Huge Shout Out to Bluehost

sponsor-bluehostWe 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.

A Big Thank You to WiredTree

wiredtree-logo-9We 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.

WordCamp Chicago 2013 Speaker Interview: Matthew Boynes

Matthew Boynes – twitter icon designed by Dan Leech facebook icon designed by Dan Leech LinkedIn icon designed by Dan Leech

Matthew Boynes

Matthew Boynes is a lead developer at Alley Interactive. The only thing Matt loves more than developing on WordPress is helping others develop and solve complex problems using WordPress. When he’s not coding, you’ll often find Matt engaged in some outdoor activity like hiking or skiing.

Matthew will be speaking on Object-Oriented Custom Post Types, Taxonomies, and Post Meta during Foundation Friday.

 

Why do you use WordPress?
I use a hammer for nails, a screwdriver for screws, and WordPress for content-oriented websites. Most projects that I work on revolve around content, and WordPress is the best tool for that job. WordPress allows me to create a wonderful environment for my clients to create and manage their content. It’s simple, friendly, and easy-to-use, even for those unfamiliar with writing for the web. If I’m building a web application like a to-do list, I’m probably going to use something different. But 99% of the time, I’m building a website for content.

What do you like best about WordCamps?
Sharing ideas and helping others. It’s wonderful seeing how others are solving problems using WordPress.

What is your favorite tip or resource for a new WordPress user?
WordPress Answers (the WordPress StackExchange site).

How do you stay up to date with new information about WordPress?
I browse the WordPress Subreddit and WordPress Answers daily. Any new information about WordPress pops up in one or the other quickly. Also, newsletters like wpMail.me.

Share an example of a really great (creative, cool, unusual) use of WordPress you’ve seen recently.
I promise I’m not really as arrogant as this makes me seem. My company, Alley Interactive, just redesigned kff.org on WordPress and it is the most fascinating use of WordPress I’ve seen. First off, it has one of the best WordPress search experiences in existence: http://kff.org/search/. We also developed a few new plugins for the site, the best of which is Field Manager. Field Manager allows you to create complex editing environments that go well beyond what every other plugin allows.

Do you have any advice for a person who’s building a business around WordPress design/development?

  1. If you’re not using WordPress Multisite in your development or hosting, you’re wasting time and energy.
  2. The coding standards are important! Adhere to them religiously. http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Coding_Standards
  3. Give back. There are countless ways to do so: contribute to core, help enhance the codex, answer questions in the forums or on WordPress Answers.

WordCamp Chicago 2013 Speaker Interview: Monte Martin

Monte Martin – twitter icon designed by Dan Leech LinkedIn icon designed by Dan Leech Google+ icon designed by Dan Leech

As digital marketing consultant I spend most of my time glued to my laptop, but when I get a free minute I usually spend it on my bike. I love cyclocross, mountain biking, my wife, and my jack russell, (not necessarily in that order).

He will be presenting a session titled “Optimizing your site for (business) performance” on Saturday. 

Interview with Monte:

Why do you use WordPress?
It both easy to use and extensible. You can start with a small site and WordPress will easily grow with you.

What do you like best about WordCamps?
The variety of attendees. It attracts all types of nerds, from the creative recluse to mathematical geniuses, and average business users still feel right at home in the mix.

What is your favorite tip or resource for a new WordPress user?
Be very careful when selecting the peripherals that support your site, ESPECIALLY your theme. There are lot of really great themes out their. There are just as many, if not more, that I wouldn’t wish on my direct competitor. Look for something that is lightweight and add functionality via plugins. Don’t look for a theme that does everything you want and more.

How do you stay up to date with new information about WordPress?
Code Poet Newsletters and Twitter. I don’t do enough development these days to actively stay on top of all the latest stuff.

Do you have any advice for a person who’s building a business around WordPress design/development?
Make sure your clients can measure the success of what you do for them, and measure what matters to them. If you don’t know how, don’t miss my talk!

