Category Archives: Wordcamp Birmingham 2016

WordCamp Birmingham T-Shirts

October 18, 2016Event Update, Wordcamp Birmingham 2016tsutrav

Check out the design for this year’s event shirt:

2016 WordCamp Birmingha m shirt design. — 2016 WordCamp Birmingham shirt design.

Isn’t it great? While the color of the shirt may shift, that fantastic word-cloud Birmingham-inspired WordPress-fueled calligram design will not.

We’re excited to be handing these out to all attendees to this year’s WordCamp Birmingham. If you want one of these shirts (and in the correct size) you need to go ahead and get your ticket. Don’t wait. These awesome shirts are just one of the perks you get for your $20 ticket to this year’s event.

See you on October 29th! #wcbham16 #wpyall

Meet the Speaker: Gerroald Barron

October 17, 2016Sessions & Schedules, Speakers, Wordcamp Birmingham 2016tsutrav

Gerroald Barron will be speaking October 29th at WordCamp Birmingham about WordPress Site Security for Beginners.

Gerroald helps out with Support over at iThemes. He is passionate about web design and development, as well as terrible B-rated horror and sci-fi movies. He was gracious enough to give us a few minutes to answer a few quick questions so that campers can get to know him better.

Q1: Why do you choose to participate in WordCamp? What is the impact of WordPress/WordCamp for you?
A1: I love going to WordCamps to be around like minded people and see the different ways they use WordPress. Every time I leave a WordCamp, I leave inspired and motivated to learn more.

Q2: How do you primarily work with WordPress?
A2: I primarily provide technical support for the iThemes Security plugin. We’re all lifetime learners, and while providing support I get the opportunity to learn about our customers, how they use WordPress and what some of their pain points are. This is the primary reason I decided to share about beginner WordPress security with the community.

Q3: What’s the biggest challenge for WordPress users when it comes to security?
A3:The largest challenge for users that I’ve interacted with is education, and having the knowledge to educate their clients/co-workers on best practices. Security can be intimidating and downright scary, but there’s many very simple practices that can we can all use to significantly increase the security of our sites.

Gerraold has much more to share, so grab your tickets today. We’ll see you on October 29th!

2016 WordCamp Speaker Lineup

October 11, 2016Event Update, Speakers, Wordcamp Birmingham 2016tsutrav

We are so excited to finally get to share with you the WordCamp Birmingham Speaker Lineup. This year’s event is jam packed with talent, teachers, leaders and coders. WordCamp Birmingham is all about bringing together the WordPress community in a way that we ALL can learn and share, no matter your skill level or experience.

So if you’re thinking about starting your own website or if you’re a seasoned WordPress pro, click over and buy your ticket today and then check out the schedule below.

We have three dynamic tracks loaded for you on October 29th. Track 01 is for the Blogger/Website Owner. Track 02 is designed to be helpful to Freelance and Business-focused folks. Track 03 tackles the tech and best practices that Developers need to know.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29th

Kick off the day with our KEYNOTE with Cory Miller

So pick a track or bounce back and forth between sessions. Whatever works for you and your needs! Have a question – let us know and don’t forget to get your tickets now.

Get Involved

September 21, 2016Volunteers, Wordcamp Birmingham 2016pamsanderson

Be a Volunteer. It’s fun. It’s Easy.

Requirements

Work a one hour shift to help campers find their way.
Smile a lot.

Here are the areas where you can help:

Room MC’s

We have 4 spots for the day (one for each room and one alternate). These folks are responsible for:

Speaker introductions before sessions
Make Announcements
Help the speakers with lapel mics for the video
Start the video cameras recording.

All Day volunteer. Be part of the crew. This position is different from the others. You will work in the same session room for the full day. This is the position where your efforts will be seen by the whole world. All of the videos we record will become part of WordPress.tv.
No video experience needed. We will show you what to do which is basically – just push one button.

