Query Patterns: Speakers List (Left)


  • Aaron Jorbin 👋🏻

    Aaron Jorbin 👋🏻

    Testing “special characters” ⚡️ 🙌🏻


  • Adam W. Warner

    Adam W. Warner

    Adam W. Warner discovered WordPress in 2005 and has been working within the community ever since. To feed his entrepreneurial spirit, he founded several WordPress-focused businesses that provide education, plugins and consulting services for online business owners. He is a true WordPress Evangelist in spirit and personality, and that also happens to be his job title with SiteLock.com. Adam is also passionate about (more…)


  • Aileen McDonough

    Aileen McDonough

    Aileen has been in the word business since she won the citywide spelling bee in 5th grade. Owner of the communications company 3am Writers, she has nearly 20 years of experience in writing, editing, marketing, and publishing. Aileen’s experience ranges from writing and editing to sales, marketing and social media. Her articles have been published in The Rhode Island Small Business Journal and most recently in Dawnland Voices: An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from New England. Aileen blogs as Honda Mama for wehearthonda.com and you can learn more about her company at 3amwriters.com. She has spoken at WordCamp RI and is thrilled to speak at WordCamp Boston!


  • Amanda Giles

    Amanda Giles

    Amanda Giles is WordPress Evangelist and Enthusiast who loves converting people to WordPress. She’s been developing websites since 1994 and has been building WordPress themes since 2009. She hails from New Hampshire where she founded the Seacoast NH WordPress meetup in 2011. She works as an independent consultant and also as part of Spark Development, a small agency focusing on WordPress web development. You can often locate Amanda by her loud sneezes and it’s likely because of these sneezes that she leads such a blessed life. Find her on Twitter: @AmandaGilesNH


  • Amy Kvistad

    Amy Kvistad

    Amy Kvistad is a freelance web designer with a background in graphic design; and co-organizer for the Boston WordPress meetup. She delves into typography, layout, and clean design across a wide range of industries. Her design process is customer-focused, research driven, and adaptable. She loves warm weather and racing on sailboats.


  • Andrew Taylor

    Andrew Taylor

    Andrew currently works for Pantheon providing consulting for their agency partners and giving back to the WordPress community.

    As a former web developer, Andrew spent his time on large scale projects for clients such as AMC Networks, Frito Lay, National Van Lines and more. With over 8 years of web development experience, specializing in WordPress, he is a seasoned veteran.


  • Annie Smidt

    Annie Smidt

    Annie Smidt has been designing for over two decades and working with WordPress since it was a baby. Her company, Durable Creative creates strategic branding, graphic design and web sites for arts and culture, non-profit, and other mission-based organizations. Once, in the 90s, she wrote and designed an entire one-off book about typography for her best friend so he could share her excitement. (She still doesn’t know if he read it.)


  • Bill Gadless

    Bill Gadless

    Bill Gadless is the President and Co-Founder of emagine, a 50+-person WordPress-based Digital Agency.

    As a non-developer and a quasi-designer at best, Bill has always focused on being on the forefront of the business side of the web industry. Observing a lack of content and thought leadership for web entrepreneurs, Bill has dedicated a significant portion of his time to speaking on issues of entrepreneurship, sales, marketing and business strategy for freelancers and small web agency owners. Obsessed with everything sales and marketing, Bill’s insights have appeared on various occasions in MarketingSherpa, dozens of industry sites and publications and on the national speaking circuit. Prior to emagine, he developed his marketing expertise while building a highly successful direct marketing venture at 20 years old.

    With a focus on emagine’s core industries and national expansion, Bill has focused obsessively on building emagine’s brand within the B2B, High-Tech and Healthcare sectors. Starting in the Boston region, Bill has successfully taken emagine from a regional player to a national leader in emagine’s target industries.

    Bill is laser-focused on evangelizing WordPress as more than a “blogging tool” or “mom-and-pop website platform”. He and emagine have been instrumental in the adoption of WordPress by companies that previously would have resisted, from large hospitals to pharmaceutical companies to multi-billion dollar B2B enterprises.

    Bill tours the WordCamp circuit nationally speaking on issues related to growth strategy for WordPress entrepreneurs. He resides in Boca Raton, Florida with his wife Krystal and regularly travels back and forth between emagine’s Florida and Massachusetts offices.


  • Bradley Jacobs

    Bradley Jacobs

    Bradley Jacobs serves as a Tech Lead for Boston Globe Media focusing on product innovation, site optimization, and architecture for Boston.com.

    With over 10 years of WordPress experience. He dedicates a great deal of his personal time to learning, attending meetups, and fostering a healthy desire to learn in his colleagues. You can often find him breaking his development environment while playing with new software and experimenting with new workflows.


