This year, WordCamp Atlanta is a two-day event on October 14th and 15th, 2023 at Kennesaw State University. Registration starts at 8:00 am on the 14th and Closing Remarks are scheduled at 4:00 pm on the 15th.

What Can You Expect at WordCamp Atlanta 2023?

There are a lot of great talks happening in Atlanta this year. It’s really difficult to choose just a handful to list, but needless to say, there is plenty to check out regardless of what you do with WordPress.

Some of the talks you can attend this year include:

• The Impact of AI on SEO Content
  It seems you can’t go anywhere without hearing about artificial intelligence these days. In this talk, Jenny Munn helps a variety of professionals and experts integrate the best practices of using AI to their advantage.
• Exploring WordPress 6.4 Upcoming Features
  WordPress is constantly in development. Damon Cook breaks down some of the newest features and enhancements in the coming 6.4 version of our favorite content management system.
• The Blending of the Metaverse, VR, AI, and Most Importantly, Don’t Forget WordPress
  Technology can do some wondrous things in today’s world. And William Jackson shows you how to utilize the power of AI, VR, and the Metaverse with WordPress. Imagine the possibilities!
• Benefits, Not Features: How to Speak Human About Your Product
  In this talk, Rob Pugh goes over how to speak authentically about your product or brand and how it can solve the problems of customers. It’s all about delivering a human element instead of appearing robotic.
• The Power of Leaning into the WordPress Block Editor
  As WordPress continues to evolve, the Block Editor has grown into a powerful tool. In this talk, Will Middleton shows you how to get more out of the Block Editor and the power behind full-site editing.

These are just some of the talks that piqued my interest, specifically. However, there are far more ranging from helping developers to improving business practices.

Because of the state of things nowadays, I would like to point out that there are quite a few talks centering around using AI for a variety of purposes. If that interests you, then this is definitely a WordCamp you should attend.

Fun Things to Do in Atlanta

Atlanta has a lot of historical references and is full of attractions and museums. You might want to take a bit of time to explore what the city has to offer.

For instance, a few things to do in Atlanta during the WordCamp include:

1. If you enjoy relaxing in a serene natural setting, be sure to check out Piedmont Park. It’s free to visit and is often referred to as one of Atlanta’s best parks.
2. The National Center for Civil Human Rights is a 42,000-square-foot complex highlighting a lot of history including a collection of artifacts from Martin Luther King Jr. himself.
3. Of course, I’m going to point out the Atlanta Botanical Garden as an attraction. This 30-acre locale is next to Piedmont Park and is home to the Fuqua Orchid Center and one of the few hardwood forests remaining in Atlanta.

To be perfectly honest, there is just so much you can do in Atlanta while visiting the WordCamp. The World of Coca-Cola, Oakland Cemetary, the Delta Flight Museum…it’d take a long time to visit all of the great attractions available.

Have a Great Weekend in Atlanta!

WordCamp Atlanta is sure to be a great couple of days, so be sure you’re reserving your place today. Between location and the available talks, I am quite envious that I won’t be able to attend.

I’d like to take this moment to give appreciation to all of the organizers, volunteers, sponsors, and attendees who made WordCamp Atlanta happen. It’s nice to get back to a sense of normalcy.

Don’t forget, we’ll be there in person and can’t wait to see you.

Have a great weekend and stay safe.

The post WordCamp Atlanta 2023 appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

If you’re curious about the location, you can always take a virtual tour of the School of Arts facility.

What to Expect from WordCamp Rochester, 2023

Although this particular camp is only one day, it has a lot of interesting talks available. It begins at 8:15 am with opening remarks and ends at roughly 6:15 pm.

Then, you can participate in the After Party at Jeremiah’s Tavern, which is only a short Uber or Lyft ride away if you need it.

Some of the talks you’ll find at WordCamp Rochester in 2023 include:

• How Close Are We to “No-Code?”
  In this talk, Ben Dunkle shares his experiences using the Gutenberg editor and how it simplifies designing a website without knowing how to code.
• Supercharging Your WordPress Journey with Artificial Intelligence
  AI is a booming platform for a long list of development projects. Christopher Ross discusses the potential of AI and how it can vastly impact WordPress creations.
• 5 Tricks Every WordPress Blogger Needs to Use to Get More Long-Term Readers
  While SEO is important to engage new readers, you can’t dismiss the followers and subscribers you’ve already gained. In this talk, Allysha Howse shares five tips to keep those long-term visitors coming back for more.
• An Easy Update for Old Content
  Part of maintaining a successful website is making sure content is updated. This often includes the layout and theme you show to visitors. Ken Gagne outlines tools and strategies to give your site a new and fresher look.
• Need More Donations for Your Non-Profit? You Should Know This…
  In this talk, Adian Tobey teaches you about clarifying your value position, diversifying yourself, automation of certain aspects, and using the right metrics to keep yourself sustainable for the long haul.

These are just some of the talks going on in Rochester on September 30th. There are quite a few to list here, so be sure to check out the schedule for more information.

One of the talks that interests me the most, though, is the one for getting more long-term readers. Who wouldn’t want to build a dedicated and supportive community from their content?

At a Great Location

The location for WordCamp Rochester in itself has a sense of style and class. Yet, it’s also surrounded by some great attractions, restaurants, and shops. Whether you’re visiting for a single day or plan to spend the weekend in New York, be sure to check out the area.

For instance, sites like the Rochester Museum & Science Center, George Eastman Museum, and of course the Memorial Art Gallery are all within walking distance.

If you’re looking for something to eat, Maru Sushi & Ramen Bar, Carnegie Cellars Wine Bar & Kitchen, and several other locales are less than a few minutes away.

The point is that there are some incredible locations near the venue, and it would be very easy to simply make a weekend of it and do some exploring.

Enjoy WordCamp Rochester 2023

There are some great talks going on in Rochester for this WordCamp. Add the fact that the location is great for exploring and you have an experience that will deliver a lot of fond memories.

Have a great time at the WordCamp, but make sure you visit some of the best locations Rochester has to offer.

I’d like to take a moment and thank the sponsors, organizers, volunteers, and attendees. It’s your support that keeps WordCamps like this active and ongoing. WordPress has a great community, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.