Registration Desk – 12 Spots (1 volunteer per session)

Help campers with registration, buying swag, and general conference questions like “Where is the restroom?” or “What’s the emergency plan in case of attack by bees?” *

Help Desk (a.k.a. Happiness Bar) – 22 Spots (2 per session)

Designers, developers, consultants and speakers – take a seat at the help desk to answer WordPress questions from campers and offer hands-on help with their sites. Think “Help! How do I make this widget work?” and not “Where is the restroom?”

* In case of attack by bees: Run Away

Submission Deadline in 12 Hours

September 16, 2016Speakers, Wordcamp Birmingham 2016tsutrav

We have 12 hours to go folks! The response has been solid and we’re looking forward to lining up some solid speakers for WordCamp Birmingham on October 29, 2016.

But there is still time for YOU to submit your idea or topic to present on for WordCamp. The form will stay live until midnight. So click over and read through the short sections about “What we look for…” and “Some suggested themes…” to get the creative juices flowing.

The WordPress community is a wonderful world full of folks who share their tips, tricks, knowledge and experiences. It’s a world that YOU are a part of. So come share what you know and meet some great folks.

CALL FOR SPEAKERS – deadline TODAY!

#wcbhm tickets on sale!

September 2, 2016Tickets, Wordcamp Birmingham 2016tsutrav

Tickets for WordCamp Birmingham 2016 are now available!

Get Your Tickets

The $20 ticket gets you in for a full day October 29th to soak in all of the cool stuff the WordPress community has to offer. The day is jam packed with great speakers, wonderful lessons (for all skill levels), website help, swag, snacks and tasty food.

There’s even an after-party. So plan on hanging around for that.

We’ll start sharing more info about speakers and events, but go ahead and snag your ticket so you don’t miss out.

Once you’re signed up,join the WordPress and WordCamp conversations happening online by using the #wcbhm and #wpyall hashtags to let everyone know you’ll be attending WordCamp Birmingham 2016.

An Open Call for Speakers

August 25, 2016Speakers, Wordcamp Birmingham 2016tsutrav

WordCamp Birmingham is about community. It’s about design. It’s about development. It’s about marketing. It’s about smart and ethical business practices. Ultimately it is empowering users. Want to be a part of it?

We’re hoping you have the skills, knowledge and the same passion to share that we do. If you do, consider speaking at this year’s WordCamp Birmingham on October 29, 2016. Here’s the official rundown post of what’s expected and what you can expect. Once you scroll through, please fill out the form to get your submission process started.

We know you have something to share, we just want to help connect you with the right audience. Speaking at WordCamp is one of those awesome times when no one can tell who is getting the real benefit. That’s the beauty of WordCamp and the folks who do all the hard work to present on a variety of topics. Everyone benefits.

So take a look and hope you’ll sign up. We’d love to see what you bring to the stage in October.

Introducing Our 2016 Keynote Speaker

August 18, 2016Event Update, Speakers, Wordcamp Birmingham 2016tsutrav

Cory_Miller We are excited to announce Cory Miller as our keynote speaker for WordCamp Birmingham 2016! Cory is the founder and CEO of iThemes, a leading web design software firm that has provided WordPress plugins, themes and training to thousands of people around the globe since 2008.

So he knows a thing or two about sharing top tips and skills with others.

Cory is also co-author of the WordPress All-in-One for Dummies book and has delivered dozens of WordCamp addresses and keynotes.

Part of Cory’s title, at iThemes, is CEO – that’s Chief Entertainment Officer – so you can expect to hear big ideas, clear advice and have a good time during his WordCamp Birmingham Keynote Address on October 29, 2016.

In the meantime, you can check out Cory’s personal site, his company iThemes, follow him on Twitter, or check out his new podcast Leader.Team.

#wcbhm – the official WordCamp Birmingham 2016 hashtag

August 11, 2016Wordcamp Birmingham 2016, WordPress Communitytsutrav

The WordPress community is one of the “cool things” about the internet. There are so many interesting, smart and helpful people out there just wanting to connect and help each other do their best with WordPress. All of this fun culminates each year during WordCamps. Which is why we’re so excited about the WordCamp Birmingham on October 29, 2016.