  • Brian DeConinck

    Brian DeConinck

    Brian DeConinck is a front-end designer and developer with NC State University’s Office of Information Technology. As part of the OIT Design team, he builds custom WordPress themes and plugins for academic and administrative units on campus; helps run campus multisite environments; and advises campus clients on their content strategy. In all of his projects, Brian is committed to universal design principles of accessibility, usability, and user empathy.

    Brian is also co-host of the WPCampus Podcast, where he gets to talk to interesting people doing interesting things with WordPress in higher ed.


  • Chris Wurster

    Chris Wurster

    Christopher Wurster is Of Counsel at Levine-Piro Law, P.C., a small but dynamic firm based in Maynard. Chris focuses his litigation practice on employment law and personal injury matters. Chris also advises small businesses on all manner of legal issues and frequently drafts and reviews employee handbooks, non-competition agreements, and social media and other policies to protect businesses from the many pitfalls they face. Chris earned his B.A. from Columbia University and his J.D. from Northeastern School of Law. In his free time, he enjoys his miniature dachshund, Gus, and shamelessly singing while driving. Chris can be reached directly at chris@levinepirolaw.com.


  • Christian Nolen

    Christian Nolen

    Christian Nolen is the Vice President of Development at emagine, a 50–person digital agency that specializes in custom WordPress solutions. At emagine, Christian oversees the production department, mentors a team of WordPress developers and drives all of the agency’s web development innovation. Over the past 13 years, Christian has held positions in technical support, software quality assurance and web development: giving him a unique perspective on the development life cycle. Christian uses this experience to craft sustainable solutions that not only meet the requirements of the client, but also anticipates their future needs.


  • Christie Chirinos

    Christie Chirinos

    Christie Chirinos is a Partner in & the Business Manager at Caldera Labs, a WordPress plugin company. Caldera Labs is the company led by Josh Pollock behind Caldera Forms, a leading drag-and-drop form builder for WordPress, and a handful of other free and premium plugins. Christie started selling online at the age of 14, and has launched her own ecommerce site, sold on third-party platforms, monetized a blog, created sites for lead generation for service businesses, and then focused in for 3 years on tech for nonprofit organizations. Now, she has moved on to digital downloads. Christie received her Master of Business Administration degree with a specialization in information systems management from Florida State University, and is currently based out of New York City.


  • Corey McKrill

    Corey McKrill

    “Blerg.”


  • Dave Ross

    Dave Ross

    Dave Ross fell in love with the web in 1996 and has been crafting web sites and online experiences since. He draws from almost two decades of professional software development experience and leadership training from the Disney Institute to empower developers to succeed at their projects and careers. Dave currently works as an Associate Director of Engineering at 10up, a leading web agency whose client roster is a testament to WordPress’s ability to scale from a personal blog to custom enterprise publishing systems.


  • David Israel

    David Israel

    David got his professional start on the web at Disney Online back in the days of building websites by hand.  He then went the agency route, working as a Producer and Creative Director at Young & Rubicam, Brand-Dialogue, USWeb/CKS, marchFIRST, and Active/Interactive. Currently, he works in academia helping faculty (and others) at Bowdoin College get their scholarship and ideas out there for the world to see.  He has been a WordPress user since 2005.  In the little free time he has, he coaches Jr. High School ice hockey, flies drones, fiddles with 3D printers, and has served on the boards of a number on non-profit organizations.


  • Dwayne McDaniel

    Dwayne McDaniel

    I have been working in tech and open source sales since 2005. I knew as soon as I started working with Java middleware developers I never wanted to work outside of open source ever again. I first started building in Drupal and WordPress when I needed to build projects for the San Francisco Improv scene. I fell in the love the community of developers and then found my position at Pantheon at the end of 2013. As a Community and Agency Success Manager I have had the privilege of presenting at MidCamp (Drupal), Twin Cities DrupalCamp, DrupalCamp Colorado, WordCamp Milwaukee, WordCamp Baltimore and Drupal Northern Lights (Iceland) as well as leading BOFs at several other events. Outside of tech I love producing and performing improv theater. I also love comic books and karaoke!!! Reach out at http://mcdwayne.com or on twitter @mcdwayne


  • Erin M. Harris

    Erin M. Harris

    I graduated from Smith College with a studio art degree, and completed my graduate degree in advertising at Boston University. I have more than 10 years of experience as a graphic designer and marketing coordinator, primarily in-house. Because I’ve been either the sole designer or a freelancer, I’ve always handled multiple roles, giving me experience in many different areas (print, web, email marketing, etc.), and allowing me to see how all the pieces fit together. Outside work, I’ve spent a good deal of time volunteering with professional organizations including the AIGA Boston chapter and the Graphic Artists Guild Boston chapter, of which I was president from 2013 – 2015. I have also been very active with the design community online: first as a member of Creative Latitude, a group created to bring various disciplines together for collective promotion, education, and ethical business practice; then as a member of the Business of Design Online, where my visiting author column focused on reviewing design business books. In 2006, myself and members from each of these communities founded NO!SPEC, a site dedicated to educating designers, clients, and the general public about the dangers of speculative work that runs so rampant in creative fields. Currently, I am focusing on building up the consulting side of my freelance work.


