WordCamp Miami lights a fire

After a fulfilling and enlightening day at WordCamp Miami, I can’t help but use one of my favorite expressions: The event lit a fire under my butt. For the generously cheap $30 attendance fee, I was able to accumulate a list full of things I can’t wait to tinker and play with. The brain cogs are turning with full speed and the inspiration is flowing rapidly through my veins.

Pete Bernardo kicked off the day with a fantastic presentation about WordPress plugins.  I, along with most of the audience, were “ooo-ing” and “ahhh-ing” over some of the plugin demos he performed on the spot for us.  I found this presentation to be absolutely perfect for someone like me who is fairly comfortable with installing WordPress for client sites, but often hit a wall when it came to enhancing them with advanced features like forms and higher levels of user controls.  Thank you, Pete. Thank you, thank you. *Updated* Check out Pete’s presentation from WordCamp below.

WordCamp Miami 2010 – WordPress Plugins for your Next Project from Pete Bernardo on Vimeo.

We all felt like insiders during the “What’s Coming in WordPress 3.0″ session with Jane Wells of Automattic.  A cool new default WordPress theme and “The Merge” between WordPress and WordPress MU are on the horizon. Aside from that, hearing from a super well-versed user experience expert who happened to be a female among a sea of male developers was a breath of fresh air in itself. It led to an awesome brainstorming session between a few of us chicks in the group. Lori Todd wrote a fantastic wrap-up of what we took from that session and our goals moving forward.

Willie Morris tweeted a thought that was also one of my biggest sentiments of the day: It felt like being in college again.  Big lecture halls. Lunch on the lawn with friends. Note-taking.  It was a throwback to my days at UF and I was overjoyed that they chose to host the event on a college campus. There is no better way to foster higher learning than to put your attendees directly into that environmental setting.  Excellent venue choice (even though I hate the Canes. Go Gators!).

Another stand-out presentation for me was Tammy Hart’s session on using WordPress with clients. Amen. I’ve been looking forward to a presentation like this for the longest time because of my experience level. I hate the frustration that I get when potential clients bring me WordPress requests but I am unable to meet their needs.  Tammy’s session made me feel okay about that and gave me some guidelines about where to go to find solutions.  Aside from the tips that she shared (and there were many) I was more inspired by the presence and expertise of yet another female who has been able to build a successful business around WordPress development and maintenance with clients. She is also completely self-taught. My hat is off to Tammy.

As Lori said in her post, I’m really pleased that the organizers of this event decided to plan it separately from BarCamp Miami this year.   I recall last year being torn between several WordCamp and BarCamp sessions and losing out by having to chose.  The separate camp remedied that and because it was tailored to three different levels of interest, there was something for everyone.

Bravo to David Bisset, John Carcutt and the rest of the WordCamp organizers. The motivation from the fire that is now lit under my bum to get up and do something was worth every penny. See you all at BarCamp tomorrow!

We can’t afford your conference

As the Online News Association annual conference unfolded last weekend, my coworkers and I were eagerly watching and griping at the same time. It would have been awesome to be there.

As tightly scheduled, financially struggling journalists, these big industry conferences seem more and more out of reach to attend but they also offer the greatest payoff in an industry where networking and skill sharpening is nearly the only way to stay afloat.

Lori Todd and I coauthored a blog post about how the expensive cost associated with these beneficial industry events ends up hurting several areas of our business in the long run, in ways that industry leaders may or may not realize. A tidbit:

Expensive conferences put out-of-work journalists at an even greater disadvantage. Attending industry events and keeping skill sets up-to-date are all we can rely on to market ourselves in a suddenly flooded field of applicants. Attending a conference is resume material. Following a conference online is not.

The rest of the post is over at Lori Todd’s blog. We’d love to hear feedback on other ways or ideas to establish more affordable training and networking opportunities that don’t necessarily involve staying connected through social media. Another 10,000 Words post from Mark Luckie stresses the importance of real-life relationships. I couldn’t agree more, I just wish they were more affordable.

Find us on Twitter: @malcolli, @loritodd. Let’s strike up a conversation.

You already know me. Lori Todd graduated in 2006 from the University of Miami and has worked at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Austin American-Statesman before returning to the Miami Herald as a news page designer in September 2008.