Do you know about WordCamp 2017 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 WordPress Seattle 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

[If you’re seeing this email, it’s because you signed up to receive updates on the WordCamp Seattle 2016 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.]

So the deadline for WordCamp Seattle 2017 speaker applications is just about here. We wanted to send out one final reminder to make sure everyone had an opportunity to submit their session proposal.

If you need a little inspiration to get you motivated, check out how one of our stellar speakers from last year parlayed her WordCamp session into an exciting, paid project that was right in her wheelhouse.

And then be sure to go submit your own application to speak at WordCamp Seattle 2017!

Deadline for submissions is midnight this Saturday, 8/5.

WordCamp Seattle 2017 – What’s Happening This Month

[If you’re seeing this email, it’s because you signed up to receive updates on the WordCamp Seattle 2016 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.]

We’ve had some exciting goings-on with WordCamp Seattle 2017 prep and planning this summer! Here are a few of the things you might want to know about:

→ We’re still hot into speaker recruiting, but we’re starting to come down to the wire. There are a few more opportunities to attend Speaker Training Workshops this week. Check out the locations and times (they’re both happening this Thursday, 7/20) and see if one is happening close to you.

(Be sure to RSVP on the meetup site if you’re planning to attend one of these. The Bellingham workshop won’t happen unless at least 5 folks sign up.)

→ If you missed out on an opportunity to attend one of the awesome speaker workshops we held last month, we’ve been sharing some of the gems that came out of the sessions. Read about the 5 Myths About Speaking at WordCamp (and Why You Can Ignore Them and Apply Anyway).

→ And 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.

Applications to be a speaker at this year’s WordCamp close on Saturday, 8/5. So don’t delay – get your application in soon.

WordCamp 2017 Happenings in June

Lots going on with planning for WordCamp Seattle 2017 of late…

[If you’re seeing this email, you’re getting it because you signed up for updates last year on the WordCamp 2016 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.]

Our speaker applications are rolling in, and there are some really exciting possibilities for sessions. But there is still lots of time to apply.

→ If you’d like to speak but not quite sure what you want to speak about, we’ve put together a thorough (but by no means exhaustive) list of topic suggestions.

→ If the same-old-same-old 25-minute lecture with Q&A style just isn’t your bag, why not mix it up and consider an alternative session format for your presentation?

→ And if you’re on the cusp but wanting a little training to boost your confidence, we’ve got multiple Speaker Training Workshops lined up around the Sound this month to help you with your pitch and give you some extra oomph with your speaking chops.

If you’ve got any questions or ideas to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Planning a WordCamp is as much a community endeavor as the actual WordCamp, so we welcome your input.

WordCamp Seattle 2017 Speaker Submissions are OPEN

Apologies up front if you’re getting duplicate notices about WordCamp 2017, but there are literally hundreds of folks who have not signed up to receive notifications about this year’s WordCamp yet, and we don’t want anyone to miss out.

If you haven’t already, be sure to visit the new site and enter your email address (in the sidebar or footer) to subscribe to get all the latest updates.

If you’ve attended WordCamp Seattle the past several years, think about stepping up your involvement and applying to speak.

We have officially launched the 2017 website and opened up the speaker application.

On the new website, you can:

Apply to be a Speaker

Get Tips About Submitting a Strong Speaker Application

Learn About Upcoming Speaker Training Workshops

Become a Sponsor

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Suggest a Speaker or Topic for WordCamp 2017

Suggest a Speaker or Topic for WordCamp 2017

photo credit: Andrew Villeneuve

WordCamp 2016 feels like it just happened, but amazingly, we’ve already got planning for WordCamp 2017 well underway.

It will be November 4th and 5th this year – at the same location as last year, the Washington State Convention Center Conference Center in downtown Seattle.

Add it to your calendar right now! I’m getting all fired up just thinking about it.

This year, in order to put on another amazing WordCamp that exceeds everyone’s wildest expectations, we’d like to involve the WordPress community as much as possible.

So we’re reaching out to ask for your input.

We’ll be opening up applications for speakers for the 2017 camp here in just a few weeks. But we want to get your ideas and input beforehand…

Are there any speakers and/or specific topics you’d really love to see at this year’s WordCamp?

