All posts by Emily Barney

Interview with Aaron Holbrook

Interview, Speakers

Aaron Holbrook – twitter dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com

Aaron will be presenting Introduction to IDEs and Debugging on Sundayย in the Advanced Development track

Aaron’s passions are his wife and two boys, gaming and exercising. He devises brilliant solutions as a Web Engineer at 10up.

Aaron was the Lead Organizer of WordCamp Chicago in 2013 and founded the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago WordPress Meetup.

He has spoken at more over half a dozen WordCamps ranging from WordCamp Milwaukee to WordCamp Providence and loves to teach others the joys of using remarkable tools well.

Interview:

Why do you use WordPress?
I use WordPress because of it’s ease of use for the end user. I have always been impressed by the amount of work that has gone into making the user experience as simple and as intuitive as possible.

There are a lot of CMSs out there that simply do not think about how the user will actually have to USE their interface and because of that they suffer.

What would you say to convince someone to attend a WordCamp?
OMG, you haven’t been to a WordCamp yet? What are you doing with your life?

Haha, in all seriousness though, a WordCamp is a great place for all levels to learn, meet other community members and to simply get inspired and reinvigorated.

Interview with Patrick Rauland

Interview, Speakers

Patrick Rauland – twitter dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com LinkedIn dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com Google+ dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com Flickr dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com

Patrick will be presenting Freemium For the Rest of Us on Sundayย in the Business/Project Management track

Patrick spends most of the work day slicing and dicing code to help WooThemes customers. He develops extensions for Ninja Forms and loves to blog. He also organizes the Appleton WordPress Meetup.

Being outside, running, and practicing yoga are some of his favorite activities. His ultimate goal is to figure out a way to code websites while in a headstand.

Interview:

Why do you use WordPress?
I love using WordPress because it’s totally open source, easy to use, and easy to customize. A little programming knowledge goes a long way.

What would you say to convince someone to attend a WordCamp?
The best reason to attend another WordCamp is to meet other WordPressers. There’s people in your exact same situation and they’re looking for answers too. Or maybe they already found answers and they’re willing to help you out. ๐Ÿ™‚

What is your favorite WordPress project you have worked on recently?
I’m really excited to be launching my first WooCommerce extension. It’s been a while in the making and it feels good to get it out the door.

Do you have any advice for someone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?
Sell your by products! If you create a tutorial for clients also release it as a blog post. Demonstrate what you know to future customers.

What is your favorite WordPress-related resource?
I think WPSessions is great. I also love PostStatus by Brian Krogsgard it’s a very timely WordPress news source.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related
I definitely love yoga. I feel like I’m most focused by getting up early getting in a yoga session and then continuing with the rest of my day. I also love rainy days.

Interview with Gloria Antonelli

Interview, Speakers

Gloria Antonelli – twitter dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com facebook dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com LinkedIn dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com Google+ dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com

Gloria will be presenting Information Architecture Strategy Session on in the Foundation Friday 201 track.

Gloria Antonelli fits the current definition of a UX Unicorn – a web designer/developer with UX chops. Gloria attended her first UX workshop “Elements of User Experience”ย in 2004. Now an advocate of Lean UX, Gloria infuses her skills in rapid prototyping, front end development, user testing, and ideation within the WordPress design process. Her expertise also spans CSS, IA, Content and Documentation Strategies.

Gloria started presenting about the web in 1996 at local and national conferences and workshops. She began working with WordPress in 2006 and has been delighted to share her knowledge at WordCamps in Chicago, Detroit, Grand Rapids and Milwaukee. Happiness for Gloria besides researching UX trends, Mobile and App development is scuba diving in exotic locations.

Gloria became the new organizer of the inactive Chicago Suburbs WordPress Meetup Group. Currently she is looking for a new home and more advance focus for the group.

Interview:

Why do you use WordPress?
I remember the exact day I learned about WordPress. Peter Merholz, credited with coining the word ‘blog’ talked about WordPress during his 2 day “Designing the Complete User Experience”ย workshop in 2006. WordPress was a little funky back then but I continued to add it to my clients sites. I began teaching WordPress to advertising agencies and web designer in Chicago. It was much easier that developing from scratch. During teaching web dev classes, I found myself saying you can do this much easier in WordPress by downloading a theme or adding a plugin. WordPress just gets better and better with each iteration.

