June 2, 2017 — Using an in-browser style guide to drive your development process will save you time and help you manage code and design complexity. In this hands-on demonstration, participants will learn how to build an in-browser style guide and prototype for your WordPress site using KSS.

June 2, 2017 — Redesigning your website can be a pretty daunting task, but being prepared can make the whole process go a lot smoother. Defining your goals will help you understand what features are most essential to your new web site, who is the best partner for you, how much money you might expect to spend and how long it will take.

This presentation should get you headed in the right direction with:
– Questions to ask yourself
– Research to conduct
– Tasks to complete

June 2, 2017 — The GovIntranet WordPress theme was released in 2013 and since then I’ve been supporting an open source community of users and developers.

In this session I’ll talk about my experience of developing in the open and working out loud, what I’ve learned since starting as a WordPress developer and the ups and downs of managing ongoing theme and plugin development.

Presentation Slides »

June 2, 2017 — Shared, VPS, Dedicated, Cloud, Dedicated PS, Dedicated Cloud, Co-lo what does any of that mean welcome to the world of hosting with its bizarre vocabulary and massive amount of marketing spin. It can often be confusing just working out what hosting companies do let alone, if their products and services are suitable for your project.

In this talk Tim will guide you through the world of hosting, looking at what the different offerings mean trying to break down the vocabulary of hosting into terms that are easy to understand. To help you find out what products and services might be right for your next site. He will go through some of the key things to look for and questions you should be asking about any products/service. Finally he will challenge some of the preconceived notions and show how in the right services free can sometime be the

June 2, 2017 — Heather Burns is a digital law specialist. she research, write, publish, consult, and speak extensively on internet laws and policies, most specifically those that affect the crafts of web design and development. She is working with WordPress since 2008 and designing websites since 1997.
Her talk was on ‘Protecting the Web from Political Uncertainty’. She said in the UK, as a result of the Brexit referendum, designers and developers face losing the legal basis for the freedom of personal movement as well as the freedom of the movement of data which has facilitated the very creation of the digital industry. In the US, the incoming (as of this writing) Trump administration threatens instability on a scale which has spurred many developers, including Matt Mullenweg and many Automatticians, to publicly pledge not to participate in the creation of databases of individuals which could be used to target them for unthinkable actions.

June 2, 2017 — Session 1.
Wendie Huis in ‘t Veld:
What’s Love Gotta Do With It?

Have you read the Code of Conduct? It’s mandatory when you buy a ticket to any WordCamp so I guess you (should) have. I have been to several WordCamps but I never really understood the impact of it until WordCamp Europe 2016:
The Code of Conduct is not just a set of rules, it’s a declaration of love.
In this talk I will share what happened in Vienna, what it did to me, how it impacted me personally and how it changed my view on life. I’ll show you how I implemented a Code of Conduct in my business and in my life and why you want to too.

Session 2.
Marco Calicchia:
Making The Most Out Of WordCamps

WordCamps are a fantastic opportunity to get to know the WordPress community better, make new connections, start new business opportunities and elevate your personal or company brand. Yet, as they get bigger and bigger, navigating WordCamps, especially for first-time attendees, might be challenging. In this talk, I’ll be covering 4 key steps that will help both individuals and business owners on how to prepare for a WordCamp, what strategies to implement for the best results and how to take the most from the event after it’s over.

Session 3.
Heather Dopson:
Why (and How!) You Should be Using Videos in Your Marketing

Using both recorded video and live broadcasting are HOT ways to increase your visibility, share information and solve problems. All this can lead to more clients and more dollars in your pocket.
In this talk I will share examples from multiple social platforms and give specifics on tools and resources to make it simple to add this into your business plan.

June 2, 2017 — As a freelance designer, we turn down business constantly. Most small business owners undervalue the work we do and have limited budgets. Every week, I found myself turning down those dreaded “I have $300. Can you build me a website?” kind of leads.

Then, I realized I didn’t have to. With the right strategy and confidence in your work, you can make a living on $300 jobs. But more importantly, you can convert that customer you would’ve turned down into the customer you wanted, to begin with (and still do the fun custom work we really love to do).

We’ll discuss strategies, contracts, residual income generation, and long-term customer-focused approaches to freelance web work. We’ll also chat about keeping yourself happy in the midst of working for yourself and why those leads you’ve been turning down can be a huge asset.

June 2, 2017 — With the rapid popularization of web fonts over the past few years, type on the web has never been more exciting! We’ll learn a bit about basic typographic principles, review techniques and services for integrating web fonts into your WordPress sites, and finally conclude with a bit of speculation on where type on the web is heading.

June 1, 2017 — He started using WordPress when running a charity 7 years ago. He was the client, partnering with the agency, now work for, so his experience using WordPress on both sides of the fence. At his agency, I’m an Account Manager and Team Leader, working with hundreds of clients, and many team members, to deliver a wide range of WordPress sites. Prior to WordPress, He ran mass engagement, behaviour change campaigns relating to climate change and environmental conservation.

His session explored the psychology and methods behind a loving client relationship.

Presentation Slides »

May 31, 2017 — It’s 2017 and many clients would rather pay for short-term paid advertising to attract leads than invest in the long game of search engine optimized content marketing. However, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that Siri, Alexa, Cortana and others have changed the way clients reach for products, creating increased demand for local search. Evolution in semantic search has broadened related keyword terms, giving more value to alternate phrases in search and resulting in more emphasis being place on area keywords. Website developers must adjust their workflow to assist clients in creating local, relevant content to deliver findability results to their clients. As businesses use advertising and organic search in audience targeting, more closely-matched real audiences and, more importantly, real revenue increases. Customers who are local tend to refer more often and become repeat buyers. While locality is not all that matters when curating content, it places a large role in whether the content will be seen by a large regional audience. In this talk I will share how website creators can change client results by recognizing the impact consistency, social promotion, relevancy, area-sensitive keywords and quality writing play in converting generalized text into content that matters. Further, I will explain how local blog posts and page content rise to fit that need and can extend as podcasts, videos and more to appeal to alternate search tools, such as YouTube, iTunes and Yelp.