Thank You

Hopefully everyone had a spectacular July 4th vacation and a chance to process the flood of information our amazing speakers shared. Their willingness to travel on their own dime and take the time to prepare quality presentations is invaluable. And, as far as we’ve checked, the sessions recorded successfully so you’ll have access to those talks. We’ll notify you when their ready to be viewed.

On a special note, I’d like to thank all of you for helping to make camp a success. We appreciate you honoring the “no food in the auditorium” policy ( I don’t think we had to talk to a single person) and your graciousness over the need to eliminate lunch in order to provide more space for attendees. It is a balancing act to find the right group of details that benefits as many as possible and we thank you for giving and flexing with us.

I would also like to thank our sponsors. Not only did they help fund the camp so we can keep the cost to attendees as low as possible, all of them had gracious attitudes and many of them stepped in to volunteer in other ways.

Last, but never least, I would like to thank the organizers and volunteers. Months were spent planning this event and without everyone’s input and hard work it wouldn’t be a successful camp. I’m grateful for each person’s unique perspective and the experiences that they draw from to keep each event interesting and engaging from year to year.

So, again, thank you to everyone involved in this year’s camp. Together we thrive and I for one look forward to great things to come.

Cate – lead organizer

Notes For Tomorrow

Good morning all! We can now countdown to camp in hours not days. To gives us all the best chance at a fun-filled day, here are a few things that you can be ready for.

The Auditorium

First off, we are using the auditorium this year. It gives us a great central location for announcements, the keynote, closing remarks, and the General session. It also provides us with the most comfortable seating, more seating, and room on the edges for people who may have infants with them or simply need a little more room.

However, it has one draw back and we need your help. There is no food or drink allowed in the auditorium. Please help us by respecting this policy and keeping those in the main hall.

The Happiness Bar

The Happiness Bar is our help desk and it will be open from 8am until late in the afternoon. If you have questions about WordPress or WordPress-related things, come on over and ask. This year, the Happiness Bar is a round table located to the right of the main entrance near the sponsor tables.

Industry professionals have volunteered there time and would love to help. One of whom is Sara Dunn who will be available to help with SEO questions you might have. You can catch her there from 9 – 10am.

Dress Code

Lastly, the dress code for camp is casual. Tomorrow is intended to be a laid back day of making new friends and learning new things in a relaxed environment. And remember, keep it PG and respectful.

How to Spot a Volunteer

This year’s camp has 22 enthusiastic volunteers staffing everything from the registration table to the Happiness Bar and the cameras in each room. If you need help, please just ask. That particular volunteer may not be able to help, but will definitely direct you to someone who can.

So just what should you be looking for? All volunteers will be wearing heathered navy shirts with the camp logo on them in white and will have an orange-toned Volunteer name badge. Each has provide their own friendly personality, genuine enthusiasm for being a part of camp, and willingness to help.

All that combined makes for a highly visible, engaging individual that wants to work with you to make camp enjoyable for everyone. And here’s two of them now!

 

Lunch

Have you made plans for lunch?Grand Rapids has many great options within a 10 minute walk of our venue. We left a two hour gap to provide plenty of time to get out and see a bit of our fair city.

If you’re new to the area, we created a Lunch Map that you can find under the Event menu. Notice the comments on that page about a few options that didn’t show up on the map.

Also, you’re welcome to bring your own lunch and eat at the venue. We have space for that, too.

Meet Our Sponsors – Factory Level 3

Nexcess – Large Scale Hosting With Experience

Nexcess has been hosting websites since 2000, and has grown to have many data centers and hundreds of employees. Nearly 20 years of experience has made them into an international powerhouse for hosting.

Nexcess supports WordCamps like Grand Rapids because they appreciate what the WordPress community brings to the web.

 

A2 Hosting – When Speed Matters

A2 Hosting got its start nearly 20 years ago, and has built itself into an international, independently owned hosting company focused on speed. Being independently owned means that the passion for success of the original owners is still in place.  Support staff are hand picked to be top notch at what they do.

With a core goal of being the fastest host around, A2 is a great option.

Keynote: John James Jacoby (JJJ)

In 2008 while looking for an alternative to phpBB that had hierarchical categories, JJJ found BuddyPress and bbPress, and with them WordPress. As is said, the rest is history.