WordCamp Chicago 2013 Speaker Interview: Brian Richards

Brian RichardsBrian Richards – WordPress icon designed by Dan Leech twitter icon designed by Dan Leech Google+ icon designed by Dan Leech

Brian is a developer with WebDevStudios, creator of the StartBox Theme Framework, and is currently pioneering WPSessions.com.

He will be presenting as part of the  Commercial Themes & Plugins Panel  on 6/29/2013.

Interview with Brian:

Why do you use WordPress?
WordPress is the most attractive CMS to me because it has the largest and most flourishing community, in my experience anyway. I really enjoy using it to build seemingly complex systems (think application famework) that magically become quite simple thanks to all of WP’s robust APIs.

What do you like best about WordCamps?
WordCamps are my favorite event of the year, bar none. I truly enjoy meeting and interacting with the people whom I typically only converse with online. Bonus: learning great techniques from my peers.

What is your favorite tip or resource for a new WordPress user?
Immerse yourself in our supportive community. Find a few people who seem to know more than you and ask them where they learned what they know. Connect with a local meetup group, scour WordPress.tv, follow other WP users and devs on Twitter, and grab a well-liked WordPress book.

How do you stay up to date with new information about WordPress?
All of my WP news comes through my highly curated list of people I follow on Twitter. If you want a shorcut to great content, just follow most of these people: https://twitter.com/rzen/following

Share an example of a really great (creative, cool, unusual) use of WordPress you’ve seen recently.
The projects I’ve been working on with WDS have really blown my hair back as to what is possible with WordPress. Two of my favorites are Web Apps for YMCA in New York called Y-MVP and a similar solution for the Dallas Museum of Art called DMA Friends.  Both of these are powered by a WP Plugin we helped write and release for Cred.ly called BadgeOS.

Do you have any advice for a person who’s building a business around WordPress design/development?
Connect with as many local developers as you can, and follow as many WP developers on twitter as you can stand. I’m constantly turning down work and see so many people looking for help. Also, read Jarrod Pyper’s interview for more great advice!

WordCamp Chicago 2013 Speaker Interview: Gene Hammett

Gene Hammett – WordPress icon designed by Dan Leech twitter icon designed by Dan Leech facebook icon designed by Dan Leech LinkedIn icon designed by Dan Leech Google+ icon designed by Dan Leech

Gene HammettGene Hammett is fiercely committed to working with web designers and developers to expand the size, scope and billings of their projects (in weeks, not months). As the managing director of Core Elevation, Inc., Gene helps them transform from broke, busted and disgusted to thriving, growing, and loving every project they touch.

He will be presenting a session titled “Designers and Developers: Creating New Revenue Streams using WordPress” on Sunday,

Interview with Gene:

Why do you use WordPress?
Easy of use, lots of plugins available that can make the website very powerful…and the cool people use WordPress.

What do you like best about WordCamps?
Meeting new people and seeing friends from previous WordCamps.

What is your favorite tip or resource for a new WordPress user?
If you are new to WordPress, learn the INs and OUTs of researching plugins before you just install them.

What is a common problem you see in WordPress sites, and how would you avoid it?
Sliders are OUT! I don’t use sliders.

How do you stay up to date with new information about WordPress?
WordCamp and interacting with friends and clients.

Share an example of a really great (creative, cool, unusual) use of WordPress you’ve seen recently.
RestaurantEngine.com by Brian Casel. This website has extended wordpress to build an industry specific solution that is powerful and quick for the customer to develop their own wordpress site.

Do you have any advice for a person who’s building a business around WordPress design/development?
Well this is the basis of my work as I am a Business Coach to Web Designers and Developers. I help them build their businesses with focus and purpose. One tip…find a real target market to serve (hint: small business is not a target market). Find me to get more about it.

