Author: Jennifer Bourn

Carrie Forde

carrieforde.com | @CarrieForde

Carrie spent the first eight years of her career wrangling sales data in the tech industry. While on work assignment in the UK, she attended a blogging workshop where she was introduced to WordPress. After spending several weekends learning about WordPress child themes, Carrie set up her first WordPress site, California Love Letters, and realized WordPress and front-end development is where her true passion lies.

After moving back to California, Carrie had an opportunity to pursue her passion, and enrolled in the Graphic & Interactive Design program at Foothill College where she learned about the graphic design process, and how to properly write HTML and CSS. Before graduating from her program, Carrie created her first theme from scratch on the Genesis framework, and realized that developing on WordPress is what she wanted to do for a living.

When she’s not doing front-end development, you can find Carrie at home cuddling with her four cats K2, Whitney, Minnie, and Paul; enjoying a latte or cold brew at a nearby coffee shop; or exploring the greater San Francisco Bay Area with my husband Darren.

Continue reading “WordCamp Sacramento Speaker Interview With Carrie Forde”

Ben Byrne

cornershopcreative.com | @drywall

Ben Byrne is one of three founders of Cornershop Creative, a web services agency that plans, designs, builds and maintains websites for nonprofit organizations and educational institutions around the country. As Chief Creative Officer, Ben oversees most the design and development work that Cornershop does. His fluency in HTML, CSS and JavaScript have been put to good use implementing his designs on a variety of platforms and systems, but primarily WordPress.

Ben has a BFA in Graphic Design from Iowa State University and has been working on the web professionally for about 20 years. He has presented on the difference between print and web design, web typography, WordPress widgets, high performance front-end performance optimization and other topics at various organizations and events, including several WordCamps. Ben now lives in Santa Rosa, CA but has previously resided in six other states.

Continue reading “WordCamp Sacramento Speaker Interview With Ben Byrne”

Who Else Is Stepping On Stage?

Seriously. For 2017, there will be a stage. Three stages to be exact — one for each room. We’re investing in staging at the front of each ballroom to elevate both our amazing speakers and the screens to make it easier for everyone in the room to see. So yes, all of our speakers will be taking the stage this year!

Speaking of speakers… we’ve already introduced you to 35 talented WordPressers and today we’ve got 11 more speakers who will be dropping knowledge bombs on us at WordCamp to introduce to you.

Continue reading “Meet The WordCamp Sacramento 2017 Speakers: Round 4”

Holy moly things are happening!

We’ve already introduced you to several incredible speakers who will be sharing their knowledge and expertise with you at WordCamp Sacramento 2017, happening September 16-17, 2017, and we’re absolutely thrilled to be sharing even more talented speakers with you today … When we first talked about bringing WordCamp to Sacramento in 2013, continued the conversation into 2014, and finally gathered up a team to make the first WordCamp Sacramento happen in 2015, THIS event is exactly what I dreamed WordCamp Sacramento would be.

If you’re already getting excited just be seeing who the speakers are going to be, you’re going to go nuts when we announce the sessions, begin sharing the speaker interviews on the blog, and tell you what the plan is for lunch on Saturday — OMG, you’re going to love it. Also, be sure to watch the blog for more ticket announcements.

You’re also going to love that for the first time, we’re running a full day Beginner Track completely focused on teaching you how to use WordPress!

I could tell you so much more now, but we’ve got to get to the good stuff… announcing our next round of speakers! We’re rolling out the speaker announcements, in no particular order, and today is the third round of WordPressers who will be sharing their expertise and knowledge with you in September…

Continue reading “Meet The WordCamp Sacramento 2017 Speakers: Round 3”

We had so many great submissions for WordCamp Sacramento this year that narrowing it down was killer! We even added an hour to the schedule on Sunday to make room for more speakers and decided to forgo the WordPress Contributor Day to run THREE tracks of value-packed sessions on Sunday, making room for even more speakers and great information we know you’re going to love.

I know you’re wondering about tickets. We’re going to be reaching out to all of those who filled out the Call For Volunteers first to solidify volunteer roles first. General admission tickets will go on sale at the beginning of June, as will a special VIP Community Sponsor ticket! Watch the blog for more ticket announcements.

In the meantime, we’re stoked to share another round of amazing WordCamp Sacramento 2017 speakers with you! We’re rolling out the speaker announcements, in no particular order, and today is the second round of talented WordPressers who will be sharing their expertise and knowledge with you in September…

Continue reading “Meet The WordCamp Sacramento 2017 Speakers: Round 2”

We received 96 presentation submissions for WordCamp Sacramento 2017 from 81 different speakers and there were A LOT of great choices. It was tough for our speaker selection committee to narrow it down, but we did it and we’re so excited! If you’re even half as excited as we are about how WordCamp Sacramento is shaping up, you’re going to be chomping at the bit to get your ticket.