Here’s what we need from you:

  1. Please take some time to think about people in your network who might be good speakers. We all work in different circles so don’t assume that someone else will suggest people you know.

    Then, take a few minutes to fill out this super-quick WordCamp Seattle 2017 Speaker & Topic Suggestions form (anonymously) to share their name, email address or other relevant contact information, and their area of expertise with us.

  2. Share this post on social media to help us spread the “Word” (pun intended).

We’re planning to personally reach out and invite everyone who is suggested to apply to speak once the application is open.

Personal invitations mean a lot to those who receive them and increase the chances of them applying, so this is a great way to pay someone an anonymous compliment.

There’s also a spot at the bottom of the form to suggest topics you’d really like to see at this year’s camp.

It’s going to be epic, and we can’t wait to see you there! 6 months will go by in a flash.

Oh…and P.S. – the new website is almost up, but you can already sign up to get email notifications about WordCamp 2017, so be sure to pop on over there and enter your email address so you don’t miss out on any of the juicy details.

Note: With the way the WordPress notification system works, it does not transfer email addresses from year to year, so even if you’ve signed up and received notifications in years past, you definitely want to sign up again this year so you don’t miss out.

Thank You, WordCamp Seattle Sponsors

Remember how pleasantly surprised you were when you saw the price of your WordCamp Seattle ticket? That’s not just us being generous.

Your low ticket price, the free lunch you get both days, the fancy venue where we’re holding the event, and many other benefits of this two-day WordPress love-fest were all made possible by the generous support of our sponsors.

These companies are all important members of our WordPress community, and we hope you’ll support them.

The Gold Sponsors are all exhibiting at WordCamp Seattle. Please visit their booths and let them know how much you appreciate their support.

Gold Sponsors

Jetpack

Jetpack is a single plugin that instantly gives you powerful WordPress.com features, hooking your self-hosted WordPress site to WordPress.com’s infrastructure to take advantage of robust stats, easy social sharing, and a whole lot more.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a fully customizable, open-source eCommerce solution built on WordPress. With more than 1 million active installations, more than 37% of all online stores are powered by WooCommerce. 400 extensions let you add all kinds of additional functionality to your store.

Bluehost

Bluehost has been a WordPress partner since 2005 and powers over 2 million WordPress sites worldwide. Bluehost helps customers, whether novice or pro, create a thriving online presence at an affordable price. With a team of in-house tech experts available 24/7, Bluehost dedicates time and resources to providing the best support and services in the industry. Join millions of other site owners and see what Bluehost can do for you and your online presence.

BoldGrid

BoldGrid is a website builder that makes your WordPress experience more intuitive. Tedious tasks are automated and the entire WordPress workflow is reimagined to save you time and frustration.

Pantheon

With Pantheon, you get hosting plus a ton of other features:

  • Developer Dashboard
  • One-Click Core Updates
  • Continuous Integration
  • Automated DevOps
  • Advanced Caching
  • Backup & Retention

Pantheon is a WordCamp silver-level global community sponsor, but they upgraded to gold because they love the Seattle WordPress community that much.

Avalara

Avalara helps businesses of all sizes achieve compliance with transactional taxes, including VAT, sales and use, excise, communications, and other tax types. Avalara delivers comprehensive, automated, cloud-based solutions that are fast, accurate, and easy to use. Avalara has made big investments in small business, including their “Gimme 5 Small Business Customer Spotlight” that gives you a chance to win $5,000 for your small business.

MediaTemple

Since 1998, Media Temple has helped web developers, designers, digital entrepreneurs, and innovators bring their ideas to life online. Technology trends come and go, but one thing has never changed: Media Temple’s commitment to customer success. They provide web hosting and cloud services for 1.5 million websites in 100 countries. From everyday people to top bloggers, creative professionals, and businesses small and large, Media Temple makes it easy for anyone to have an effective, engaging Internet presence.

SiteGround

SiteGround offers a variety of hosting options, using the latest performance-enhancing technologies. SiteGround provides unique security solutions and technical support that earns a near-100% customer rating. They brought a ton of swag to Seattle, so be sure to stop by their booth. If you attend the KidsCamp workshop, they brought cute socks for the kids.

