This is the sixth post in a series to help you get to know our WordCamp Sacramento organizers a little better!

So far, we have introduced you to Bill Mead, Brian Bourn, Jake Goldman, Heather Hogan, and Jennifer Bourn. Today we’re introducing you to Joe Boydston. Be sure to give Joe at shout out on Twitter and don’t forget to use our hashtag #wcsac.

Get To Know Joe

Joe “runs” WordPress.com. Well, not the whole thing. But he works for Automattic, the company who does :) When he’s not running super long distances to visit WordCamps, he helps businesses make the most of their WordPress.com sites. He blogs about his running adventures at crazyrunningguy.com.

WordPress Q&A With Joe

Why WordPress? Why do you use it?

Like most of us I started using WordPress because it didn’t cost anything. I continue to use WordPress today because I want to help keep it that way I agree, that Open Source is one of the most powerful ideas of our generation.

What is your favorite thing/feature in WordPress?

I have lots of favorite features, this month I’ve really enjoyed the push notifications from the WordPress app on my Apple Watch.

Continue reading Organizer Q&A: Joe Boydston →

A big thank you to all who submitted speaking topics and proposals for WordCamp Sacramento 2015!

Our call for speakers is now closed. We received a lot of awesome submissions from members of our local WordPress community and beyond to speak at WordCamp Sacramento and share their knowledge and expertise with you — and to say we’re really excited is putting it mildly.

This week our organizing team will be reviewing all submissions and notifying selected speakers no later than Friday, October 2, 2015. All selected speakers are asked to confirm their session acceptance no later than Tuesday, October 6, 2015.

We’ll be publishing confirmed sessions and introducing you to our speakers through the WordCamp blog once they are confirmed.

Then, drum roll please …

Continue reading Call For Speakers Closed, What’s Next →

This is the fifth post in a series to help you get to know our WordCamp Sacramento organizers a little better!

So far, we have introduced you to Bill Mead, Brian Bourn, Jake Goldman, and Heather Hogan. Today we’re introducing you to Jennifer Bourn. Be sure to give Jennifer at shout out on Twitter and don’t forget to use our hashtag #wcsac.

Get To Know Jennifer

Jennifer Bourn is the founder and creative director for Bourn Creative. She is an award-winning designer with a penchant for writing, white space, chocolate, and Legos. She has been in the design, web, and digital strategy trenches since 1997, working with corporations, casinos, professional sports teams, magazines, creative agencies, political campaigns, small to medium-size businesses, and entrepreneurs alike.

Today she is a sought-after consultant for brand, website, and digital strategy, and specializes in brand development and WordPress theme design. When not obsessing over pixels, margins, and type, Jennifer manages the Bourn Creative brand, writes for several marketing blogs including GoDaddy and WP Elevation, co-organizes the Sacramento WordPress Meetup group, speaks regularly at both virtual and live events across the country, and is excited to help bring Sacramento’s first WordCamp to life.

WordPress Q&A With Jennifer

Why WordPress? Why do you use it?

Before WordPress I used a private-label CMS that was the best solution at the time, but it was clunky, difficult to use, and completely inflexible. While clients could edit their content, it was cumbersome, and that is all they could do. When I found WordPress, I quickly saw the power it gave to both designers and developers AND our clients. WordPress as a platform, provides immense flexibility and puts site owners in control of their own sites.

I also fell in love with the community. I had been connected to many WordPress folks through various social media channels and blogs, but it only took one WordCamp, to fall head-over-heels in love.

Continue reading Organizer Q&A: Jennifer Bourn →

This is the fourth post in a series to help you get to know our 2015 WordCamp Sacramento organizers a little better!

So far, we have introduced you to Bill Mead, Brian Bourn, and Jake Goldman. Today, you get to meet the amazing Heather Hogan. Be sure to give Heather at shout out on Twitter and don’t forget to use our hashtag #wcsac.

Get To Know Heather

Through empathy and education, Heather Hogan demystifies technology and usability, helping organizations define, strategize, and build online communications that delight. Clients rely on her to do a quality job because she has done it so many times for clients like the City of Rocklin, Land Home Financial Services, AARP, and the Sacramento Public Library.

WordPress Q&A With Heather

Why WordPress? Why do you use it?

It’s free, it’s easy to use, teach, and build sites with. Plus the community is pretty fun and unique.

Continue reading Organizer Q&A: Heather Hogan →

This is the third post in a series to help you get to know our 2015 WordCamp Sacramento organizers a little better! We kicked the series off by introducing you to Bill Mead and Brian Bourn, and today you get to learn a little more about Jake Goldman.

Be sure to give Jake at shout out on Twitter and don’t forget to use our hashtag #wcsac.

Get To Know Jake

Jake Goldman is the President & Founder of 10up, a web agency focused on outstanding content management experiences, with full time designers, engineers, strategists, and systems experts. Jake bootstrapped 10up from a 1 man show to a leading force in the WordPress market with over 120 employees, and customers like ESPN, Microsoft, Google, TED, Dropbox, and AARP — to name just a few — in 4 years.