  • Gary Thayer

    Gary Thayer

    Gary is a WordPress Developer at Hall Internet Marketing who specializes in eCommerce websites and analytics tracking. He is an active member of the WordPress community, acting as an organizer for the Southern Maine WordPress Meetup and as Lead Organizer for WordCamp Portland, ME.


  • Gian Wild

    Gian Wild

    Gian Wild is the CEO of AccessibilityOz. She has worked in accessibility industry since 1998. Her major achievements include: the very first Australian accessible web site; the accessibility compliance of the Melbourne 2006 and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games; her six years’ active membership in the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group; and her speech on the importance of web accessibility at the United Nations Conference of State Parties in June last year. Gian has spoken at conferences in Australia, US, Canada, South America and Europe.


  • Greg Opperman

    Greg Opperman

    Greg Opperman is a web developer at the Boston Globe, helping them migrate Boston.com to WordPress. In the past, he has worked with dozens of clients, non-profits, and colleges, both through steady jobs and freelancing. In his free time, Greg organizes the New England VegFest (an annual food festival), rides bikes, makes silly websites, award-winning mac and cheese, and pretty decent bread.


  • Gregory Schoppe

    Gregory Schoppe

    Greg Schoppe is the Lead Developer for Burlington Bytes, a digital marketing agency out of Burlington, VT, with over 300 clients. He is the author of Blockade, a free page-builder plugin available from WordPress.org. In his spare time, Greg builds killer robots and plays with his part-time dog (and Burlington Bytes mascot) Savannah.


  • Guillaume Molter

    Guillaume Molter

    Guillaume is a Senior Web and Application Developer at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health where he manages 1900+ websites with a WordPress Multisite installation.

    He has been using WordPress as his C.M.S of choice for the past 7 years, and has contributed to several plugins. He recently submitted his first patch to Core.


  • Ian Dunn

    Ian Dunn

    “Ice cream is always the answer.”


    Session

    • Session 10

      August 21, 2019 at 10:30 am PDT in Quix

  • Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    Mika Ariela Epstein is better known as Ipstenu, the Half-Elf Rogue. Working for DreamHost, specializing in WordPress, Mika helps make WordPress and hosting better for everyone. When she isn’t reviewing plugins she’s speaking at WordCamps worldwide about code and open source technology. A self-taught guru on Multisite and .htaccess, she has a passion for writing and technology and blogs about them whenever possible.


  • Jared Novack

    Jared Novack

    Jared is a founder of Upstatement, a web design firm located in Boston that specializes in websites, apps and branding for media organizations. At Upstatement he directs projects and uses WordPress to build and prototype sites. Jared was formally the newsroom developer at the Houston Chronicle and Boston Globe and an adjunct professor at MassArt.


  • Jen Ecker

    Jen Ecker

    Jen is a principal and the creative director of shines & jecker labs, a web development firm in Portland, Maine. She has over 14 years of experience in digital design, doing everything from creating original graphic design to writing CSS. Her strength is her ability to master the latest technologies quickly to provide clients with modern, current designs. Jen spends her free time reading, running, and serving on the board for her local library.


  • Jennifer Nickerson

    Jennifer Nickerson

    I have been using WordPress for the majority of my clients since 2007 and I’ve seen it make huge improvements in features and usability over the years. I like to learn by doing and I love it when a project forces me outside my “comfort zone” a little and have to do a little custom coding to make everything run smoothly. I have been living on the North Shore in Salem & Marblehead for the past 12 years. I opened Jenn Mears Web Design in 2006 and have created dozens of sites for local businesses since then.


  • Jesse Friedman

    Jesse Friedman

    Jesse Friedman has been building websites for 18 years, and exclusively with WordPress since 2006. Since then he has written several books, taught 100’s of students as a professor, and organized dozens of local meetups along with a few WordCamps. He has spoken at tech conferences around the world including SXSW, HOW, Future events and many more. Jesse has consulted for a wide array of companies from small agencies to multi-billion dollar international companies. Today he’s a proud team member of Jetpack at Automattic, where he spends his time growth hacking and building strategic partnerships.