A forward-thinking problem solver, JJJ is an Open Source advocate, speaker, and educator with over 10 years experience as a WordPress contributor. His talents and ideas have allowed him to fill roles at both 10up and Automattic as well as running his own business. Humble about his successes and failures, he uses his experiences to move WordPress, and the community that uses it, toward something better.

His commitment to community doesn’t stop at WordPress. In 2017, he saw a need in his village of East Troy, WI  and stepped forward to take an active role in local government.

When not volunteering to improve WordPress and his local community or working on his own side projects, JJJ can currently be found working for Sandhills Development on the newest versions of Sugar Calendar and Easy Digital Downloads.

Blog- https://jjj.blog/
Speaking- https://wordpress.tv/?s=jacoby
Podcast- https://wptavern.com/wordpress-weekly
Career- https://jjj.blog/career/

Meet Our Sponsors – Toolbox Level 2

 

Liquid Web –  Rock Solid Hosting

Liquid Web is not only a rock solid managed WordPress host, but they’ve stepped things up in the hosting world with managed WooCommerce hosting. No longer do you need to worry about getting a store set up properly with a credit card processor, taxes, and shipping. These modules are all installed for you and maintained in an ongoing basis.

If you need hosting that is super fast, has great support, a world-class engineering team, and some features you won’t find anywhere else, check out Liquid Web.

 

LearnDash – The Most Trusted WordPress LMS

LearnDash’s WordPress LMS plugin is built based on deep learning industry experience. They have consulted extensively on learning programs for Fortune 500 companies as well as for the U.S. Government. Simply put: they know e-learning.

LearnDash is taking cutting edge elearning methodology and infusing it into WordPress. More than just a plugin, they provide practical and experience driven guidance for individuals and organizations interested in setting up online courses.

Get to Know the Speakers: 3:15 and 3:30PM

 

Sara Dunn

speaking at 3:15PM on 3 Ways to Make Your Web Forms More Awesome in the General track

Sara Dunn is enthusiastic about marketing, WordPress, messaging, and search engine optimization. Inspired by the love of these, she built 11Web, a digital marketing agency in Battle Creek, MI, where as founder and project lead she has worked with more than 125 clients on website design and marketing projects. She also has a talent for identifying pain points and creating a solution, demonstrated by the inexpensive maintenance package she implemented for her current clients and the 2017 launch of a niche service offering SEO specifically to the wedding industry.

When she’s not solving other people’s problems, vlogging, learning, or teaching, she enjoys traveling with her husband or spending time at home spoiling her French Bulldog.

Business site- https://11web.com
Personal site- http://www.sara-dunn.com
YouTube channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCruzw-u8Eb67VdK7-h68mVQ
Interview- https://www.jefflarge.com/podcast/sara-dunn-embracing-risk-specializing-conversation

 

Kyle Maurer

speaking at 3:15PM on A Few of My Favorite WordPress Life Hacks in the Developer track

Kyle has the cutest daughter in the whole world.  Seriously, I challenge you to find a more adorable baby dressed in WordPress gear.  When he’s not distracted playing with this amazing child, he finds time to record podcasts, organize WordCamps, and code for Easy Digital Downloads.

WP speaker- https://wordpress.tv/speakers/kyle-maurer
Get Options podcast- https://getoptionspodcast.com
WP Roundtable podcast- http://wproundtable.com
Interview- https://www.jefflarge.com/podcast/kyle-maurer-customer-experience

 

Chris Lema

speaking at 3:30PM on Building the Fastest WooCommerce Store Ever in the General track

A dynamic storyteller, enthusiastic educator, and lover of cigars, Chris Lema is known for many things. He is a coach, speaker, and writer focusing on business and WordPress. His work has led him to learn much about building membership sites and eCommerce solutions, much of which he shares on his website. He has a strong understanding of what makes a good leader and a talent for building software teams that do awesome work, most recently at Liquid Web.