The post WordCamp Rochester, NY 2023 appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Registration for this event is free unless you want to donate. Although donations aren’t necessary to enjoy the event, they are helpful in making sure events such as this continue in the future.

Plus, you can add a bit extra to your donation to receive a shirt specific to WordPress Accessibility Day.

Personally, I rather enjoy memorabilia and merch from events such as this. In fact, my daughter still walks around with one of our WordCamp shirts from four years ago.

What is WordPress Accessibility Day?

Started in 2020, WordPress Accessibility Day is essentially a day of recognizing those with disabilities using the Internet. This includes those who suffer from various visual impairments, hearing loss, mobility complications, epilepsy, dyslexia, and a host of other complications.

As roughly 16% of the world’s population has a significant disability, a more accessible way to use the Internet is ideal for everyone. This event helps bring to light the importance of accessibility and why it’s vital for online success.

The event is held online as attendees are able to register for free and watch the live streams during Zoom webinars. And because WordPress Accessibility Day is a 24-hour event, attendees can watch live streams regardless of where they live across the globe.

If you miss a specific talk, don’t worry; recordings are available on the WordPress Accessibility Day’s YouTube channel.

I like the idea that recordings are becoming more apparent today. There have been a lot of talks I would have loved to see but were in a WordCamp on the other side of the world. This lets everyone enjoy the content at their leisure.

What to Expect from WordPress Accessibility Day

The event starts on September 27, 2023, and begins at 14:45 UTC with opening remarks from Amber Hinds, Co-lead organizer. Afterward, you can attend more than 20 webinars covering a variety of topics.

Some of the talks that stand out most to me include:

• Is my WordPress site accessible? How to Perform Accessibility and Usability Tests
  Do you know if your website is accessible? Depending on location, having accessibility options may actually be enforceable by law. In this talk, Maria Gabriela Gandica helps you test for and improve the accessibility of your website.
• Go Beyond Checklists to Build a Great Course Learning Experience
  For those who are interested in building learning courses with a Learning Management System, Sandi Gauder walks you through going beyond simple checklists to create learning content that is great for everyone to use.
• Let’s Build an Accessible WordPress Page & Post
  Do you know what it takes to create an accessible post or page in WordPress? In this webinar, Peter Ingersoll demonstrates the best practices for including accessibility in your content.
• Mobile Accessibility: Building Accessible Mobile Sites and Native Apps for Accessibility
  Did you know that currently, more than 54% of Internet users are on mobile devices? Mobile accessibility is just as important as it is for desktop computers, and Gian Wild will break down the best practices to accommodate those who use those devices.
• Accessibility Pitfalls of WordPress Menus
  Not everyone puts a lot of thought into the accessibility of menus in WordPress. In this discussion, Deneb Pulsipher goes over why you should include accessibility in menus and what to avoid by showing how certain WordPress themes fail to accommodate.

These are just a handful of the talks you’ll have access to on WordPress Accessibility Day. Others include everything from accessible email methods to creating animation pause buttons.

Regardless of the type of website you build with WordPress, there are topics for virtually everyone…figuratively and literally.

Register for Free!

Don’t forget that registration is free. This one-day event has a lot of great webinars, available, and you don’t want to miss out on the information provided. And if you miss a few because of timing, you can also access them on YouTube, as I mentioned earlier.

I’d like to end by thanking all of the organizers, attendees, volunteers, and sponsors for helping maintain the WordPress Accessibility Day event. You all demonstrate how an amazing community can bring together so many creative and awesome minds.

The post WordPress Accessibility Day, September 2023 appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

What we had was hands down, the biggest US WordCamp as far as attendees were concerned, which is amazing considering that since WordCamp US in Saint Louis, we had a pandemic (how can we forget that one), and last year, to play it safe, only 750 people were allowed to attend.

This year, WordCamp US had a whopping 2000 attendees, which makes it a record.

Getting to the Venue

The venue is located on the shores of the Potomac River, which is a major river in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is downriver of Washington DC and across Alexandria in Virginia.

The overall region is plain beautiful. Getting there for me was a flight from San Jose to Panama, and then on to Washington Dulles Airport which is very, very far away from the city center (Washington DC).

I spent a day looking at the United State’s capital city. It is a place like no other. The city was built to impress with its monuments and memorials all across the city. The National Mall is simply amazing.

As the days progressed, people were coming in because, in addition to the US WordCamp, we also had the WordPress Community Summit which was like a ‘WordCamp’ for WordPress Contributors from across the WordPress Open Source Project.

The summit was held two days before the WordCamp took place.

I had a chance to see Aurooba and had dinner with her, whom I hadn’t seen since WordCamp US in 2019. It had been a Long time, but nevertheless, it was a great feeling to reunite after so long.

Speaker Party

Before the speaker party, we had to set up the booth. Ericka and I have done many WordCamps, and it’s safe to say that we can do this with our eyes closed.

The sponsor area was quite good; its downside was that it was too far away from where the talks were.

To no surprise, the party was held where the venue was. The venue was simply majestic in its size and space.

It had a beautiful atrium that overlooks the Potomac River and thus, the sunset was to die for.

So the party was held there, which was more like a gathering as there was just food. I said hello to my fellow WordCamp friends. It was great to see some of them again, some whom I had seen at WordCamp Europe, whilst others I had seen in last years WordCamp US.

After leaving the party, I bumped into Eleonora Anzini, whom I initially met at WordCamp Europe 2022. We instantly clicked and have been friends ever since, despite having an Ocean that separates us.

I was so happy to see her as this was her first WordCamp outside of Europe and her first-ever visit to the US. So we met, and next thing I know, I bumped into Ruth, who I had seen…. Pretty much everywhere.

At that point, we headed to a bar, had a few drinks, and spoke a lot about stuff which of course included WordPress.

Day 1

We started the WordCamp with lots of intensity, lots of people, lots of swag, and lots of questions. Good vibes. Ericka and I handled everything and everybody.

It was quite funny, as I reflected that the more you do something, the more you are able to do it synchronized and efficiently.