What would you say to convince someone to attend a WordCamp?
WordCamp is a mystical place where knowledge and friendships develop. You can come and be welcomed into a place that speaks to your level of web development at a unbelievable rock bottom price. Especially at WordCamp Chicago where much effort is given to designing learning paths for all levels. Speaker are chosen from all over the country who give of their expertise with no compensation but a free ticket to the event. We love it and want you to come and experience it too. It is the Burning Man of WordPress. A community and knowledge exchange gathered annually for a weekend to share their stories around a common ideas and experiences. There is no actual burning of anything but the cultural exchange bringing together designers, developers, coders, business owners and bloggers. It has a thriving year-round culture both online and in smaller community MeetUps. To truly understand a WordCamp, one must participate. It is pretty cool!

What is your favorite WordPress project you have worked on recently?
I am all about User Experience. For many years I focused on teaching web development and WordPress. I experienced an issue that caused myself, my students and client much grief. “How to use a theme or plugging without pull out your hair.” Issues of poor documentation was the topic of many of my first WordCamp presentations. I am working on a personal project to create guidelines for theme and plugin developers to create effective documentation and address different WordPress learners. It focus on the what I coined back in 2011 – “Long tail of WordPress Users”. The project also includes effective Persona development.

Do you have any advice for someone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?
I would look both in the WordPress community and the StartUp community mashing together a plan with a focus on who is your target audience and does your hypothesis of their needs match up with their actual needs. Basically embrace the Lean StartUp and Lean UX movement.

What is your favorite WordPress-related resource?
I am a big fan of WPSessions.com. Brian Richards is the host of series of quality presentations from experts in the WordPress Community. It is mini WordCamp quality sessions on more advanced topics without leaving home. It is fee based but many presentations are free.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related
I like to chase tropical fish in their natural habitat. I am an Advanced Open Water scuba diver assisting my husband develop his professional underwater photography business. James, diving since college on Oahu, needed a dive buddy. Tropical beaches, warm water, and global travel was a no brainer. I herd schools of fish in Jamesรขโ‚ฌโ„ข direction, pose near coral to create composition and show scale of marine environments. I began my certification in 2013 racking up over 100 dives so far. Our goal is to photograph the rich marine life of the Philippines.

Interview with Brennen Byrne

Interview, Speakers

Brennen Byrne – twitter dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com LinkedIn dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com Google+ dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com

Brennen will be presenting Passwords: The Weakest Link in WordPress Security onย  Saturdayย in the Development track

Brennen is the cofounder and CEO of Clef (getclef.com), a replacement for usernames and passwords online. His focus is on making advanced technology accessible to anyone and applying it to everyday use cases. Clef relies on public key cryptography, a standard which developers and security experts have used for years, but is wrapped in a mobile app that makes logging in faster and easier than ever.

Brennen and his team launched Clef in June of 2013, and has grown to power logins on more than 2,500 sites around the web. The New York times described logging in with Clef as “magical” and has been recommended by security experts around the web. After leading the Petition Against Passwords in 2013, Clef has been at the center of the global conversation about the next generation of online security.

Active in the WordPress community, Brennen has spoken about security at WordCamps across the country from Phoenix to Buffalo.

Interview:

Why do you use WordPress?
I use WordPress because of the community behind it. There is a lot of software that can be used to build sites on the web, but WordPress has become the strongest offering by being inclusive. The result is a platform that is flexible and well supported.

What would you say to convince someone to attend a WordCamp?
You can’t really evaluate WordPress without understanding the community, and WordCamps are the best place to come face to face with a big cross-section of the community. In so many ways, WordPress is the WordCamps.

What is your favorite WordPress project you have worked on recently?
I spend all of my time working on Clef, so I really don’t have an option on this one.

Do you have any advice for someone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?
Ask for help! There are so many wonderful people who would love to talk to you about the ins and outs of working with WordPress and all you have to do is ask. In many parts of life, people are guarded and secretive, but in WordPress, everyone is willing to help.

