Speaker Interview: Tracy Rotton

In the run up to WordCamp Lancaster, we will be featuring some of our speakers here on the website.

  • Tracy Rotton

    How and when did you get started with WordPress?

    Aside from using WordPress to build my own blog, I started using it for clients as a federal government contractor. Our client had several smaller offices looking to simplify their web publishing tools, and WordPress was a perfect fit.

    If you’ve attended WordCamp Lancaster before, what’s your fondest memory of it? If not, what do you like most about WordCamps?

    Whoopie pies! And being able to hang and geek out on WordPress with some of my favorite people from home and from around the country.

    What do you hope attendees will take away from your talk?

    That people realize that they don’t need to have to be PHP and JavaScript experts to contribute to the community. Whether it’s speaking at your local meetup or contributing to one of the many make.wordpress.org teams, there’s a ton of ways everyone can give back to the project, no matter their experience or skill level.

    What are you currently learning?

    My motto is “Always be leveling up.” I’m always trying to learn all the things, but right now, I’m trying to get over my long-standing JavaScriptphobia. Things like Backbone, the JSON REST API, and React are all a part of that too.

    Do you know what a stroopie is? No googling.

    Not a clue. But because I’m originally from South Jersey, I call hoagies “subs” and people who come from Pennsylvania to the Jersey Shore “shoobies.”

    What did you do during the blizzard?

    Skied!

    Where can we find you online?

    90% of my social media happens on Twitter, @taupecat. That’s also my handle on Instagram (where I mostly post pictures of my kids or what I’m drinking (because of my kids ;-)). You can read some of my longer-form stuff at taupecat.com, and I also blog for my agency’s site at rp3agency.com/author/tracy-rotton/.

Tracy Rotton‘s session is titled You Have Something to Say. View the full schedule.

WordCamp Lancaster will be held on March 5th with Contributor Day on March 6th. Get your ticket today.

Speaker Interview: Sal Ferrarello

In the run up to WordCamp Lancaster, we will be featuring some of our speakers here on the website.

  • Sal Ferrarello

    How and when did you get started with WordPress?

    In 2009, I was working at an agency and our CMS of choice was DotNetNuke on Windows IIS servers. We wanted to move to a LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP), as these matched our strengths better (and the hosting was cheaper). The lead developer at the time steered us toward WordPress, which was a great choice. (Thanks Bala.)

    If you’ve attended WordCamp Lancaster before, what’s your fondest memory of it? If not, what do you like most about WordCamps?

    Last year in Lancaster the topic of the PHP utility composer came up and it was completely foreign to me. Between sessions, members of the community took the time to introduce me to the use cases for it. This conversation started the process which led to me presenting “Getting Started with Composer” at WordCamp Philly 2015. (Thanks Tracy and Doug.)

    What do you hope attendees will take away from your talk?

    I hope my talk helps avoid the DNS mistakes I’ve made in the past and gives attendees the confidence to modify DNS, fearlessly.

    What are you currently learning?

    I’m working on improving my Automated Testing, PHP Object Oriented Programming, and JavaScript.

    Do you know what a stroopie is? No googling.

    A stroopie is a groupie for strings. A stroopie programmer treats all their variables as strings, for example a number would be a string like “-2”, an array would be a string with commas like “5,6,7”, and ah…wait…no?

    Based on my wife shaking her head as she reads over my shoulder, I assume I’ve missed the mark. In her defense she didn’t break the rules and Google it, she used Bing.

    What did you do during the blizzard?

    This is the first year I’ve owned a snowblower, so I snowblowed (snowblew?) a lot of snow. Afterward, I played in the snow with my two boys (7 and 4 years old).

    Where can we find you online?

    Blog: http://salferrarello.com
    WordPress Consulting: http://ironco.de
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/salcode
    GitHub: https://github.com/salcode
    Family Pictures: http://ferrarello.com

Sal Ferrarello‘s session is titled How to Avoid Mucking Up Your DNS. View the full schedule.