With Ericka, I don’t know how many WordCamps we have done together, but it has been quite a few. Needless to say, the crowds, the pressure, the questions, everything runs smoother the more you do them.

We decided we would alternate talks while seeing friends here and there. For my talk of the day, I saw Aurooba!

Her talk was a lightning one called, “Building a thoughtful block editing experience,” which was about things you should and shouldn’t do when it comes to building your own blocks.

Aurooba was fantastic, despite the fact that she said she was nervous! She did great, her talk was fast and I wish it had more information, for sure. But alas, it went well.

Then I stayed for another one that caught my eye: “Rising from Rejection: How WordPress Helped Me Reenter Society Again” which was given by a new guy in the WordCamp world, called Justin Kopepasah.

His talk called for attendance because of the struggles ex-convicts face to re-integrate into society. This is something that I think is too bad since people do time in order to be rehabilitated yet society marginalizes them, making it impossible for them to get jobs.

The talk was quite nice, as the speaker became a developer, started to work remotely, and in a way, it was WordPress as a software that gave him a second chance.

And just like that, day one was over! We went to a few parties and had a great time. The most notable was the pride party, which was awesome stuff!

Day 2

Day two was underway, and as is usually the case with WordCamps, crowds were smaller but that didn’t stop anyone from having fun.

Eleonora swung by and wanted to know who made the beautiful George Washington Wapuu. Turns out I did know who made it, so I was looking for Joe. He was all over the place as he was an organizer.

I got a hold of him, and the great guy that he is, he was able to speak to Eleonora, as she was quite fond of the Wapuu. She is a fellow designer who has shaped WordCamp Europe over the years as far as design was concerned.

I was so happy to get them both going.

After a quick lunch, we knew the Camp was coming to an end. I had a chance to view one more talk, which was Antonio Sejas’ talk called: “WordPress Playground, Present and Future Applications,” which was about an innovative tool that lets you run WordPress directly in your web browser, within Visual Studio Code, or as a standalone local environment.

It was quite the talk and I enjoy seeing revolutionary discussions like this, which help us shape the tools we use for development.

I didn’t attend Mark Mullenweg’s closing remarks because quite frankly, meh! So I went to the hotel and got ready for the after Party and of course, the after-after party.

The Afterparty

The afterparty was held at the National Museum of Natural History, which is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The party was ok, I guess?

I do tend to note that parties in WordCamps in the US aren’t as intense or as crazy as parties in WordCamps both in Latin America and Europe. So the party was mellow, with no alcohol, and it was more like a gathering.

I stayed there for a bit, started to say farewell to some of my dear friends, and went with Eleonora to have some drinks. We walked, alongside another Marco (from Hostinger I believe) and Freddy Korpershoek, who I ironically had once bought a course from at Udemy. I didn’t know he was a WordCamp guy!

We went to this bar called Vue Rooftop which was right on the side of the White House in DC. Unfortunately for us, one of the guys we were with could not enter, as the Secret Service (you read that right) disallowed people with backpacks on a rooftop overlooking the White House.

He wasn’t allowed to enter with the bag, plus he was unwilling to leave it downstairs with security.

We had a few beers, and a few messages here and there as Ruth Kalinka was on the way. We had a new destination: a Karaoke bar called Wok and Roll, right in Chinatown.

So, Eleonora and I decided to wait for Ruth, but she didn’t come alone. She came with Antonio Sejas (the speaker) and Kat Zarabanda. Long story short, we had ourselves a nice crew to go.

We went and walked a lot to get to Chinatown, and once there, we found a few WordCamp Asia organizers!! The place was quite interesting, as well as what we sang! ????

We sang for hours until they kicked us out, and after that, I escorted Eleonora to her hotel before going to my own.

And just like that, my adventure at WordCamp US 2023 was over. It was great to see fellow friends, was great to help people interested in expanding their services via our hosting, and overall, I felt that this year, compared to last, was significantly better.

Each WordCamp feels different, even if they are the same. This has been my 4th US WordCamp and I have to say it has been amongst the best of them. The city, the venue, the people, the laughs, and even the hard goodbyes are what make this experience so unique.

Until next year!

The post WordCamp US 2023 – Recap appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Workshop

Zoom
Saturday, September 23, 2023, 9:30 am -12:00 pm IST (Part 1)
Sunday, September 24, 2023, 9:30 am -12:00 pm IST (Part 2)
Free

About this Event

What do you need to speak at WordPress Meetups and WordCamps?

You need:

• A talk topic
• A well-crafted title
• A great talk description

It also really helps if you:

• Feel like you belong up on the stage
• Can overcome nerves and have stage presence

Some of us have a harder time with this than others. And for women in India, these can be especially challenging.

GreenGeeks is helping the Diverse Speaker Training Group (#WPDiversity) on the WordPress Community Team organize and host a workshop: Speaker Workshop for India Women in the WordPress Community.

This is a workshop for women in India (other countries are welcome to join us, too) who are thinking about speaking at a WordPress Meetup or WordCamp.

When we say women, we include anyone who identifies as a woman some or all of the time.

Does the thought of speaking at a WordPress Meetup or WordCamp intrigue you? The focus of this hands-on, online workshop will be to generate WordPress-related topics to give a talk on.

This includes writing a well-crafted title, boosting your speaking confidence, and overcoming your nerves. Not to mention having a stage presence and allowing you to practice speaking in a safe space.

At the end of the workshop, you will have a few ideas for talks, an outline of one topic, a title, a pitch/proposal for applying to events, and more confidence to get up on stage.

Plus, you’ll have a chance to practice speaking.

You do NOT have to have any experience in public speaking. This workshop is for all levels of experience.

Register now

Who Should Attend?

This workshop is for you if:

• You identify as a woman some or all of the time
• You have thought about speaking at a WordPress Meetup or WordCamp but haven’t been able to think of a topic
• You think you don’t know anything worth speaking about
• You would like to feel more confident about being on stage

This workshop will be two 2.5-hour sessions; Part 1 and Part 2.

