One of the challenges that goes hand in hand with organizing an event like WordCamp Melbourne is getting a list of people, and subjects up on the stage that appeals to two very different sections of the WordPress using public.
On one hand have the nerdy tech stream where people are interested in how to do nerdier, techier things with WordPress or their business, and on the other there are the people who use WordPress for their websites and blogs. This section of the community are less inclined to want to know how the engine works (or how to make it faster/better/stronger), they just want to drive the thing in the best most efficient way possible.
In organizing the speaker list for WCMelb we really wanted to look after the users and bloggers this time around. We have the tech stream pretty well catered for every year with a group of talented geeks who love to talk about what they’re doing with WordPress, but I feel a little like we’ve struggled to connect with those who want to build better blogs!!
In other years I’ve been to blogger conferences where we have great times connecting with each other and telling stories but we don’t really look after helping people with some of the technical aspects of owning a blog or a website. I really feel like WordCamp is uniquely placed to be able to cross some of those boundaries.
So, without further ado, we wanted to outline the program for the low-tech or user/blogger stream below to give people who may not have considered coming before, an opportunity to start getting excited about coming to WordCamp! If you’re a blogger, site owner or site admin who wants to know more about WordPress and connect with other people in a fun and low pressure environment, without feeling like everyone around you is a nerd I really hope you’ll see some value in the line up below and book your ticket here!
We, the WCMelb team, are pretty proud of it.
If you want to add the schedule via Lanyrd or track the event you can find the listing here.
Saturday April 27th – Room 1 (Low Tech) |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 am | – | 9:00 am | Registration |
| 9:00 am | – | 9:20 am | Welcome |
| 9:20 am | – | 9:45 am | Keynote |
| 9:50 am | – | 10:30 am | WordPress 101 – Warren Denley |
| 10:30 am | – | 11:10 am | Sexy WordPress – How to Choose the Right Theme – Glenn Todd & Debbie Symons |
| 11:10 am | – | 11:45 am | WordCamp Bingo & Morning Tea |
| 11:45 am | – | 12:25 pm | Hackers Ahoy! Batten Down the Hatches – Michael McKinnon |
| 12:30 pm | – | 1:10 pm | Recognizing the Cycles of Blogging (or notes on dealing with the Slough of Despond) – Narelle Hanratty |
| 1:15 pm | – | 2:00 pm | Lunch |
| 2:00 pm | – | 2:40 pm | How to write for an Online Audience – Vikki Maver |
| 2:45 pm | – | 3:25 pm | Actionable Analytics – Stephen Cronin |
| 3:30 pm | – | 3:55 pm | Afternoon Tea |
| 4:00 pm | – | 4:50 pm | Lightning talks |
Sunday April 28th – Room 1 (Low Tech) |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 am | – | 10:30 am | Ask Anything |
| 10:35 am | – | 11:15 am | How WordPress is Empowering Diversity – John McKenna |
| 11:20 am | – | 12:00 pm | Know Enough to be Dangerous (demystifying how to tweak your site) – Jordan Gilman |
| 12:00 pm | – | 12:45 pm | Lunch |
| 12:45 pm | – | 1:25 pm | WordPress and Video SEO – David Jenyns |
| 1:30 pm | – | 2:10 pm | Dis [content] – a Panel on Blog Content – Kylie Gusset + 2 others |
| 2:15 pm | – | 2:55pm | Beating Spam on your blog or Site – Vlad Lasky |
| 3:00 pm | – | 3:20 pm | Afternoon Tea |
| 3:20 pm | – | 4:00 pm | Getting Started with WooCommerce – Anthony Hortin |
| 4:05 pm | – | 4:45 pm | Sack your Developer – 9 1/2 Free WordPress Plugins to Keep you Sane While Blogging – Phil Steinke |
| 4:45 pm | – | 5:00 pm | Farewell, prizes, giveaways etc |
** Please understand this schedule is subject to change as the event develops and unforeseen circumstances arise.
Great programming from the Melb team. Selecting speakers at every wordcamp is a balancing act between the tech stream and the content stream plus there are also other presentations that will interest both groups. This is looking like a “best ever” selection of talks.
Thanks Jason! Spread the word in your networks if you would, we’d love a strong contingent of Kiwis at the event!
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This sounds great, just what I’m looking for