Mary Frances Wiley is a speaker at WordCamp Chicago talking about Information Architecture for Normal People (Growning beyond posts, pages, categories and tags). Get to know her below!

Bio

I’m an experienced UX/UI designer from the Second City with a love of all things sci-fi, a bad dancing habit and the ability to speak two (and a half) languages. I also currently write The Chronic Positivity Project.

WordCamp Chicago Mini-Interview

I’ve been working since WordPress since version 2.5 because it was the only CMS that made sense to someone with little formal training in code. As WordPress has grown and changed, I have grown and learned along with it.

I’ve spoken several times at food-blogger oriented conferences, and I learned that many WordPress power-users don’t have a firm grasp on exactly what a taxonomy is and why it matters (and often the designers that they use don’t understand it either), or even that they can create custom taxonomies and post-types to make their sites better. Also, I hope it will show younger women that there is room to be a smart, talented woman and they deserve a seat at the tech table in any role.

WordPress is different because it allows me to design and build complex sites, but even a person like my mom who is a bit of a luddite, can use it to manage and create content.

Zach Stepek is a speaker at WordCamp Chicago talking about eCommerce Speed Demon: The Pursuit of 800ms. Get to know him below!

Bio

Zach specializes in eCommerce consulting and WooCommerce development, helping companies navigate the complexities of building and running their eCommerce marketplaces. He’s been building dynamic, data-driven websites since 1999 and has worked as a designer, developer and user experience architect. When he isn’t building websites, he’s a professional concert photographer and well-rounded geek.

WordCamp Chicago Mini-Interview

1. I came to WordPress through WooCommerce. I was helping a friend run his record label and he wanted to set up an online store for the label’s artists, selling digital downloads of music and physical copies of albums. We built that site using the Whitelight theme right after it came out. This was before WooCommerce had really blown up the way it has now. I had dabbled in the WordPress world, but this project got me more interested, since I saw the potential for WordPress to become a platform, not just a CMS or blogging tool.

2. I love community and networking, and speaking is one of my favorite things to do, so this was a natural move for me! Once you get to know me, you learn that it’s hard to get me to shut up. It’s probably a side effect of spending years teaching web development everywhere from IBM to MTV. Imparting the things I’ve learned to others is just part of the appeal, though. I learn just as much standing up and interacting with people during a session as they do from me. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the WordPress community is amazing! Strong communities build strong technologies, and I’ve loved seeing the WordPress community grow from the sidelines, but it was time to get off the bench and get involved.

3. This question takes me back to talking about WordPress as a Platform. We are on the cusp of this transformative period for WordPress and WooCommerce. WordPress has started to shed its blogging platform skin in the public eye, businesses are taking it seriously, and it’s powering some of the largest websites on the web. But we haven’t even begun to realize the potential of new developments like the REST API. WooCommerce has a REST API, too. Calypso is merely the town crier sounding the bell that WordPress as a Platform has arrived. Think about the implications of having WordPress’ structured data models and post and taxonomy relationships available when building a mobile application. Or a SaaS application. Or communicating with the Internet of Things. WordPress is the only open source, eCommerce-enabled content management system that I’m aware of with the combination of flexibility, low learning curve and powerful features that I feel are needed to power the next tectonic shift in the Internet economy. One in every four websites is just the beginning.

Steve Bennett is a speaker at WordCamp Chicago talking about Choosing your WordPress Development Crew. Get to know him below!

Bio

Steve is a co-founder of Real Big Marketing in Jackson, MI which leverages WordPress to enhance the web for it’s clients. Steve has 8 years of experience with the platform and enjoys sharing his enthusiasm at Meetups and WordCamps. You may find him online @BigActual.

WordCamp Chicago Mini-Interview

1. I first became interested in WordPress in 2008 when using it as a CMS for the first time. The relative ease with which we were able to maintain content was striking compared to what we had to work through with straight html. Instant Love.
2. Speaking at WordCamp is a great opportunity to give back. We’re blessed to understand what goes on behind the curtain. The curtain isn’t that hard to pull back. To do so for others is a gift that ensures our future and expands our community.
3. The Open Source approach, community, and ease of use set the platform above others as a natural choice for most applications we come across today. With advances in security and the REST API, we see an even broader uptake in the future.