Site- http://chrislema.com
Leaders blog- https://leaders.blog
LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrchrislema
Interview- https://www.jefflarge.com/podcast/chris-lema-membership-models-metrics-and-niche-markets

 

Mike Hale

speaking at 3:30PM on Using the Debug Bar Plugin to Make Developing for WordPress Easier in the Developer track

Mike Hale, co-organizer of the WordPress Napierville Meetup, has been helping his clients grow their businesses for almost 20 years. In 2010, he moved into WordPress, building custom plugins and sites on the Genesis Framework. He now uses his passion for technology, as well as his experience with business ranging in size from startups to Fortune 500 companies, to efficiently and effectively assist his clients at his digital marketing agency, Stompgear.

Business site- https://stompgear.com
Personal site- https://mikehale.me/
Speaking- https://mikehale.me/speaking

Meet Our Sponsors – Toolbox Level

3.7 Designs – Engineering Great Design, Producing Big Results

People often ask what 3.7 stands for and why they have butterflies all over the place. In chaos theory, there is a concept called “The Butterfly Effect.” The Butterfly Effect is a theory where a single small input can cause a chain reaction of exponential growing outputs.

At 3.7 DESIGNS, we apply the concept of the butterfly effect to business. Creating small inputs (like a website, identity) that create exponential outputs (like business growth.)

 

Mindutopia – Local Powerhouse

Mindutopia is a Grand Rapids hometown WordPress development powerhouse. With world-class clients like HarperCollins, Amway, and Meijer behind them, Mindutopia has the experience, wisdom, and technical skill to build just about anything.

The Grand Rapids WordCamp crew are proud to have such great talent working locally and willing to support WordCamp.

 

GreenGeeks – Environmentally Friendly Hosting

GreenGeeks isn’t just another host.  Sure, they offer super fast servers, rock solid support, and all the other awesome things you’d expect from a WordPress Managed Host. But more than that, they have a positive carbon footprint.

This means that they actually produce more energy than they use, with the use of wind farms. If you need great hosting and the environment is important to you, check out GreenGeeks.

Get to Know the Speakers: 2:45 and 3PM

 

Peter Dehaan

speaking at 2:45PM on The Broken Link Checker Plugin: Don’t Let Broken Links Drag Your Site Down in the General track

One of our hometown speakers and full-time blogger, Peter is a consistent source of quality content information at our wordcamps. He is dedicated to helping beginners populate their WordPress sites with effective content, the lifeblood of any site. With a dozen sites for his business and writing, he is not only sold on WordPress, but demonstrates the power of intentional, well-written words.

Author site- https://www.authorpeterdehaan.com
Personal site – https://www.peterdehaan.com
LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/pdehaan

 

Frederick Polk

speaking at 2:45PM on Advanced Custom Fields for Beginners in the Developer track

Frederick is a regular supporter of our local meetup and the owner of One Black Crayon, a front-end web development shop. His shop is able to help with the project whether it involves WordPress or other CMSs. With a dedication to putting the client’s needs first, One Black Crayon is able to build something new, work with an existing team, or help maintain a current site.  By helping clients get the results they need for their businesses, he has been turning clients into friends for over nine years.

Business site- http://oneblackcrayon.com
LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederickpolk


Sophia DeRosia

speaking at 3PM on Replacing Facebook: A Case Study of BuddyPress in the General track

Sophia originally learned WordPress to be able to attend WordCamp Chicago in 2014. At the time she never considered that she’d actually put it to use. Three years later when she saw a need in her community of friends, she was able to use her skills and the friends she’d made in the community to help her solve the problem.

When she’s not being a reluctant developer, she is an artist and musician who uses the flexibility of being home schooled to indulge her love of spoken languages.

HeroPress post- https://heropress.com/essays/growing-up-with-wordpress


Steve Grunwell

speaking at 3PM on Up and Running with WP-CLI in the Developer track

From Columbus, Ohio, Steve is a regular speaker at WordCamp Grand Rapids and an enthusiastic community member who is currently a Senior Software Engineer at Liquid Web. He has numerous plugins in the WordPress.org repository and, as a specialist in WordPress and application development, has the opportunity to work with organizations like Microsoft, TED, and Experience Columbus, to name just a few.

In his off time, he enjoys music, hiking, and writing about writing software on his blog.

About- https://stevegrunwell.com/about
LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegrunwell
Speaking- https://stevegrunwell.com/speaking

WordCamp Grand Rapids 2018 is over. Check out the next edition!