All of our talks are incredible this year, but we might have saved our best for last. Here\u2019s a peak at some of our Sunday afternoon \u2018Working with WordPress\u2019 presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Mary Baum <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary Baum is the founder of RacquetPress<\/a>, a digital tennis consultancy. Before the web, Mary trained as a print designer. She built her first website, incorrectly, in 1999 and has been honing her web design skills ever since. Today she’s a fan of browser-based design and modern CSS. She frequents WP core developer chats and helps them write their blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How would you like to save hours on repetitive template-building, cut your CSS file size by half, or add HTML to your page that you know<\/em> will work? How would you like to do these things while building components and layouts that folks haven’t seen since print?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s time to stop fearing the block and embrace it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Participants will learn how to use Gutenberg techniques to create print-style pages. Not only is it possible to get good design from your theme; you can implement great art direction at both the block and post levels. It’s easier than ever and requires fewer code changes than you might think. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Click here<\/a> to visit Mary\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By Steve Schwartz<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve Schwartz is the owner of AVT Marketing<\/a> in Charlotte, NC, and has been developing WordPress websites for over ten years. After getting hacked in 2012, Steve has become obsessed educating others about online security. He is a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and is currently pursuing the Offensive Security Certified Professional certification (OSCP) through Kali Linux<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve turns complex tech jargon into words people understand. Rather than tell students what to do, Steve prefers to explain why<\/em> through anecdotes. For Steve, simple language and empathy are the best ways to make it \u2018stick.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve\u2019s presentation, \u201cHow An Attacker Sees Your Website,\u201d is not another plugin talk. Rather, it\u2019s a demonstration that covers the actual ways sites, servers, and people get hacked. Steve won\u2019t bore you with PowerPoint bullets; instead, he will actually show you how bad guys operate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Awareness is key. Most people have no clue how easily they can be hacked. Steve hopes to shine a bright light on the hackers\u2019 methodologies so people are not only aware, but motivated to protect themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click here<\/a> to visit Steve\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By Charles Johnston <\/p>\n\n\n\n Charles Johnston is the owner of HeartWired Digital Solutions<\/a>, a digital agency that focuses on small to medium-sized businesses and nonprofits. He believes that, through proper web design, social branding, and marketing strategy, all organizations can impact their communities. He enjoys helping entrepreneurs, startups, and nonprofits tell their stories, either by developing brand-new (or redesigned) websites or creating web content, like social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nonprofit WordPress design is different than for-profit design. Buy-in is much more difficult, as the product is much more abstract. Telling your brand\u2019s story can help you improve your engagement and donations. The trick is learning how to do it well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In his presentation, Charles will give participants plugin ideas, design ideas, and the confidence to tell great brand stories through web design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click here<\/a> to visit Charles\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By Christine Laikind <\/p>\n\n\n\n Christine Laikind is on a mission to spread web accessibility and inclusive design awareness. Online accessibility grows more important every year as the internet becomes more vital to everyday life – with applications that range from education and recreation to commerce and employment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Having been born deaf, Christine knows first-hand how a more accessible web can improve life for the handicapped, including the elderly and physically, mentally, and temporarily disabled. During her talk, she will discuss how we, as digital citizens, can make our world better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SEO and accessibility overlap in several ways, and it is important to understand that overlap. Christine will show attendees how handiapped optimization can improve their overall SEO; she will also help them integrate web accessibility into their current workflows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click here<\/a> to visit Christine\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By Chip Edwards <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chip Edwards is a partner at CreateMyVoice<\/a> and is dedicated to helping content producers engage their audience via smart speakers. Chip has created voice apps for well known bloggers and podcasters, including Seth Godin<\/a>, BiggerPockets<\/a>, History Unplugged<\/a>, and The Blind Blogger<\/a>. Chip is a teacher, speaker, designer, and technologist, passionate about connecting WordPress to voice technology platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the explosive adoption of smart speakers like Alexa and Google Home, people will soon hear your content before they see it. Online, our brand revolves around URLs, logos, color palettes, fonts, and images. But when your audience is no longer engaging with your content through a screen, those elements become invisible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a voice-first environment, your audience will expect verbal answers to their online search queries. Anticipating this, we need to change the way we think about our brands. In this talk, Chip will explore the components of a verbal brand. He will outline the shift from written to verbal content and help participants prepare for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click here<\/a> to visit Chip\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cHow An Attacker Sees Your Website\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWordPress For Non-Profits: Website Best Practices, Collecting Donations, and Increasing Online Exposure\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSEO, Accessibility, and How they Work Together\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYour Brand in a Voice First World\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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