{"id":172384,"date":"2014-09-17T09:00:05","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T13:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2014.annarbor.wordcamp.org\/?p=172384"},"modified":"2014-09-08T09:13:44","modified_gmt":"2014-09-08T13:13:44","slug":"topher-derosia-speaker-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/topher-derosia-speaker-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Topher Derosia Speaker Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Bio<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/2014.annarbor.wordcamp.org\/files\/2014\/09\/Topher-DeRosia.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/2014.annarbor.wordcamp.org\/files\/2014\/09\/Topher-DeRosia.jpeg\" alt=\"Topher Derosia\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-172385\" srcset=\"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/files\/2014\/09\/Topher-DeRosia.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/files\/2014\/09\/Topher-DeRosia-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m a husband and father from Grand Rapids MI.  I currently work for X-Team WP building awesome web sites with WordPress.<\/p>\n<p><em>Topher will be presenting &#8220;Site caching, from nothing to everything&#8221; at 1:30pm in Henderson Room.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Why do you use WordPress?<\/h3>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Now the community is a big part of it as well.<\/p>\n<h3>When and how did you start using WordPress?<\/h3>\n<p>I looked at WordPress when it came out and I didn&#8217;t like it, so I wrote my own. I used that for 11 years and recently switched my own blog to WP.<\/p>\n<p>Then in 2009 a client asked me to work on their WordPress site and I saw it was much cooler.<\/p>\n<p>Then 3.0 came out and everything changed, and I haven&#8217;t really used anything since.<\/p>\n<h3>What would you tell someone to convince them to attend a WordCamp?<\/h3>\n<p>It&#8217;s a tremendously fun, rewarding, fulfilling experience.  You&#8217;ll learn, you&#8217;ll teach, you&#8217;ll almost certainly have yummy food, and make some good friends.<\/p>\n<h3>Tell us about something awesome you&#8217;ve experienced at a WordCamp in the past.<\/h3>\n<p>Every lunch is amazing. They&#8217;re always impromptu and always filled with exciting conversation about where WordPress is going, what people are doing with it, etc. Lunches are great.<\/p>\n<h3>Give an example of a cool WordPress project you have worked on recently.<\/h3>\n<p>Last winter I helped a lot on <a href=\"http:\/\/grammys.ca\">grammys.ca<\/a>. We experimented a bit with some code patterns with great success and it was fun.<\/p>\n<h3>What is your favorite part of WordCamps?<\/h3>\n<p>The open discussion. It happens between sessions, at meals, at the parties, and everywhere else.<\/p>\n<h3>What advice do you have for anyone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;Business&#8221; is much harder to do than WordPress. Being awesome at WordPress may make you think you&#8217;re ready to jump into business for yourself, but make SURE you understand what&#8217;s going on in the business side or you&#8217;ll crash and burn.<\/p>\n<h3>Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related.<\/h3>\n<p>I own a flintlock muzzle loader.<\/p>\n<h3>Name someone in the WordPress community who inspires you.<\/h3>\n<p>Pippin Williamson<\/p>\n<h3>What has been your biggest WordPress related accomplishment to date?<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;Big&#8221; is tough to define. Releasing my first plugin was huge for me, despite the fact that it&#8217;s not a huge plugin.<\/p>\n<h3>How have WordCamps impacted you and your business in the past?<\/h3>\n<p>I&#8217;ve made a zillion contacts, and that&#8217;s gotten me clients.<\/p>\n<h3>Fill in the blank for other attendees: &#8220;If you __________ then you should come talk to me at WordCamp&#8221;.<\/h3>\n<p>Want your site to respond faster.<\/p>\n<h3>What should someone learn before attending your talk at WordCamp Ann Arbor?<\/h3>\n<p>How to install plugins, and who to talk to at their host about making changes to their server.<\/p>\n<h3>What is your favorite WordPress related resource?<\/h3>\n<p>The codex.<\/p>\n<h3>Where can we find you online?<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/topher1kenobe\">Twitter<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/topher1kenobe.com\">Blog<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bio I&#8217;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 &#8220;Site caching, from nothing to everything&#8221; at 1:30pm in Henderson Room. Why do you use WordPress? Initially because it provided so much of what I was looking for out &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/topher-derosia-speaker-interview\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Topher Derosia Speaker Interview<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9449600,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39724,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","category-speakers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9449600"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172384"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172389,"href":"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172384\/revisions\/172389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annarbor.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}