicago WordPress community.

[Editor’s note: We are privileged to have Media Temple as a sponsor of WordCamp Chicago 2013 and want to thank them for their support.]

As WordPress has grown (up), powering more and more large websites and businesses, it’s become much more complicated, and more important, to manage your WordPress installs with vigilance. This means you need to pay attention to all aspects of your environment from the application level to the hosting environment, ensure everything is optimized (no plugins running amok!) and most importantly secure.

At (mt), we’ve leveraged our experience and first hand client stories to develop products we feel address the modern and future needs for WordPress “power users”. CloudTech is arguably one of the most important products we’ve launched in the last five years. A support product delivering managed services from analysis to solution implementation to “Always On” service plans, CloudTech was built to lead the managed services industry and define TSaaS (Technical Support as a Service). It took years to build a managed services product we feel stands up to, and embodies the passion of our standard 24/7 support. Experience it for yourself. You will be able to schedule time with one of our CloudTech engineers at WordCamp Chicago to go over any issues you may be having with your site!

In tangent with CloudTech, we launched a totally retooled VPS platform, built to serve businesses and power bloggers alike. The DV platform, formerly the (dv) and (ve) products, features a new SLA, upgraded hardware, new virtualization under the hood, and enhanced premium support options (CloudTech). The DV platform is covered by an SLA, called the 20/20 Uptime Guarantee, ensuring 99.999% uptime. We will credit a customer 20% of their monthly service charge for each 20 minutes of downtime. That’s an industry leading SLA.

All in all, (mt) Media Temple is focusing improving end users’ experiences and keeping our users’ sites secure and fast.

It’s time to say thank you to Web Hosting Hub for being a Sears Tower sponsor for WordCamp Chicago 2013.

Web Hosting Hub launched in 2001 and is based in Virginia Beach. They operate 2 data centers and have over 180 employees whose goal is to provide easy to use and affordable products ranging from domain names, web hosting, and free web applications to custom business solutions. Web Hosting Hub has over 45,000 existing happy customers.

If you are looking to start blogging with WordPress, Web Hosting Hub makes it very easy to get up and running. They have a 1-click WordPress Installer and 1,000’s of free customizable themes. If you already have a WordPress blog, Web Hosting Hub makes transferring your blog a snap.

Web Hosting Hub representatives will be attending WordCamp to learn from the speakers, hear from the participants, and answer any hosting related questions. When you see them, take the time to say thanks for sponsoring WordCamp Chicago 2013 and then ask them about their $10/year special offer to all WordCamp attendees!

When I saw DJ Johnny Medley on the sponsors list, I knew I had to check this guy out. After exchanging a few emails, I have come to know two things: Johnny is a big fan of all things WordPress and WordCamp Chicago is fortunate to have him as a sponsor.

Interview with DJ Johnny Medley:

How are you using WordPress?

WordPress has been powering DanceMusicAuthority.com since early 2008. Thanks to WP, a “deceased” print publication has been “reincarnated” and now enjoys the full benefits of being” in the mix” once again. The music industry is a lot of fun when you have your own hub/website. Promoters, DJs and clubs are uploading parties to DanceMusicAuthority.com and life is good. Thank you WordPress!

What do you like about WordPress?

In the simplest terms: I strongly believe in the tenets of the WP Foundation/.ORG and am a big, big fan of Matt Mullenweg. It’s really a “saxophonist/jazz thing” that draws me to this cause. Artists rely upon expensive tools, yet it is free software–WP–that serves as our portal to the world. It’s time for successful artists to properly “represent” and support the .ORG

That “saxophonist/jazz thing”… the other day you mentioned you were in studio cutting sax tracks and on your blog you have pics of a couple of nice horns. It appears you do more than DJ.

That day, I was just cutting some tracks that I will use for upcoming product review videos and promos. I strongly believe it’s important to own one’s work–particularly when that work (music) will be used as part of a product review. I started playing the sax in fourth grade, but stopped after eighth grade; I started playing again in college.

In 2004, after moving into a house with my wife, I became a “practice monster.” My tracks are jazzy, “organic” house music. I listen to all styles of music and we make a lot of noise every day.

Last question, what’s your favorite power tool?

I build my own PCs from scratch and use all the popular commercial audio and video production software suites: Avid, Pro Tools; the Adobe suite; and Sony’s Vegas. My true love for audio editing is Software Audio Workshop (SAW), which was singularly created by Bob Lentini. I have used this program since 1995 and served as a beta tester. That was the experience of a lifetime, because I had an opportunity to talk with him for hours over the course of the 1990s. Lentini really deepened my appreciation for code and the power of user support forums. He also impressed upon me the negative effects of software piracy on an individual level.

