Do you know about this year’s WordCamp yet?

Don’t miss out!

Tickets went on sale two weeks ago for this year’s AMAZING WordCamp Seattle scheduled for November 4-5. If you haven’t heard yet it’s because we are not able to transfer your subscription from a previous WordCamp and can’t continue posting on all the past events. That’s why we’ve just created a new year-round portal site where you can subscribe and trust that you’ll always be in the loop about all things WordPress in the Greater Seattle area. But since we are all volunteers and busy putting on this year’s WordCamp and we don’t want you to miss out, we’d thought we’d poke you one more time here on the old site and ask you to hop on over to this year’s event and check out the amazing schedule and speaker line-up!

Announcing the New Seattle WordPress Community Website

You’ve been part of the WordPress Community in Seattle for some time. But you may have lost touch.

We have exciting news…now you can stay in touch year round, from WordCamp to WordCamp and Meetup to Meetup. We have just launched a new portal website at https://wpseattle.org. The new site has a calendar with all the Meetups on it, all the past WordCamps, information about joining the local WordPress Slack community AND best of all, a way to subscribe to a new, year-round email list so you’ll never lose touch again.

The Seattle WordPress Community is a place for designers, developers, & publishers throughout the Puget Sound region. Our community includes Meetups all the way from Bellingham to Olympia including Puyallup, Port Orchard and of course throughout the greater Seattle area and Eastside. Our community is friendly and welcoming and a GREAT way to learn about WordPress, develop a new business, find help with a project and lots more. You can also propose a new Meetup, speak at a Meetup, get involved in organizing WordCamp year-round, or volunteer at WordCamp. Welcome to our WordPress Community.

Features planned in the coming months include the ability to add your own WordPress events and a WordPress professional directory.

Please head on over now and be sure to subscribe on the bottom of the page so you don’t miss out. https://wpseattle.org

WordCamp Seattle 2017 Speaker Submissions LAST CALL

WordCamp Seattle 2017 takes place November 4-5. Mark your calendar now!

[Apologies if you received duplicate email reminders about this today. If you’re seeing this email, it’s because you signed up to receive updates on the WordCamp Seattle 2015 site and very likely are not subscribed to get updates on the 2017 site yet. Please take a minute to make sure you’ve also subscribed to 2017 email updates so you don’t miss out on any future updates and notifications about the event.]

We wanted to share a quick notification with previous WordCamp attendees to make sure they knew that applications are open for speakers for WordCamp Seattle 2017 (which will be here before you know it). There are just a few days left to submit a proposal, so if you’re at all interested, be sure to get it in quick.

If you need some good inspiration and motivation to apply, check these out…

→ We’ve held some awesome speaker training workshops this summer. Here are some of the gems that came out during those sessions: 5 Myths About Speaking at WordCamp (and Why You Can Ignore Them and Apply Anyway).

→ Are you in the mood to feel like a rock star? Find out how you can experience some minor celebrity status in the Perks of Being a WordCamp Speaker.

→ Learn how one of our stellar speakers from last year parlayed her WordCamp session into an exciting, paid project that was right in her wheelhouse.

Applications to be a speaker at this year’s WordCamp close at midnight on Saturday, 8/5.

So don’t delay.

Get your application in soon!

 

Announcing WordCamp Seattle 2016

WordCamp Seattle 2016 is around the corner – actually in 10 days. It is on Oct 29th and 30th at the WSCC – Conference Center. This year it is a two day event with workshops and sessions on both Saturday and Sunday. We have the schedule up on the site – https://2016.seattle.wordcamp.org/schedule/.  You can purchase your tickets here – https://2016.seattle.wordcamp.org/tickets/

This year we are adding a kids workshop to WordCamp – https://2016.seattle.wordcamp.org/kidscamp/

Keep Learning! Slides, Speakers, & Videos

We’ve had requests for how to find slides and watch videos for all the sessions, so we’ve put together a list of links & tweets (so you can follow the speakers!) sharing the slides of all the presentations we’ve been able to locate. Know about one we don’t? Share it in the comments!

Videos

Videos of many of the presentations will eventually be available on WordPress.tv. Until then it’s a great source of talks from other WordCamps.

Slides

Listed in order of the day…

Contributor Day is Tomorrow

WordCamp Seattle 2014 Contributor Day

WordCamp Seattle isn’t over yet! We’ll be back at McCaw Hall tomorrow to contribute to the WordPress project by writing documentation, subtitling WordPress.tv videos, writing patches for WordPress and WordPress.org code, answering questions on the support forums, and translating WordPress into other languages.

Everyone is welcome to come, even if you’ve never contributed before — especially if you’ve never contributed before! You don’t need any special skills, everyone has something they can do.

When: Sunday, October 25th, 9:30am – 4:00pm.
Where: The Allen Room in McCaw Hall, on the Seattle Center campus, the same building as Saturday’s sessions.

What to bring:

  • A laptop or tablet is the only thing you really need.
  • If you want to bring a power strip and extension cord that could come in handy, but we’ll have some already there too.
  • A pair of headphones, if you plan to subtitle WordPress.tv videos.
  • If you plan to work on code, you can get a head start by setting up Varying Vagrant Vagrants and the WordPress Meta Environment for a local development environment.

More details are available on the Contributor Day page.

Your WordCamp Itinerary

We’ve heard from a few people who looked at the jam-packed schedule and couldn’t decide which presentations to attend. You might even be thinking, “is this WordCamp for me?”

WordCamp Seattle: Beginner Edition has something for everyone!

