{"id":166235,"date":"2013-08-08T09:25:44","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T13:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2013.grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/?page_id=166235"},"modified":"2013-08-08T20:48:35","modified_gmt":"2013-08-09T00:48:35","slug":"speakers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2013\/speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t
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Adam Pickering<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Adam is a designer & serial WordPress entrepreneur starting in 2008 with his first WordPress theme venture called: BandThemer.com which catered to bands, artists, musicians & labels. Since then he has co-founded MintThemes.com and help create the first free crowdfunding plugin for WordPress allowing people to crowdfund anything imaginable.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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AJ Morris<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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AJ Morris is a creative web develop based in Owosso, MI. He currently manages the website for Covenant Eyes and manages the technical team for Headway Themes, the leader in drag-and-drop WordPress themes. Finally he is a moderator on WordPress.tv, getting access to great WordPress content. When not working with WordPress, you can find him blogging over at http:\/\/ajmorris.me or on Twitter @ajmorris.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Brad Parbs<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Brad Parbs is a core contributor, plugin author, theme designer, open source fanatic, and startup lover. Brad has created open source WordPress tools, themes, and plugins. Brad currently runs Snow Day Group, a Milwaukee-based web development, a WordPress development agency. When not making things with WordPress, Brad drinks Chai Tea, plays with his cats, and listens to loud music in his car.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Brennen Byrne<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Brennen is the CEO and co-founder of Clef, a replacement for usernames and passwords online. A long time participant in the WordPress community, building something useful to give back to WordPress has been a long-time goal. Brennen is passionate about identities online, especially the security implications of UX decisions.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Cathy Hanson<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Cathy is a social media manager who also manages SEO and blogs through her own business, Evil Genius Media. She has been creating and managing content on WordPress for over three years. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Chad Warner<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Chad Warner creates websites that empower small businesses. He owns OptimWise<\/a>, a small web design company in Zeeland, MI, that specializes in WordPress. He’s an active member of our very own WordPress Grand Rapids group<\/a>. Chad’s an entrepreneur, hiker, reader, and Tolkien fan.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Chris Klosowski<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Chris is a Software Developer at GoDaddy where his primary role is working on large scale WordPress & BuddyPress installations. In his free time he is a WordPress plugin developer with numerous plugins on WordPress.org and Github. Chris is also the developer of WP-Push<\/a> which integrates WordPress and plugins with the Pushover mobile app.<\/p>\n

Chris currently resides in San Tan Valley, Arizona with his wife and son, and hails from Wyoming, MI.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Christoph Trappe<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Christoph has lived in Eastern Iowa since 1995 after moving to Iowa City from Germany.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s currently United Way of East Central Iowa\u2019s VP of Communications and Innovation.<\/p>\n

Before that he was United Way\u2019s marketing manager, worked as a newspaper reporter, produced training videos for banks and credit unions throughout the United States, conducted staff training and developed new products for The Gazette Company in Cedar Rapids.<\/p>\n

He lives in Marion with his wife and their daughter.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Daniel Espinoza<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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I’m Daniel, a web developer based in San Antonio TX. I build plugins for fun and profit and am a WooCommerce Support Ninja with WooThemes. <\/p>\n

I blog about being a Digital Tentmaker at LifeWithAMission.com and am preparing to slow travel the world with my wife and kids.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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David Veldt<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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David is a digital marketer and online business builder who started building WordPress sites for Michigan-based small businesses in 2008. He has since shifted to the marketing realm, having led SEO and PPC campaigns for several national and global brands, including Fortune 500 companies. Through his side business, Interactually, David consults, blogs, builds and manages multiple WordPress-based businesses.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Doug Smith<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Doug jumped into WordPress in 2005 and has since put it to work on dozens of sites for clients, non-profit organizations, and just for fun. He is currently the co-owner of @SimplyCM, a homeschool curriculum publisher, where WordPress and bbPress are essential components of keeping the business running smoothly.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Dustin Hartzler<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Dustin Hartzler is a WordPress developer and podcaster. In addition to building websites for clients, he is the host of one of the most popular WordPress podcasts; Your Website Engineer<\/a> Podcast. He enjoys digging into topics and teaching listeners how to different things about WordPress.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Gloria Antonelli<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Gloria Antonelli is a WordPress consultant, instructor and developer since 2006. She is pivoting her emerging technology consultant & educator experience (since 1996) to focus on improving WordPress User Experiences. Gloria is wrapping UX, Information Architecture, Content Strategy and learning techniques to help Theme and Plugin Developers create better learning channels for their users.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Jake Caputo<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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I’m a husky designer and developer living in the Chicago suburbs with my wife and two cats. I’ve been designing\/developing with WordPress since 2008. After starting at a small agency I moved to freelance client work and then to creating commercial WordPress themes, which is what I currently spends 100% of my time doing. I operate out of designcrumbs.com<\/a>, co-host the occasional podcast at PleaseAdvise.fm<\/a>, and tweet dumb stuff<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Jeff Bowen<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Jeff is an Engineer at Automattic from Jacksonville, FL. When he’s not hacking on WordPress.com, he enjoys hiking, traveling the world, yoga, and jailbreaking his electronics.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Jeff Chandler<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Jeff is the man behind WPTavern.com<\/a>. On WPTavern, you\u2019ll find reviews, news, screencasts, guest blog posts from some great WordPress community members and much more.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>

