Bio

I’m a husband and father from Grand Rapids MI. I currently work for X-Team WP building awesome web sites with WordPress.

Topher will be presenting “Site caching, from nothing to everything” at 1:30pm in Henderson Room.

Why do you use WordPress?

Initially because it provided so much of what I was looking for out of the box. Before WordPress I was building admin areas for clients so they could maintain their content. WordPress takes care of that for me.

Now the community is a big part of it as well.

When and how did you start using WordPress?

I looked at WordPress when it came out and I didn’t like it, so I wrote my own. I used that for 11 years and recently switched my own blog to WP.

Then in 2009 a client asked me to work on their WordPress site and I saw it was much cooler.

Then 3.0 came out and everything changed, and I haven’t really used anything since.

What would you tell someone to convince them to attend a WordCamp?

It’s a tremendously fun, rewarding, fulfilling experience. You’ll learn, you’ll teach, you’ll almost certainly have yummy food, and make some good friends.

Tell us about something awesome you’ve experienced at a WordCamp in the past.

Every lunch is amazing. They’re always impromptu and always filled with exciting conversation about where WordPress is going, what people are doing with it, etc. Lunches are great.

Give an example of a cool WordPress project you have worked on recently.

Last winter I helped a lot on grammys.ca. We experimented a bit with some code patterns with great success and it was fun.

What is your favorite part of WordCamps?

The open discussion. It happens between sessions, at meals, at the parties, and everywhere else.

What advice do you have for anyone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?

“Business” is much harder to do than WordPress. Being awesome at WordPress may make you think you’re ready to jump into business for yourself, but make SURE you understand what’s going on in the business side or you’ll crash and burn.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related.

I own a flintlock muzzle loader.

Name someone in the WordPress community who inspires you.

Pippin Williamson

What has been your biggest WordPress related accomplishment to date?

“Big” is tough to define. Releasing my first plugin was huge for me, despite the fact that it’s not a huge plugin.

How have WordCamps impacted you and your business in the past?

I’ve made a zillion contacts, and that’s gotten me clients.

Fill in the blank for other attendees: “If you __________ then you should come talk to me at WordCamp”.

Want your site to respond faster.

What should someone learn before attending your talk at WordCamp Ann Arbor?

How to install plugins, and who to talk to at their host about making changes to their server.

What is your favorite WordPress related resource?

The codex.

Where can we find you online?

Twitter
Blog

Bio

I’m the “Chief Peep” at Flock Marketing… a full-service digital design and marketing agency based in the Lansing area. On my Twitter profile I describe myself as; A Social Media junkie, web wonk, 2 Eagle Scout sons, husband, pilot, chess geek, dart shooter, & upright bass newb.

Kevin will be presenting “Cows Hate It. You’ll Love It!” at 3:30pm in Henderson Room and will also be participating in the “Building a WordPress Business” panel at 1:30pm in the Vandenberg Room.

Why do you use WordPress?

It ROCKS!
(and, it’s so much easier to use than any other CMS available)

When and how did you start using WordPress?

Version 1 dot something. I was writing a personal blog on a hosted blogging platform and wanted to own my own content.

What would you tell someone to convince them to attend a WordCamp?

Whether you’re using WP as 1% of your operations or 100%, there’s no better nor faster way to come up to speed on all the possibilities and opportunities afforded by this amazing platform. Whether you’re a designer or a coder or a biz exec or a marketer, you’ll find the WP community is huge, is supportive and there’s a place for YOU!

Tell us about something awesome you’ve experienced at a WordCamp in the past.

It’s not the big, obvious stuff like: networking, hearing great presenters, building new business relationships, becoming better at your craft.
Instead, it’s the little ‘nuggets’ of information that are worth TEN TIMES the price of admission!

Give an example of a cool WordPress project you have worked on recently.

Worked with Topher on creating custom post types for a local fireplace store.

What is your favorite part of WordCamps?

Networking and learning cool new stuff.

What advice do you have for anyone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?

Dive into the deep end of the pool … the water’s warm … join the fun!

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related.

I’m a former world record holder in pogo-stick jumping! (3.5 hours — 15,557 consecutive jumps without falling off … in case you were wondering.)

Name someone in the WordPress community who inspires you.

Topher …. DUH!

Fill in the blank for other attendees: “If you __________ then you should come talk to me at WordCamp”.

If you …

feel like you sometimes can’t save your clients from themselves (e.g. bad technical decisions, bad design decisions, spray-and-pray marketing, poor writing, etc.)

then you should come talk to me at WordCamp.

What should someone learn before attending your talk at WordCamp Ann Arbor?

Nothing new required.

What is your favorite WordPress related resource?

