I feel like that guy on the Memorex commercial.
You know, this guy:
I suspect that a lot of you might be feeling a bit like that too, with all the WordCamp Portland 2010 info flying at you in the past week. Speakers, schedules, tickets, times, dates, whaaa? I thought I’d just break it [...]
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Speakers/Schedule: Stay Tuned
Posted By Aaron on June 16th, 2010
Yesterday was the final day for speaker submissions for WordCamp Portland, and you guys didn’t disappoint. We’ve got 50-ish proposals that cover all sorts of WordPress and blogging material from the super-technical to the super-newbie.
We’ll be throwing all of those proposals in a blender, flipping the switch, and seeing what flies out.
Not really. This is not ‘nam… this is WordCamp. There are rules. In the next couple of weeks several of the WordCamp Portland organizers will review the proposals and make some decisions about the schedule and speakers. If you submitted a proposal, you should hear from us by the end of the month. Once we have things somewhat formed, we’ll announce the speaker list publicly.
Registration Update
Posted By jarvitron on June 14th, 2010
I know we’re getting more questions on the Twitter registration for this year’s Wordcamp PDX, and while you can’t buy tickets yet, here are the early details.
Registration will open August 1st, there will be a general announcement on this site with the link to buy your tickets.
You will receive a physical ticket, you will have to keep this physical ticket on your person while at the conference.
I’ll have more details in the weeks to come, go enjoy some sunshine (if it ever comes back).
Changes to Saturday’s Speaker Lineup
Posted By Aaron on September 16th, 2009
We have a couple changes to announce for our Saturday lineup of speakers at WordCamp Portland. Unfortunately Micah Baldwin will be unable to attend, but I’m excited to announce that Shayne Sanderson will now be a featured presenter.
Shayne is owner of S-Tastic Designs where he offers WordPress-related support, design and consulting services. He also works for Instinct Entertainment (makers of WP Ecommerce) providing support and custom modifications. He has presented at several WordCamps this year including Las Vegas, Raleigh and Los Angeles.
Shayne will be presenting on WPMU and Ecommerce.
Saturday’s schedule and order of speakers has changed a bit; see the agenda page for the updated schedule.
Attendee Email – 9/13/09
Posted By Betsy Richter on September 13th, 2009
Greetings WordCamp Portland attendees! This will probably be the last communication to you before this weekend’s event. Read below to find out logistical information and other things you should know.
IF YOU CAN’T ATTEND:
If you’re unable to attend, we have a waiting list of over 50 people that would love to be at WordCamp Portland. You can either transfer your ticket to another person, or let us know that you’d like it to go to someone from the waiting list.
Either way, you’ll need to contact Betsy Richter (bdrichter@gmail.com) to have her facilitate the ticket transfer. (Do note that while we notify the waiting list recipient who originally held the ticket – including your email address – we can’t broker any financial transactions, sorry.)
Please contact Betsy by WEDNESDAY AT 5:00 PM if you’re unable to attend!
TRANSPORTATION/PARKING:
WordCamp Portland is at Webtrends (851 SW 6th Avenue, Suite 1600). (Google Map) If arriving by car, there is some street parking as well as several parking lots within a couple blocks. A better option might be to take TriMet’s MAX light rail service; the Pioneer Courthouse Square MAX stations are within a block of Webtrends.
BUILDING ACCESS:
The Webtrends offices are in a secured area of the building, so access will require escort from one of our volunteers. Attendees arriving in the morning will be let in as a group; if you arrive and there isn’t an escort available there will be instructions posted to call or txt to have someone let you in.
Note that we’re not equipped to handle pets (other than service animals) or children.
SMOKING:
Because of the secured building access, having smokers frequently leaving and returning from smoking breaks will be disruptive. If you’re a smoker, expect that we’ll be able to let you back into the building a few times per day but minimizing your in-and-out trips will allow our volunteers to enjoy more of the weekend themselves. While there is a balcony on the 16th floor, smoking on said balcony is expressly prohibited.
BEER AND BLOG:
WordCamp is invading Portland’s weekly Beer and Blog event this coming Friday. Join dozens of Portland bloggers and techies at the Green Dragon (SE 9th & Yamhill) (Google Map) from 4pm-6pm for networking and a beverage.
SCHEDULE:
Saturday, September 19
- 8:15 – Doors open / Registration
- 9:00 – Welcome/opening/intro to unconference
- 9:30 – Micah Baldwin – Do Your Readers Trust You? Building Influence The Right Way
- 10:30 – Cami Kaos / Dr. Normal – Bondage: How to be your podcast’s Dom, not its Sub
- 11:30 – Lunch
- 12:45 – Matt Mullenweg – WordPress Q&A
- 13:45 – Jason Grigsby – Speed Up Wordpress. Make Readers Happy and Your Site Green
- 14:30 – Break
- 15:00 – Duane Storey – BraveNewBlog – Embracing the mobile frontier
- 16:00 – Tyler Sticka – WordPress-Powered Portfolios
- 16:45 – Closing Comments
Sunday, September 20
- 9:00 – Welcome/networking
- 9:30 – Lorelle VanFossen – Tags and Categories: Are You Uncategorized?