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Jeremy Mullens<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Joe Rozsa<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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An award winning creative director, designer and owner of Trailer Trash Design, Joe thumbs his nose at the stuffed-shirt, smoke and mirrors approach to providing creative communication services. Operating under the sometimes unheard of adage that work can be fun, Joe, with his off-the-cuff approach, offers his clients full service creative consulting, graphic design, advertising and production for print media collateral, websites, internet marketing and multi-media presentations. He’s been offering WordPress services for the past 6 years.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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John James Jacoby<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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WordPress, BuddyPress, bbPress, Director of Web Engineering at 10up, formerly of Automattic<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Kurt Hansen<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Kurt Hansen advises small to medium size businesses on their web presence. He delivers high quality websites using the wildly popular WordPress platform. His expertise includes finding solutions to real business needs using off-the-shelf components. Education has been an important part of his life. Kurt has a business degree from Michigan State University and a masters degree in computer science from Northern Illinois University. When he’s not helping businesses with their online presence, Kurt enjoys outdoor activities like trout fishing and bike riding. He also enjoys reading and writing. In fact, he wrote The WP Stew Guide to HTML + CSS + WordPress.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Kyle Unzicker<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Kyle is a freelance designer and developer with an insatiable desire to create things worth putting your name on. He enjoys baseball and music with unintelligble lyrics.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Lisa Ghisolf<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Lisa Ghisolf is Gizmo Creative Factory, with 17+ years in print, web & email design, and 10 years in business. She’s worked with big and small agencies alike, creating print work and websites for Kraft, Allstate & many corporations & organizations. Instead of just putting out fires, she’s now building robust WordPress sites and training clients and giving workshops on how they can manage them on their own.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Lisa Sabin-Wilson<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Lisa Sabin-Wilson is the co-owner of WebDevStudios, a design and development company specializing in customized WordPress themes and plugins, and the author of WordPress For Dummies. As the \u201cFor Dummies\u201d brand franchise author on all things WordPress she\u2019s also written several other WordPress-related books. She\u2019s worked with WordPress since 2003, and is also a regular public speaker on topics such as WordPress, blogging, design, and social media. Find Lisa on Twitter: @LisaSabinWilson<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Matt Christensen<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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I am a professional web developer located in Pontiac, IL. I have been developing web solutions and applications since 2003. I currently work for a large insurance company using WordPress to create marketing and internal microsites.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Michelle Schulp<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Michelle is a graphic designer and co-founder of Marktime Media, a multimedia design and video production company based in Chicagoland. She was formally schooled in many aspects of design including print, branding, packaging, etc., with additional education in Psychology and Sociology, all tying together in a love of How To Solve Problems. Lately she has been specializing in WordPress websites, infographics, and high-end presentations for her clients. She is a lover of WordCamps and the WordPress community, a Meetup junkie, and WordCamp Chicago organizer.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Monte Martin<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Monte Martin is a digital marketing consultant and the founder of Force Online Marketing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He spends most of his time glued to a laptop, but sometimes he finds a little free time to spend riding his bike. He loves cyclocross, mountain biking, his wife, and his jack russell, (not necessarily in that order). You can find out more about him on twitter: @sirmontegu<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Nick Defoe<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Nick Defoe is the president of Blue Sky Sessions<\/a> – a marketing firm in Holland, MI that specializes in WordPress design and development. Nick excels at developing strategies for businesses to express their brands online as well as pulling together the right technologies to solve their problems. In his free time Nick enjoys reading scifi, sailing, and supporting the local humane society.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Patrick Rauland<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Patrick spends most of the work day slicing and dicing code to help out WooThemes customers. He also organizes the Appleton WordPress Meetup and regularly speaks at the Web920 Meetup. Patrick loves to be outside, to run, and to practice yoga. His ultimate goal is to figure out a way to code websites while in a headstand or biking around town.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Paul Kortman<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Paul started his web development journey in ’94 in vi on a SunSparc machine hand coding html tables. Since then he’s gone on to found a digital marketing agency ConnexSocial.com which focuses on helping mid to large businesses market their products and services. Paul is passionate about using WordPress as the backend for a SaaS startup.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Pippin Williamson<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Pippin is a WordPress plugin developer from Hutchinson, KS, and the creator of plugins such as Easy Digital Downloads and Restrict Content Pro.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Ross Johnson<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Ross Johnson has been designing websites professionally for over fifteen years. He brings a unique and comprehensive view to design, shaped by a lifelong love for fine arts and his education in technology, business and social science. This diverse background brings insight to all aspects of design including practicality, business implications and psychology of how people interact with computers.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Topher DeRosia<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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I’m an old school PHP\/MySQL dev that came back to WordPress around 2009. I’ve been making my living on it ever since.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n

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