WordPress Wordcamp Chicago
2010 Wrap Up
What a weekend!
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend WordCamp Chicago.
I’d never been to one & only got invited last minute, so I wasn’t exactly certain what I was in for! It was a treat!
Quite a few of you had a chance to interact with me as I made good use of my Facebook page with commentary over the weekend!
Everyone was asking for a wrap-up and more about what I was up to so lets get started!
According to main WordCamp website:
“WordCamp is a conference that focuses on everything WordPress. WordCamps are informal, community-organized events that are put together by WordPress users like you. Everyone from casual users to core developers participate, share ideas, and get to know each other. WordCamps are open to WordPress.com and WordPress.org users alike.“
Imagine if you, I, and the rest of our blogging community got five hundred (500) of us together, got some corporate sponsors so we could rent a pair of big conference rooms, and met for two days! Imagine also that about 30 of that 500 agreed to do 45 minute presentations (unpaid!) as part of two different learning sets (a developer set and a user set) during the weekend. Individuals could chose which of the two classes that were running at the same time they wanted to attend, moving back and forth, to maximize their learning! That’s exactly what the weekend was like! (Also, imagine this event is held repeatedly, all over the country, by different groups of WordPress users & fans like you and me. Check the official site for one near you!)
Because it was new for me, and I was coming in already exhausted from a rough week, and I was trying to take in so much at once, I have a real hard time saying that it was “fun”. No, it definitely was a lot like work. That mostly was my fault though! However, as far as a networking opportunity went it was incredible! (And next year it will be a lot more fun knowing what I’m in for!) Seriously, I met some awesome people and it did wonders to be building offline contacts that were outside of my usual tight circle.
Here is links to a couple of my favorite presentations and presenters!
Now That’s What I Call WordPress Security: 2010 Edition
Brad Williams - @williamsba
Front-end Performance Techniques
Scott Robbin – @srobbin
WordPress Multi-Site – Domain Mapping
Andrea Rennick – @andrea_r
Customizing WP Administration (Smashing Magazine article mentioned)
Jake Goldman – @jakemgold
WordPress SEO Optimization (plus Best Practices Guide)
Shannon Steffen – @SKSDesigns
Backing Up and Upgrading WordPress
Chris Jean – @chrisjean
Just in case you think we didn’t have any fun… here’s two really short videos for your entertainment!
An Amusing Start To Brad Williams’ Presentation!
“Ball Rain” Was Our Gift To Cory Miller (from iThemes) As We Wrapped Up The Event!
This was just a sampling of all the really awesome presentations and people I got to meet! I was pleasantly surprised to see that as long as I stayed away from requirements to write code, I was reasonably solid on majority of the topics! Next year I definitely look forward to focusing more on networking and less on note taking… although I’m giving some serious thought to the possibility of presenting!
Kimberly
PS: Regardless of whether there is a WordCamp near you or not, I highly suggest also looking for a local Meetup group for “wordpress” or “social media” or “internet marketing” etc. Search by your location (or nearest big city) and find a group you can interact with on a face-to-face basis!
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Thank you for not only letting us experience WordCamp vicariously through you, but sharing your “difficult but necessary lesson.”
You’re so right. Often something that is ‘understood’ within the comfortable acceptance of our own Tribe becomes a glaringly obvious limitation when we step into foreign circles.
Which is precisely WHY we Have to step out of the usual, and open ourselves up to peer scrutiny.
Or we could let you do it for us! LOL
Jacqueline Gates invites you to read…30 Day Challenge and 6 month Progress Report
Thanks Jacqui, you’re the best as always! Love ya Girlfriend!
Kimberly~
I can’t imagine you struggling the way you discribe! I’m glad you learned so much because I know you’ll teach us all you learned! Can you imagine any of us (especially me) attending such an event? I love the ball throwing video at the end! People can have a party anywhere!
Linda G. Cox invites you to read…Five Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb
Thanks Linda! Yeah the balls and the fist pumping and several other bouts of silliness were definitely nice stress breaks to the amount we were learning! Who says you can’t learn something and have a good time at the same time? LOL
(PS: I moved the more personal bits into tomorrows post, figured I should elaborate on that more.)
Okay, I need to get out to one of these events
Thanks Kimberly for sharing this.
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Kimberly,
Sounds like a wonderful experience meeting new people to add to your circle of influence. I really appreciate your overview of this event. There is so much going on out there, it’s hard to keep track of it all. this was great!
Val
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[...] some of the niche definition challenges I’d come face to face with while I was attending Wordcamp in Chicago.I decided that bit of information really deserved its own post and so I removed it from there so I [...]
thanks kimberly… can’t wait to hear what you brng back to the PBY crowd!
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