WordCamp | blog.JacobBurke.com - Random thoughts about life, technology and the world around me.

WordCamp Mid-Atlantic

Posted on: May 21, 2009 at 11:54 am | Posted under: Conferences, Development, Technology
Tags: WordCamp, WordCampMidAtl | Comments: View Comments

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend WordCamp Mid-Atlantic in Baltimore, MD. I had been looking forward to the event since Aaron emailed me back in December letting me know that he was setting this up. Now that the conference has come and gone, I can share with all of you my thoughts on the event.

Sessions

The sessions were the main focus of the day. With two tracks to choose from (technical & blogger), there was definitely plenty of knowledge being shared. One of the sessions that I found to be most informative was the “Thesis Theme Developer Hacks” presented by Brad Williams. I have been using Thesis on a number of sites, but the hooks have been somewhat confusing to understand. Thanks to Brad, I now have a much better understanding of how the theme works and look to developing more with Thesis.

The great part about WordCamp is that PodCamp rules applied. I was able to leave the sessions if I was not interested and breakout with other attendees to discuss our own WordPress issues and offer advice. Having the ability to create your own session and brainstorm with other users was awesome.

Networking

A big part of the weekend was being able to network with other developers and users. I have connected with so many people online, that is was great to be able to meet people in person and interact with them in real life. Yes, video calls on Skype are nice, but nothing beats that real life connection.

I also had the chance to meet Drew Griffin, who I have been working with since last September. Drew is an awesome guy and it was great to finally meet him (even if he did show up at 3am the day of WordCamp).

Lessons Learned

I learned a lot over the weekend, a lot of knowledge from experts was presented and it was a great experience. Besides the conference, one of the biggest lessons I learned is not to fly somewhere that is only a 4 hour drive! My experience with US Airways was horrible over the weekend (Drew’s was worse), and I don’t wish the hell I went through on anyone. Next time I am taking the bus!

Overall WordCamp Mid-Atlantic was an amazing experience. Thanks again to Aaron and Jimmy for putting on the conference and I look forward to next year’s event.

Cheers!

Get your WordCamp Mid-Atlantic Badge!

Posted on: March 27, 2009 at 12:44 pm | Posted under: Design
Tags: WordCamp, WordCampMidAtl | Comments: View Comments

Back in December after I registered for WordCamp Mid-Atlantic, I decided to involve myself in the promotion of the event by creating some badges. It turns out that Aaron has been promoting the badge on Twitter and I am writing this post to let you know that you can get the badge for your blog or web site.

I do ask that you save the image and upload to your own site, or use the copies that are on Flickr.