August 16, 2017 — A panel of WordPress themers will answer your questions around theming. Some examples you might hear about: Should I use a pre-made theme, theme framework, or go custom? What makes a good theme? What are some tips and tricks for developing good themes?

August 16, 2017 — Are you ready to take your next step, and want to have a competitive edge? Do you want to do more work that you love, and have more success while doing it? Do you want to thrive in your current job? Learn how uncovering your personal brand can have a direct impact on getting more of what you want – it’s a combination of art and science.

In this interactive session you’ll learn:

What a personal brand is and why it’s important
Why passion is critical – and contagious
Who your “target audience” is and the value you bring to them
Identify how you “show up”and the perception you create
How to apply the science and power of connection
When you uncover your authentic personal brand, you get clearer about the vision you have for your life, how you want to live it and achieve it.

August 16, 2017 — In this talk, my attorney (Chris Wurster of Levine-Piro Law in Maynard, MA) and I will touch on brand management and reputation protection, how to avoid/handle fake news, protect yourself and clients against defamation. We will provide actionable take-aways, quick tips and basic guidelines as well as legal action to take, should things get out of hand.

We know that this could get boring in a hurry so we will be illustrating these ideas with real-life, entertaining stories and examples.

August 16, 2017 — Tracy Apps is a creative problem solver with over 15 years of client experience in all types of projects. She got her start blogging on B2 and followed that transformation to WordPress. She is active in several local Meetups in the Milwaukee area.

Tracy is the co-owner of http://cornermarket.media which offers a variety of services including design, custom development, branding and training.

She has spoken at several WordCamps about various aspects of design. Some of her presentations can be seen on WordPress.tv.

Tracy and Shelby Elliott are in the process of launching a podcast titled The Not So Straight and Narrow, which will be available on various podcast platforms soon.

August 15, 2017 — Piensa en SEO antes y después de tu sitio web. Veremos las principales herramientas para posicionar y medir el crecimiento orgánico de tu sitio en WordPress.

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August 15, 2017 — WP-CLI can be one of the most powerful tools in a developer’s tool belt if used correctly. This tool can be used to automate the simplest or most complex tasks with ease. All from the comfort of your command line.

In this session, I’ll show you a few specific examples where WP-CLI can save you tons of time by performing tedious, or repetitive tasks, and getting you back to the things you want to be doing.

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August 15, 2017 — Tracking codes. Facebook pixels. Conversion scripts. E-commerce tracking. How can you manage all of this stuff and stay sane?

My answer is, “Google Tag Manager.”

There are many platforms that require you to install code on your website in order to track user behavior and record conversion events. Some of the more common examples include Google Analytics, Google AdWords, Facebook, Twitter, marketing automation solutions, email service providers, call-tracking services, etc. Installing and maintaining all of this code on your WordPress site can quickly become a convoluted headache – especially if you’re not a web development guru.

In this talk, I’ll give an introduction to tracking and conversion codes, provide an overview of GTM’s functionality and its benefits, demonstrate how to install and configure GTM on your WordPress site, and show a few real-world examples. Attendees will also receive a link to download helpful resources.

August 15, 2017 — WordPress in Higher Education

August 15, 2017 — Using ready-made plugins can make your website more effective and efficient. But do you sometimes find it overwhelming to pick a plugin that is right for your situation?

The panelists will address issues about including new functionality in your project using various plugins.

Questions from the audience are encouraged during the plugin panel session.

Examples:

Are there any “best practice tips” to find right plugins?
Can a site ever have too many plugins?
Are premium plugins always better than free plugins?
What is the best way to get support for a plugin?
What happens to a site when an installed plugin is deactivated?
Can the code be changed in plugin files without breaking it?

August 15, 2017 — NC State’s central IT office employs almost 300 people, whose areas of expertise range from high-performance computing to video production to installing fiber optic cable. By tradition and budgetary necessity, every single one of them has content creation and editing privileges on our unit website, oit.ncsu.edu. After years of a content free-for-all, the result wasn’t pretty: 2,500 pages total, with lots of out-of-date information, duplication, broken navigation, and accessibility issues everywhere.

In this session, we discuss how we stepped back from the brink, took control of our content, and—with a few homegrown WordPress plugins and help from the higher ed community—taught our 300-person content team how to build and maintain a good website.

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