We will cover:

Part 1: Saturday, September 23, 2023 (9:30 am -12:00 pm IST):

• Why speak at WordPress Meetup or WordCamps?
• Dispel some myths about speakers/speaking
• Come up with topics and choose one
• Write a meetup description or WordCamp proposal
• Practice speaking in front of a group

Part 2: Sunday, September 24, 2023 (9:30 am -12:00 pm IST):

(Prerequisite: Part 1 on September 23, 2023)

• Come up with a great title
• Write the outline
• Tips on becoming a better speaker
• Practice giving a short talk

Accessibility:

• The workshop will be held in English.
• A live transcript will be available to turn on or off.
• Please let us know if you have any other accessibility needs.

Register now

Why We Are Doing This?

GreenGeeks values diversity, particularly empowering women around the world. We see a world where there is a mix of different organizers and leaders, including a mix of genders.

Public speaking is one of the direct paths that open up great opportunities for people. This is why we are co-organizing this event with #WPDiversity, and working closely with Jill Binder, the lead of the Diverse Speaker Training Group (#WPDiversity), and funding Jill’s work to host this workshop.

This workshop follows our two previous workshops in India that we hosted and helped to organize: Speaker Workshop for Indian Women in the WordPress Community 2022 and Empower Women Speakers For Your WordPress Events in India 2021.

This is the second year in a row that we are holding a workshop of this specific style: working directly with the women in India who are thinking about becoming speakers.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to learn. Even if you are confident in public speaking, this workshop can be useful – understanding how to narrow down a topic, how to pitch, and the do’s & don’ts of public speaking. Thank you to the organizers for supporting this & Jill for conducting it and involving all participants.“ – Akshaya Rane, Software Developer, Thane, India

“The feedback process was great. It was a great balance between constructive criticism and praise, so it helps build confidence. The environment is inclusive and the exercises done together help refine our thought process, which is hard to do on your own and without feedback.” – Karishma Sundaram, Content Strategist

Please help us share this event with women in India and nearby countries, and if this workshop is for you, please get your ticket on Eventbrite today!

The post Speaker Workshop for Indian Women in the WordPress Community appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Arriving for WordCamp Phoenix 2023

My one-hour flight from LA was very smooth. For those of you who have flown to Phoenix before, you would know that on most days, it is windy and it could be a little scary to land there. But I was lucky, and everything went great.

After checking in at the hotel, I went down to the lobby to meet with Ericka Barboza whom I had not seen since WordCamp US in 2022, and we gave each other a big hug.

We then had a bite to eat at Barrel & Bushel located in the lobby of the hotel and we got caught up on work and camp stuff.

Speaker-Sponsor Event

Thursday night was the Speaker-Sponsor event at Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. located in Downtown Phoenix, a few blocks from the hotel where we were staying.

As we walked to the location, we realized how hustling and bustling the area has become. Quite a difference from the last time I was there in 2020.

As we walked in, we recognized the group of WordCampers and we could not wait to say hi to everyone.

We ran into James Tryon from Easily Amused. Ericka and I had not seen James since WordCamp US in 2022 and we got caught up on new projects he is working on with his company.

While trying some of the local beer, we got a big hug from Adam Warner from GoDaddy and chatted with Dave Ryan with Bluehost and Newfold Digital.

I have known Dave for a long time, from many camps ago. Dave lives in Phoenix and is also one of the organizers of the camp and he told me he had been very busy working on the camp.

He had a cast on his arm as he had fallen and injured himself, but he said he was doing great and was in very good spirits.

I then spotted Kathy Zant of KadenceWP. Kathy and I had known each other for many years and used to run into each other the night before each camp while checking into hotels with bell carts loaded with swag.

I had promised her a big hug, and I gave her a really big one and I hugged her many times during the camp.

What can I say, I am a big hugger!

After people had been enjoying local tacos, Raquel Landefelt, the camp Sponsor Wrangler, went on stage, gave gifts to each speaker, and thanked all the sponsors.

Matthew Clancy, the Lead Organizer, also came on stage to introduce himself and say his thank yous. We all know that nothing would happen without the incredible work and passion of the organizers.

As the evening went on, we met a lot of old and new friends, such as Maddy Osman from the Blogsmith, and Jessica Spart, also part of the organizing team. And we went on having great conversations with everyone.

First Day of Camp

WordCamp Phoenix 2023 was held at Events on Jackson, a large and beautifully-restored former fruits and vegetable warehouse built in the 1930s within walking distance of Downtown Phoenix.

I loved this venue in 2020 and I still think it is a perfect location for this camp.

Getting Prepped

Ericka and I walked in and got our registration badges. The first thing we did was stop by the swag table to get our WordCamp Phoenix swag and to thank the volunteers who were there for all the work they do at these camps.

We spotted Michelle Frechette, Director of Community Engagement at StellarWP. Earlier, Michelle had tweeted that if you took a pic with her and retweeted it with a particular tag, there would be a donation made to BigOrangeHeart whose focus is supporting and promoting positive well-being and mental health within remote working communities.

So, the first thing I did was take that picture with her and post it on social media, as many of the other people in the camp did as well.

Kathy Zant was standing and the Kadence booth, which was the first booth at the entrance of the venue, and of course, we hugged again!

Someone had posted on Twitter that if you were at the camp, you had to say hi to Chad Beatty with Rocket.net, who is also one of the sponsors, so I looked for the table and I did just that.

I also met with Baljinder Singh with wpspins.com who told me he knows our very own Marco Berrocal. He was helping out at the Happiness Bar and we chatted a little bit.

While waiting for the camp to start, I ran into Alex Vasquez whom I met at WordCamp Long Beach in 2019 where he was on the organizing team, and Matt Kopala with SiteDistrict, whose travels I follow on social media. I also said hi to Devin Sears from Bluehost. I have known Devin since my very first WordCamps in 2019 and have always had a great deal of respect for him.

It was nice to see them again and catch up.

Starting Day One

On day one, I was able to attend a few presentations. “Social Media and Growing Your Audience” by Darreyl Davis was very interesting to me.

Darreyl is an Ohio native who has lived in Arizona for 15 years. In his presentation, he talked about how to create engaging content for social media, optimize your website for maximum visibility, and measure the success of marketing campaigns.

He also invited a surprise guest speaker on the stage, Maddison Gaffney, a social entrepreneur, community builder, and educator with over 100K followers on social media who shared her experience and how she got where she is while answering questions from the attendees.