WordCamp Lancaster will be held on March 5th with Contributor Day on March 6th. Get your ticket today.

We loves scarves. Do you? We sure hope so! Check these out.

Question: What will Lancaster be like next week?

Chilly!

In lieu of the common t-shirt – a frequent keepsake of technology conferences – this year, we have something completely different. Detailed, high-quality wool scarves.

“It’s like a shirt…for your neck”.
– Nancy J. Scarf, inventor of the scarf

If you’re attending WordCamp Lancaster, you’ll receive one at registration on March 5th 🙂

Our talented designers, Bri and Dustin, did an amazing job. We were also impressed by the quality of manufacturing from the vendor.

scarves-design-flat

Here’s a few shots of the finished product:

scarves-top

scarf-close

scarves-models-01-web

scarf-rami-web

Speaker Interview: Joe Casabona

In the run up to WordCamp Lancaster, we will be featuring some of our speakers here on the website.

  • Joe Casabona

    How and when did you get started with WordPress?

    My freshman year of college (2003-04), my friend Steve Mekosh introduced me to this new blogging platform called WordPress. I checked it out and really liked. From there I started to play around with it, implementing it on my own blog first then doing some pilot programs with freelance clients I had. Around 2006-2007 I really started to push WordPress as a service since it was maturing, transforming from a blogging platform to a CMS. Now, it’s my go-to solution 🙂

    If you’ve attended WordCamp Lancaster before, what’s your fondest memory of it? If not, what do you like most about WordCamps?

    So either during or after the speaker party, several of us got together in a room off to the side and sat around a table drinking scotch and talking shop. It was pretty mellow but really cool – got to bond with a lot of cool folks that night!

    What do you hope attendees will take away from your talk?

    Attendees should come away have a bit more empathy for their students or clients, being more mindful of making learning WordPress seem “so easy anyone could do it.” They should also have some good tips on how they can teach WordPress in a classroom or workshop

    What are you currently learning?

    Aside from refining my workshops (and ultimately making my talk better!) I’m really focusing on Javascript. It’s something I was hunkering down on before WCUS and the State of the Word confirmed for me that I was on the right track. I’m pretty partial to Angular at this point, but I want to learn JS at it’s core.

    Do you know what a stroopie is? No googling.

    I do not!

    …

    I googled it :X

    What did you do during the blizzard?

    We didn’t get a lot of snow up in Scranton and I was pretty bummed about it! My car was in a garage, I had no place to go, and I live downtown. It was perfect personal conditions for a blizzard. I wish we got more than a dusting.

    Where can we find you online?

    I’m jcasabona on most social networks (include Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), my personal website is http://casabona.org and my new venture where I host WordPress Workshops is http://wpinonemonth.com

Joe Casabona‘s session is titled Have Empathy when Teaching WordPress. View the full schedule.

WordCamp Lancaster will be held on March 5th with Contributor Day on March 6th. Get your ticket today.

Speaker Interview: Liam Dempsey

In the run up to WordCamp Lancaster, we will be featuring some of our speakers here on the website.

  • Liam Dempsey

    How and when did you get started with WordPress?

    In March 2007, I googled myself and discovered that I was not easily found on the internet. I was on page 3 or something like that. As a designer and online marketing consultant, that was an issue. So, on March 17th – St. Patrick’s Day – I launched a WordPress blog at liamdempsey.com. It was my first WordPress site. Within three weeks, I was the top result for a Google search for my name and I’ve been there ever since.

    If you’ve attended WordCamp Lancaster before, what’s your fondest memory of it? If not, what do you like most about WordCamps?

    It was last year: Charlie Reisinger gave an amazing talk about the wonderful IT practices and activities he and his colleagues are implementing at Penn Manor School District. It was so cool to see the creativity and innovation that was making open source solutions work in their corner of the world.

    What do you hope attendees will take away from your talk?

    The confidence and at least a technique or two to help them be more outgoing, as and when they need or want to be so.

    What are you currently learning?