- 10:30 – John Hawkins – Building a Plugin – It’s Easier Than You Think
- 11:30 – Lunch
- 12:45 – Scott Porad – LOLs, FAILs and Life at the Cheezburger Factory
- 13:45 – Will Norris – How NOT to build a WordPress Plugin
- 14:30 – Break
- 15:00 – Garron Selliken – Geotagging and Mapping WordPress Content
- 16:00 – Scott Hendison, Amber Case, Dawn Foster, Rick Turoczy, and Nate DiNiro – SEO Smackdown Panel
- 16:45 – Closing Comments
We’ll see you all on Saturday morning!
- Aaron Hockley and the rest of the WordCamp Portland team
What to Know if You’re Coming to WordCamp Portland
Posted By Aaron on September 12th, 2009
Maybe WordCamp Portland will be your first WordCamp. Perhaps you haven’t been to a WordCamp say, I don’t know, the last WordCamp Portland. You might be wondering what it will be like, what you should bring, and so on. Here a few tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your WordCamp experience:
The Agenda/Format
WordCamp Portland is using a hybrid model of a traditional conference that has pre-announced speakers along with an unconference, where attendees can suggest their own sessions and the schedule is made up as the weekend progresses. If you want to come and only see the speakers we’ve announced, think of that as one “track” that will take up the entire weekend. We’ll also have an unconference open grid on the wall starting on Saturday morning, so that other sessions will be held throughout the weekend. The goal is that at any given time, we’ll have a variety of topics for a variety of interests. If our featured speaker is very technical, my expectation is that there will be some less technical unconference sessions at the same time, and vice versa.
Learn About the Speakers
If you have a bit of time, take a look at our group of speakers and learn a bit about their background. We’ve got a diverse set of speakers coming at WordPress from a variety of positions, and if you’re interested in a particular topic you’ll probably gain more from the experience if you’ve read a bit of background on the speaker.
What to Bring
Here are some suggestions on what to bring to WordCamp Portland:
- Comfortable clothes: the event will run from 9-5 on both Saturday and Sunday, and there’s a good chance you might end going out with some old or new contacts afterwards. Don’t worry about dressing up; t-shirts, shorts, and crocs are just fine.
- Camera, video camera, Flip camera, etc: Bring recording devices. Take as many photos as you like. Record some video. We’ll be streaming some of the event but we won’t be able to have cameras in all of the rooms.
- A way to take notes: Perhaps this is your laptop; perhaps this is your moleskine; perhaps you really like to write on the back of your hand. It’s ok, we won’t judge you.
- Business cards, moo cards, or the like: You’re probably going to be meeting some interesting new people. Make it easy for them to keep in touch.
After the Event
Don’t forget to do a bit of followup after the event. If there were some topics that were really interesting, check out your resources, visit the URLs that you jotted down in your notes, or follow up with the speakers. If you met some interesting attendees and got their business cards, visit their websites or send them an email.
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Note that an email will be sent to all WordCamp Portland attendees in the next couple of days with final logistical information including parking, transportation, building entry, and a few other topics.
Attendee Email – 9/6/09
Posted By Betsy Richter on September 6th, 2009
Greetings WordCamp Portland attendees!
In about two weeks, we’ll have over 200 bloggers, technologists, and other WordPress enthusiasts gathered for Portland’s largest blogging conference. Here are a few pieces of information about the sessions and schedule. We’ll be sending out an another update later this week with logistical information including parking, transportation, and other last-minute things to know.
SCHEDULE:
We’ve published the tentative schedule. Note that all times and sessions are subject to change, but this is the plan as it currently stands:
Saturday, September 19
- 8:15 – Doors open / Registration
- 9:00 – Welcome/opening/intro to unconference
- 9:30 – Micah Baldwin – Do Your Readers Trust You? Building Influence The Right Way
- 10:30 – Cami Kaos / Dr. Normal – Bondage: How to be your podcast’s Dom, not its Sub
- 11:30 – Lunch
- 13:00 – Matt Mullenweg – WordPress Q&A
- 14:00 – Jason Grigsby – Speed Up Wordpress. Make Readers Happy and Your Site Green
- 15:00 – Duane Storey – BraveNewBlog – Embracing the mobile frontier
- 16:00 – Tyler Sticka – WordPress-Powered Portfolios
- 16:45 – Closing Comments
Sunday, September 20
- 9:00 – Welcome/networking
- 9:30 – Lorelle VanFossen – Tags and Categories: Are You Uncategorized?
- 10:30 – John Hawkins – Building a Plugin – It’s Easier Than You Think
- 11:30 – Lunch
- 13:00 – Scott Porad – LOLs, FAILs and Life at the Cheezburger Factory
- 14:00 – Will Norris – How NOT to build a WordPress Plugin
- 15:00 – Garron Selliken – Geotagging and Mapping WordPress Content
- 16:00 – Scott Hendison, Amber Case, Dawn Foster, Rick Turoczy, and Nate DiNiro – SEO Smackdown Panel
- 16:45 – Closing Comments
SUGGEST TOPICS FOR THE SEO SMACKDOWN:
Sunday afternoon we’ll have a SEO Smackdown Panel, discussing the merits of SEO tactics vs. focusing purely on writing content. Have a question about search engine optimization? Suggest a question for the panel by leaving a comment on this blog post.
