September 10, 2023 — Growth and sustaining a product or service always come back to solving customer problems. Doing this well isn’t just a contest of technology or talent. It’s often about who is doing a better job of listening to their customers. Some call this “strategic empathy.” This can become a challenge as businesses grow, and as markets quickly change. So if you want to build a successful product or service, understanding your customer is paramount. In this talk, we will explore the ways that we can make data-informed decisions, and use design thinking tools to better understand our current customers and our future customers. And you don’t have to be a designer to use design thinking tools and techniques. We’ll see some real-world examples from companies like Ancestry.com, Bluehost, and others. And we’ll be sure to leave some time for a discussion on how this kind of thinking might help your business scale its ability to listen.

June 10, 2019 — Looking Back at 10 Years of WordPress Hosting with our hosting panel:

AJ Morris – Liquid Web
Tessa Kriesel – Pantheon
Ronnie Burt – WPMU
Josh Heicorn – CTO Pagely
Tara Wellington – Godaddy
Tony Gilharry – WP Engine
Chris David Miles – Bluehost
Chris Wales – Greengeeks

August 22, 2018 — WordPress is much more than just website building software. It can be used as an application layer for everything from the Internet of Things, to custom Alexa skills, self-hosted slack bots, and more. This talk provides an introduction to some interesting uses of the WordPress REST API, and showcases examples of how WordPress can be a useful tool for interacting with the Internet of Things in the real world. We’ll cover how to easily connect any WordPress site to a variety of external services using existing plugins, and where to learn more about extending the REST API to serve as an endpoint for applications and devices.

August 22, 2018 — WordPress is much more than just website building software. It can be used as an application layer for everything from the Internet of Things, to custom Alexa skills, self-hosted slack bots, and more. This talk provides an introduction to some interesting uses of the WordPress REST API, and showcases examples of how WordPress can be a useful tool for interacting with the Internet of Things in the real world. We’ll cover how to easily connect any WordPress site to a variety of external services using existing plugins, and where to learn more about extending the REST API to serve as an endpoint for applications and devices.

August 22, 2018 — WordPress is much more than just website building software. It can be used as an application layer for everything from the Internet of Things, to custom Alexa skills, self-hosted slack bots, and more. This talk provides an introduction to some interesting uses of the WordPress REST API, and showcases examples of how WordPress can be a useful tool for interacting with the Internet of Things in the real world. We’ll cover how to easily connect any WordPress site to a variety of external services using existing plugins, and where to learn more about extending the REST API to serve as an endpoint for applications and devices.

August 22, 2018 — WordPress is much more than just website building software. It can be used as an application layer for everything from the Internet of Things, to custom Alexa skills, self-hosted slack bots, and more. This talk provides an introduction to some interesting uses of the WordPress REST API, and showcases examples of how WordPress can be a useful tool for interacting with the Internet of Things in the real world. We’ll cover how to easily connect any WordPress site to a variety of external services using existing plugins, and where to learn more about extending the REST API to serve as an endpoint for applications and devices.

June 17, 2018 — This talk will provide an overview of web accessibility standards and will demonstrate how to use existing tools to ensure your themes, plugins, and content are compliant with those standards. This talk is designed for WordPress developers of all skill levels who want the sites they create and manage to be as accessible as possible. Topics will include: Selling your clients (and yourself) on web accessibility, an introduction to WordPress accessibility guidelines for theme and plugin developers, an overview of manual and automated accessibility testing tools, common accessibility pitfalls to avoid, and where to learn more about web accessibility tools and standards.

February 26, 2018 — This talk will provide an overview of the planning and execution of taking over an existing website. Sometimes we don’t get to start a project at the beginning. This talk will show users what to expect, and how to be prepared for it. Topics will include: Executing a safe handoff, initial housekeeping, planning for improvements, staging and deployment of changes, and ongoing maintenance.