Topher … DUH!
Although, I just learned about TreeHouse at WordCamp GR … one of those awesome little nuggets.

Where can we find you online?

Flock Marketing
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Google+

Bio

I am currently the digital media strategist / web developer for an advertising agency (Ohlmann Group). Anything web related I have my hands in.

Nathan will be presenting “SEO Your WP Site” at 4:30pm in Room D.

Why do you use WordPress?

Why not? The ability to craft it to do just about anything still amazes me to this day. The open source and community as a whole makes WordPress enjoyable.

When and how did you start using WordPress?

I actually started in 2007-08 when I first using the “J” CMS. I found it cumbersome and the lack of support and community was obvious at that point in time. When I first got in I was blown away by its capabilities from the jump creating hundreds of niche websites and helping small businesses claim their digital space.

What would you tell someone to convince them to attend a WordCamp?

If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about WordPress and meet the people who are in the online community then they should come. It’s not just a bunch of WP geeks…well it is, but we welcome everyone. It’s warm – it’s inviting – it’s fun.

Tell us about something awesome you’ve experienced at a WordCamp in the past.

The most recent was in Dayton’s WordCamp when we had Cory Miller speak as our keynote. It had nothing to do with but WP rather his journey as an owner of a company that is centered around WP. It was truly inspiring.

Give an example of a cool WordPress project you have worked on recently.

There are too many to list. The biggest part of the WordPress project is handing the keys over to the client and teaching them how to use it. To take that fear away and show them how user-friendly WP truly is.

What is your favorite part of WordCamps?

Meeting new people – building relationships.

What advice do you have for anyone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?

Get involved in the WP community first. Make the connections and be willing to lift others up first.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related.

I am a geek and watch Doctor Who religiously.

Name someone in the WordPress community who inspires you.

Great question – its never one person. To name a few:
Cory Miller
Chris Lema
David Bisset
…..

What has been your biggest WordPress related accomplishment to date?

Teaching people not to be scared of the updating their site.

How have WordCamps impacted you and your business in the past?

Tremendously. It gave me the confidence to try new things, become a speaker, and even organize a WordCamp in Dayton.

Fill in the blank for other attendees: “If you __________ then you should come talk to me at WordCamp”.

Want to know more about search engine optimization, social media marketing, or anything marketing related…

What should someone learn before attending your talk at WordCamp Ann Arbor?

They should know about Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools and how they interact.

What is your favorite WordPress related resource?

There are so many…
WP Beginner
WP Codex
TutsPlus
Smashing Magazine
CSS-Tricks

Where can we find you online?

Anywhere – just Google the name: “”nathan driver””
…or simple:
My blog
Me on Twitter
Me on Google+

Bio

Dustin Hartzler is a WordPress developer, podcaster and Happiness Engineer at Automattic. His passion is teaching other how to use WordPress effectively.

His weekly podcast Your Website Engineer has been downloaded over half a million times and in 163 countries.

Dustin enjoys speaking at tech events where he can actually see his audience :) He’s spoken at a dozen WordCamps across the midwest and at New Media Expo, Financial Bloggers Conference and Podcast Movement.

Dustin will be presenting “You’re Doing it Wrong:13 Mistakes that WordPress Beginners Make”.

Why do you use WordPress?

I use WordPress because it’s my job :)

But if it wasn’t my job, I would still use it as it’s simple enough to do the things that I need it to quickly, yet robust enough to build the most complex sites possible.

When and how did you start using WordPress?

I got started with WordPress in 2009 when a friend wanted me to build a website for his local political campaign. I had heard about this thing called WordPress and decided to check it out.

I almost quit using in the middle of the project because it took me three times longer to do anything, since I had to look up and research how to use WordPress along the way.

What would you tell someone to convince them to attend a WordCamp?

WordCamps aren’t your typical boring work conferences. They are all day workshops where you can learn about WordPress and meet other local (and sometimes not local) WordPress users and fans.

The cost of admission is really affordable and it normally includes lunch and some other WordPress swag.

Tell us about something awesome you’ve experienced at a WordCamp in the past.

Last year, at WordCamp Grand Rapids, I had the opportunity to meet and hang out with two of the members of the ServerPress team.

After they demoed their software for me, I was able to interview them on a podcast and they let me give away a one year license of their software to my listening audience.

I’m still good friends with these two and sometimes they show me behind the scenes of future releases.

Give an example of a cool WordPress project you have worked on recently.

At WordCamp Milwaukee, a small team of us built this website for a small non-profit in Milwaukee.

This was an official activity of the WordCamp and it was fun to spend some extra time throughout the day building a website for a non-profit that only had a Facebook / Instagram online presence.

