This is the fourth post in a series to help you get to know our 2016 WordCamp Sacramento organizers a little better! You’ve already met Jose Castaneda, Bill Mead, and 2016 Lead Jennifer Bourn, and today we’re introducing you to John Locke.
Since 2012, John Locke has been helping business owners in Sacramento and across the country. His WordPress consultancy, Lockedown Design, helps businesses improve their SEO, launch and improve their e-commerce stores, and solves business critical problems on their WordPress websites. John also serves the WordPress community as a co-organizer the Sacramento WordPress Meetup and as the co-host of the WP-Tonic podcast.
Be sure to give John at shout out on Twitter and don’t forget to use our hashtag #wcsac.
Get To Know John Locke
To help you get to know our organizers a bit better, we asked them to answer a few questions…
Here’s what John had to say:
What was your favorite part of WordCamp 2015?
In 2015, I was a speaker, sponsor, and volunteer. Honestly, my favorite parts were volunteering, doing necessary tasks alongside the people on the organizing team, and meeting other web professionals at the event.
Why should people come to WordCamp?
WordCamps are not only a way to keep learning about your craft as web professionals, but a way to rub elbows with your contemporaries and colleagues from out of town. There is something to be said for in-the-flesh, in-the-same-room human interaction. People seem to bond when they are in close proximity to each other.
WordCamp talks are a way to be exposed to knowledge you might never otherwise be exposed to. Everyone has a unique story of how they came to be where they are, and what they can teach you is how to find your own path in web design and development. I never fail to learn something new about design, development, business, or life in general from a WordCamp presentation.
Any advice for those attending their first WordCamp?
Enjoy yourself. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to anyone. We don’t bite. Pick what talks you want to see, and remember most WordCamp talks end up on WordPress.tv, so it’s not the end of the world if there are two talks you want to see at the same time.
Most everyone in the WordPress community is approachable. Say hello.
How has WordPress Or WordCamp Impacted you?
WordPress allowed me to change careers successfully about five years ago. I was already studying web design and development, but the WordPress community and the WordPress platform was a perfect fit for me. The impact the community has had on my life cannot be understated.
I haven’t been to a ton of WordCamps, but the ones I have been to have allowed me to meet people I only know from their online publishing, and interact with them. The hallway track, (looking at you, Jason Tucker), is a great resource for people trying to take their career to the next level. You can always learn something new.
The WordCamp theme this year is “discovery” — What does that mean to you?
Discovery is something that happens every day of your life. You are always discovering new thing you can do, or new things about yourself and how you fit into the world. Knowledge work, like web development, requires that you constantly be learning new things. The ability to learn is the #1 skill in our profession, because everything is going to change, it is inevitable in technology and software. I think it is just as important to discover more about yourself, and stretch the limits of what you believe you are capable of accomplishing.
What does it mean in the context of WordPress?
WordPress is unlike any other web development community I’ve run across. Not to sound like I’m drinking the kool-aid, but the WordPress community truly welcomes people to fill roles and stretch themselves into new versions of themselves. Like metamorphosis.
A lot of people come to WordPress from divergent backgrounds and have different origin stories. Look at some of the stuff published on HeroPress, and you’ll see what I mean. People within WordPress tend to discover not only new ways of doing things, but they also discover inner strength they never knew they had in many cases.
The sky is the limit when it comes to what you can create if you set your mind to it.
What do you like to do for fun?
A long time ago, I used to play guitar in different garage bands. I don’t dedicate nearly as much time to music as I did long ago, but I still play every day. Music is a big part of my life and my happiness. I’m also into some of the geek culture from my generation: comic books, pro wrestling, heavy metal…all the larger than life escapist stuff.