With two days of learning and connecting with the speakers, volunteers, and attendees, WordCamp Kent 2019 went by quickly. With a ’90s theme, an emphasis on building healthy communities, and many thoughtful insights shared between WordPress users, it was a memorable weekend!
Our keynote speaker Michelle Ames, head of Customer Success at GiveWP.com, set the feel-good tone for the event on Saturday morning with her session, The Care and Feeding of the WordPress Community: Me, You & Us. She stressed the importance of self-care and practical ways to care for others in the WordPress community and the community as a whole. It was a candid and genuine reminder that we need to ensure our own wellbeing before we can throw ourselves into our work and into helping others.
After that, the event broke into three tracks — WordPress 101, Freelancers, and Developers. Joe Querin led the WordPress 101 sessions for the day which included an overview of WordPress, the differences between themes and plugins, and a dive into Gutenberg.
In the Freelancer track, Rene Morozowich’s Freelancer Finances 101 gave us tips and simple strategies to keep our business’s finances organized. Nathan Ingram, Host at iThemes Training, shared personal examples of mistakes that freelancers make and how to prevent them. After lunch, the Freelancer sessions continued with empowering and helpful sessions for running your business from Lee Drozak, Paul Oyler, and Chris Edwards.
In the Developer track, Steve Grunwell shed light on PHP namespaces and how to incorporate them into plugins and themes. Later that day, he also discussed how developers can test their plugins and themes. Jeremy Ward introduced us to Composer to help with project workflow and Seth Alling offered his expertise on managing plugin dependencies. Steve, Jeremy, and Seth held an informal panel on professional development to wrap up the day for the developer track.
That evening, we ventured to MADCAP BREW CO. for some fun, food from the The Pierogi Lady, and connecting with other attendees, speakers, and volunteers. There’s no better way to unwind after a full conference day than a game of giant Jenga!
Everyone was ready to roll on Sunday morning after a few words from lead organizer Megan Rose. The day’s agenda was broken into tracks for power users and business owners, developers, and SEO/Marketing.
Each session in the Users/Business track tackled a different aspect of business building and strategizing. Michael Temple of Web2Gold shared his insights for developing a value-based pricing system. Nathan Ingram followed with a game-ified presentation that provided a step-by-step approach to dealing with problem clients.
For lunch on Sunday, we broke into smaller groups that each ventured to a nearby restaurant. This was a welcome chance to network and get to know our fellow WordCampers a bit better!
In the Users/Business track afternoon sessions, we heard George J. Mount’s advice for scaling how you network and how to expand on traditional networking tactics. Bill Rice shared his practical tips for improving lead generation through website content and design. To close out the day, we dove into the world of podcasting with Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting.
Sunday’s Developer sessions covered everything from developing a design system with Tim McKenna to WordPress security tactics with John Aron. Abby Buzon showed us how to create anything in WordPress using Beaver Themer and Pods. Accessibility was also a focus, with sessions from Mason Arnold and Eric Malcolm on designing and developing websites that are friendly for all users.
In the marketing and SEO track, our speakers shared their knowledge on how to enhance a website’s presence. In a “what not to do” fashion, William Bergmann discussed the key elements in the planning and development of a WordPress site. Angela Bergmann and Josh Gellock provided a solid foundation for understanding and implementing SEO. Stoney deGeyter brought his years of digital marketing experience to his session on long-term success on the web. Sandro Galindo added his marketing expertise in his overview of Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
All of the speakers deserve another round of applause and thank-you. We truly appreciate their time in preparing and presenting, and in answering all of our questions. Thank you to our generous sponsors — WooCommerce, Jetpack, Bluehost, Liquid Web, A2 Hosting, GoDaddy, Green Geeks, DreamHost, KHM Travel Group, StickerGiant, Xplore, Unity Lab and Travel eSolutions. They allow us to put together a high-value event at an amazing venue for just $40/ticket.
What did you love about WordCamp Kent 2019? Let us know! If you haven’t filled out the post-event feedback survey yet, you can still can! If you need the link to the survey, please let us know via the contact form.
We hope to see everyone at an upcoming Meetup, but please also stay in touch via Twitter, Slack, or Facebook.
See you for our 2020 WordCamp!