What is your favorite part of WordCamps?

The two reasons that I go to WordCamps are to learn something and to meet people.

WordCamps have different tracks so users with any skill level can learn how to use WordPress better.

My other favorite part is meeting people. I try to make it a point to meet one or two people at each WordCamp I go and spend most of the WordCamp learning about them. I also try to make it a point to ask everyone how they use WordPress.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related.

I’m a husband and father who loves spending time outside / playing sports.

Oh, and I’m tall. Don’t be surprised when you meet me at WordCamp Ann Arbor :)

Name someone in the WordPress community who inspires you.

Brian Richards of WPSessions.com.

He just left his position at Web Dev Studios to spend all of his efforts creating the best video learning site for WordPress at WPSessions.

What has been your biggest WordPress related accomplishment to date?

My biggest accomplishment is that I now have my dream job as a Happiness Engineer at Automattic.

How have WordCamps impacted you and your business in the past?

I’ve formed a lot of friendships with folks around the midwest and now I’m more excited to go to WordCamps to hang out with my WordPress buddies.

Fill in the blank for other attendees: “If you __________ then you should come talk to me at WordCamp”.

If you’ve just started using WordPress within the last year, then you should come talk to me at WordCamp.

or

If you’re interested in working at Automattic, then you should come talk to me at WordCamp.

What should someone learn before attending your talk at WordCamp Ann Arbor?

How to install and use the WordPress Dashboard. Then we’ll cover some of the mistakes that most WordPress users make.

What is your favorite WordPress related resource?

Right now, I’m loving the video lessons at WPSessions.com.

Where can we find you online?

YourWebsiteEngineer.com or DustinHartzler.com

Bio

Marc Benzakein has been working online since the mid 90s, starting as a Network Administrator for a small, independent ISP in Southern California and has been involved in almost all aspects of technology. In 2009, he started developing in WordPress, first for his own purposes and then for clients. In early 2013, he got involved with ServerPress, LLC, makers of DesktopServer, a local development tool created for WordPress designers and developers.

Marc lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife, Jessica and two children, Eli (9) and Brenna (4).

Marc will be presenting “How to Rock a WordCamp Even if You’re a Total n00b”.

Why do you use WordPress?

Because WordPress is awesome. Not only as a CMS but as a Community Project. I’m a huge proponent of community in every possible aspect of life. The WordPress Project proves that Community can help businesses grow while maintaining a code of ethics.

When and how did you start using WordPress?

I started using WordPress for my own personal purposes in 2009 and once I discovered how easy it was to customize it into a website platform, I was sold.

What would you tell someone to convince them to attend a WordCamp?

Nowhere will you get more bang for your buck when it comes to business, community involvement and learning opportunities. It’s not like any other conference out there.

Tell us about something awesome you’ve experienced at a WordCamp in the past.

(1) It happened this past weekend at WordCamp Milwaukee. I sat down with one of the presenters who is blind. She spoke about accessibility and, after talking some, she wanted to test out our software to see how we addressed accessibility issues. To be honest, we had never really considered the layout of our software from an accessibility standpoint. While it made perfect sense to someone with sight, I was shown ways in which we could improve our software as I watched her work through the process.

It was a definite “”eye-opener”” for me and is not something that would have had as great of an impact had I not seen it first-hand.

(2) Also at Milwaukee, I was able to bring my kids down for Saturday. They had a BLAST! What other business conference environment can you think of where people can bring their kids AND feel welcome and part of the action?

Give an example of a cool WordPress project you have worked on recently.

We are working on DesktopServer 4.0. That’s all I can say right now, other than it’s going to be frickin’ awesome!

What advice do you have for anyone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?

Get involved with the Community as one of your first steps. You’ll learn so much from it and you’ll get to contribute almost right away. Before you know it, you’ll have a leg up where you might have struggled before. It’s the most accepting, helpful community I’ve ever been a part of.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related.

There is nothing that I do without my family in mind. Most people figure that part out within 5 minutes of meeting me.

Name someone in the WordPress community who inspires you.

Pippin (and not why you think). I was just recently at WordCamp Kansas City and I was lucky enough to spend some time hanging out with Pippin. After Saturday’s sessions, a group of about 15 of us went out to dinner.

As happens with many WordPress events, someone springs for the tab. In this case, Pippin paid for the meal. But that was not the amazing part to me. What was amazing was the understated way in which he did it. In fact, half of the people there didn’t even know WHO paid for their meal. While some might make a big show of paying for everyone, Pippin did it in the most humble way possible. I found that very appealing and inspirational.

The WordPress Community is full of people that will pay but finding the humble ones that have more talent and more to give in their little pinky than most have in their entire bodies is rare.