What is your favorite WordPress-related resource?
The WordCamps.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related
I used to be a developer and write a blog called post-technical about the lessons I’ve learned moving from a technical to a business role. There are a lot of exciting opportunities for developers in the world right now, but the technology industry needs people of all different backgrounds to power the next generation of innovation.

Interview with Hilary Fosdal

Interview, Speakers

Hilary Fosdal – twitter dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com LinkedIn dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com Google+ dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com

Hilary will be presenting No Regrets Web Design on Saturday in the Design track

Hilary Fosdal is the founder of Bring Your Own Stuff. She also serves as the Digital Strategist at the Better Government Association (BGA).

Prior to joining the BGA, Hilary was the digital managing editor for the Chicago-based Cumulus Radio stations WLS AM and 94.7 FM. She earned her M.A. in journalism and mass communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

You can get to know her better online at http://hilaryfosdal.com.

Interview:

Why do you use WordPress?
I use WordPress because it is as powerful a content management system as it is simple to use. I appreciate the a la carte system of use what you want and strip away what you don’t need. You can have ten plug-ins or none at all.

What would you say to convince someone to attend a WordCamp?
Network. Learn. Seek new opportunities. If you’re looking to do any of those things professionally and are in any way connected to the web design and development field you would be doing yourself a disservice not to attend.

What is your favorite WordPress project you have worked on recently?
I recently launched a blog for Bring Your Own Stuff at blog.byostuff.com using WordPress. The purpose of the blog is to help business owners hire the right web designer or agency for their website project.

Do you have any advice for someone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?
Do it. Plenty of people set up shop everyday. But there is no shortage of outstanding WordPress designers and developers. Be what the market needs.

What is your favorite WordPress-related resource?
I find most of my WordPress questions are answered by using search engines.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related
I’ve hitchhiked, backpacked and traveled across six continents and over 50 countries. If I had to recommend one place that everyone must see it would be a close tie between Ecuador and Tibet.

Interview with Dan Beil

Interview, Speakers

Dan Beil – twitter dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com

Dan will be presenting How NOT to develop (With WordPress) on Saturday in theย Business/Project Managementย track

Dan has been a theme developer for the past 5 years, specializing in custom WordPress builds to address specific requirements. Recently Dan has joined the Alley Interactive team and works remotely from Minneapolis, MN.

In his “free” time he fosters Siberian Huskies and sometimes contributes to opensource WordPress projects on GitHub.

Interview:

Why do you use WordPress?
Because open source is awesome and the community is great. It also provides a ridiculous solid base for building more complex solutions which are still easy to use.

What would you say to convince someone to attend a WordCamp?
If you work with WordPress, attending a WordCamp is the best money you’ll ever spend!

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related
Fostering Siberian Huskies is hard work

What is your favorite WordPress project you have worked on recently?
New VIP builds – super interesting and complicated ๐Ÿ™‚

Do you have any advice for someone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?
1: Network, 2: Attend WordCamps, 3: Repeat Steps 1 & 2

What is your favorite WordPress-related resource?
@jjj, @daljo628, @pippinsplugins, @alisothegeek

Interview with K. Adam White

Interview, Speakers

K. Adam White – twitter dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com facebook dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com Google+ dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com Flickr dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com

K. Adam will be presenting Modular JavaScript on Saturday in the Advanced Development track

K.Adam White is a JavaScript engineer at Bocoup, an Open Web technology company located in Boston, MA, where he builds web applications and evangelizes for the web as an open technology platform.

K.Adam has been a co-organizer of the Boston WordPress meetup since 2012, and has presented on WordPress and front-end development best practices at meetups and WordCamps across the country.

Interview:

Why do you use WordPress?
I started a WordPress blog in college because I liked the look of the old “Typography” theme. Later, as an aimless recent graduate in the middle of an economic slump it was the WP community that gave me my first foothold in web design. I taught myself to code by helping a friend tweak WordPress themes for local businesses, and slowly began to take on my own freelance work.