Before the lunch break, I also watched “Make The Impossible Possible: Create a Lasting Impact on your Community by Doing Work Worth Doing” by Keely O’Connor. It was an inspirational presentation that left the attendees with the following idea: “Take action, believe in yourself, you are the director and producer of your life”.

Lunchtime

At lunchtime, we enjoyed taco bowls in the outdoor area of the event space. We sat around the round tables and chatted with everyone. The Arizona sun was nice and warm, although we were sitting in the shade.

It was a great setting for lunch!

In the afternoon, we followed Cheryl Marquez, who discussed a very interesting and hot topic which is “Blogging in the age of AI: How to Stay Relevant and Competitive.”

She discussed various AI tools and the limitations of those tools. I found it to be a very interesting presentation.

After day one of the camp was over, Ericka and I treated ourselves to dinner at The Compass. It’s a revolving restaurant located on the very top floor of the Hyatt Regency in downtown Phoenix.

Dinner was delicious as was the wine, and the views of Downtown Phoenix were awesome. But the best part was sharing personal stories between us.

We became much closer that night.

Day Two of Camp

On Day Two of WordCamp Phoenix, Ericka and I attended a lot of the presentations.

In the morning, I watched Alicia St. Rose who is part of my local Meetup. She talked about the block editor in her presentation “You’re Invited to a Block Party.”

Alicia was very informative, and she also had party music at some points of her presentation which made for a fun hour.

After that, we listened to James Tyron talk about the new Site Editor in ”Shooting Hoops with WordPress’s New Site Editor: Tips and Tricks for Elevating your Site-Building Game.”

Before lunch, we watched Maddy Osman talk about Content UX in “Content UX: How to Create a Great Reader Experience.” I liked it when she said, “A good user experience is almost invisible”.

I agree 100% with that.

Lunchtime at the Camp on Day Two

Lunchtime arrived and it seemed like the morning went so fast. We sat in the outdoor space again and chatted with people sitting at our table, including Maddy Osman, Christina Hills of WebsiteWorkshopCreation.com, Cheryl Marquez, and Donald Luke who is part of my local Santa Clarita Meetup.

I have been on so many Zoom Meetups as we both attended virtually in the last few years. It was nice to meet in person for a change and chat about things happening in the community.

In the afternoon, we watched a few more presentations, Femi Lewis in “Build your Online Presence: Brainstorming Exercises to Develop your Content Strategy”, Robert Windisch in “How to Scale WordPress/WooCommerce”, and Subh Sahal in “Securing your WordPress Website: Best Practices and Tips for Beginners”.

All the presentations were really interesting!

And just like that, it was already time for closing remarks. Matthew Clancy invited all the volunteers to come to the stage to give them a special thank you for their work. Volunteers are an integral part of camps and they truly deserved our appreciation.

The After Party

The After Party was also held at Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. in the same outdoor heated covered patio where the Speaker-Sponsor event was held the night before.

It was a really nice evening, and the Arizona weather was perfect. We were all excited and tired from the two days of camp but ready to party.

We had drinks and food and talked to a lot of people including Carol Stambaugh and Jessica Spart from the organizing team. Then we met some of the attendees whom we had not met at the Sponsor and Speaker dinner such as Tammy White and William Bay.

Before we knew it, the clock struck midnight and we had to head back to the hotel and get some rest, especially Ericka who was going on a long trip back to Costa Rica the next day.

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to Ericka. We hugged many times in the hotel lobby fighting back tears. I will miss Ericka very much and hope to see her again at a camp soon.

The next day, I headed to the airport to catch my return flight to LA. I took a picture of the downtown area from the hotel room floor and said goodbye (or see you later) to Phoenix.

Another WordCamp Phoenix is in the books!

A huge thank you to the organizers, speakers, sponsors, volunteers, and of course, the Phoenix WordPress community.

Until next year!

The post WordCamp Phoenix 2023 – Recap appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

A lot of days, a pandemic, a lot of WordPress and WordCamp experiences, a lot more talks I’ve been able to give, and of course, a lot more WordPress friends.

This camp, I keep close to my heart. As with the last Camp, I traveled from San Jose to Houston and then to Birmingham. Unfortunately, my flight from San Jose took more than two hours to depart. Thus, I couldn’t make the connection (the last flight to Birmingham) and had to spend the night in Houston.

Some people hate United; I think these things happen no matter what airline. It’s happened on pretty much all of the airlines I’ve traveled with, but okay, maybe United does it a bit more than the rest.

But that wasn’t the only setback.

I wasn’t prepared for the temperatures. I didn’t think Alabama would be this cold! So, after staying the night in Houston, I was bumped to fly to Birmingham the following day but was still able to get in time for the speaker dinner.

The Venue

The entire WordCamp was held at WorkPlay, which is like a mixture of a Live Music Bar alongside a Cabaret Style Theater right in downtown Birmingham. The cool thing was that the entire Camp was hosted there.

From speaker dinner to the afterparty, and of course, the Camp itself. This usually isn’t like that for smaller camps.

I felt the place was cozy and way better than the one we had in 2019. The Reason was that this one was right in downtown Birmingham and not in Homewood. And the second reason, as I said, is everything was there.

This Camp was small, so the whole classroom/cabaret stage felt way more intimate and adequate.

Speaker and Sponsor Dinner

S,o I arrived late and got baptized as “Mr. Late”. By who? Well, they were doing this whole murder act within the speaker dinner by two actors from WorkPlay.

I thought this was a great idea.

Had never seen a live play like this at a WordCamp before with the whole plot thing, but the speakers were given clues as to who the killer was, etc., and had to get on stage (randomly) to be a part of the act.

It was brilliant and quite entertaining. Having been to some Camps before, you are used to the normal dinner of people eating and speaking. But this whole thing was interacting with the crowd and you being part of the whole play.

I thought it was lovely.

After a lot of laughs, I don’t know who the murderer was, to be honest, only the suspects. Once that was over, I was able to see some familiar faces which I hadn’t seen since WCUS, like Jessi, Nev, Nathan, Ryan, William, and Aida, and how can I forget, my beloved Kathryn, whom I hadn’t seen since 2019.