WordCamp Chicago 2013 Speaker Interview: Gloria Antonelli

Gloria AntonelliGloria Antonelli – twitter icon designed by Dan Leech facebook icon designed by Dan Leech LinkedIn icon designed by Dan Leech Google+ icon designed by Dan Leech

Gloria Antonelli is a WordPress consultant, trainer and developer since 2006. She started teaching and presenting about the web in 1996. Rolling 17 years of consultant into a holistic approach of web development, her expertise spans WordPress, UX, IA, SEO, Social Media, Web Standards, CSS, Content and Documentation Strategies.

Gloria’s clients include advertising agencies, universities, corporations and startups. She has been presenting for over 10 years at local/national conferences and workshops including WordCamp Chicago, WordCamp Detroit and WordCamp Milwaukee. Happiness for Gloria includes researching the latest tech trends, stacks of coding books, and 3 day tech conferences.

She will be presenting two sessions for Foundation Friday: “Text Widget for the Non Coder” and “Create Great User Documents”

Interview with Gloria:

Why do you use WordPress?

I first learned of WordPress in 2006 from Peter Merholz during Adaptive Path’s “Beyond Usability 2.0” workshop. That is when I began learning and developing with WordPress and never looked back. I use it for many reasons – flexible, extensible, SEO friendly, and the community.

What do you like best about WordCamps?
I must really like them because I attended 5 last year. You would find me in the dev track at Milwaukee, Chicago, New York, Grand Rapids, and Detroit learning the latest best practices. What better place to learn then from the best WordPress community has to offer! Plus making new friends with a common bond.

What is your favorite tip or resource for a new WordPress user?
I have presented at many web design/development events in the last 10 years. I usually pick a topic based on my need to know or my clients pain points. I am focused on user experience, information architecture and best practices to help the WordPress long tail of new users. Tip: do your pre-website needs assessment, stretch to learn more about WordPress before you start and know your coding limitations. Then do research on picking a theme that meets your needs. Don’t judge a theme just on its visual appeal. Try to look behind the curtain.

What is a common problem you see in WordPress sites, and how would you avoid it?
Some problems in sites are caused by designers/developers and some by the users. Poor coding standards tops my list. So much time wasted trying to get a poorly coded site to work with top grade plugins. Users have a hard time evaluating a quality theme from behind a walled garden of documentation and support forums. Their skill set is limited. If there is quality docs, they may not understand or even read them. WordPress.org is working hard at evaluating themes and improving the .org docs. I also see improvement on the commercial side providing a good knowledge base for users.  I think any user who wants to build their site on their own could spend more time learning about web development in general.

How do you stay up to date with new information about WordPress?
Staying up to date! It is like a carrot on a stick dangled just out of my reach. Okay it does take a lot of work keeping up. So many variable come into play, what is the next release, what new plugins are good, what development style just fell out of grace, Oh my! Thank god I have an iPad. I play shows like WP Water cooler when I am cooking, watch WordPress.tv when I wash the dishes and I read eBooks in bed. I confess to being a learn-aholic and like knowing the latest stuff. I also go to WordPress meetups.

Do you have any advice for a person who’s building a business around WordPress design/development?
First know your stuff, not just WordPress and PHP but study user experience, user testing, information architecture and SEO. If your business model is client-centric, educate your clients on the importance of focusing on the business needs before coding and design and have someone dedicated to producing content. If your business model is providing Themes and Plugins, I can’t stress how important it is to provide an effective learning channel for your users. Start here docs, step by step tutorials and videos. Don’t just have a forum.

Wordcamp Chicago 2013 Speaker Interview: PJ Onori

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P.J. Onori – WordPress icon designed by Dan Leech twitter icon designed by Dan Leech LinkedIn icon designed by Dan Leech Flickr icon designed by Dan Leech

P.J. Onori is a partner at Waybury and design technologist with nine years of professional experience. He has worked for companies such as Adaptive Path, Method and Current TV and worked with clients including the United Nations, Samsung, Adobe, TED.com and Foodspotting. P.J. is a vocal advocate of open source and its important role in society. He blogs about design and technology at somerandomdude.com

He will be presenting a session titled “Design for Speed” on Foundation Friday

Interview with P.J.:

Why do you use WordPress?
WordPress is a vital project in the open source movement and plays a significant role in free speech on the internet.