Freelancing lead me to a great full-time job, where I left behind PHP but discovered jQuery and JavaScript – four years later I joined Bocoup, and finally got involved with core development. WordPress is the foundation of my career, and I’ve met some great friends through this community. I use it because I think it’s the best tool for what it does; I contribute because I am grateful; and I have a WP phone case just because I’m a big fan!

What would you say to convince someone to attend a WordCamp?
They’re among the highest-value conferences I’ve ever attended, for some of the lowest ticket prices: whether you’re a blogger, an artist, a designer, a front-end scripter, an expert PHP developer, or even a recovering technophobe, there will be talks to learn from and great people to meet.

Because users, designers and developers all attend, and are all equal in the eyes of the event, WordCamps are a great place to stretch your wings and learn something outside your comfort zone.

What is your favorite WordPress project you have worked on recently?
We’re in the process of building a site using WordPress through the JSON API plugin, and it’s really exciting to be proving out WP’s capacity to be a content platform for apps without a single line of client-facing template code!

Do you have any advice for someone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?
Embrace the community! People have succeeded by “going it alone,” but 90% of the WordPress professionals I’ve met regularly get work from (or pass work along to) friends within the community.

Whether you can attend a WordCamp, start a local WordPress meetup, hang out in any of the WP-related IRC channels, or just keep an eye on Twitter and mailing list conversations, it pays to be visible and involved in the greater WP ecosystem.

What is your favorite WordPress-related resource?
Twitter. So many brilliant people in the community post links and share their knowledge on Twitter, it could be a full-time job keeping up on the flow of tips and new information.

I’ve got a couple TweetDeck columns devoted to different groups of WordPress community members; they’re my first stop if I have a question or want to see what’s new.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related
I can mix a mean cocktail, and despite living in Boston these days I used to be certified to bartend in Illinois – although I’m working on a drink recipe database that’s using WP for the back-end, so maybe that’s not actually a good answer to the question

Interview with Ben Lobaugh

Interview, Speakers

Ben Lobaugh – twitter dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com LinkedIn dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com Google+ dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com

Ben will be presenting From Zero to WordPress Hero on Sunday in the General Interest track

Adventurous sailor and Seattle WordPress(Camp) organizer, Ben Lobaugh has been working with open source communities for 15-plus years and is an active contributor to the WordPress community. Ben currently works as a Jetpack Engineer with Automattic.

Interview:

Why do you use WordPress?
I first installed WordPress because my homegrown blogging platform was neglected and I did not want to put forth the hours to get it where it needed to be, so I installed WordPress. As WordPress evolved it turned into something with awesome prebuilt structures I could easily hack on for new clients to get sites up and running fast. Nowadays WordPress can handle pretty much anything you can throw at it. With WordPress powering 22% of the interwebs there is no reason to switch away now!

What would you say to convince someone to attend a WordCamp?
BACON BAR!!!! But really, the WordPress community is full of amazing people. Coming to a WordCamp can really get you connected. People are so genuine and open that you are guaranteed to learn a ton and have a great time doing it. Have an obstacle you are trying to tackle? The community will band together to help you out no matter whether it is a user, developer, or business issue knowledge is freely and happily shared.

What is your favorite WordPress project you have worked on recently?
Jetpack! Besides being the only project I have worked on recently it is also a really powerful plugin that will offload resource usage to the WordPress.com infrastructure and free your server up to serve even more visitors!

Do you have any advice for someone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?
The WordPress community is your friend. Get involved in a local meetup and start making connections. Follow and interact with well known WordPressers on Twitter and get involved with the WordPress project at http://make.wordpress.org. The community does a great job at helping people find work and even passing jobs around to each other.

What is your favorite WordPress-related resource?
Local meetup groups and Twitter. The WordPress world is very active on Twitter. Every question I have ever had has been answered quickly via Twitter and even disseminating news via Twitter is a great way to quickly get your message out there. Local meet ups are great places to share knowledge and make close bonds with the community.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related
On a whim 4 years ago I purchased a sailboat, the beautiful Zippety Doo Dah (http://ben.lobaugh.net/ship-log). I had never been sailing before but I thought sailing sound fun! For years later I am even more in love with sailing now that I ever have been. My intrepid sailing companion is my faithful wooden wrist watch. It has accompanied me on nearly all my sailing adventures and has been by my side when traveling all around the world.