It was so great to see them again.

Day 1 of WordCamp Birmingham

My presentation was ready. I could attend the Camp as a speaker and enjoy it. When you are attending like this, it is different than sponsoring because of not being on the stand all day and missing out on most of the talks.

You see some, not all. But networking is always there, and it’s always cool. So, time for some talks.

This was my first talk seen in Birmingham this year. No surprise, a techie one! I just love them. I have seen Micah at quite a few Camps before, as he is with the Bluehost crew, and I’ve always felt a deep admiration for his knowledge when it comes to development.

He is also a great guy, always there for some good conversations.

His talk was about PROPER debugging. To make matters short and sweet, I, Marco Berrocal, as a WordPress developer with almost 15 years of experience, am doing a terrible job at debugging.

His talk was cool because it makes debugging a part of the whole sequence as to how WordPress boots and you can more or less see exactly where your code fails and see what’s being done at that time, instead of dumping stuff into the browser and looking at data that is not coming out right.

The downside is that his talk uses LocalWP to debug with VSCode whereas when I develop, I use 10upDocker, which requires to use Docker and thus, you need both to talk to each other (debugging with 10upDocker).

After lunch, with some of the known gals and guys, it was time for my session.

My talk was about Consent Management Platforms, which are the consent elements you give in regard to your privacy settings as to what you want websites to do (and not do). In non-techie and in my girlfriend terms, it means “that little box at the bottom that I hit “Accept All”.

The talk was to go over what Consent Management is, why it is important and the key takeaways were for people to know what manual blocking is and how it works, and furthermore, how to find a plugin that suits your needs.

Some people need auto-blocking, others need to control the design aspect, and others want to add manually the cookies in order to deal with them.

The talk went quite well. I had the crowd’s interest and there were questions, which is what one always wants at a talk.

Since my talk was the last of the day and the Camp was from Saturday to Sunday, the speaker party was right after day one. I had a few beers and called it a night because I was, quite frankly, exhausted.

Since WorkPlay had a bar and whatnot, it was quite cool. As I said, everything was right there, and no need to move.

Day 2

By morning, I was well-rested and ready to go. I networked a lot during the day and was interested in two talks, but first I wanted to submit my workshops for WCEU, because the deadline was on that Sunday, and well, I hadn’t done that yet.

I decided to go into the lounge room when Nev Harris came in.

I had seen Nev quite a lot of times since WordCamp Miami 2020 in March, which by the way, was the last WordCamp I went to before…well, you know what happened in 2020.

Since then, I had seen Nev in WordCamp Europe, WordCamp US, and now in Alabama. We had never actually spoken a lot, but since he was there, we started.

He reminded me I had blogged about him on our WordCamp Miami 2020 recap, which not only had I completely forgotten about, but he told me it made a positive impact on his subsequent WordCamp experience.

It felt really gratifying the stuff we spoke about and the fact that giving an opinion about someone had made such a good impact on someone.

So Nev, here is to you and many more Camps, talks, and good times!

Once I had submitted my workshops, it was time to attend two more talks. The first one was by Haktan Suren called How to Do Lead Tracking in WordPress which was about UTM values, campaigns and things specifically related to UTM.

He was at my talk since he is very interested in the cookie aspect I discussed, and it went quite well.

Last but not least, my buddy, Stevica Golosin talked about WooCommerce and SEO. It was a fantastic talk.

And just like that, our WordCamp was over.

An End to a Great Weekend

After we were done, a few of us went to have Indian food. It was so-so and just like that, WordCamp Birmingham 2023 was over. I think it was a success and it brings up the question I always have…

Which is best? Small, intimate Camps such as these, or large ones, such as WordCamp US, Europe, etc? Each always has its pros and cons and what you gotta do is enjoy them for what they are.

Until next time!

The post WordCamp Birmingham 2023 – Recap appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Like many communities worldwide, we were dismayed by what went on with the world as COVID unraveled and changed our lives. Back then, as with many difficulties, we asked ourselves when we would be back again after everything was gone.

Time and life will always answer this for you.

The WordCamp was planned around 6 months before it took place. The wonderful team of organizers are dear friends of ours, as Ericka, Rita, Irene, and I are from Costa Rica.

We had dinner earlier this year which marked the first time many of us met and encouraged people to come back in any way possible. To speak, volunteer, organize, or whatever.

After that, the crew got started and slowly but surely, they went back at it. I have tremendous admiration for all of them.

Some are friends I have known for years, and I admire their tenacity to do this. Because it is a lot of work that goes unnoticed so that people have a good time.

But as always, those that do know (the amount of work it takes) have nothing but gratitude towards them.

This WordCamp was planned smaller and in a different venue, which is about a mile from where the old one was. The spirit or goal was to get things back, smaller, and take it from there.

Everybody was excited. And in the end, the event was sold out. Good!

Speaker and Sponsor Dinner

This WordCamp Speaker and Sponsor dinner was a bit away. And I am mean, AWAY. Like almost two hours with traffic and one hour without. It was at the Restaurant Agnus, which is in the far east of where I live.

Costa Rica is made up of the Central Valley, which is the economical heart of the country. So, going there was going to take a huge crossing. But I did, and we had a great time.

It was great to see some fellow speakers who I had seen in previous years, as well as the dinner we had hosted earlier this year, alongside new faces.

I got to see William and Aida again, and Moncho this time, who is from Spain, Canarias, and is part of the sponsors too (SiteGround). I had seen him briefly at Porto, and this time, it was more relaxing to speak and have a good time.

Also, I met up with Ana Garcia, a fellow organizer out of Valencia, Spain, at a talk that I attended during WordCamp Porto.

After a few hours, the party was over. Tomorrow was Camp day and you gotta be sharp as a razor to be there all day and speak to tons of people and do tons of things at once.

So, home by midnight and on to rest for a few hours.

The Venue

The Camp was at the University of Fidelitas, which thanks to Rita, we were able to get.

There were no complaints about the venue. It was suitable for a smaller camp (about 400) and the job went well. The weather wasn’t nice though, which is ironic considering we had our San Jose WordCamp during September when the weather is worse than it is now.

