December 14, 2015 — As designers we’re searching for the best – the best method, the best look, the best font. We have a continuous battle to create brands that are unique but that have a longstanding presence. We make tough decisions constantly, question our instincts, and settle. We fight and we strive to make long lasting beautiful, smart and informed design. How do we get there?

In this talk, seasoned Creative Director Sara Cannon is going to dive deep into the designers struggle. She’s going to share different processes that can make our work better. We’re going to discuss philosophy, methodology, and execution from the creative mind stand point. Hopefully by the end of the talk, you will be inspired to push your own creative limits and learned some tips on how to get there.

December 14, 2015 — Are you doing all you can before your website becomes accessible to billions of people? This talk is an overview of major elements to take into account before launching a successful WordPress website. Topics discussed include functionality, responsiveness, search engine optimization, speed, security, and backups.

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December 14, 2015 — Take your WordPress blog content to the next level when you re-purpose it into a digital eBook! eBooks are the new hot trend in marketing your website’s content, and you can assemble one easily using tools you likely already own! Learn about free vs. paid distribution options and how each style can benefit your website promotion strategy!

December 14, 2015 — Typography is a foundation of design. It can make or break your website. My aim with this talk is to point out some really basic, timeless typography rules that can help beginners to avoid classic mistakes and create better themes.
The talk will be useful not only for web designers but also for WordPress users because they will get a list of things to check typography-wise when choosing a new theme for their next project.

December 14, 2015 — We often forget when designing and developing websites that there are actual users on the other side of the screen. Whether through ability, age or cultural differences, there are a lot of ways that we can inadvertently alienate users. We sometimes forget that we’re making websites for our clients and customers, not ourselves.

In this presentation, I’ll give a brief rundown of considerations that should be given to make your website as effective to as wide a range of users as possible. Accessibility, internationalization, UX and UI changes will be covered, as well as some tips on how to determine your goal, and make your website work toward that goal for you.

December 13, 2015 — Educational technologists often find themselves in the unenviable position of tech-change communication at their institutions. While there came be a lot of enthusiastic educators advocating for such change, there can be just as many who regard a school’s adoption of new technologies like learning management systems as an imposition on their profession. A WordPress blog can serve both audiences as an information resource and training tool. This session will look at the University of Pennsylvania’s use of a WordPress blog as a case for serving such functions, as well as discuss how to apply this type of blogging to other tough tech-change-communication contexts (business, NGOs, etc).

December 13, 2015 — In 2012 and again in 2013, I hit the blogger’s dream — one of my posts went viral. As of today, it has over a million views and has been shared on Facebook 450,000 times:

During the two separate instances when it went viral, I learned a bunch of lessons on both blogging and hosting a website. The goal of the talk is to share these lessons and help bloggers be prepared should they go viral, too:

My hosting plan left my site woefully unprepared for spikes in traffic. What were some things I could have done to prepare?
My ad network shut down my account for alleged fraud, and I lost potentially thousands of dollars worth of ad revenue. Was there anything I could have done differently?
Tons of sites started republishing the post without permission. I even had to deal with a blatant case of plagiarism, when someone not only republished my post in its entirety, but changed the title and author. What was the best way to handle this?
I was also contacted by a few reputable sites (USA Today, HuffPost) to republish the post in its entirety. Was it worth it to grant permission?
Of course, the virility of the post drew the requisite trolls. What were some of the productive — and unproductive — ways to deal with them?

December 13, 2015 — I had a writer’s block and it was horrible: I felt uncreative, watched my blog dry up, crawled in the corner and cried. I felt like a loser. But I’m NOT a loser. So I fixed it. I created a blogging plan that involved only 10 minutes each day. My writer’s block disappeared, my blog stats climbed, and I now know how to turn it around when I find myself neglecting my site.

Whether you are a personal blogger or run a business website, this talk will give strategies for adding content without huge time investments. Learn how to eliminate writer’s block, create material relevant to your site’s purpose, compile content for later publication, and build a regular publishing habit.

December 13, 2015 — LeeAnn will give you a brief overview on the principles of accessible front-end design and show you how easy it is to start building a better web experience for everyone. We will cover what accessibility means in WordPress design and development and go over a few simple steps to audit a website for accessibility. You will be provided with tools and tips on how to easily add accessibility into your workflow and will walk away with a better understanding of how you may be excluding certain users from your sites and immediate actions to prevent it from happening.

December 13, 2015 — Heard of Backbone.js but have yet to use it in your WordPress plugin or theme? Get an introduction to Backbone.js (and Underscore.js), discover why you should be using it, and learn how to add it to your next project.

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