Sessions

Presented in General.

Presented by Steve Grunwell in Developer.

WordPress is a tightly-coupled system, representing over a decade and a half of ideas, decisions, technological shifts, and ideological struggles. There’s a lot of history to be parsed and often the simplest task can have unintended consequences. Meanwhile, automated testing is one of the best ways to ensure software can be released regularly with high confidence and low risk of regressions. Sadly, the leap from “building WordPress plugins” to “building WordPress plugins with tests” is often viewed as a challenging hurdle. Luckily, there are tools to set up a test harness within an existing codebase with ease. This talk introduces the fundamentals of automated testing, especially within the context of WordPress. After developing an understanding why automated testing is so critical, attendees will learn how to begin testing their plugins and themes, using features found both in PHPUnit and the WordPress core testing framework, to build and release quality software.

Presented by Kim Smith in General.

In this session, you will learn: *how to identify your ideal client (target market) *how to market to them in a way that they will respond to, and *how to do this effectively for little to no cost.
With 20 years of experience, helping small business owners with their marketing and online presence, I am ready to teach you the strategies that actually WORK for small businesses. I will help you discover the clients you WANT to work with, which sounds overly simplistic, but in reality, most small business owners can’t identify their ideal client. I will teach you how to communicate with your ideal prospects in a way that helps them to know, like, and trust you, which encourages them to respond positively to your message. Finally, I will equip you with a list of free and low-cost tools, giving you some tips on how to best use them to reach your target market.

I have been using these tools and strategies with and for my clients for two decades. Not only can you use the knowledge you learn in this session to reach your own target market, but you can also add value to your business by teaching these strategies to your clients. By the end of this session, you will learn the methods that helped me gain more visibility, credibility, and profitability as a small business owner who actually THRIVED during the recession and has kept growing ever since!

Presented by Jeries Eadeh in Developer.

Freelance developers and small agencies typically don’t have the luxury to hire an experienced sales executive. That doesn’t make business development any less critical. In this session, I will breakdown some practical sales techniques for any developer or agency owner to implement right away. We’ll touch on ways to manage a sales pipeline, how and where to find new opportunities along with some easy marketing and brand tips. This lesson will help all those developers and business owners who don’t want to be sales professionals themselves but understand finding the next project means you get to sustain your business for the next few months.

Presented by Joe A Simpson Jr in General.

Wherever I go in the Community, I consistently hear these avoidable pitfalls from new users in the WordPress space. In this presentation, we’ll take a closer look at the seven most common mistakes and solutions to help you achieve your goals, level up, add value to your practice with WordPress.

Presented by Mary Baum in General.

Seriously.

I have OPINIONS on the shapes of PARTS of LETTERS.
In the scheme of things, you probably don’t want to get as picky as I am.

Still:
You want to make sure your type is easy to read.
You want to make sure it speaks in the same voice as your site — it looks like it belongs.

Those things matter—a lot.
(Would you choose a swirly script for Jiffy Lube? Didn’t think so.)

But you don’t have to spend decades to learn the basics. Just come spend a few minutes learning a few things that won’t change with the tech — at least as long as people still have eyes!

Presented by Topher DeRosia in Developer.

In this talk we’ll cover what the HTTP API is capable of and look at a few short code snippets to make it happen.

For beginner to intermediate users.

Presented by Tim Nolte in General.

Are you currently a user, or consumer, of WordPress but have been wanting to give back to the community in some way? Have you been developing themes or plugins for yourself or company but never released anything to WordPress.org? Have you learned a lot about WordPress and have wondered how you can share what you’ve learned and give back to the community? In this session, I’ll give some easy steps you can take to get involved, including sharing my own experiences over the years with being involved and giving back to the amazing WordPress community.

Presented by Mitchell Dawkins in Developer.

Walking through headless WordPress, how it can be leveraged to serve structured data to a NON-WP frontend while still taking advantage of the world-class content management system that WordPress provides.

Presented by Cindy Bidar in General.

It’s simple to install and use WordPress, but when you take the time to create repeatable systems, managing your site becomes even easier. In this short talk, I’ll share best practices for systems development and documentation, as well as how to use your systems to train a team of contractors.

Presented by Mike Hale in Developer.

Freelancers and agencies spend a lot of time writing proposals and estimates based on limited information. What if you could charge for the discovery work you’re already doing? You can! Paid Discovery is short-term engagement that delivers value to your client, while you get paid for your time. In this session you’ll learn how to implement a Paid Discovery process to get paid for your time, convert more leads into clients, and show the real value in the services you provide.

Presented by Daniel Proczko in General.

What makes a website successful? In less than 15min you’ll learn the simple key to massive website results.

This session will explore the basics of analytics and marketing tracking to help you understand how to talk with your team, keep them accountable, and better understand ROI and a smart investment.

Presented by Anita Carter in Developer.

This session is geared toward those who are WordPress theme designers who sell their themes, as well as those interested in a career providing support. It will offer tips on how to set up your support system, pre-prepared responses, best practices, how to handle disgruntled buyers, and preparation of theme documentation. You will also learn about becoming a theme support team member.

Presented by Michele Butcher-Jones in General.

We spend a lot of time in front of a computer without any social interaction. Sometimes that is great. Sometimes that causes demons to get in your closet. We will talk about the stuff no one likes to talk about. How to handle depression, social anxiety, and keep yourself healthy mentally and physically.

Presented by Kelly McCausey in General.

Every business whether it’s service based or about delivering information can incorporate a natural approach to affiliate marketing. I’ll give actionable steps to follow and you’ll be meeting needs for your people in no time!

Presented by Chris Ford in Developer.

We’ve all either heard of or experienced some of the problems that can happen when designers and developers struggle to collaborate on a project: timelines can slip, revisions can multiply, frustrations can grow. What’s the difference between a project delivered on time, on budget, and with minimal client back-and-forth and one that… isn’t?

Designer-turned-project manager Chris Ford has found herself on both sides of the equation. As an agency and freelance designer she’s provided wireframes, prototypes and comps for hundreds of websites built by other developers. As a project manager at Reaktiv, a WordPress.com VIP partner, she works closely with their clients’ in-house designers and design agencies implementing their design decisions. She’s seen her share of both wildly successful and satisfying collaborations and with projects that never saw the light of day.

In this talk Chris will reveal how she’s personally combined some of her core beliefs (like mutual respect, clear expectations and a common vocabulary) with immediately actionable tips (like documenting your process and making sure to schedule ample QA time) to help designers and developers work together to build not just better products for our clients, but a better experience.

Presented by Jeff Large in General.

Successful business owners know how to use their resources wisely. Recycling content saves you time, maximizes your marketing impact, and provides more value to your audience. In this session, we’ll cover methods and best practices for making your content go further than ever before.

Presented in General.