    I’m always trying to be more efficient, more focused and more strategic. That’s a constant learning process for me.

    In 2016, I’m researching CRM for small service consultancies like LBDesign.

    Lastly, I learn from those around me. I never know what I am going to learn from them, but by paying as close attention as I can, I know I’ll learn much of value.

    Do you know what a stroopie is? No googling.

    Nope.

    What did you do during the blizzard?

    Enjoyed the disconnect. I was lucky to spend lots of down time with my family. Yep, I shoveled a bit too.

    Where can we find you online?

    I’m still working up my Peach profile, so let’s go with Twitter: @liamdempsey

Liam Dempsey‘s session is titled Outgoing on Command. View the full schedule.

WordCamp Lancaster will be held on March 5th with Contributor Day on March 6th. Get your ticket today.

Speaker Interview: Cameron Barrett

In the run up to WordCamp Lancaster, we will be featuring some of our speakers here on the website.

  • Cameron Barrett

    How and when did you get started with WordPress?

    I was an early MovableType user and before that I was hand-rolling HTML archives for my pioneering blog called CamWorld (circa late 1990s). Around 2003-2004 I started working in Drupal and built some fairly large community-driven sites.

    At the Open Source Convention in Portland in July 2004, I met a young Matt Muellenweg, who had just launched WordPress. I didn’t pay much attention to it, but remember how eager, honest and smart he was.

    Several years passed and I noticed that a lot of the blogs I read and follow were moving to WordPress, so I started taking another look and saw how good of a platform it was, not just for blogs but as a robust CMS.

    I stopped doing Drupal development work around 2011 and moved almost all of my professional work, clients and web sites to WordPress and haven’t looked back.

    If you’ve attended WordCamp Lancaster before, what’s your fondest memory of it? If not, what do you like most about WordCamps?

    WordCamps allow me to connect with other WordPress users, developers and business owners. It also gives me a stage to explain how I’m using WordPress to save taxpayer money, which is a very important issue for me.

    What are you currently learning?

    I’m mostly a front-end designer working in HTML, CSS and Photoshop. I’ve learned a little bit of PHP and Javascript over the years but I’m trying to become better at it so I don’t have to rely on PHP rockstars all the time.

    Do you know what a stroopie is? No googling.

    No idea.

    What did you do during the blizzard?

    Shoveled snow and dug out the cars (twice!) and then built a snow fort with my daughter and her cousins.  I hail from Northern Michigan (so am very used to lots of snow), but grew up internationally, and currently live in Northern NJ with my family. I love to go biking, hiking and travel. About 15 years ago I came very close to starting an adventure travel company in Siberia but the funding fell through and the local Russian mafia advised me against it.

    Where can we find you online?

    Twitter: @camworld
    About.Me: http://about.me/cam
    WordPress: https://profiles.wordpress.org/cameronbarrett/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camworld
    Medium: https://medium.com/@camworld

Cameron Barrett‘s session is titled WordPress for Non-Profits. View the full schedule.

WordCamp Lancaster will be held on March 5th with Contributor Day on March 6th. Get your ticket today.

Speaker Interview: Anthony D Paul

In the run up to WordCamp Lancaster, we will be featuring some of our speakers here on the website.

  • Anthony D Paul

    How and when did you get started with WordPress?

    Way back in 2004 with Miles Davis. I’d been using phpBB to run a student club and wanted to switch it up with something better for publishing news. WordPress hit the spot and we’ve been sweethearts ever since.

    If you’ve attended WordCamp Lancaster before, what’s your fondest memory of it? If not, what do you like most about WordCamps?

    Shoofly pie tops the charts! Actually though, Lancaster has been my favorite WC just because of its size. It’s easier to meet new people and I enjoy seeing first-time speakers showing off the cool things they’re working on.

    What do you hope attendees will take away from your talk?

    I’m speaking on running usability tests and my life’s mission is to have the world be more accessible and user friendly for everyone, so if you use my talk, we’re one step closer.