Tickets will go on sale in the next couple of weeks. Watch the blog for more ticket announcements.

We’re currently working on the official schedule for WordCamp, but didn’t want to keep you waiting to see who will be speaking this year. We’re rolling out the speaker announcements over the next week or so, in no particular order, and today is the first round of talented WordPressers who will be sharing their expertise and knowledge with you in September…

Continue reading “Meet The WordCamp Sacramento 2017 Speakers: Round 1”

A HUGE thank you goes out to everyone who submitted at talk for WordCamp Sacramento 2017.

Without members of our local community and the WordPress community at large volunteering their time to prepare and deliver a talk (and pay their own way to travel to the event), we wouldn’t have the high-caliber content that you have come to expect from WordCamp Sacramento.

We appreciate you applying to speak!

Continue reading “The Call For Speakers Is Now Closed”

If you’ve been putting off submitting an application to speak at WordCamp Sacramento 2017, thinking you’ll get to it later, or fill out the form on the weekend, STOP IT!

Don’t keep putting it off because suddenly you’ll look at the calendar, see the Call For Speakers deadline has passed, and both you and I will be very sad. Please carve out some time to sit down, fill out the speaker application, and send us your talk ideas.

Also, here are a few tips to help you out:

Continue reading “The WordCamp Sacramento Call For Speakers Closes Soon!”

WordCamp Sacramento is happening September 16-17, 2017 at the Sacramento Convention Center and we’re expecting the largest attendance yet.

The event details are coming together and I am so excited about this year’s event! So many awesome things are in the works, like a WordPress contribution day and an all day Beginner Track, actually teaching attendees how to use WordPress.

The Call For Speakers opened last week and I have already heard from several members of our community that they are interested in applying to speak, but aren’t sure what topic would be best. Well don’t fret! We have some ideas.

Continue reading “Need A Good Topic So You Can Apply To Speak At WordCamp?”

It’s our mission to have WordCamp Sacramento represent the passion, talent, and diversity of our community, and we want you to be a part of it! We are looking for speakers to share their knowledge, skill, experience, and stories with our welcoming community at WordCamp Sacramento, happening September 16-17, 2017 at the Sacramento Convention Center.

Talks for all skill levels and all topics will be considered. Presentations will be a mix of approximately 30-45 minute sessions and 10-minute lightning talks. We’re specifically looking for talks covering development, design, tools and resources, and blogging.

Tips for a Great Speaker Application

We do not require you to be famous, an expert, or a developer, or specifically credentialed, or anything like that. If you haven’t spoken at a conference before, don’t let that hold you back! All we ask is that you be able to present your chosen topic passionately and respectfully.

• Use your real, full name.
• Enter a detailed presentation description. Descriptions that are vague or incomplete may not be considered.
• Submit your proposed topic title and description, and your bio in third person, as if it were the final version to be printed or posted on the website.
• Please do not include notes to the organizers in your presentation description. We’ll have a separate field for notes if you need to send us a message.
• Please do not submit a presentation that is already on WordPress.tv or you have given previously in the Northern California region.
• Your talk should be directly related to WordPress, or immediately applicable and relevant to our audience.
• Skip the hype, talks about making money, and “killing it.” Focus on helping people do more with WordPress and do better with WordPress.
• Spell WordPress correctly (capital_P_dangit)!
• Follow the instructions outlined above.

Continue reading “Call For Speakers Is Now Open And You Should Apply”

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

For 2017, we’re expecting 500 attendees.

Event attendees are made up freelancers, entrepreneurs, small businesses, consultants, designers, developers, bloggers, copywriters, and hobbyists, as well as employees and team members from large organizations and corporations who work with WordPress. Skill level and experience with the WordPress platform range from those brand new to WordPress working on their very first website to savvy-professionals who make their living 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!

Continue reading “Sponsors Needed For WordCamp Sacramento”

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 day-of event 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.

Continue reading “Become A Volunteer At WordCamp Sacramento”

In the summer of 1967, 100,000 people converged in San Francisco’s neighborhood Haight-Ashbury, and many other groups gathered across the United States, in Canada, and in Europe, all to create social change and embrace equality. This social and cultural phenomenon was called The Summer of Love.

During this transformative time, creativity flourished, there was an emphasis on sharing and community, and there was a feeling that anything was possible. The message sent to the world was one of love, peace, understanding, freedom, compassion, and respect.

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love.

Just as the Summer of Love was a gathering of people from all walks of life working together and sharing with sense of community to create something wonderful for the world, WordCamps are gatherings of people of all skill levels and walks of life working together and sharing to create something wonderful for the WordPress community.

Continue reading “Welcome To WordCamp Sacramento”