What has been your biggest WordPress related accomplishment to date?

Speaking at WordCamps. It took me a long time to conclude that I had something to give back in that way and then overcome my fear of speaking in front of a crowd (ok – I still cope with that). I am thrilled that I have been able to speak at several WordCamps now and it’s even better when people contact me later and tell me that they learned something!

How have WordCamps impacted you and your business in the past?

Plain and simple: If it weren’t for WordCamps, our company would not have gotten the exposure that it has. People use it in their presentations, both actively and as a reference. We would not be where we are if it were not for WordCamps.

Fill in the blank for other attendees: “If you __________ then you should come talk to me at WordCamp”.

Run a WordPress based business.

What should someone learn before attending your talk at WordCamp Ann Arbor?

Nothing. I am happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability and I try to keep my topics basic and understandable no matter what level of experience you might have.

What is your favorite WordPress related resource?

My business partner Gregg. He is always ON TOP of things. Always!

Where can we find you online?

@MarcBenzak
Marc Benzakein on Google+
MarcBenzak on Yo (yes, I have yo although I’m not sure why yet)

Bio

I’m a software engineer at Twitter. I spend my days building web applications and my nights working on open source software and blogging. Currently based in San Francisco.

Jon will be presenting “Integrating WordPress with a popular JavaScript Framework such as Backbone or Angular”.

Why do you use WordPress?

I think WordPress is the ultimate blogging platform. It’s easy to configure, fun to fine-tune and once it’s set up, it stays out of your way

Give an example of a cool WordPress project you have worked on recently.

I built a plugin for displaying Twitter intents on your blog.

What advice do you have for anyone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?

Get to know the community. One of my favorite things about WordPress is the vibrant and thriving community. It’s great to do all of the proper things involved in setting up a business, but it’s really important to reach out to other WordPress developers / users in your area and get involved.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related.

I love hiking, playing music and writing.

Fill in the blank for other attendees: “If you __________ then you should come talk to me at WordCamp”.

Are interesting in pushing WordPress to its limits.

What should someone learn before attending your talk at WordCamp Ann Arbor?

A basic understanding of JavaScript frameworks.

What is your favorite WordPress related resource?

The Codex.

Where can we find you online?

Twitter – jkup
Github – jkup

jonkuperman.com
codeplanet.io

Bio

Over 14 years of experience in website design and development – 11 of which I have specialized in WordPress. I create user friendly websites that are aesthetically pleasing, easy to navigate, and optimized for search engine indexing.

Angela will be presenting “Plugins 101 – 7 Awesome Plugins Everyone Should Be Using” at 1:30pm in Room D.

Why do you use WordPress?

The better question is why wouldn’t I? I have yet to find a project that WordPress couldn’t handle. Plus, beyond the ease of use WordPress provides, the community is amazing.

When and how did you start using WordPress?

I started using WordPress way back in 2002 with a little blogging script called b2/cafelog. Prior to that I had been using a script called Greymatter. I was very into the personal blogging and domain scene, and being able to use a script to update your “blog” was the big new thing.

What would you tell someone to convince them to attend a WordCamp?

Everyone can and will learn something. From someone that has never used WP, to those with advanced knowledge. It’s more then worth the time and money to attend.

Tell us about something awesome you’ve experienced at a WordCamp in the past.

The amazing community at each WordCamp. Every single time I attend a WordCamp I am just blown away by everyone coming together to share there knowledge and expertise.

Give an example of a cool WordPress project you have worked on recently.

I recently was part of a team that rebranded and relaunched the website for the city I live in. It was amazing to redo the site in WP multisite, not just as a job, but as a resident.

What is your favorite part of WordCamps?

The people, hands down. I always come away with new friends.

What advice do you have for anyone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?

Pick a niche. I think we all fall into the category of wearing many hats, but you really have to pick a niche. That’s not to say you turn away things outside of that niche, but find a specific spot to excel in.

Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related.

I am a huuuuuge gaming nerd. When I’m not working on WordPress related stuff, I am gaming online. I play WoW on PC and Diablo 3 on Xbox One mainly, but I almost always give a new MMO a run.

Name someone in the WordPress community who inspires you.

Joost de Valk

What has been your biggest WordPress related accomplishment to date?

Creating a career out of what started as a hobby.

How have WordCamps impacted you and your business in the past?

I’ve become more involved in my local WP community, and the greater web local community as a whole.

Fill in the blank for other attendees: “If you __________ then you should come talk to me at WordCamp”.

Have SEO questions

What is your favorite WordPress related resource?

WP Tavern

Where can we find you online?

Twitter. I am a huge fan of twitter, and it can at times be the best way to reach me.