WordPress is essential to us because this remarkable software allows us to interface with the world. It also goes back to ownership. WordPress allows artists to do some remarkable things. Remote teaching is an excellent example. I take remote sax lessons with two phenomenal players who use WordPress–one player for a blog, and the other uses WP for everything.

Bottom line: I plan to make beats, play the sax and shoot video for the rest of my life. Same with WordPress. It’s for life!

We want to express our gratitude to WPML for coming on board as a WordCamp Accomplice sponsor and supporting WordCamp Chicago 2013. With their help, we are able to do so many things with our event that otherwise may not be possible.

The WordPress Multilingual Plugin (WPML) is a product of OnTheGoSystems. Although they list Las Vegas as their home, OnTheGoSystems is truly a global company with staff from six continents. They all work from their homes, connect via the Internet, and have been working that way since 2007.

These folks are busy! In April they announced the release of WPML 2.8 and just recently posted on their blog that they are ready with a first beta for WPML 2.9. They were also doing minor version releases during that time. Product development isn’t the only thing they are working on. Theme and plugin compatibility testing with WPML is an on-going process. You can review the entire Multilingual ready list of themes here and plugins here.

If you build multilingual sites, look into WPML at wpml.org and follow them on Twitter.

We are grateful for having WPML as a sponsor for WordCamp Chicago 2013.

We can’t say thank you enough to DreamHost for supporting WordCamp Chicago 2013 by being a WordCamp Champion sponsor. We wouldn’t be able to have such a fantastic WordCamp without their backing.

DreamHost has been happily hosting their clients’ dreams (and websites) since April, 1997. They have grown to more than 1500 servers housed in state-of-the-art data centers that host more than 1 million domains – all under the watchful eyes of a full time staff of more than 100 employees.

Earlier this month, DreamHost announced its new DreamPress™ premium managed WordPress service is in public beta. Designed from the ground-up for entrepreneurs, website designers, developers, and bloggers, DreamPress is a highly optimized and reliable managed WordPress service that is perfect for customers who want a scalable, optimized WordPress hosting experience. DreamPress is engineered for speed and backed 24/7 by expert WordPress technical support from DreamHost.

For all things DreamHost, go to dreamhost.com. You can follow them on Twitter. They are also on Facebook.

Again, thank you DreamHost for sponsoring WordCamp Chicago 2013.

We are giving a HUGE shout out to Bluehost for being a WordCamp Pillar sponsor and supporting WordCamp Chicago 2013. WCCHI would not be possible without the help we receive from Bluehost.

The entire Bluehost platform is built on open source technology and they have long supported the open source community to help it thrive. Bluehost has been a recommended hosting provider on WordPress.org since 2005. You can even install WordPress with a click of a button at Bluehost.

Last month, several Bluehost teams, including the Bluehost Open Source Solutions (BOSS) team, were integral in making the 2013 OpenWest Conference a huge success. Team members were not only conference volunteers, but they also gave more than 12 presentations, many of which were standing room only. Visit BOSS to learn more about how Bluehost’s BOSS program gives back to open source communities.

You can find more information about Bluehost at bluehost.com. They are also on Facebook, and you can follow them on Twitter. Be sure to take a minute and let Bluehost know you appreciate their support of WordCamp Chicago 2013.

We want to send out a big thank you to one of our sponsors, WiredTree. We are very grateful for their support of the Chicago WordPress community and for helping to make our event great!

Formed in June, 2006, WiredTree’s goal has always been to provide their clients with a superior managed hosting environment through customer service, innovative network design, a unique suite of services, and the latest technological advances in server hardware.

For WiredTree, 2013 started on a high note. In February at the Parallels Summit, it was announced that WiredTree had been selected as the recipient of the 2013 Excellence in IaaS Award. The award, given to an organization that demonstrates year-on-year growth and customer satisfaction, recognizes WiredTree as a major figure in the field of managed VPS hosting.

Just recently, WiredTree added SSD caching to all of their VPS and Hybrid servers. This dramatically increases web site performance. Measured results showed a 43% decrease in page load times on average (more info). What’s even better is that WiredTree upgraded all their clients free of charge!

Check out all of WiredTree’s services at WiredTree.com. If you see a WiredTree rep at WordCamp, be sure to tell them thanks for sponsoring WordCamp Chicago 2013.