Category Archives: WordCamp Speaker Interviews

Recap: Dustin Meza’s WordPress Upgrade Checklist

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Dustin Meza (@dustinmeza) gave a talk titled WordPress Upgrade Anxiety No More: 5 Steps to Having a No Surprise Upgrade on Sunday, May 1 at 10:00 AM.

View presentation online

The video from our session isn’t up yet, but you can view his presentation from WordCamp Miami on WordPressTV:

Video Interview

Torque did a video interview with Dustin to break down some of his tips on handling upgrade anxiety:

Social Recap

Our twitter account covered this session live, so you can find highlights of his steps and quotes here:
Continue reading Recap: Dustin Meza’s WordPress Upgrade Checklist →

Recap: Patrick Elward’s WooCommerce Basics

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Patrick Elward
Patrick Elward (@chiwebmgmt) gave a talk titled WooCommerce Basics on Saturday, April 30 at 9:00 AM.

Online Files

Video Interview Patrick shared 3 WooCommerce tips with Torque in this video interview:

Social Recap

Here are some of the highlights and tips our audience shared on Twitter: Continue reading Recap: Patrick Elward’s WooCommerce Basics →

Recap: Andrew Wikel’s Customer Information Security in E-Commerce

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Andrew Wikel
Andrew Wikel (@slash1andy) gave a talk titled Customer Information Security in E-Commerce on Saturday, April 30 at 10:00 AM.

View presentation online

Video Interview

Torque Magazine interviewed Andrew about his 3 biggest security peeves:

Social Recap

Here are some of the highlights and tips our audience shared on Twitter: Continue reading Recap: Andrew Wikel’s Customer Information Security in E-Commerce →

WordCamp Chicago & Podcasts: Live Interviews and Recaps

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It would be hard to miss the impact of podcasters and videos at WordCamp Chicago – we had speakers, sessions, and live interviews happening at the event and several attendees have posted recaps too.

Here’s a quick roundup if you missed any or want to find great podcasters and channels to follow in the future:

Sessions:

Live Coverage:

Torque interviewed several speakers after their sessions, which you can find in their YouTube playlist WordCamp Chicago 2016

Adam Silver interviewed Maddy Osman, another speaker, about her experience as a first time attendee at WordCamp Chicago on his kitchensinkwp podcast:

Andy Nathan used Facebook Live to capture the two sessions listed above, and posted about his use of the tool:

Recaps

Jeff Chandler of WPTavern posted his recap and talked about WordCamp Chicago in WPWeekly Episode 233 – Recap of WordCamp Chicago 2016

Are we missing any podcasts or videos we should include? Let us know in the comments!

Recap: Patrick Alexander’s Ultimate WP Launch Checklist

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Patrick Alexander
Patrick Alexander (@balambi) gave a talk titled Your Ultimate Checklist after Launching Your WP Site on Saturday, April 30 at 9:00 AM.

View presentation online

Video Interview

TorqueMag also interviewed Patrick with a quick tips video:

Social Recap

Here are some of the highlights and tips our audience shared on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/JessGarbarino/status/726414453403717633

https://twitter.com/ReTheMsg/status/726418072358273024

https://twitter.com/JessGarbarino/status/726417032313495553

WordCamp Chicago 2016 Slides

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This isn’t a 100% comprehensive list. We’re planning a series of recap posts that will include sessions that didn’t have slides and more details for the ones listed here.

Want to see what everyone had to say during the presentations? You can view the live coverage on social media through our Storify account, organized by track.

Note: If you’re a speaker and would like to see your slides in this list, share them with us in the comments or on twitter and we’ll work to keep this updated.

Track 1

Track 2

Track 3

Track 1

Track 2

Track 3

WooCommerce Basics

WordCamp Speaker Interviews

Patrick Elward is a speaker at WordCamp Chicago talking about WooCommerce Basics. Get to know him below!

Bio

Patrick Elward of Chicago Web Management specializes in E-Commerce and has worked with Allstate, CDW, 3Com and dozens of small businesses to manage their web sites. A Certified Internet Webmaster, Patrick is able to translate the technical into easy to understand terms for the non-tech savvy. He attended WooConference 2016 in Austin, Texas and also conducts workshops for ‘Ecommerce for small business’ at SCORE Chicago since 2012

WordCamp Chicago Mini-Interview

1. I started Chicago Web Management in 2006 and have worked with numerous E-commerce CMS, both custom and standards like Open Cart, Zen Cart and Magento. I started working with WordPress in 2011 and since then have moved 90% of my client base over to it.

