Talks & Speakers

9:00 AM

  • Opening Ceremonies (Toby Cryns and friends)

9:30 AM

  • Mind-Blowing Online Engagement with BuddyPress (Toby Cryns and Tania Jones)

    • Toby Cryns is a full-time WordPress designer and developer with The Mighty Mo! Design Co. He has 15 years of website-building experience and has been building WordPress websites full-time since 2007. He is co-founder of the Minneapolis-St. Paul WordPress User Group and has authored numerous WordPress plugins and themes. He can regularly be found organizing and speaking at local WordPress events.

  • Beginner WordPress Workshop (Barbara Schendel + guest stars)

    • Barbara Schendel has been doing web design full time since 1994 (back when having an image swap on a web page was a big deal). She has a BFA in graphic design and has worked for companies doing interactive multimedia, websites and graphic design. She started her own company Wizzy Wig Design in 2003, doing wordpress website development as well as all forms of design for both on-screen and print.

  • WordPress plugins for fun, excitement, money, and pleasure (panel led by Nick Ciske, Winnie Williams, & Josh Leuze)

    • Description – Join us for a discussion about the plugins we cannot live without.  (Conversation, so there are no slides.)
    • Winnie Williams is a software developer turned website developer.   When not helping small businesses and non-profits with WordPress websites and SEO/SEM, she can be found performing music with her husband and kids, and working as an active volunteer in District 833 schools, with the Woodbury Community Theatre, and as a master gardener for the U of MN.
    • Josh Leuze is a WordPress developer from Minnesota who loves making themes. He is the author of the popular Meteor Slides plugin.  When not building themes and plugins in his garage, Josh can be found doodling with his kids at the kitchen table, digging in the garden, or pedaling his bike around town
    • Nick Ciske has a degree in Multimedia Design and over twelve years of experience working in web development and digital media.

  • Integrating Sass/Compass into WP Theme Development – (Kiko Doran)

    • Description - We will cover Sass, Compass, Foundation, and CodeKit to build fast site mockups. These tools can cut the time a front end developer works on a project by up to 90% Plus it will raise the quality on your code with a very minimal investment of time.  Come check it out and see how you can regain a bunch of your time wasted styling CSS.  (slides)

10:30 AM

  • How to make and keep more $$ as a freelance (Don Ball & Dave Allen)

  • Beginner WordPress Workshop (continued) (Beth Backen + guest stars)

  • The Non-Designers Guide to WordPress A.k.a. Making Your Site Look Awesome! (Mykl Roventine)

    • Description – You don’t have to be a designer to make your WordPress site look good. In fact, no matter what theme you’re using now there are lots of easy ways to make it look better. Mykl (who is a designer BTW) will share tips and tricks to take your site design from acceptable to awesome. (slides)
    • Mykl Roventine is the director of Social Media Breakfast – Minneapolis/St. Paul (SMBMSP), a designer of things, and compulsive community organizer. He designs engaging web experiences and speaks about social media, WordPress and typography. He co-founded and coordinates the activities of Ignite Minneapolis and UnSummit, and runs the local chapter of TechKaraoke Minneapolis. He has a special passion for the social web and its power to educate and inspire.

  • Creating easy-to-use post types (Josh Leuze)

    • Description - Learn how to create a great user experience for your clients using custom post types, taxonomies, and meta boxes. This session will show you how to use existing plugins to build unique admin interfaces for the end user and integrate them into a theme using simple custom template files.
    • Josh Leuze is a WordPress developer from Minnesota who loves making themes. He is the author of the popular Meteor Slides plugin.  When not building themes and plugins in his garage, Josh can be found doodling with his kids at the kitchen table, digging in the garden, or pedaling his bike around town.

1:00 PM

  • The Culture of Collaboration (Kyle Coolbroth)

  • WordPress installation for beginners (Sheila Bergman)

    • Description - Installing WordPress is outlined nicely in the codex at WordPress.org.  It is not difficult but a few tips and tricks can help.  We will cover what you need, domains and hosting, four steps to install wordpress, and resources. (slides)
    • Sheila Bergman has been doing website development for 13 years. For the last year and a half she has been developing exclusively in WordPress. Her clients are nonprofits and artists in Western Wisconsin

  • How to create a custom wordpress theme (Barbara Schendel)

    • Description – Learn how to take your static HTML/CSS and turn it into a fully functioning custom wordpress theme complete with widgets and dynamic menu. (Slides)
    • Barbara Schendel has been doing web design full time since 1994 (back when having an image swap on a web page was a big deal). She has a BFA in graphic design and has worked for companies doing interactive multimedia, websites and graphic design. She started her own company Wizzy Wig Design in 2003, doing wordpress website development as well as all forms of design for both on-screen and print.

  • Excessive Automation of Workflow for WordPress Consultants (Ian Fitzpatrick)

    • Description - Stop working on boring crap and increase your effective hourly rate.  Five ways to streamline, automate, and outsource administrative tasks.  For active and aspiring WordPress freelancers.  Bring your own ideas on how to work smarter for our group discussion.  This session rated PG-13 for language. (slides coming)
    • Ian Fitzpatrick is a full-stack web developer, currently focusing on WordPress Freelancing and Web Application Prototyping.

2:00 PM

  • WordPress.Com (The Wonderful World of) (Peter Fleck)

    • Description – An in-depth look at the WordPress.com eco-system including the features, the themes, and some reasons why you might want to use it or recommend it to your clients and small businesses.  Slides

  • How to get help from the WordPress community (Andy Christian)

    • Description - So you’ve downloaded this cool new software to start a blog, but you don’t know where to go for help. Or maybe you want to find other developers or designers in your area, but don’t know how. We’ll go over how to get involved in the WordPress community, from the support forums to local meetup groups and WordCamps. We’ll also cover how you can give back to the WordPress project, even if you can’t code or design.  (Slides)
    • Andy Christian has been using WordPress since the dark ages of version 1.0.2 way back in 2004. After moving to New York in 2009, he became active in the WordPress community there, and has been involved in New York’s last three WordCamps. He also runs the Happiness Bar for the monthly WordPress NYC Meetup. Andy currently manages support and training for Tadpole.cc, a WordPress-based coop that provides hosting, support, training, and development. On the side, he also blogs about WordPress events like meetups and WordCamp at wpcamper.com.

  • Don’t be afraid of jQuery. Beginner jQuery tips (Tom Penney)

  • Using Genesis In Depth (Nick Ciske)

    • Nick Ciske has a degree in Multimedia Design and over twelve years of experience working in web development and digital media.

3:00 PM

  • Mobile & WordPress:A survey of approaches with plugins, responsive design, native apps, HTML5, etc. (Tim Elliott)

  • AJAX the WordPress Way – PreReq: jQuery w/ Tom Penny (Justin Foell)

3:45 PM

  • Closing Ceremonies

 

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