Lisa Ghisolf is a speaker at WordCamp Chicago talking about The good, the bad & the ugly of finding & keeping work as a freelancer. Get to know him below!

Bio

Print & digital designer, developer & writer with 17 years experience. WordPress, social media, travel, thriftista.com, and worktraveltech.com

WordCamp Chicago Mini-Interview

1. I heard about it from another web developer back in 2007, and how it made updating sites easier for clients. I haven’t really looked back.

2. WordCamps are just a great way to learn more, meet people who are working in it daily, as well as the originating developers of products.

3. It’s easy enough that I can teach it to clients in just an hour or 2, but flexible enough to create robust membership portals, ecommerce and more. The fact that it’s open source just means it’s got amazing people supporting it.

Nancy Bishop is a speaker at WordCamp Chicago talking about Third Coast Review: How an all-volunteer team is building a new website. Get to know her below!

Bio of Nancy S Bishop

Nancy is editor and publisher of Third Coast Review, a Chicago arts & culture website, which was launched in January 2016, and has a volunteer staff of ~40 writers. She’s a retired corporate business writer and a 2014 Fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. You can read her personal writing on pop culture at nancybishopsjournal.com.

WordCamp Chicago Mini-Interview

1. When did you first become interested in WordPress?

When I retired in 2012, my first goal was to do the personal writing—primarily personal essays—that I never had time for before. After writing half a dozen of them, it occurred to me that I was writing blog material. I explored various platforms and decided WordPress would give me the features and flexibility I wanted.

2. What motivated you to speak at WordCamp?

I wanted to tell the story of our new website, which is kind of a small miracle. The editors were all writers for Gapers Block, the website that went “on hiatus” as of 01/01/16, and we wanted a place to continue writing our arts reviews. We started planning the new site in November 2015 and launched two months later, on 01/08/16.

3. Why do you think WordPress is different from other web platforms?

I’ve worked with other content management systems (including SharePoint and Movable Type) which were more or less user friendly. When I started playing with WordPress.com for my personal blog, I thought it felt right for a person with some tech savvy who wasn’t interested in coding and getting into the html weeds. Now our new website is built on WordPress.org and gives great flexibility for the features that are important for our readers.

Dustin Fillippini is a speaker at WordCamp Chicago talking about Unleashing the Magical Powers of WP_Query. Get to know him below!

WordCamp Chicago Mini-Interview

1.       When did you first become interested in WordPress?

I first used WordPress for a project in a business class in college in 2005 on version 1.5.  At the time, I was making sites on the side here and there and saw some of these new content management systems coming out.  At the time, WordPress was lacking many of the killer features it does now, but I could see the potential, especially since everything I made prior was static HTML pages.  I kept up with it through the next few years while trying out other solutions until in 2010 I started to move towards full-time web development.  I really became interested after finding a WordPress meetup.  The WordPress community hooked me in and I’ve been ingrained in WordPress ever since.

2.       What motivated you to speak at WordCamp?

The community and my drive to challenge myself.  Prior to doing my first WordCamp talk, I had never done any public speaking outside of classes.  I knew it was something that I wanted to improve and I found that the WordPress community was very welcoming to allow me to grow this skill first through meetups, then through several WordCamps after.

3.       Why do you think WordPress is different from other web platforms?

Again, I am going to bring the community into my answer.  The WordPress community drives the platform.  Other open source projects have great communities behind them too, but none seem to work in the same way as the WordPress community does.  It not only has brought us a great product and tool

Hilary Fosdal is a speaker at WordCamp Chicago talking about Project Management: The Life Cycle of a Web Design Project. Get to know her below!

Bio

Hilary Fosdal is the owner of Red Phone Studio, a design and development company based in Chicago. She started building websites while working in the broadcast television industry. While still a news junkie, she loves to talk shop about all things digital. In her spare time, she seeks outdoor adventures that involve mostly hiking and running.

WordCamp Chicago Mini-Interview

1.       When did you first become interested in WordPress?

I learned about WordPress while working in broadcasting. It was a very helpful tool for evaluating and examining all the features and capabilities (or lack thereof) of the CMS I worked within daily.

2.       What motivated you to speak at WordCamp?

I saw a need for more talks on project management and decided to submit a session on that topic to help fill the gap.

3.       Why do you think WordPress is different from other web platforms?

I came for the platform, but I stayed for the community. There just isn’t one like it.