August 30, 2017 — I charged $500 for my first client website project. I was so stoked because I knew could complete the project “in no time” and I had AMAZING ideas that were sure to blow the client’s mind! Needless to say, my enthusiasm about this project was more than dead after it had gone on for the better part of a year, and didn’t even look REMOTELY like my initial vision. I approached my next project with a similar optimism (though I definitely upped my charge), only to run into a similar situation. If you’ve done client work, you’ve probably experienced this heartbreaking phenomenon. The good news is that you can break the cycle and it DOES NOT have to be this way! This talk will cover some practical strategies for beating scope creep, maintaining creative control, and creating lasting and harmonious client relationships, so you can improve your process and love what you do again.

August 30, 2017 — How do I change the font size? Why is the background blue? These are questions easily answered through the Chrome Developer Tools. Anyone wanting to do any customization of a web site needs to be familiar with them.

The presentation walks through the basics of using Chrome’s dev tools and points out some of the cooler features like mobile views, “hover lock”, and others.

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August 30, 2017 — WordPress seemed hard and scary the first time I tried to set it up, and I gave up. I got stuck many times during the installation process, and I felt like I didn’t have much control of it – I thought I had to use someone else’s theme and modify it.

I wanted to know how I could design my OWN website, but have a blogging back end. I knew it was possible on WordPress, but how? Once I figured it out, I realized how incredibly simple it is. I wanted to make the definitive guide so that other people didn’t have to struggle to piece it together. So I did.

August 30, 2017 — Blogging can be one of the best methods for driving inbound leads into your business. Yet, the biggest challenge many small business owners face is not whether they need a blog, but how to build a blog that brings in business.

August 30, 2017 — This presentation is a breakdown of the major conversion factors in terms you haven’t heard before. And it begins and ends with content. Andy has helped plan more than 1000 websites over the last 16 years. For the first time, he will show the process for conversion optimization through content.

• Why most websites fail today, according to 12 years of research
• How and where to use the two kinds of evidence
• How to create a conversion map that guides visitors thoughts and action

You’ll leave with new insights into the psychology of you visitors and new ideas on which changes to your site will make an immediate impact.

August 30, 2017 — We live inside the boundaries of The Loop. As an intrinsic part of WordPress, does it mystify you? Are you feeling a bit stuck in there? Want to expand its limits? In this talk, we’ll go over what the loop is all about as well as learn more about the creative possibilities of customizing what data you’re retrieving through the use of WP_Query to write your very own queries and loops.

August 30, 2017 — You use WordPress on a regular basis, maybe even to make a living, and you want to get involved in the community. How can you step into the community and be a good citizen? How can you be helpful? How can you disagree in a constructive way? Find out how you can help make WordPress better by being a good citizen in the community.

August 30, 2017 — In this talk, I’ll share some practical tools and tips to “sneak in good UX” as one of my bosses used to say, with minimal impact on your budget but a positive impact on your team’s understanding of key problems to solve.

August 30, 2017 — “I failed at freelancing because I made sure I was compensated properly and stayed on top of my finances.” – No one ever

More and more people try freelancing but many never make it: not because they do bad work, but because they fail at running a business. Most of the mistakes are self-inflicted and can be avoided. This talk covers the three keys to freelancers’ long-term success: 1) Staying on top of the finances, 2) Taking care of one’s self and 3) Understanding when to pay a pro.

The talk will empower aspiring and current freelancers by giving them the tools to avoid the pitfalls and come out on top.

August 29, 2017 — Tracy (or @tapps) is a Visual/UX Designer for Cornershop Creative and loves solving problems creatively. Her overlap of skills in design, user experience, strategy, front-end development, photography, video, and traditional art help her not only think outside the box, but to stay miles away from the box altogether! With over 20 years of web development experience, and over 15 years of client work under her belt, Tracy approaches design very strategically, thinking from all angles to ensure a consistent and effective creative solution… not just something that “looks pretty.” She also could probably deadlift you.

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