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Sponsor Spotlight: Mindutopia

Mindutopia Logo

I remember the first time my friend Nate came to our meetup. He surprised me with the news that there was a WordPress agency right in my own city and he worked there. After all my years of working with the web in Grand Rapids, I was stunned such a thing existed and I’d never heard of it.

Nate leveled up pretty fast. He’s crazy smart. It wasn’t long before he bought a share in the company and helped mold it into what it is today: a top notch WordPress agency doing quality work.

Mindutopia doesn’t do a lot of marketing; they don’t really need to. They keep their head down and do great work. Because of this they’re not as well known as some other agencies. Take the time Saturday to meet their hardworking crew and I hope you’ll join me in thanking them personally for sponsoring WordCamp.

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Sponsor Spotlight: Pantheon

Pantheon

One indicator of how committed a company is to their customer base is the level of management that gets out amongst that customer base. If the highest you ever see is a middle manager of a department, perhaps there’s not a lot of commitment there.

One of the first people I ever met from Pantheon was Josh Koenig, a Co-Founder of the company. He quite regularly goes to WordCamps, and he meets and knows people in the WordPress community. He doesn’t go alone either. Pantheon regularly sends several people to a given conference.

This year when I approached Pantheon about WordCamp sponsorship it was pretty late in the season, and they weren’t sure if they could get someone to come. As it turns out, Steve Persch from Pantheon will be here and speaking to boot! Pantheon put a fair amount of time into figuring out how to get someone to our WordCamp, in addition to Sponsoring, and that kind of commitment is much appreciated.

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A Note About Lunch

This year at camp we’re having on-site lunch which can be a challenge to plan with people’s different dietary needs. We tried to pick an option that provides for everybody, but the reality is that’s impossible. So below is the menu for the buffet which everyone will have access to. If you need to bring something to supplement it, please do.

Chicken Fajitas with our Tex Mex sides.
Chips and Fresh Salsa, Tortillas, Pico De Gallo, Mexican Rice, Refried Beans, and Chicken Fajita’s. Served with Cinnamon Crisps, Ice water and Lemonade

The Chips and Salsa, Mexican Rice, Refried Beans, Fire Roasted Salsa, Salsa Verde, and Pico De Gallo are vegan.

The Chicken, Chips and Salsa, Mexican Rice, Refried Beans, Fire Roasted Salsa, Salsa Verde, and Pico De Gallo are all gluten-free and there will also be corn tortillas.
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Sponsor Spotlight: Liquid Web

Liquid Web

LIttle foam muscle manA couple years ago I was at a WordCamp wandering the sponsor tables like I tend to do when I saw a new guy behind a table that said “Liquid Web” with about 200 little foam muscle men on his table.

I wandered over, said, “Hi.”, and started learning about AJ’s Big Adventure. He told me that Liquid Web has been a web host for a long time, but had decided to get into hosting specifically tailored to WordPress. AJ had been tasked with getting to the know the WordPress community and building a product that fit it’s current needs.

He’s been at it for a couple years now and I have to say the results are impressive. Liquid Web has gone all in, hiring serious people to do amazing things, taking the right steps at the right time to build a powerhouse product.

They continue to monitor the communities needs, AJ still goes to a huge number of WordCamps, and Liquid Web still sponsors WordCamps like ours. Keeping it about the community while building a solid product at the same time is a winning combination and we appreciate their support.

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Sponsor Spotlight: A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting

I first met the folks from A2 Hosting at WordCamp Ann Arbor a few years ago. They were handing out pint glasses, mine’s still in my kitchen cabinet. I didn’t have time at that WordCamp to get to know them well, but I began to hear more and more about them from places I didn’t expect. Ann Arbor is quite close to me so it felt surprising to see my friend Jeff from far away post this:

That piqued my interest. So at the next WordCamp Ann Arbor I tracked down some of the engineers and had a nice long talk with them over a few beers.

I’ve been a web developer for a long time and, while I’m not a systems engineer, I do have a handle on how the web works. The folks at A2 told me some things they built for speed that blew my mind. Things that had never occurred to me as possible.

This year A2 Hosting is sponsoring WordCamp Grand Rapids and it’s an honor to have them.

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Sponsor Spotlight: Agathon Group

Agathon Group

Hey folks, this is Topher writing. I’ll be doing the Sponsor Spotlights for WCGR and I’m going to try to help you get to know our Sponsors in a different light.

First up in our Sponsor Spotlight series is Agathon Group. I’ve known the people at Agathon group for nearly twenty years now. We all worked together during the dot com boom at one of the largest web sites in the world. It was an exciting time, and it began some pretty serious education for all of us.

The folks at Agathon have been hand crafting web hosting solutions for a couple decades now. And just like any great artisan at their trade, it’s fascinating to watch. They don’t simply host websites, they solve hosting problems.  They listen, and think, and then carefully build.

I value Agathon because they’re wise, intelligent, and compassionate. I thank them for sponsoring our WordCamp and taking part in our community.

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Sold Out!

WordCamp Grand Rapids is sold out. Check back to see if anyone is unable to attend and has returned there’s. If more come available, the link will go back up.

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The Line Up for Next Saturday

The schedule is set and fully interactive.

Click on the Session name to get a more detailed description of that session. Want to know more about the speaker? Simply click on the Speaker name to jump to their bio.

While the Developer Track does indicate which talks are more developer focused, don’t let our label decide for you. Instead, use the session descriptions to determine which talks are right for you.

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Do You Need a Physical Ticket?

Another great question I was asked and the answer is “Nope.”

We try to keep the process as simple as possible for everyone. Once you buy your ticket you should receive a conformation email with a link that allows you to update any information you might need to. From there, you should show up on the attendee page and if you’re there, you’re in our system.

After that, it’s all up to us. We print your name badge, if you registered in time and you pick that up at registration the morning of August 26. If you register after badges are printed, we still have record of you, but you’ll have to write your name on a blank badge.

That’s it. Buy your ticket, check in at registration, and please, before hand, review the Code of Conduct.

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What is a Micro-Sponsor?

It’s a reasonable question that I’ve been asked a number of times. So just what does separate a Micro-Sponsor from a Day Pass holder besides an $80 price difference?

Micro-Sponsor is a sponsorship level for individuals and small businesses who want to sponsor WordCamp in a manageable and yet still visible way. They are acknowledged on our home page with a link to their Twitter presence and provided with a Sponsors badge along with the other sponsors as well as of course receiving a ticket to the event.

Beyond that, this is an opportunity for those who are using WordPress — a free, open-source product — to give back to the community. The smaller a business is, the less time there maybe to help others. Supporting WordCamp in this way gives you the chance to pay it forward. You can help someone else find the tools that can allow them to make their idea a reality. Just as you did.

WordCamp Grand Rapids 2017 is over. Check out the next edition!