But, oh well. We can’t have it all.

Getting there was a breeze since it was Saturday morning. I have been to many WordCamps, and have a lot of experiences to share. However, there is no feeling like having the Camp “at home”.

Everything goes slower, you have more energy (since traveling is a lot less), and you have a sense of familiarity.

Needless to say, I got there with half of the swag. The other half was in Ericka’s hand, as she was the one who set our booth up.

Our Booth at WordCamp

Top class. I have to give a huge shoutout to Ericka, since she did, by far, one of the best booths we’ve had at any WordCamp.

It was FANTASTIC.

We had tables, chairs, a coffee machine, and of course, the swag that killed it. We had to actually slow down with the swag because at the rhythm we were going, we were definitely going to run out of it in less than a day.

Shirts were being asked for by attendees as soon as we placed them on the table. Shoot, pretty much all of our swag was. We eventually ran out over the course of two days.

It was also great to have Rita and Irene on board. It was their first time at a WordCamp attending as sponsors. Whilst I have done camps with different people here at GreenGeeks, it was a nice change to see the four of us work together.

Great people. Like all of us here :-).

Ericka also had a surprise for us: she brought a professional barista to make coffee for people! It was great. So great, the queues were extremely long and we ran out.

It was a fact waiting to happen. This was such a nice detail that I hadn’t seen before!

Day One

So, with our WordCamp booming, we once again went back to all the magic.

The networking, the people, the talks. The human interaction. I had a great time, and on the first day, I attended one talk, which surprises no one.

It was a techie talk given by Damian Suarez, a fellow Automattician out of Argentina. It was about Gutenberg and building blocks. Needless to say, tech topics were discussed such as APIs, React, and whatnot. It was a good talk.

On the first day, we took our group picture. This one was solid.

Day One Afterparty

The afterparty was held at PubRock, which is the same place we had it three years ago, but they moved locations. So, it was the same place but at the same time, it wasn’t?

I know. Needless to say, the party was smaller, way smaller, than three years ago. This was due to three things: the first one is a bit obvious: fewer people this WordCamp than three years ago.

The second reason had to do with the weather. We had very bad weather this weekend in Costa Rica. Typically, every year, there is a tropical storm before the dry season comes in. Think of it as the “last stand” by the rainy season before the dry season.

The last reason had to do with the fact that there was a football (soccer) final that night. And thus, most people were glued to that and didn’t attend.

So, the party was relaxed, and after a few hours, it was time to call it a day. Exhausted, happy, and with one more day to go.

Day Two

As always is the case with WordCamps, the following day saw a decrease in the number of people that made it. So on Sunday, it was a bit calmer but that doesn’t mean it was less fun.

It was time to talk to the other sponsors, and I had a great word with Moncho and Ana from SiteGround. They are flat-out, fantastic WordPress people. It was so great to see people.

Moncho and the SiteGround crew had to fly back early, so they left around noon. We shared hugs of goodbye with an “I hope to see you again in the future.”

Always bittersweet when it comes to WordCamps.

After that, I was able to see some talks, specifically my friend Rommel Castro, from Costa Rica, who gave a talk about design patterns.

They are basically patterns of code that are meant to be reusable throughout your codebase, and it’s always refreshing to see them in action.

And just like that, WordCamp San Jose was over. Exhausted, happy, and with next year to look forward to.

Til next year!

The post WordCamp San Jose, Costa Rica 2022 Recap appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

What to Expect at WordCamp San José 2022

This year, there is a lot available for anyone looking to expand their WordPress knowledge, eCommerce abilities, or freelancing expertise. It’s difficult to not mention them all as they are greatly beneficial for anyone doing business online.

Some of the talks you can find this year in San José include:

• Affordable Small Business WordPress Marketing Strategies and Ideas
  In this talk, Anna Garcia Lopez delivers a review of strategies that are beneficial for any small business or entrepreneur to use with their WordPress websites.
• Why WooCommerce is the #1 Platform for eCommerce
  WooCommerce is one of the most popular plugins for WordPress. Join Andrea Navarro as she demonstrates examples of why you should use WooCommerce to empower your online store.
• Defending You WordPress: A Practical Methodology Against Cyber Threats
  Cyber security is an ever-growing necessity. At any moment, your site could be the target of an attack. In this talk, Jose Sanchez Perez goes over methods to protect your site and data.
• 6 Tips for Optimizing Content for Each Social Network of Your Business
  Social media plays an integral part in online success. And Vanessa Martinez will show you six effective ways to create content that will engage your target audience on those platforms.
• Selling to the Brain – Neuroscientific Approach
  Taking a neuroscientific approach to marketing can have positive results. In fact, forms of this kind of marketing have been around for decades. In this talk, Thomas Agreit breaks down what this means in today’s business practice and how you can take advantage.

This is just the tip of an extremely large iceberg. There are a lot of awesome talks and talented speakers in San José WordCamp. Make sure you try to absorb as much as you can.

More Fun Facts about San José

Although WordCamp 2022 in San José has a lot to offer, don’t forget where you are. Costa Rica has a long history with some of the most amazing sites in South America.

1. Costa Rica is but one of a handful of countries where you can travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in less than 5 hours! Well, technically, you’ll come across the Caribbean Sea on the east. Still, it’s close to the Atlantic.
2. San José is actually in the middle of a rainforest, and it rains for roughly 170 days each year. For those of you who relish a nice Caribbean rainstorm, Costa Rica is among the most beautiful.
3. Did you know that in 2012, Costa Rica was held as the “happiest country in the world,” according to Happy Planet Index? And San José is one of the safest as the local government has heavily invested in clamping down on crime.

Hope to See You at San José WordCamp 2022!

Out of the many WordCamps we host around the world, I only wish I had the time to visit San José in Costa Rica. Still, GreenGeeks will be attending in person without me.

Stop by our booth and say hi to Ericka, Rita, Irene, and Marco. It’s sure to be a great weekend, and the envy of all of us basking in 40-degree weather.

I’d like to express my appreciation to all of the organizers, volunteers, supporters, and patrons for making San José WordCamp happen. After the long hiatus, it’s nice to see things getting back to normal.

