A great opening to a WordCamp, this is a tale of overcoming, revisiting dormant passions, inspiration, and motivating others through giving back to Community.

After years of general fatigue, a myriad of tests without an answer, a catheter was inserted through my hip eventually winding its way to my heart, discovering two blocked arteries. After successfully re-opening them, I set out on difficult cardio-rehabilitation to regain heart fitness. During the next three months (including a leave of absence from work), Joe set out to restore my physical, spiritual and emotional well being. This speech details a 3-month journey of rediscovery the things that nourish and nurture each of these three areas — a thirst for learning, unearthing my dormant creativity and all things WordPress.

He set out to become more mindful of the things that bring me positive energy including truly engaging in the Community — 4 WordCamps, 16+ WordPress Meetups, and Events, designed a Wapuu, and a website build/brand to give back. From Castaic north to Palmdale (northernmost Los Angeles County), east to Riverside and all ports of call in-between (Pasadena, Whittier, Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles) learn what makes good clubs while finding a network of common minds and colorful characters and gain inspiration to start the WordPress Santa Clarita Valley Meetup, over 8,000 Miles later.

In this presentation, you’ll learn:

What are the benefits of attending WordCamp?
Why join a WordPress Slack Channel?
Why volunteer to help at a WordCamp (experience being on both sides of the table)?
What is a WordPress Meetup?
What are the ‘five rules’ of hosting a WP Meetup?
How to get started? From visiting your local WordPress Meetup to even starting your own.
How to harness the energy from attending a WordCamp in your WP Meetups?
What are the benefits of attending a WordPress Meetup?
What is WordPress.tv?
What are my favorite WordPress podcasts?
Who are the faces of WordPress Community?
Learning resources – Codex, videos and more.
Why would I do something so crazy (deal with LA traffic)?
My takeaways or goals (get better at WordPress, start a local Meetup, etc)

Presentation Slides »