This is the third post in a series to help you get to know our 2016 WordCamp Sacramento organizers a little better! You’ve met Jose Castaneda and Bill Mead, and today we’re introducing you to Jennifer Bourn.

Jennifer Bourn is an award-winning designer and the founder/partner at Bourn Creative, a full service design agency, specializing in web design, brand design, messaging, and content strategy, with WordPress as her platform of choice. With more than 18 years experience in the design and branding trenches, Jennifer leads workshops and speaks regularly at both virtual and live events across the country, co-organizes the Sacramento WordPress Meetup, and is lead organizer for WordCamp Sacramento 2016.

When not working with clients, Jennifer manages the Bourn Creative brand, writes for several marketing blogs, and has her own personal blog Inspired Imperfection where she shares recipes, family-friendly adventures, and candid commentary on work/life balance.

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

Get To Know Jennifer Bourn

To help you get to know our organizers a bit better, we asked them to answer a few questions…

Here’s what Jennifer had to say:

What was your favorite part of WordCamp 2015?

I’ve been to a lot of WordCamps all over the western half of the United States, and I was more excited for WordCamp Sacramento 2015 than any of them. I am very proud to be part of the team that brought WordCamp to Sacramento and organized a highly successful inaugural event. We had 19 speakers, 210 attendees, beautiful swag, an after party at the River City Saloon, awesome sponsors, a fabulous speaker dinner at Ten22, and overwhelmingly positive post event survey results. The best part was that this event happened in Sacramento! It was amazing to see so many people from the local community come together for the event, and in the past year, the monthly Sacramento WordPress Meetup has grown significantly too.

As Lead Organizer for WordCamp 2016, I have had my hand in everything and for a long time, just securing the venue was a HUGE deal. It took months of research, phone calls, emails, venue visits and tours, contract reviews, and more. Securing The Harper Alumni Center at Sacramento State University was the catalyst for getting this WordCamp Sacramento 2016 off the ground.

I’m sure it will change over time, but at this moment, I am the most excited about the speakers and sessions we’ll be offering this year! We had more than 60 applications to speak this year — and there were so many great submissions it was hard to make the final selections. We wanted to accept everyone! I’m really looking forward to sharing the speakers and sessions over the next several weeks.

Why should people come to WordCamp?

Everyone who uses WordPress in any way should come to WordCamp. It’s not just for developers or advanced users.

In 2011 Brian went to his first WordCamp and loved it. He went to several without me because I thought it was for developers and not a designer like me. But in 2013, I went to my first WordCamp and I was hooked.

• It was unlike anything I expected. WordCamp is casual, laid back, and comfortable — and everyone was friendly and welcoming. It felt more like a giant family reunion than a conference — connecting with people you only know a little or only know from online and learning new things.
• It was unlike any business conference I had ever been to. No one was putting on airs or “peacocking,” no one was better than anyone else, there was no VIP section, people weren’t dressed to the nines — and no one was pushing their business cards and sales messages at me.

And what’s even better, is that all WordCamps are the same way. Brand new users with zero experience are welcomed equally with advanced professionals. There is no selling from the stage allowed (ever) and there is very little marketing/salesy talk from any of the attendees.

It’s really just an entire event about helping everyone learn more about WordPress, do more with WordPress, and get more comfortable with WordPress — with food, and friends, and swag, and a party. And it’s only $40.00!

Any advice for those attending their first WordCamp?

Show up and introduce yourself! If you’re nervous or you don’t know anyone, know that other people probably feel the same way. I still feel that when when I go to WordCamps sometimes! So don’t be afraid to walk up and introduce yourself. I promise you’ll be welcomed and WordCamp will be more fun!

Bring a bottle of water or if you have a special diet, some snacks. WordCamp will have water, coffee, a catered lunch, and some snacks — but if you drink A LOT of water or you have a special diet, it’s best to bring a water bottle that you can refill at the event and some snacks to keep your energy up during the day.

Relax and take it easy. Know that you won’t see every session at the event. Pick those you are most interested in or that are most relevant to where you are right now. Also, don’t try to take notes about everything. Take a few notes about things to look into or dive deeper on later, write down any resources and tools you may want to explore, any tricks you learn — and then be present and really enjoy the day.

Use social media and follow the event hashtag #wcsac. Connect with other attendees before the event through social media, introduce yourself, and start conversations before you arrive — Then you’ll already have people you semi-know to meetup with at the event, during break, or at lunch. Also, give all of the speakers props and tweet about them and what you learn in their sessions.

How has WordPress Or WordCamp Impacted you?

WordPress has changed my entire life. It has literally touched every part of my life in a positive way. WordPress has allowed me to build a highly success, sustainable agency that employs both myself and my husband, as well as subcontractors. It has afforded us the ability to work from anywhere, travel, and life a life of freedom. It has also been the catalyst for some of my most treasured friendships and relationships.

WordCamps have provided an environment for personal and professional growth, a platform to speak and share my knowledge with the community, and numerous opportunities to connect with community members from around the world.

The WordCamp theme this year is “discovery” — What does that mean to you?

Every day I wake up and feel like there is so much I still need to learn. For me, embracing discovery means that I embrace learning; that I make learning new things a priority. Sometimes it means reading blog posts, researching online, and trying something new for a client. Sometimes it means trying a new recipe or adventuring to a new destination and hiking a new trail.

What does it mean in the context of WordPress?

WordPress, especially when you include the plugin ecosystem, is enormous. There is a lifetime of learning available to you just in the WordPress space alone, not to mention all of the associated code libraries, and design elements and tools. You’re never going to know everything — and that’s okay. I encourage everyone when working with WordPress, to embrace a discovery mindset — to admit when you don’t know something, to do the legwork to learn a new skill, to celebrate when you learn something new, and to help others discover new tips, tools, resources, possibilities, and solutions.

What do you like to do for fun?

When not working on client projects or internal Bourn Creative work, I love getting away from the computer. I am learning to cook and really enjoy trying new recipes and playing with my waffle iron. I am a nature lover and have a blast exploring historic sites, state parks, national parks, and hiking with the family. I volunteer in the kids’ classrooms, vacation a lot, and I love family bike rides, hot tea, craft projects, and reading. Then I blog about all of it (on WordPress of course) over at Inspired Imperfection.