    What are you currently learning?

    Javascript! For Matt and myself! I’m head first with React. I used to hack a bit of JS from Dynamic Drive, or modify some jQuery here and there, but I’m trying to wrap my head around something more comprehensive. I’m waiting for Zac Gordon to get that Kickstarter live for his new course. 😉

    Do you know what a stroopie is? No googling.

    “Haaaaang on stroopie, stroopie hang on!”

    What did you do during the blizzard?

    Went on long walks. I was getting the cabin fever and just wanted to be out in the snow, so I was venturing a couple miles down the road to see what businesses remained open.

    Where can we find you online?

    Google “anthonydpaul” to stalk me on any social media network, or find me telling someone who’s wrong on the Internet.

Anthony D Paul‘s session is titled Organizing Your First Website Usability Test. View the full schedule.

WordCamp Lancaster will be held on March 5th with Contributor Day on March 6th. Get your ticket today.

The Day Lancaster Was The US Capital

For a brief moment in time, Lancaster, Pennsylvania held the high honor as the third capital of our young nation. How briefly, exactly? If you want to get technical about it, as I am sure we all do as passionate developers, designers and users of the software WordPress, it was the capital for one single day. But let that not diminish the importance of that day. Let’s travel back in time for a brief history lesson.

A Brief History

In early September of 1777, British forces led by Sir William Howe advanced north from the Chesapeake towards Philadelphia, with the goal of capturing the capital. Meanwhile, General George Washington’s troops moved south of Philadelphia in order to head off the British advancements. On September 11th, 1777, the troops met in what is now known as the Battle of Brandywine. In short, the British won.

The two weeks following the battle saw few encounters between the British and American forces. On September 26, 1777, George Washington and the Continental Congress abandoned Philadelphia and traveled to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, approximately sixty miles west of Philadelphia. The British marched into Philadelphia unopposed.

Lancaster Courthouse

Image of the Lancaster Courthouse. This is the rebuilt courthouse, though, and not the original one in use during the day Lancaster was the capital.

Lancaster’s Big Day

On September 27th, 1777, Lancaster, Pennsylvania became the third capital of the United States. On that day, Lancaster’s county courthouse became the meeting place for the Continental Congress, where Benjamin Franklin became elected as commissioner to negotiate a treaty with France. But it didn’t last long.

But It Didn’t Last Long

The next day, September 30, 1777, they picked up again and moved another twenty miles west to York, Pennsylvania. Situated on the western side of the Susquehanna River, York offered additional protection against the British forces. They stayed in York until June 27, 1778, when they moved back to Philadelphia.

Luckily for those in the Philadelphia area, today Lancaster is accessible via train and only about an hour to an hour and a half away. We hope that you will join us in Lancaster on March 5th. If you haven’t done so yet, purchase a ticket today!

WooCommerce

Sponsor Spotlight: WooCommerce

We would like to thank WooCommerce for being a Queen Street sponsor of WordCamp Lancaster 2016!

WooCommerce is the fastest growing eCommerce software/platform, powering over 30% of all eCommerce stores with over 1 million active installations. It is is built to integrate seamlessly with WordPress, making it the obvious eCommerce choice for existing WordPress users and connects you to the fast-growing WordPress ecosystem which now powers over 25% of all websites on the internet.

With WooCommerce you can start with all the basic tools that any small business would need to start selling online, including product setup, payments, shipping options, and sales reports and as your business grows choose from over 300 premium add-ons available including additional payment processors, shipping methods, inventory systems and marketing tools anyone to sell anything, anywhere from real products and digital downloads to subscriptions, content and even your time.

In July 2015, WooCommerce was acquired by Automattic, the creators of WordPress.com which serves more than 15.8 billion pages a month and also the creators of other popular WordPress services including Akismet, Jetpack, and VaultPress. We look forward to growing WooCommerce to achieve even greater things together with Automattic.

WooCommerce

Be sure to stop by their table at WordCamp Lancaster to learn more about what you can do with their tools.