George Spake is the lead organizer of the WordPress Memphis User Group and member of the web services team at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. George is going to share his experience of using custom post types to create a highly functional news site.
Check out a blog post George wrote to accompany a talk on demystifying WordPress plugins:
Then buy your ticket so you won’t miss George’s talk!
Haley Allgood is the Executive Director of the University of Arkansas Community Venture Foundation. She is passionate about the local start up community, and has worked with Startup Junkie.
Haley will be speaking about how businesses can use WordPress for an economical website they can keep up on their own. From choosing the right theme on, Haley will share her insights for entrepreneurs.
Are you tired of being told that you have to blog to make your small business an online success? Travis Pflanz, of WebWorks, is going to tell you the opposite. His session exhorts small business owners to quit wasting their time with blogging.
Travis has been on the WordCamp Kansas City and KC meet up organizing teams for several years, he develops WP plugins, and he’s a volunteer for the WordPress Community Team. This is Travis’s first presentation at WordCamp Fayetteville, and we’re looking forward to it.
Konstantin Obenland, another of the Automatticians who will be presenting at WordCamp Fayetteville this year, is a Code Wrangler, which means that he works on the core code of WordPress software.
Konstantin is a globe-trotting presenter who has shared his expertise at WordCamps from Miami to Mumbai, Cape Town to Cologne. Enjoy his Morning Show with Michael Caine, and get your ticket so you can see him in Fayetteville.
Josepha is both an Automattician and a local girl. WordCamp Fayetteville was the first WordCamp she ever attended. She went back to Kansas City saying, “If Fayetteville can do this, Kansas City can, too!” Sure enough, WCKC is going strong.
Her organizing skills caught Central Office’s eye, and Josepha joined Automattic as a Community Wrangler just a few years later. Josepha is presenting on Goole Analytics at WCFay this year.
Check out Josepha’s presentation on the Gentle Art of Self Defense for communities, from last year’s WordCamp USA.
Katharine Trauger is doing a deep dive into the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com for WordCamp Fayetteville 2017. She’s going beyond the basic differences and giving advice on who needs which version of WordPress, as well as the pros and the cons.
Katharine has a blog at WordPress.com herself. Home’s Cool is her personal blog, and you may have read posts from it at Arkansas Women Bloggers.
Katharine is new to WordCamp presenting. This is one of the most exciting things about WordCamp — the chance to hear from new people with new information and ideas… people from our own community.
Get your tickets now so you won’t miss out!
Danny Santoro has an actual song parody about his life posted at his portfolio website, so you can be sure we’re going to share it:
In East Cincinnati, born and raised,
On a laptop is where I spent most of my days.
Codin’ up, gamin’, chattin’ all cool,
Readin’ those books I borrowed from school.
When a couple of guys who were up to no good
Startin’ throwin’ offers in my neighborhood.
I got in one crappy job and I pulled out my hair,
I said “I’m movin’ on to something where I show off my flair.
That somethin’ was working at Automattic (the WordPress company) and WooCommerce. But Danny has broad enough experience with online business that he’s ready to share 10 Top Tips for Starting a Successful Online Business.
Check out Danny’s presentation on building a tabletop game with WordPress:
Rachel Korpella is presenting a session called “Strong Imagery for Better Conversion” at WordCamp Fayetteville 2017. Rachel owns Korpella Design in Springdale, Arkansas, and also works with Blue Zoo Creative.
We know plenty of WordPress website owners who get frustrated when it comes to getting the graphics right on their websites. Rachel’s years of graphic design experience make her the right person to help.
Get your tickets and enjoy Rachel’s presentation along with dozens more.
Dave Navarro is bringing us “Facebook Live! The Secret Sauce” this year.
Dave is Director of Digital Media at Alpha Media Topeka, where he develops and maintains WordPress sites for literally hundreds of radio stations. Having figured out how to harmonize legacy media with modern digital media, Dave builds awesome plugins and is active at the WordPress support forum.
Check out Dave’s talk from WCKC:
Dave has been bringing well-researched talks to WordCamp Fayetteville since 2015, and we’re delighted to have him back for 2017.
WordPress is Open Source. What does that mean, and why does it matter?
“Open Source” refers to software that is freely available for everyone to use. This is the opposite of proprietary software that must be bought. MicroSoft Word, for example, has to be paid for. If you don’t buy the software, you’re not allowed to use it.
WordPress, on the other hand, is available as a free download at WordPress.org. You can make whatever you want with it, and you don’t owe its parent company a dime.
Open Source isn’t mostly about cost, though.
It’s about bringing millions of collaborators together to make something amazing.
Because everyone can freely use WordPress software, people have created myriad plugins — bits of software to add functionality to the basic WordPress software. There are many, many themes at all different price points, starting with $0.00. And WordPress core, the basic software, is constantly improved and updated.
MicroSoft Word, which is not open source, doesn’t have this kind of community. Many of us have experienced both WordPress and Word. We can see for ourselves that they are two different kinds of things.
Open Source means that there are different levels of quality in themes and plugins, that they may not all be compatible, and that there are visible different opinions. There probably are different opinions about what kinds of updates should be made in Word, too. but they’re not public.
Because WordPress is free and open to all of us, WordPress asks that those of us who use WordPress to make a living give back to the community. One way to do that is to serve as a volunteer or a sponsor for Word Camp. Attending WordCamp, learning more about WordPress and the WordPress community, and supporting other participants is also a way of giving back.
WordCamp Fayetteville 2017 is over. Check out the next edition!