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!