November 26, 2020 — For the next two years, there are at least seven WordPress releases scheduled. While some features are yet to be determined, there is already a rich and interesting list of enhancements that are planned.

What does the future have in store for the WordPress industry? If you are part of it, you should be aware of what’s in the pipeline for 2020 and beyond and how it could affect you and your business.

Join Francesca, the current release co-lead, to hear the latest news and plans from the WordPress project.

November 12, 2020 — In 2013 I launched a blog for female creative entrepreneurs that became an overnight success in its own niche in Italy. Six years later, the blog is still going strong: it grew from a handful of contributors to a newsroom of over eighty authors. Last December I was able to hand it off to a new team thanks to the smooth editorial processes we put in place. In this talk, I’ll share the challenges we encountered over the years creating an effective workflow for the growing number of authors and my experience in keeping the quality consistent while maintaining a schedule relevant to the audience’s expectations. I’ll recommend best practices including how to manage user permissions, how to assign editing and curation, deciding who has the final editorial say and delegating the task of actually getting the content online. I will share practical solutions, based on what worked for us, that many different types of teams can use to coordinate their efforts and keep things in check.

November 3, 2020 — For the next two years, there are at least six WordPress releases scheduled. While some features are yet to be determined, there is already a rich and interesting list of enhancements that are planned.

What does the future have in store for the WordPress industry? If you are part of it, you should be aware of what’s in the pipeline for 2020 and beyond and how it could affect you and your business.

Join me to hear the latest news and plans from the WordPress project.

Presentation Slides »

July 6, 2020 — Why do people contribute to the WordPress project? If you’ve ever wondered this but never gotten involved in an open source project, you might want to know the value of spending time contributing to one.
All contributors do it for the greater good — making the web a better place — but we also do it for ourselves: to advance personally and professionally.
In less than five years Francesca went from being a small-town website maker to landing a dream job in tech and leading releases of WordPress. In this talk, she will share some of the benefits you can get by contributing to WordPress, such as improved skills, increased reputation, and meeting new people.

Presentation Slides »

June 1, 2020 — A two-person panel, featuring Francesca Marano and Umar Draz, discussing how to start and maintain a healthy, local community. Some of the questions covered:
– Why did they start the community?
– What issues did they faced (and are they still facing)?
– What advice would they give to others that are thinking about starting a local community?

May 30, 2020 — In this talk, Francesca will go over the basic sections of a business plan and show you some examples of how you can make one that represents you and your business.

Presentation Slides »

November 18, 2019 — WordPress è sicuro? Sì, certo! Tuttavia, un’installazione obsoleta di WordPress, con una password debole e plugin mal scelti, è decisamente vulnerabile.

Si dice spesso che “la sicurezza è un processo” e la sicurezza del proprio sito inizia con l’installazione di WordPress. Perché dovresti preoccuparti della sicurezza dal primo giorno, quando il tuo sito è nuovo di zecca e solo tua mamma lo legge? Cosa dovresti fare da solo, mentre il tuo sito cresce, quando non hai (ancora) il budget per assumere un esperto? Come puoi rendere più sicura la navigazione dei tuoi visitatori? Come puoi minimizzare il rischio di essere hackerato?

In questo talk, esaminerò alcune best practice che è possibile implementare per rendere il tuo sito più sicuro e perché dovresti averne cura. Nessuno di questi richiede una singola riga di codice. Tutto ciò di cui hai bisogno è buon senso e una buona comprensione di cosa fare e cosa non fare quando gestisci il tuo sito.

Presentation Slides »

November 14, 2019 — In this workshop I will go over the basic sections of a business plan and show you some examples of how you can make one that represents you and your business. There will be worksheets to help you draft your first business plan and crayons and markers to make it more fun!

November 14, 2019 — In this workshop I will go over the basic sections of a business plan and show you some examples of how you can make one that represents you and your business. There will be worksheets to help you draft your first business plan and crayons and markers to make it more fun!

October 11, 2019 — Networking is a great tool to grow your business. It can help you find new ideas, new customers, new partners, and even a new job if you are looking for a career change. Networking comes naturally to some people but is dreaded by others. It can be hard if you are not an extrovert and it is time consuming. The good news is you can learn how to network! How do you get out of your comfort zone and push yourself to talk to potentially interesting people? How do you measure the return on investment? How do you find a good balance between schmoosing and getting down to business? Let’s find out together!