Updated. See this post please!
All posts by ElenaRego
How To Get The Most Out Of WorkCamp Maui 2015
It’s almost here, party people. WordCamp Maui is just around the corner! It’s going to be a glorious event and minds will explode; friendships will be born and much will be learned.
Be Prepared
To help everyone get ready for what’s going down this weekend, I’ve made a list of things to note:
- For Friday and Saturday eat a good breakfast. We’ll have coffee, water and tea at the venue Friday and Saturday with some pastries.
- Power outlets will be limited, so plan accordingly. Bring extra batteries, or an external charger, limit wireless usage etc. Or, make a few new friends by being the hero who shows up with a power strip.
Things To Bring
Your beautiful brain and yourself of course! There’s going to be a ton of content to cover and while you may find that you want to bring all of your electronics, you really only need to bring your phone and a notepad; I’d say a laptop/tablet isn’t actually necessary and can even be cumbersome to lug around all day and could hinder your ability to socialize and network.
- Smartphone
- Laptop
- Chargers
- Pencil and a Notebook in case the other items die on you
Pro WordCamper Tips
What makes WordPress such a great platform really is the community that drives it. Anyone who is a part of this community will tell you as much. If you’re new and just coming into it, you’ll find it’s unlike most other communities you’ve been a member of. So jump on in, the water is fine!
That said, to get the most out of a WordCamp is simply to partipate
- Make a new friend. Say “hello!’ Lots!! Meet new people, talk about what you do and ask questions! People love questions! I’ll even tell you how I keep my hair just-so.
- Find a friend who’s going to be there. Carpooling is the bees knees
- Ask questions of your speakers
- Download speakers’ presentations
Bonus Tip
Participation in WordCamps events, for attendees, sponsors, speakers and volunteers, is an elective endeavor. People participate for a variety of reasons: to learn; to connect; to give back; to share… If you see a sponsor or a speaker at the event, be sure to give them a quick ‘thank you;’ they, along with our attendees and speakers, make these events possible.
Speaker Spotlight: Ben Howard
Ben Howard has been building websites longer than most people have surfed the Internet. He was working with business websites back in 1995, and was one of the tester/developers for the original edition of Adobe Flash. He has worked with many WordPress sites over the years, even building custom plug-ins and themes. He has taught Internet Development at UHMaui for more than fifteen years, and has spent the last seventeen years building a reputation as an experienced teacher and programmer on Maui. He would much rather be painting and sculpting, but its easier to make a living with code.
Company: Q and A, Inc
Company Site: http://www.q-a.net
What do I love about WordPress? Being able to build a sophisticated and feature-rich website, then turning it over to non-programmers to maintain, thus allowing me to move on to building the next site!
Talk Title: Sell Your Stuff with WordPress
Talk Summary: Getting online is the first part, and getting money is the best part! Whether you are selling a few hand-made products, or want to become a retail giant, WordPress has features and plug-ins to get your merchandise out to the world.
Speaker Spotlight: Adelle Lennox
Adelle loves media, publications, and technology. She fell in love with computers as a teenager and began building websites in 1999. Her love affair with WordPress began in the spring of 2008. Adelle is a trained journalist and small business owner who enjoys helping others navigate websites and online technology. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising and “actually uses it.” Her skills include: graphic design, writing, research, website building, SEO, content development, photography, and social media marketing.
Company: Amazing and Helpful
Website: http://amazingandhelpful.com/
Talk Title: Longterm Benefits of Using WordPress
Talk Summary
Free/low cost investment (How to save time & money longterm using WP)
Fast & Flexible – content, design/template, user roles…
SEO happy – use the database structure to support your keyword strategy
Super powerful – plugins, oh my! (tips, ideas, my favorites)
Gorgeous – Themes & Design (how to pick a good one, css)
Bonus topics:
Is it really free? (Minimum time & cost to setup & maintain vs. realistic time & financial investment)
It’s Fun! (Recruit a passionate WP helper)
What do you love most about WordPress?
What I love most about WP is that it gets me excited and it gets me talking. I’m passionate about solutions and I love helping others feel successful and satisfied. WordPress is a tool that I find very useful for helping people. I find it to be the best tool for my needs, because I can use it with a large and diverse group of clients, all in different industries. It’s base cost is free and I can help people build highly customized, yet affordable websites and teach them how to make updates. I have confidence using and sharing WP with others. That is a relief for me as a small business owner, because trust and reputation are critical. From its flexibility to its community of resources and developers, WP satisfies my needs for a complete CMS. Love it!
Speaker Spotlight: Sam Hotchkiss
Sam Hotchkiss has been working with WordPress for the last 10 years. Over that time he worked as a freelancer, built a successful agency, raised venture capital and started a product business, BruteProtect, which was acquired by Automattic in 2014. Sam now works on the Jetpack team at Automattic and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wonderful wife and their three dogs.
Company: Automattic
Website: swh.me
Talk title: 10 Ways to Make Your Site Better With Jetpack
Talk Summary: Most people have heard of Jetpack, but do you know how to really make it work for you? In this talk we’ll look at some of the coolest features (like Elastic Search, Remote Management and much more), and talk about how you can best use them to make your site faster, more powerful and more useful.
What do you love most about WordPress: My favorite thing about WordPress is that it gives voices to the voiceless and empowers people from around the world to come together.