Have a great WordCamp, and we hope to see you there!

The post WordCamp San José, Costa Rica 2022 appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

WordCamp US in San Diego was truly a fantastic camp! The camp was held from September 9th through the 11th (the last day was Contributor Day) at the beautiful Town and Country Resort.

It is a significant landmark in the area since 1953 with brand-new amenities, facilities, and a great location for the event.

Arriving in San Diego

This was my second WordCamp US (at least in person), as with everyone else. In the last few years, I attended many virtual camps as a sponsor and as an attendee.

Since I live only two hours from San Diego, I drove in on Thursday afternoon to help with setup and to meet the team. Words cannot describe the feeling of seeing Ericka, Marco, and Phil again after such a long time!

We hugged, we cried, we hugged again, we just could not control the excitement of being together again.

After a few hours of catching up, we headed over to the registration area where we ran into Topher DeRosia and Cate DeRosia. Both were working on the awesome WordCamp US Organizing Team, which led to even more hugs.

After the setup was complete, we met in the lobby for drinks. The area was hustling and bustling and at the bar, we met a new friend, Anna McPhee from Jetpack.

We asked her to join us and share a few drinks, which she did gladly.

In the lobby, we also ran into our old friend and organizer of WordCamp Minneapolis who was just arriving from Minnesota, Jessi Gurr.

The Thank You Social

It was a hot and humid night in San Diego, but that did not stop anyone from attending the Thank You Social Event with all the speakers, sponsors, media partners, organizers, and volunteers.

The event was held outside at Look Out Point, which is the patio adjacent to the Sponsor Hall.

We met a lot of old and new friends at the social, including Brian Graf from Amazon Lightsail, Kat Zarabanda who was there volunteering and is originally from Colombia, James Tyron from Easily Amused who designed all of our Wapuus, and Bob Dunn with Do The Woo.

After the social, we decided to try one of the resort’s restaurants, Lapper Kitchen & Tap. We were joined (just for company) by Laura Bryan and her husband David, from Minnesota.

Day One of WordCamp US 2022 in San Diego

After a quick breakfast, day one of WordCamp US started and right away we started talking to people coming to visit us. Although it was really busy for us, it was also busy for all the other sponsor booths!

I took a little time to go visit the Volunteer’s table and thanked them for all that they do. We all know how important they are to the success of a camp.

I also said hi to some of the other sponsors with whom I shared many other camps in the past. This included Adam Warner and Sandy Edwards with GoDaddyPro and Dave Ryan with Bluehost.

I also met new friends from other sponsor tables, such as Radvile Jankeviciene from Hostinger (she came all the way from Lithuania) and Jessica Frick with Pressable.

Meeting More People at WordCamp US 2022

Once I could take a break from the busy table, I was able to catch up with William Jackson and his wife Aida whom I had met for the first time at WordCamp US 2019 in St. Louis.

We talked about a new project they are working on about the Metaverse. That sounded very interesting, and I will follow up with them to learn more!

I came across a lot of people whom I had met at other camps or worked on projects with, such as Maddy Osman, Matt Kopala, Lindsay Halsey, Michelle Frechette, Angela Bowman, Nathan Ingram, and the list goes on and on!

Joe Simpson came to the table to say hi and we gave each other a gigantic hug. Joe is the WordCamp Santa Clarita Organizer and the WordPress Santa Clarita Valley Meetup Organizer.

In fact, the following morning, we had our first Santa Clarita Valley Meetup in person, which was very appreciated since all of us Meetup members had only seen each other in Zoom for the last three years.

We had some catching up to do in person.

One of the many great things about WordCamp US is meeting new people but also catching up with friends from many other camps you attended. And every time, there is something new to share.

Unfortunately, I could not meet with everyone to say hi because we were very busy at the table. Also, I could not attend any of the presentations on day one, but I will make sure to watch them all as soon as I am done writing this recap.

A Fun Night of Parties!

At the end of day one, a fun night of parties started. We headed over to a Happy Hour hosted by Elementor at the Lapper Kitchen & Tap. Here we met with many more people including Adam Bell and Afshana Diya. This event was followed by many parties of which we could only attend the ones organized by Bluehost and GoDaddy Pro. Sorry to have missed Cloudways, Codeable and Nexcess and StellarWP parties!

The four of us took an Uber along with Kat Zarabanda and a new friend, also volunteering at the camp, Filipa Correia. We managed to attend both parties.

The Bluehost party was a beach party and was held at the Coaster Room and Terrace at Belmont Park. Because of the rain that night (I know, it really does not typically rain in San Diego and it had been raining all day) we did not go down to the actual beach.

Although, it was an option for guests to do so.

The GoDaddy Pro party was at San Diego Air & Space Museum. Marco and I actually got to walk around the museum and see all of it, which was really cool.

I have been to many attractions in San Diego but never to this Museum!

After the parties, we were exhausted and decided to turn in for the night. We had to get up early the next day for the Santa Clarita Meetup.

Day Two of WordCamp US 2022 in San Diego

Like the day before, day two of WordCamp US was very busy.

Ericka and I were able to take a break and attend one of the sessions, Designing for Accessibility by Sara Cannon.

The subject of web accessibility is of great interest to me, and I truly enjoyed Sara’s presentation. She talked about creating a more inclusive web and shared design best practices including tips on:

• Typography
• Forms
• Colors and Contrast
• Content
• Alt Text
• Video and Audio
• Motion
• Dyslexia
• Handoff/Annotation.

Time to Head Home

After Sara’s sessions, it was time for me to head back to LA (trying to beat the Southern California traffic). I wanted to say goodbye to all the organizers, and I spotted Kim White who was the Sponsor Team Captain and had helped us greatly during the camp.

Kim and I chatted a little bit about what is going to happen next year with WordCamps.

Then it was time to say goodbye to my team…wow that was really hard and some tears were shed (I am not going to say from whom). Phil walked with me to the garage and gave me another hug before I started my drive back home.

WordCamp US in San Diego was a blast. I really want to personally thank the organizers, the volunteers, all the other sponsors and everyone who made WordCamp US 2022 a success.

Till next time…

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