August 3, 2015 — No matter the niche, website security is important to everyone doing business on the Internet. Simply existing on the Web turns users into virtual targets for digital thieves and opportunists.
While seemingly mysterious, and often over-complicated, proper security begins with a basic understanding of do’s and don’t’s, and why’s and why not’s. Let’s cut through the red tape and talk about what matters: knowing how to protect your business on the Internet.

Presentation Slides »

August 3, 2015 — WordPress can do a lot out of the box, but what if you need to integrate with a service that doesn’t have a WordPress plugin? What if you want to automate a task without touching code? How do you take advantage of the service-driven web so your WordPress project can break out of its shell and make new friends on the Internet playground? This talk has all the answers. You learn how to connect to a remote API (with minimal code), what webhooks are (and why they’re awesome), and how to harness the power of “connector” services like Zapier and IFTTT to automate common tasks (without getting a headache). Want to get more power out of your WordPress site? This is the talk for you!

August 3, 2015 — Want more “eyeballs” on your website? How about more eardrums? Would you like more people visiting your website? Right now you have visitors looking at the screen on their desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. How about gaining visitors who are driving their cars? Relax! There’s a safe way to get those web visitors – via podcasts.

August 3, 2015 — There’s a lot of information out there on making WordPress as secure as possible. Some of it is great and some of it, well, not so great. My session will walk users through numerous tips and tricks for securing WordPress the right way from the start. In addition we’ll look at a few security misconceptions in an attempt to sort the good information from the bad and keep you from becoming the next victim.

August 3, 2015 — The Principles of Effective Technical Communication – This talk summarizes things I’ve learned over the past 18 months writing WordPress tutorials at WPShout, as well as co-writing an e-book and screencast series on WordPress development. It describes principles for communicating technical knowledge clearly and effectively.

August 3, 2015 — In this session we discuss some of the history of open source software, look at how subdivisions take hold, how we can all be better about working toward the common interests of all, and the all-important nature of treating one another with kindness and not leaping to conclusions.

August 3, 2015 — In this talk, we look at the parallels between being a musician, and being a developer. I’ll share my story of how I transitioned from music to development, and how the skills I learned from being a musician helped me succeed in the development world.

August 3, 2015 — Make your blog a go-to resource. Compelling content is a mix of vivid storytelling, offering new facts, sharing a novel viewpoint, and evoking emotion from the reader. Learn from the strategies of Pulitzer Prize winning writers and fuel a faithful readership.

August 3, 2015 — This session introduces the use of WordPress to support a fully-online graduate class in Library and Information Studies.

August 3, 2015 — Come hang out with me for a while, and I’ll tell you everything you ever wanted to know about running multiple WordPress sites, multiple networks, and the past, present, and future of these crazy cool hidden WordPress features. If there’s time, I’ll tell you where the free money is.