2. Teaching others about technology comes naturally for me and I’m excited to share my knowledge about WooCommerce for beginning/intermediate WordPress users.

3. In the past ten years, I’ve discovered two major problems with E-commerce website development. First, E-commerce frameworks are not very flexible and second, custom frameworks are too costly to maintain; however, extending WordPress with WooCommerce gives me the solution to the these two issues. As it matures, I find WordPress with WooCommerce able to handle just about anything my clients can throw at it.

Passwords, Attacks, and Security Oh My!

WordCamp Speaker Interviews,

Michelle Butcher is a speaker at WordCamp Chicago talking about Passwords, Attacks, and Security Oh My! Get to know her below!

Bio

Michele is the Accounts Coordinator for Valet. She is also the Support Guru for GiveWP and a Support Engineer for Yoast. She is from Carbondale, Illinois (the other, prettier area of Illinois. Michele is also the Lead Organizer of The Southern Illinois WordPress Meetup and teaches beginners WordPress for John A Logan College.

WordCamp Chicago Mini-Interview

  1. I first became interested when I started my own personal blog. The more I learned how to use WordPress for my personal blog, the more interested I became. Then I realized that this could be something I could turn into a career. The rest is history.
  1. I love to teach. Speaking at WordCamps gives me the opportunity to teach others what I know about WordPress.
  1. WordPress is different from other platforms for a few reasons. The first is the sheer number of people who help to make WordPress better. The more hands we have to make it better, the better it becomes. Another reason is that WordPress is both a hobby and a career. Many people work to make WordPress the greatest CMS because they want to and not because their job tells them to. That shows a big difference in how the work is accomplished. The biggest difference in WordPress to other CMS’s is the sheer heart of the WordPress Community. I have never seen a more close knit professional community like the WordPress Community.

Understanding Google Analytics

WordCamp Speaker Interviews

Ken Granger is a speaker at WordCamp Chicago talking about Understanding Google Analytics. Get to know him below!

Bio

Ken Granger travels the country to connect with entrepreneurs and help small businesses succeed.  Having worked for nearly a decade at Walt Disney World, Ken has a unique way of bringing Fortune 100 experience to small business.  Ken runs his own agency and enjoys sharing business and marketing knowledge in a no-nonsense way that everyone can relate to.  Ken has spoken at WordCamps coast-to-coast and is excited to help some Chicago Campers impact their business.

WordCamp Chicago Mini-Interview

When did I become interested in WordPress?

In 2008 our clients were asking for blogs and when we discovered WordPress we knew it was the answer to our content prayers.

What motivated you to speak at WordCamp?

I’m a business owner first, and I know many small business owners come to WordCamp to learn about the platform.  I think people come away with so much tech knowledge and they are blinded by shiny objects.  I like to bring the business application to the forefront so that purposeful implementation happens when WordCamp is over.

Why do you think WordPress is different from other platforms?

Three words- community, Community, and COMMUNITY.  The people who contribute to the success of WordPress have an impact on lives and the economy at a scale that is incalculable.

How to Transition from Freelance to Agency

WordCamp Speaker Interviews,

Bret Cohen is a speaker at WordCamp Chicago this talking about How to Transition from Freelance to Agency. Get to know him below!

Bio

CEO and Co-Founder of emagine, a 50-person WordPress-based Digital Agency. Brett started with his co-founder in 1996 (the dawn of the Web) as a typical “2 guys in a garage” web firm with no college degree and no money. Over the past 20 years, Brett has driven emagine’s growth to become one of the nation’s leading WordPress agencies focused on Healthcare, High-Tech, B2B and Construction.

WordCamp Mini-Interview

Brett first became interested in WordPress in 2010 after a few of emagine’s clients started asking for an open source CMS platform. It took a few years for emagine to fully transition from their own proprietary CMS to almost exclusively using WordPress. Transitioning to WordPress has been one of the smartest business decisions that emagine has made in its 20-year history.

For Brett, speaking at WordCamp allows him to share his experiences, from sole proprietor to 50-person agency. Plus, speaking at WordCamp is great for his professional development, as he’s always meeting new people and learning from their experiences.

Brett feels that WordPress stands out from other platforms because it combines all the best features in an easy-to-use, scalable, secure CMS. Plus, WordPress has a vast, dedicated and experienced community always willing to help.