FlyWheel

Flywheel is a WordPress platform that empowers designers, developers, and digital agencies to focus on what they do best — build beautiful, functional sites for their clients. Flywheel makes it easy to create and develop WordPress sites, handle hosting, hand off billing, and scale your business. Flywheel recently released their free Super Simple SSL.

Setka

Setka provides innovative management and editing tools that empower people in media to create beautiful content. The Setka Editor plugin for WordPress was developed by a group of media professionals who have been creating great-looking content for more than a decade. Setka Editor enables more than 300 brands and 100 editors to create award-winning content and advertising experience.

Silver Sponsors

GoDaddy

GoDaddy‘s exclusive Quick Start wizard gets you online fast with pre-built websites with all the essential pages and features. We even include a free library with thousands of high-quality images. Plus, our intuitive drag and drop editor makes it easy to add text, edit images or even rearrange the page. And if you have some technical skills, you can add virtually any feature you can imagine.

Sitelock

SiteLock is currently protects over one million WordPress websites. SiteLock is a global leader in cloud-based website security solutions, protecting a total of over eight million websites around the world.

iThemes/BackupBuddy

BackupBuddy is the original WordPress backup plugin to backup, restore & move WordPress.

IvyCat

Next year marks IvyCat’s 15th year in business. They have sponsored every WordCamp Seattle and every WordCamp Portland since they started. We are very happy to welcome back our very first original sponsor for another WordCamp.

WPEngine

WPEngine offers stunning speed, powerful security, and best-in-class customer service. At WP Engine, WordPress isn’t just our platform, it’s our passion.

In addition to these gold- and silver-level, we also thank our bronze, small-business, and in-kind sponsors, all listed on this page.

 

Your 2016 WordCamp Seattle Itinerary

With so many good talks this weekend, it may be hard to pick where to go. You might even think, “Is this WordCamp for me?”

Seattle WordCamp 2016 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 recommendations. (And if you miss one, they’ll all be on WordPress.tv in the coming months.)

Session Selection Pro-Tips

Before we get to the itineraries, here are general tips for picking speakers:

  • Read the talk descriptions. If you’re not sure what a presentation is about, click its title on the “Schedule” page to read a description.
  • Push yourself. No one wants to sit through a talk and understand none of it, but knowing everything is just as boring. If a topic sounds complicated but interesting, consider taking the risk and seeing what you can learn!
  • Don’t forget the hallway track. There may be one slot where neither talk sounds too interesting. That’s OK! You can always find people networking or getting helped by experts at the Help Desk. WordCamps bring together an amazing community, so take one talk off and meet some people!
  • Listen for recommendations. If you come out of a talk you love and hear everyone in your row is going to the same next talk, follow them!

Itineraries!

Graduating WapuuThe Total Novice  & Site Owner

If you’ve never logged into WordPress, or you can’t remember the last time you did, these sessions will ease you into it. Even if you know your way around the Dashboard a bit, this is your chance to really know WordPress.

Saturday

  1. KEYNOTE: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
  2. [Double-slot. Don’t Miss!] Get To Know WordPress – A Workshop for Beginners
  3. Custom Post Types for Non-Developers
  4. Usability Schmoozabillity: 5 Tips to Make Your Website Work for Customers
  5. Managing Your Online Reputation
  6. Hack Attack

Sunday

Need a break? Come support the WordPress community in the Contributor Track all day Sunday!

  1. Becoming a Part of the WordPress Community
  2. [Technical, but Don’t Miss!] Anatomy of a WordPress installation
  3. [Don’t Miss!] There Are No Dumb Questions: Beginner Q&A
  4. Tools for Managing Multiple WordPress Sites
  5. On Site SEO in WordPress for Content Marketing
  6. [Don’t Miss!] 10 Blogging Habits that Kill the Competition
  7. Using a CDN to Speed Up Your Website

Hipster Wapuu with coffee cup and satchelThe Consultant & Site Builder

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.

Saturday

  1. KEYNOTE: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
  2. [Don’t Miss!] Stop Saying No | Learning to Nurture Clients
  3. Common Desk Job Postural Ailments and What You Can Do About It!
  4. [Don’t Miss!] Custom Post Types for Non-Developers
  5. Usability Schmoozabillity: 5 Tips to Make Your Website Work for Customers
  6. Managing Your Online Reputation
  7. Profitable Website Projects – The Oreo Cookie Strategy

Sunday

Need a break? Come support the WordPress community in the Contributor Track all day Sunday!