He has been building websites since the mid 90s, and his analyses have been quoted on publications like Fast Company and c|net. He is a core contributor to WordPress, and maintains some of the highest rated plug-ins on the official repository; cumulatively, they have been downloaded nearly 1 million times.

He’s also a proud web community volunteer: he co-organized the first WordCamp Boston in 2010 while living in Rhode Island, started the Providence WordPress Meetup in late 2010, rebooted the Sacramento WordPress Meetup in 2013, and is now proud to be co-organizing Sacramento’s first WordCamp.

WordPress Q&A With Jake

Why WordPress? Why do you use it?

I’ve been working with content management since roughly 2002, including significant time with a lesser known ColdFusion platform and Drupal (and plenty of bespoke work!). WordPress consistently made for happy customers with a very reasonable cost of ownership. I thrive at the intersection of sales, user experience, and engineering, and WordPress was clearly a platform that delivered success on all three fronts. And had a great community to boot!

Continue reading Organizer Q&A: Jake Goldman →

This is the second post in a series to help you get to know our 2015 WordCamp Sacramento organizers a little better! You already got to know our lead organizer Bill Mead, and today you get to learn a little more about Brian Bourn.

Be sure to give Brian at shout out on Twitter and don’t forget to use our hashtag #wcsac.

Get To Know Brian

Brian Bourn is the chief executive and development director at Bourn Creative, a full service design company and Genesis recommended developer, celebrating its 10 year anniversary. He keeps business running smoothly, moving forward, and growing year after year.

With a passion for business, an eye for design, and a predilection for code, he provides consulting for small to medium-size businesses, works with clients around the globe on website strategy, and brings their vision to life through UX design and development. Brian is also lead organizer of the Sacramento WordPress meetup group.

WordPress Q&A With Brian

Why WordPress? Why do you use it?

First, of the tools available for building websites, WordPress is the platform that most empowers designers, developers, clients, and end users alike, and is the easiest to work with. WordPress is good for customers and good for those who create with it.

Second, the community aspect of open source software, specifically the WordPress community, is unlike anything else I have experienced. I enjoy being part of it, contributing where I can, and constantly learning — and respect it.

Continue reading Organizer Q&A: Brian Bourn →

This is the first post in a series to help you get to know our 2015 WordCamp Sacramento organizers a little better! Today we’re introducing you to this year’s lead organizer, the one and only Bill Mead.

Be sure to give Bill at shout out on Twitter and don’t forget to use our hashtag #wcsac.

Get To Know Bill

Bill is currently the Director of Design at Art Institute of California, Sacramento, where he also teaches web classes. He has been building custom WordPress websites since 2005, and loves the platform and the community. He helped found the Sacramento WordPress Meetup Group in 2010 and after a long hiatus is glad to be back involved in the community. Bill lives in Davis with his wife, cat, dog and chicken.

WordPress Q&A With Bill

Why WordPress? Why do you use it?

I use WordPress because I want to enable site owners to manage their own content, and to give them control of their own digital landscape.

Continue reading Organizer Q&A: Bill Mead →

Sacramento is not only the state capitol of California, but a thriving community with a rich history, a wide variety of things to do, a thriving startup community, and a lot of awards that residents are fiercely proud of!

WordCamps wouldn’t happen without the generosity of our 2015 sponsors. Like our great city of Sacramento, we’re proud of our Capitol City Sponsors and their in-kind donations that are critical to the success of WordCamp Sacramento.

• The Art Institute of California — Scaramento donated the venue for WordCamp Sacramento 2015
• StickerGiant donated stickers with our awesome logo on them for attendees to snag at the event

Continue reading Thank You Capitol City Sponsors →

The California grizzly bear, designated as the official state animal of California in 1953, is one of the state’s most visible and enduring symbols, adorning both the state flag and seal. Before all California grizzlies were exterminated, this magnificent animal thrived in the great valleys and low mountains of the state.

Like the California grizzly, our Grizzly Bear sponsors have endured themselves to the WordPress community through their support of WordCamp.

WordCamps are locally organized, volunteer-run, WordPress-focused events. The idea is to provide a welcoming, safe, fun environment where those who work with or use WordPress at all skill levels can come together for a day of learning, networking, and enjoyment. The goal is to keep it affordable for anyone who wants to come.

Sponsors are how we’re able to make WordCamp Sacramento happen — and the 2015 North America community sponsors at the Redwood, Poppy, and Grizzly Bear levels have made a commitment to support all WordCamps in North America, including WordCamp Sacramento.

Continue reading Thank You Grizzly Bear Sponsors →

Want to Speak At WordCamp?

It’s official! Our call for speakers is now open.

We’re looking for YOU, members of our WordPress community to speak at WordCamp Sacramento and share your experience with WordPress and your expertise.