ASK WORDPRESS QUESTIONS TO MATT MULLENWEG:
We’re excited to have Matt Mullenweg (founding developer of WordPress) in attendance; he’ll be fielding questions in a “Town Hall” style forum. Have a question for Matt? We’ll be taking questions from the audience but would love to have a few questions ahead of time to start the discussion. Leave your question for Matt on this blog post.
BRING YOUR UNCONFERENCE IDEAS TO WORDCAMP:
In addition to the announced speakers, we’ll have “unconference”-style time available throughout the weekend. Rooms will be available for groups to discuss topics not on the agenda. Would you like to lead a presentation on a WordPress or blogging-related topic? Bring your idea and suggest it when we start unconference scheduling on Saturday morning.
Maybe you want to talk about a topic even though you’re not an expert? You don’t have to be an expert to suggest an unconference session; you only need to be willing to start the discussion. We’re anticipating a wide range of topics to be suggested (both technical and non.)
PLEASE TAG AND SHARE WORDCAMP CONTENT
We look forward to the various blog posts, photos, and videos that are likely to come out of WordCamp Portland. As you write, post, and tweet, tag things with “wcpdx” (#wcpdx on Twitter) so that your content can easily be found.
IF YOU CAN’T ATTEND
If you’re unable to attend WordCamp and would like to transfer your ticket to another person, please contact our Registration coordinator, Betsy Richter:
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We look forward to seeing you on September 19th and 20th for WordCamp Portland. Expect an email with last-minute logistical information in the next week or so.
Presentation Links Roundup
Posted By Aaron on September 28th, 2008
Many of the WordCamp Portland presenters referenced links, information, or slides which are shared online. Here’s a roundup of pointers to the presentation information, roughly in the order presented:
Betsy Richter – From Concept to Execution in Eight Days – links, slides, video, commandments.
Justin Kistner – WordPress Ecosystems – slides, notes, links
Chris O’Rourke – 10 Proven Plugins to Make Your Blog Pop – slides, links, video
Josh Bancroft – Tying Your Tubes: Integration with WordPress – slides, links
Kelly Guimont – Considerations When Choosing A Theme – video (Outline/notes to come)
Dane Hesseldahl – Extend Your Blog with Custom Plug-In Development – slides, source code
Eric Amundson – Design & Debug WordPress Themes Using Free Tools – super-detailed notes and links
Marshall Kirkpatrick – Feed Your Blog with RSS – slides of links
If there is any information which should be added to this list, leave a comment and I’ll update the post. I know that some folks were recording or streaming video, we’ll link that that if available as well.
Will Norris to Talk About New Version of wp-openid
Posted By Aaron on September 23rd, 2008
I mentioned how unconference sessions are a great way to talk about things that didn’t make it onto the main agenda, right?
Will Norris, author of the popular wp-openid plugin which enables OpenID support for WordPress, will be at WordCamp Portland and will be talking about what’s coming up in a soon-to-be-released version of the plugin. With OpenID becoming more prevalent across the ‘net, this is a great opportunity to learn about WordPress and OpenID integration.
Posted in Agenda
Automattic to Preview WordPress 2.7 at WordCamp Portland
Posted By Aaron on September 18th, 2008
I’m excited to announce we have a great addition to our lineup of speakers for WordCamp Portland. Jane Wells from Automattic will be offering a look at some of the new features and changes that will be coming in WordPress 2.7. In her words:
Get an official guided tour of the new features coming up in WordPress 2.7. Automattic will provide an insider’s view of the revamped navigation, screen layouts and new functionality that will have you counting the days until the November release date.
We’ve made some minor schedule adjustments which are reflected on the agenda page; one important note is that we will now begin at 8:30am instead of 8:45.
Posted in Agenda
How About a Session On (insert topic here)?
Posted By Aaron on September 17th, 2008
Do you have a WordPress topic on your mind? Have you looked at our list of speakers and sessions and thought “that’s great, but what about ________?” You’re the perfect person to suggest a topic for an unconference session!
The evening at WordCamp will be unconference-style, meaning that it won’t be planned until that day. We’ll offer a bunch of rooms (of varying sizes) and folks can suggest session topics. Maybe it’s something you know about and want to share. Perhaps it’s a blogging topic on your mind and you’d like to chat about it with other folks. A session leader doesn’t need to be an expert, just someone who’s willing to help kick things off and keep things moving in a productive fashion.
I’ve heard rumors that folks are thinking about unconference sessions on things such as moving to WordPress from another platform, neighborhood blogging, and how to develop plugins for the admin interface. Bring your ideas to WordCamp for potential unconference sessions; it’ll be interesting to see which WordPress topics are on everyone’s mind.
Posted in Agenda