  1. Becoming a Part of the WordPress Community
  2. Anatomy of a WordPress installation
  3. There Are No Dumb Questions: Beginner Q&A
  4. Tools for Managing Multiple WordPress Sites
  5. [Don’t Miss!] This Is Not What We Asked For: Avoiding, Preparing For, and Handling Difficult Client Moments
  6. What I Learned From Making A WordPress Powered Extranet For My Freelance Biz
  7. [Don’t Miss!] Six Figure Freelancing

Wapuu MinionThe Parent to a Budding Techie

If you’ve got a kiddo between the ages of 8 and 14, Saturday is a great opportunity for Bring Your Kid to Camp Day. Let them experience the world you work in and take them to sessions with you Saturday morning. Then send them to get their own WordPress experience on at the KidsCamp Workshop Saturday afternoon.

Saturday

  1. [Inspiring for all ages] KEYNOTE: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
  2. [Zumba! They’ll love it!] Common Desk Job Postural Ailments and What You Can Do About It!
  3. KidsCamp Workshop

Pink mohawk WapuuThe 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.

Saturday

  1. KEYNOTE: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
  2. [Technical. Don’t Miss!] A Better User Experience With The WordPress Customizer
  3. Common Desk Job Postural Ailments and What You Can Do About It!
  4. Custom Post Types for Non-Developers
  5. [Technical. Don’t Miss!] Drawing with SVG
  6. Managing Your Online Reputation
  7. Hack Attack

Sunday

Need a break? Come support the WordPress community in the Contributor Track all day Sunday!

  1. Becoming a Part of the WordPress Community
  2. [Technical. Don’t Miss!] CSS Sanity with Sass
  3. Helping Non-Profits Change The World With WordPress
  4. The Web We Make
  5. This Is Not What We Asked For: Avoiding, Preparing For, and Handling Difficult Client Moments
  6. 10 Blogging Habits that Kill the Competition
  7. Six Figure Freelancing

Hoodie and laptop WapuuThe Accidental Techie & Aspiring Developer

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

Saturday

  1. KEYNOTE: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
  2. [Technical. Don’t Miss!] A Better User Experience With The WordPress Customizer
  3. Getting to Know WordPress Multisite
  4. [Don’t Miss] Custom Post Types for Non-Developers
  5. Usability Schmoozabillity: 5 Tips to Make Your Website Work for Customers
  6. Change Your Defaults, Strengthen Your Security
  7. Profitable Website Projects – The Oreo Cookie Strategy

Sunday

Need a break? Come support the WordPress community in the Contributor Track all day Sunday!

  1. Becoming a Part of the WordPress Community
  2. Anatomy of a WordPress installation
  3. Helping Non-Profits Change The World With WordPress
  4. [Technical. Don’t Miss!] The Web We Make
  5. This Is Not What We Asked For: Avoiding, Preparing For, and Handling Difficult Client Moments
  6. What I Learned From Making A WordPress Powered Extranet For My Freelance Biz
  7. Using a CDN to Speed Up Your Website

Wizard Hat WapuuThe Code Monkey & Tech Wizard

If you’ve contributed to core, build custom themes, or maintain 10 plugins you probably don’t need too much help picking sessions, but maybe we can steer you in an interesting direction or two. Maybe this is a good time to work on some of those soft skills 😉

Saturday

  1. KEYNOTE: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
  2. A Better User Experience With The WordPress Customizer
  3. Getting to Know WordPress Multisite
  4. Names, Versions, Releases, and SVN
  5. Drawing with SVG
  6. Managing Your Online Reputation
  7. Profitable Website Projects – The Oreo Cookie Strategy

Sunday

  1. Becoming a Part of the WordPress Community
  2. Contributor Track!
  3. Contributor Track!
  4. [Don’t Miss] The Web We Make
  5. Contributor Track!
  6. Contributor Track!
  7. Contributor Track!

Wapuu playing fire-spitting bagpipe on a unicycle

Had to get this one in somehow!

All Day: Help Desk & Networking

Got 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.

What are those things!?

These cute yellow creatures are wapuus! They’re the unofficial mascot of WordPress.