What do you like best about WordCamps?
I haven’t been to one yet, so I look forward to finding that out. 🙂

What is a common problem you see in WordPress sites, and how would you avoid it?
Performance and a slightly dated approach to building websites.

How do you stay up to date with new information about WordPress?
It’s not hard. There’s so much documentation and writing on the internet around just about every subject.

WordCamp Chicago 2013 Speaker Interview: Heather Acton

Heather Acton
Heather Acton – WordPress icon designed by Dan Leech twitter icon designed by Dan Leech facebook icon designed by Dan Leech LinkedIn icon designed by Dan Leech Google+ icon designed by Dan Leech

I’m the founder of and developer at Helio Interactive, a fresh WordPress development shop in Chicago, IL. We specialize in custom themes and user experience, and pride ourselves in providing unparalleled client services. When I’m not brainstorming with a client or building a site, I’m likely cuddling with my kiddos, sipping a craft beer, or at a Dave Matthews Band concert.

She will be a part of the WordPress Business Owners Panel on Sunday.

Interview with Heather:

Why do you use WordPress?
I use WordPress to feed my family, improve myself, and build others’ businesses.

What do you like best about WordCamps?
I love catching up with all of my friends in the community. Typically we’re all holed up in our offices and rarely get the opportunity to spend a whole weekend talking and learning about our favorite CMS.

What is your favorite tip or resource for a new WordPress user?
Backup all the things! Update them too!

What is a common problem you see in WordPress sites, and how would you avoid it?
Too many plugins! I coach clients to not pimp out their site too much. For newer developers, I coach them to not use plugins that can easily be replaced with a few lines of custom code.

Do you have any advice for a person who’s building a business around WordPress design/development?
1) Do great work over and over again. 2) Always be a joy to work with. 3) Be patient while repeating 1 & 2 over and over, and great things will come to you and your business.

WordCamp Chicago 2013 Speaker Interview: Chris Lema

Chris LemaChris Lema – WordPress icon designed by Dan Leech twitter icon designed by Dan Leech facebook icon designed by Dan Leech LinkedIn icon designed by Dan Leech Google+ icon designed by Dan Leech

Chris Lema is the VP of Software Engineering at Emphasys Software, where he manages high performers and oversees product development and innovation. He’s also a blogger, ebook author and runs a WordPress meetup in North County San Diego.

He will be presenting “You’re a Professional: How to Avoid Overshoot & Lost Profits”  on Saturday.

Interview with Chris:

Why do you use WordPress?
I use WordPress because it’s currently the best platform for most of the things I do online. The broad community support for the platform continues to drive more and more value onto the platform (in the form of services, plugins and themes).

What do you like best about WordCamps?
I love connecting with people and talking about their businesses, their initiatives, and how they’re having success with WordPress.

What is your favorite tip or resource for a new WordPress user?
That’s easy. They should buy a subscription to WP101.com, read wpbeginner.com daily, and head over to chrislema.com when they want to compare plugins and themes.

What is a common problem you see in WordPress sites, and how would you avoid it?
I find that many sites are pretty but difficult to read. I strongly suggest people embrace 16 is the new 12 when it comes to font size.

How do you stay up to date with new information about WordPress?
I check out http://wpdaily.co daily. I also subscribe to wpMail.me and watch two webcasts – WPwatercooler and Dradcast.

Share an example of a really great (creative, cool, unusual) use of WordPress you’ve seen recently.
I love this site: http://qz.com

Do you have any advice for a person who’s building a business around WordPress design/development?
I do. A lot. That’s where I spend my time. First, come visit: http://chrislema.com/the-business-track and then hit me up for more.