Interview with Shanta Nathwani

Interview, Speakers

Shanta Nathwani – twitter dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com LinkedIn dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com Google+ dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com Flickr dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com

Shanta will be presenting WordPress 101 on Friday in the Foundation Friday 101 track

Shanta R. Nathwani is an IT and Social Media Consultant and an Instructor in Web Design and CCIT Capstone at Sheridan College, which includes teaching WordPress. The ICCIT program is a joint program with the University of Toronto at Mississauga.

She teaches students and small businesses how to use their websites and social media to increase their online presence leading to increased revenues and improved customer service. She has assisted companies to incorporate social media in the real estate, financial, non-profit, education and technical fields to name a few.

Shanta is a problem solver and it has been said she has the patience of a saint. She can explain even the most difficult concepts to the most basic user and has developed training documents that allow clients to learn for themselves. She thrives on understanding the needs of her clients. She believes in making social media as simple as possible and making it fun, which allows her clients to seamlessly incorporate it into their organization.

Interview:

Why do you use WordPress?
WordPress is extremely easy to use, but can also be as complex as we need it to be. It truly levels the playing field and empowers people to take charge of their own online presence.

What would you say to convince someone to attend a WordCamp?
If you ever want to get into WordPress, this is the cheapest and most fun way to do it. Think of the wealth of knowledge that you have around you!

What is your favorite WordPress project you have worked on recently?
My own WordPress blog, Shanta.ca. It is constantly a work in progress and I love playing around with it. I also put together an alumni website for my high school, malverncollegiate.com. I use it regularly as a case study for small businesses and non-profit organizations.

Do you have any advice for someone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?
Ask a lot of questions! there is a lot of information on WordPress out there.

The beauty about WordPress is that it is not a one size fits all, out-of-the-box solution. Everyone can use it, but you have to take the time and make it your own.

Lastly, make sure that you give back to the community. Attend Meetup’s and WordCamps as much as possible. Continue to grow your knowledge!

What is your favorite WordPress-related resource?
There are two plug-ins that I would install for any of my clients: WordFence and Backup Buddy.

WordFence helps protect against things like viruses and attacks on a WordPress site. It is the security plug-in. Backup Buddy does backups of your site automatically and it is also used as a migration tool.

Both are extremely easy to use and I teach my clients how to use them.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related
I’ve always been a teacher. The first thing I remember teaching was a module on India in my sixth grade class. After that I taught origami at Parks and Recreation at the age of 17. I’ve taught technology and even martial arts, which I’ve been doing for about 12 years.

Interview with Dre Armeda

Interview, Speakers

Dre Armeda – twitter dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com facebook dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com LinkedIn dark blue jeans social media icons designed by icons.mysitemyway.com

Dre will be presenting WordPress End User Security – Kill the Noise on Saturday in the Development track

Dre is US Navy veteran, and the CEO, Co-Founder of Sucuri Inc.

Dre is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu player, Harley enthusiast, and a Chargers fan. He wears many hats, and love tacos. He is infatuated with WordPress, web design, and web security. Dre hopes to make the internet a safer place!

Dre presents at various WordCamps and other events every year. Dre is a proud WordPress contributor and was the lead organizer that brought WordCamp to San Diego.

Dre is the Co-Host of the worlds favorite WordPress podcast,ย  which airs on Wednesday nights. Pressing all the words!

Interview:

Why do you use WordPress?
Same reason people breath air. ๐Ÿ™‚

What would you say to convince someone to attend a WordCamp?
I would tell them it’s a conference of community, not just software. Build websites, and friendships.

Do you want to learn how to democratize publishing? Do you want to learn how to make the most amazing websites with free software? DO IT!

What is your favorite WordPress project you have worked on recently?
Our Sucuri plugin is my favorite ๐Ÿ™‚

Do you have any advice for someone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?
Partner with people that compliment your weaknesses.ย Don’t go at it alone. WordPress is more then software, it’s a community. Leverage that community!

What is your favorite WordPress-related resource?
DradCast!

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related
I practice Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlson Gracie Team. I started a blog to catalog my journey