There’s no wrong way to pick which sessions you attend, but we made some “itineraries” for those of you seeking some direction. Of course, if none of these seem right for you, you’re free to attend whichever presentations you want! (And if you miss one, they’ll all be on WordPress.tv in the coming months.)

Pro Tip: If you’re not sure what a presentation is about, click its title on the “Schedule” page to read a description.

The Total Novice

If you’ve never logged into WordPress or you can’t remember the last time you did, these sessions will ease you into WordPress. By the end of the day, you’ll know your way around and be ready to dive in yourself.

  1. The WordPress Dashboard Demystified – Bob Dunn
  2. What Does That Mean, Exactly? A Primer for WordPress Technology – Kelli Wise
  3. WordPress: .com vs .org – Jeanette Chapin
  4. WordPress for All — Formatting Accessible Content – Mark Root-Wiley
  5. Pick one:
    • 12 Non-Techie Ways to Speed Up Your Website – Kristie Hill
    • There are no dumb questions: Q&A with the WordPress Help Twins – Leslie Stewart & Kelli Wise
  6. Keynote: A Guide to Surviving WordPress for the Technically Challenged – Kimberly Gauthier

The Consultant & Business Owner

Many people make a living building or working on WordPress websites. Even more business owners use WordPress to power their own sites. This track blends business and WordPress to help you get more clients and improve your own site.

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  1. An Introvert’s Guide to Building Your Business Through Meetups & Conferences – Eric Amundson
  2. A Website is Not a Product, It’s a Service: Setting Expectations to Build Long-Term Relationships – Raven Gildea
  3. Setting Up Shop with Woocommerce – Andrea Salkey
  4. WordPress Security 101: Steps Every Business Owner Should Take to Safeguard Their Business’ Virtual Presence – Andrew Villeneuve
  5. Using Images to Build Your Audience in 3 Simple Steps –Heather Johnson
  6. Keynote: A Guide to Surviving WordPress for the Technically Challenged – Kimberly Gauthier

The Creative & Design Mind

For the creatives and designers, WordPress is one of the most common CMSes for which to design. These topics will teach you some of the tech that implements your designs and show you tools and ideas to inspire your next project.

  1. Pick whatever sounds interesting. You’re a creative mind that needs to start in its own direction.
  2. HTML is for Everyone – Andrew Woods (If you’re designing website, you’re designing for HTML)
  3. Pick one:
    • Your First Child (Theme) – Gaelan Lloyd (Learn how WordPress themes get modified with your designs)
    • WordPress: .com vs .org – Jeanette Chapin
  4. What is a Theme Framework and Is It Right for Me? – Sheila Hoffman
  5. Using Images to Build Your Audience in 3 Simple Steps –Heather Johnson
  6. Keynote: A Guide to Surviving WordPress for the Technically Challenged – Kimberly Gauthier

The Techie & Aspiring Developer

Ready to nerd out and ease into WordPress development? We’ve got the perfect set of presentations for you.

  1. Solving WordPress Problems for the Non-Expert – Laura Dodson
  2. HTML is for Everyone – Andrew Woods
  3. Your First Child (Theme) – Gaelan Lloyd
  4. What is a Theme Framework and Is It Right for Me? – Sheila Hoffman
  5. Enrichment time. Pick what sounds interesting.
  6. Keynote: A Guide to Surviving WordPress for the Technically Challenged – Kimberly Gauthier

All Day: Help Desk & Networking

dog-624952_640Got a specific WordPress question you need help with? There will be a WordPress help desk staffed with experts all day to help you with your questions and website problems! Bring your questions and leave with answers.

There will be great networking and conversation throughout the day, in the halls, between sessions, and over lunch. If you find a topic particularly interesting, keep the conversation going with fellow attendees in between sessions and over lunch.

Looking to connect with other attendees online? Then the #wcsea hashtag is for you! Use it on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram so we can all follow along on your journey through WordCamp Seattle: Beginner Edition.

We can’t wait to see you there! Don’t have your ticket yet? There are still a few left! Buy your ticket now.

Contributor Day will be Sunday, October 25th

WordCamp Seattle 2014 Contributor Day

WordCamp Seattle 2015 is only 3 weeks away! In addition to the great sessions on Saturday, we’re also having a Contributor Day on Sunday the 25th from 9:30am – 4pm. It’ll be held at McCaw Hall, on the Seattle Center campus, just like the main conference.

Contributor Days are casual events where people of all skills and experience levels can give back to the WordPress community. We’ll be working in teams to improve WordPress’s documentation, translations, code, design, support, and official websites.

For more information, check out the Contributor Day page.

Tickets are on sale!

Tickets are now available for WordCamp Seattle Beginner Edition!

We have posted some of our speakers and topics on the schedule, and more will be posted soon.  We have a really amazing line-up of speakers: this WordCamp promises to be educational and entertaining.

We are still seeking volunteers!  Volunteers get free admission to WordCamp, and a t-shirt.  So sign up to volunteer!

We are also seeking sponsors.  This is an unusual opportunity to reach out to an entirely new group of WordPress users.

You can get your ticket over on the Tickets page.

Save the Date!

We’re happy to announce that WordCamp Seattle: Beginner is officially on the calendar! The Seattle Organizer Community has decided to put on two smaller WordCamps this year. After a successful Experienced Edition in March, WordCamp Seattle: Beginner is for users who are new to WordPress.

WordCamp Seattle: Beginner will be October 24th-25th at McCaw Hall at the Seattle Center.

Subscribe using the form in the sidebar to stay up to date on the most recent news. We’ll be keeping you posted on all the details over the coming months, including speaker submissions, ticket sales and more!