Here are a few things you should know before submitting a talk below:

• While we do look for speakers that are experienced, we are also looking for young and new speakers. You don’t have to be a seasoned pro speaker to apply.
• All talks must be focused on WordPress and tie into using or working with WordPress. Be sure to let us know how your talk relates to WordPress and/or the WordCamp Sacramento audience.
• Your session is not primarily to promote your own theme, plugin or business. This is not the time for self promotion and no selling from the stage or front of the room is allowed.
• Understand that you must know what you’re talking about well. Your topic can range from beginner to advanced, just be sure you know it inside and out.
• Please spell WordPress correctly and respect the WordPress logo and trademarks.
• Be prepared to submit your presentation slides in advance or to review your presentation with a WordCamp Sacramento Organizer prior to the event.
• The event will be a combination of talk types and styles, and may include full session talks, panel discussions, and lighting talk sessions focused around a specific topic.
• It’s okay to submit more than one talk — just be sure to submit each talk separately

Continue reading Call For Speakers →

WordCamps wouldn’t happen without the generosity of sponsors — companies and individuals who support the WordPress community at large and in our own local community.

Proclaimed the state flower in 1903, the drought-resistant California Poppy is successful everywhere in the state it grows. The Poppy was an important resource for the people of California, who used the flower for both food and oil, and the pollen for cosmetics.

Like the flower, our Poppy Sponsor is also an important resource to many in the WordPress community, helping them be successful wherever they do business and supporting ongoing learning and education through their sponsorships of WordCamps like WordCamp Sacramento.

Continue reading Thank You Poppy Sponsors →

WordCamp Sacramento and other WordCamps around the world wouldn’t be possible without the sponsorship of amazing companies who care about WordPress, especially our Redwood Sponsors.

Redwoods live in groves, surrounded by other trees. They create their own strength to withstand winds, floods, and other forces of nature by extending their roots outward more than 50 feet from their truck and intertwining them with the roots of the other redwoods in their grove.

Like the redwoods, our Redwood sponsors are active members of the WordPress community. They surround themselves with people who love WordPress, and they intertwine their brands with WordCamps to give themselves and the rest of the community strength.

Continue reading Thank You Redwood Sponsors! →

Sponsoring WordCamp Sacramento is a great opportunity to demonstrate your support for the WordPress community. In order to keep costs down for our attendees, we look to sponsors to help make WordCamp part of this thriving open-source community.

Event attendees are made up of a variety of web-savvy professionals including freelancers, entrepreneurs, small businesses, consultants, designers, developers, bloggers, representatives from large companies, and anyone else who uses with WordPress.

Sponsoring WordCamp shows our local WordPress community that you care about their success and about supporting the open source platform we all love. Plus, let’s be honest, it makes you look pretty awesome!

We Need Your Support

We’ve created sponsorship levels to fit every budget, so no matter what size budget you have, you can join in and support WordCamp and our local WordPress community.

The following sponsorships are available, if you’re interested please fill out the form at the bottom of this page!

Continue reading Call for Sponsors →

Like all WordCamps, WordCamp Sacramento is planned, organized, and run by volunteers from our local WordPress community — and a critical part of making WordCamp Sacramento a success is our volunteers — and we need your help!

As a volunteer, you’ll help our event run smoothly, make sure our attendees have a great time, and bolster our local WordPress community. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to meet more people in the community, deepen relationships, and give back to the open source software we all use and love.

Some sample volunteer roles may include:

Continue reading Call for Volunteers →

If you’re thinking of attending WordCamp Sacramento, you may be wondering what to expect. Though each WordCamp is different (based on the organizers, speakers, and attendees of each event), there are some general guidelines that all WordCamps follow, as well as some things you can expect at WordCamp Sacramento.

It’s about everything WordPress.

What makes something a WordCamp, as opposed to a BarCamp or an Un-Conference? The content of sessions is firmly focused on using and developing for WordPress. Issues around blogging, business, and social media that are related to WordPress use may be included, but the bulk of the program (at least 80%) is specifically about WordPress. The use of the WordCamp name indicates that it is a standalone event dedicated to WordPress, and to prevent confusion, WordPress “tracks” within larger events such as BarCamp or other conferences are no longer called WordCamps.

The best bargain you’ll get all year.

WordCamps are not meant to be big, fancy, expensive conferences. WordCamps are meant to be low-key local gatherings that are affordable — cheap, even — to allow people from all walks of life to attend, meet, share, and learn. Sponsorships and donations make this possible, keeping ticket prices low. It’s not uncommon to meet WordCamp speakers who are featured at expensive web industry conferences like South by Southwest. WordCamp is one of the best bargains around.

Continue reading What To Expect →

We’re excited to announce that WordCamp is coming to California’s capitol city! This year’s event will be happening on November 7, 2015 at The Art Institute of California — Sacramento.

WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress, the free and open source personal publishing software that powers over 75 million sites on the web. They are attended by a wide range of people, including designers, developers, business owners, bloggers, consultants, and anyone who uses WordPress in any way, from newbies to the advanced.

Our organizing team is already at work planning an amazing inaugural event for our Sacramento WordPress community. More details about the event will be release soon, but for now we invite you to sign up for event updates over in the sidebar and:

Continue reading Welcome To WordCamp Sacramento 2015 →