But you don’t have to wait to join the conversations! There are plenty of people on all the social channels talking about WordPress and WordCamp in particular. Here are the top three hashtags to follow:

#wcbhm is the hashtag to follow for all WordCamp Birmingham related conversations.
#wpyall is another good one that gets used all year for WordPress news in and around Birmingham, AL
#wordpress is the tag that everyone uses when they’re talking WordPress

We’re watching #wcbhm and you should too. This will pull in all WordCamp-specific posts and content for you as we count down the days to WordCamp Birmingham 2016.

There are probably tons of other WordPress hashtags worth following. What are they? We don’t want to miss out! Leave them in the comments, if you would, so we can join in the fun.

Call for Speakers

August 8, 2016Speakers, Wordcamp Birmingham 2016pamsanderson

{ED. NOTE: the deadline for submitting a talk idea has passed. Thank you for your interest. Please contact us if you have any questions. Follow WordCamp Birmingham by signing up for email updates over in the sidebar, on Twitter, or Facebook. Stay tuned for updates about tickets and the schedule. See you October 29th!}

WordCamp Birmingham is a community event to be held on Saturday, October 29, 2016, that brings together designers, bloggers, developers, artists, small business owners, entrepreneurs, and educators from Alabama and neighboring states. It’s our mission to have WordCamp Birmingham represent the passion, talent and diversity of that community, and we want you to be a part of it!

Tracks…

We’ll have three tracks for presentations this year:

Developers and technical subjects
Website owners and users
Designers and Business subjects

Talks for all skill levels will be considered, and a presentation on things you learned setting up your very first website can be just as valuable as a technical walk-through of how user capabilities and roles are implemented within WordPress.

What we look for…

We are looking for speakers who are knowledgeable and passionate about a WordPress-related topic. You do not need to be famous, an “expert,” a programmer, or specifically credentialed. If you haven’t spoken at a conference before, don’t let that hold you back! Our selection committee will be looking for:

Crystal clear topic description — if the organizing team isn’t sure what you’re talking about, no one will be
The more specific the topic the better — avoid general or broad topics
Uniqueness and popularity of the topic — interesting and applicable topics go to the front of the line
Speaker qualifications and experience — although first-time speakers are encouraged to apply

Your talk should be directly related to WordPress, or immediately applicable and relevant to our audience, and respectful of the WordPress community, the WordCamp code of conduct, and the GPL.

Some suggested themes…

WordPress Basics
Blogging and Content Creation
Custom Website Development
Themes and Front End Development (HTML/CSS/JS, Etc…)
Design and User Experience
Backend Development, Frameworks, Workflow,etc…
Marketing and Branding
Running a WordPress Based Business

Details about our event

Talks will be a total of 45 minutes, but expect to leave about 15 minutes for Q&A.
Talks will be on Saturday, October 29, 2016.
We plan to record all talks and post the videos to WordPress.tv, so speakers will need agree to an A/V release prior to giving their presentation.
Speakers will be offered free admission to WordCamp Birmingham, but will not be otherwise compensated.

What you should know before submitting a talk:

All talks must be focused on WordPress and tie into using or working with WordPress.
Your session is not primarily to promote your own theme, plugin or business. Your talk should not be about self-promotion, and no selling from the stage or front of the room is allowed.
Understand that you must know what you’re talking about well.
Your topic can address skill levels from beginner to advanced, just be sure you know it inside and out.
Please spell WordPress correctly and respect the WordPress logo and trademarks.
While we do advocate for diversity and variety among speakers, our general policy is that we don’t consider the race, sex, religion, or any other factor of the speaker to play a part in our selection process.

Deadline

The Call For Speakers will close at midnight on September 16, 2016
Speakers will be notified of selection on September 22, 2016
Selected speakers will need to confirm their spot no later than September 29, 2016