April 9, 2024 — WordPress is used by 42% of the web, that means there is a lot of fishies out there using WordPress. Some of them are krill, some of them are clown fish, some of them are barracuda and some of them are sharks, but some of them aren’t even fish at all: some of them are whales.

In this presentation I’ll talk about some of the tactics that you can use to net yourself a whale. These are tactics that anyone can use, whether you’re a freelancer, an agency, or a big company. All you need is a small hook and the right technique and you could be netting your first enterprise client, where you’ll deliver WordPress at scale for some of the biggest companies in the world.

I’ll be sharing our experience at Human Made as well as the experiences of other people who have been catching big fish in the WordPress space.

April 9, 2024 — Personal branding is a vital asset for anyone who is seeking to thrive in an era of technological advancements like AI. It’s the process of shaping your professional identity and effectively utilizing social media platforms to your advantage.

It allows you to differentiate yourself in a competitive landscape. It highlights your unique skills, values, and personality traits, making you memorable and relatable to clients. This human touch is something AI lacks.

Having a personal brand helps you with networking as well. Engaging with your industry peers, potential clients, and thought leaders through platforms like LinkedIn can lead to collaborations and business opportunities that AI can’t replicate.

It also positions you as an adaptable professional in the AI age. By constantly learning, sharing industry insights, and demonstrating your ability to evolve with the technology, you ensure you’re not overshadowed by AI but rather seen as someone who can harness its power to benefit your clients.

April 9, 2024 — In today’s highly competitive job market, building a strong reputation is crucial to achieving your career goals. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, freelancer, or working in a corporate environment, your reputation can make or break your success.

In this talk, Aaron will share his insights on:

– How to build a positive reputation
– Establishing yourself as a thought leader in your industry
– Using your reputation to advance your career

You’ll learn practical strategies for:

– Cultivating a strong online presence
– Networking effectively
– Managing your personal brand

By the end of the talk, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to leverage your reputation to achieve your professional and personal goals – whether you’re just starting out or looking to take your career to the next level.

April 9, 2024 — The new chatbots are no longer just simple assistants that direct you to documents or FAQs. With the latest AI technologies such as OpenAI GPT and LainChain, chatbots can provide personalized experiences and help users perform more complex tasks. They can understand natural language and provide relevant information in real-time. This makes them more efficient and effective than ever before.

Therefore, using chatbots in WordPress is becoming increasingly important for all websites in the future. They can help businesses save time and money while providing better customer experiences.

April 9, 2024 — This plan explores WordPress vulnerabilities from a hacker’s perspective, highlighting risks in plugin development. Beginning with common WordPress functions, we unveil issues arising from misuse and share secure coding practices. We delve into a WordPress plugin source code parser’s journey, detailing how hackers decipher source code to find security flaws. This initiative enhances understanding of WordPress security for developers and users, promoting better protection against potential website threats.

April 9, 2024 — WordPress Events such as WordCamps, Meetups, do_action, etc. come in various flavours powered by local communities around the world each year. But how do we ENSURE they’re all as open, inclusive, and accessible as possible?

In this engaging, interactive presentation Joe will discuss creating shared baseline practices to help remove common obstacles every event faces and address. We’ll also cover questions like:

– What criteria should your organizing team leverage when deciding on a location and venue for your event?
– Is the physical layout of your venue, entrances, meeting, stages, dining, and networking areas navigable by attendees who use canes or motorized devices?
– Are your maps and wayfinding/signage usable by sighted and non-sighted attendees to navigate the event weekend?
– How to leverage quiet or low-capacity rooms for attendees who need a moment to themselves amongst the hustle and bustle of an event;
– Is your event messaging on websites, or social media created to be consumed by all users, even those who use assistive technology?
– Can compelling design and branding be accessible and beautiful?
– Working with Make community team members and other a11y advocates to continually hear and empower new ideas and voices in the process; and
– More challenges and wins you’re invited to share.

April 9, 2024 — Ensuring contributors feel appreciated is essential to the success of any open source project. In its 20+ year history, there have been over 5,400 unique contributors listed on the Credits pages for each version released. But even as one of the largest current FOSS projects powering 43%+ of the Internet, this number is inaccurate and low.

Have you ever considered what a contribution actually is? Where does it come from? Who is contributing and how? How are contributions tracked? What does recognition mean to contributors? And why is the number above lower than it should be?

Come learn about the types of recognition the WordPress project currently has, where the blindspots are, what the challenges are at scale, and what’s being done to overcome these obstacles in order to ensure every contributor feels appropriately recognized to create a more stable supporting community.

April 9, 2024 — In this talk I’ll share how being part of the WordPress industry enabled me to pursue my two passions: family and professional development.

My story begins with the founding of a WordPress development agency, a venture born out of a love for web development and the endless possibilities offered by the WordPress platform. I’ll share the highs and lows of entrepreneurial life—tackling client projects, navigating industry trends, and building a team—all while balancing the responsibilities of a growing family.

Selling the agency after thirteen years paved the way for a new venture: Strattic. This new direction brought with it new challenges, and demanded I learn the ins-and-outs of the startup business model. We’ll dive into the dynamic landscape of startup life within the WordPress space. After being acquired by Elementor, I had to learn to transition from being a founder and CEO for seventeen years to being an employee. This brought its own challenges, and demanded that I adjust while learning a lot about myself.

Central to this narrative is the unparalleled experience of being an active participant in the WordPress community. I’ll share the demands it places on time and resources but, more importantly, how it gives back in so many meaningful ways. The WordPress community has been a transformative force, exposing me to diverse perspectives, introducing me to individuals beyond my immediate circles, and immersing me in rich and varied cultures.

Working in the WordPress space has been a unique experience—one where the lines between work and passion blur. I’ll delve into why contributing to the WordPress community doesn’t feel like traditional work but rather a collaborative journey of knowledge-sharing and enablement of personal goals.

April 9, 2024 — The Interactivity API was recently released in WordPress 6.5. Now is the time to experiment with the API and incorporate interactions into your custom blocks, but where should you start?

Often, the best way to learn is through real-world examples. In this Developer Hours session, Damon Cook from WP Engine demonstrates how he built a form submission block that leverages the API. This example will teach you how to kickstart a custom interactive block using the Create Block package, use directives to assign critical attributes to your HTML markup, create the store, and hook up the client-side JavaScript.

Resources:

Damon’s demo plugin: https://github.com/colorful-tones/feedback-block
Interactivity API documentation: https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/packages/packages-interactivity/
Tutorial on building a custom block: https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/getting-started/tutorial/

April 9, 2024 — Ready to empower your WordPress experience with both design and inclusivity in mind? Dive into the world of Universal Creativity, where Accessibility, Community, and User Experience meet! Whether you’re a freelancer, small business owner, or someone passionate about inclusive design, this talk is your gateway to a future of endless possibilities.

In this presentation we’ll explore:

– Accessibility Unveiled: How to make WordPress accessible for everyone, including BIPOC communities and those who face barriers to tech.
– Community and Culture: Strategies for active engagement and how you can contribute to a sustainable WordPress ecosystem.
– Design with a Purpose: Introducing Universal Themes and how they disrupt the traditional template market, offering multi-functional, high-performance inclusive designs for all.