  • Jim Reevior

    Jim Reevior

    Jim Reevior is a web developer for STAT, a medical and life sciences publication of Boston Globe Media Partners. He is a longtime technology lover, computer whisperer, WordPress developer and contributor, and also dabbles in DevOps. Linux is his operating system of choice, although he can speak Windows, OS X and even DOS on occasion.


  • John Maeda

    John Maeda

    John Maeda is an American executive spearheading a new convergence across the design + technology industries. He recently joined Automattic as Global Head of Computational Design + Inclusion and previously served as Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), a world-leading venture capital firm. An internationally recognized speaker and author, his books include The Laws of Simplicity, Creative Code and Redesigning Leadership. He holds degrees in Electrical Engineering + Computer Science from MIT, an MBA from Arizona State U, and a PhD from University of Tsukuba in Japan.

    “Maeda is to design what Warren Buffet is to finance.” – Wired Magazine.

     


  • Jon DiPietro

    Jon DiPietro

    Jon DiPietro is a digital marketing expert and veteran WordPress website developer. He specializes in right-sizing web technology solutions for clients ranging from solopreneurs to Fortune 500 companies. Jon is the author of “Social Media for Engineers and Scientists,” principal at Liberty Digital Marketing, and founder of CandidateBootCamp.com. He used to design automated control systems for gas pipelines, water treatment plants, plastic recycling facilities, and beverage bottling lines. He has four daughters and most of his hobbies involve computers, so he doesn’t get out much.


  • Jon Heller

    Jon Heller

    I have been working as a WordPress developer for just over ten years, both as a freelancer (http://www.adaroconsulting.com) as well as at web development agencies (http://www.a-g.com). Most recently I joined Upstatement (http://www.upstatement.com), home of Timber, where I’ve been able to focus full time on WordPress development for clients. I’ve also released two small WordPress plugins of my own.


  • Jonathan Perlman

    Jonathan Perlman

    Jonathan Perlman is an experienced web developer and teacher that works for Dawson College in Montreal, Quebec. He builds custom web solutions for the students, faculty and staff. Recently he’s been leveraging WordPress more and more to do the heavy lifting while focusing on the needs of the institution with custom themes and plugins. Some of his sites have been built for a select few whereas others are visited by 12,000+ applicants. Jonathan is also an instructor for Dawson’s Centre for Training and Development specializing in web technologies such as HTML & CSS, PHP and WordPress.


  • Josh Fialkoff

    Josh Fialkoff

    Josh Fialkoff is the CEO and Founder of ForwardJump Marketing, an online-marketing and Web-development firm that specializes is helping companies sell advanced products and services to sophisticated customers.
    Josh is an online-marketing veteran with more than 15 years of broadcast, print and online communications experience.
    He started ForwardJump in 2010. Clients have ranged from Northeastern University to leading B2B companies, including Jordi Labs, Abel Womack and others, as well as Jewish nonprofits such as Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, March of the Living (New England), B’nai B’rith Housing and others.


  • Juan Pablo Gomez

    Juan Pablo Gomez

    NYC based Web Designer. Built my first table-based site in 2004. Currently designing for FC Harlem, New York City FC. Mentor at Bloc.io


  • K.Adam White

    K.Adam White

    K. Adam White is a Senior Engineer at Bocoup, the open source technology consultancy in Boston, Massachusetts, where he trains teams, writes web applications, contributes to open-source projects, and evangelizes the web as an open platform for technology and collaboration. An artist and enthusiast photographer, K. Adam is also a WordPress core contributor and the Design Lead for the WordPress REST API.


  • Karalyn Thayer

    Karalyn Thayer

    Karalyn is passionate about web and user experience design. She loves creating elegant websites that accomplish business’s needs. Originally from Massachusetts, Karalyn moved to Maine in 2004 where she currently resides. When she is not designing websites, Karalyn spends her free time creating her own art and stationery products which she sells online and at local craft fairs.


  • Kelly Choyce-Dwan

    Kelly Choyce-Dwan

    Testing a bio.

    Sessions

    • Session 6 – span multiple contiguous tracks

    • Remote Working: How to Make It Work for You


  • Kori Ashton

    Kori Ashton

    Kori Ashton has been listed as one of seven women who run tech startups in San Antonio to watch. She started her first company at the age of 12, and has had an entrepreneur’s heart ever since. She built her first HTML website in 1998, and was instantly hooked on Web design.

    In 2012, Kori co-founded WebTegrity – a WordPress-focused digital marketing agency in San Antonio, Texas. She also teaches HTML, CSS, WordPress, SEO and other topics to hundreds of students at schools, colleges, and community classes across the United States. She now has over 1.5 million views from an international audience on her WordPress Wednesday YouTube Channel.

    Kori has spoken at WordCamp San Antonio, TEDx San Antonio, Graduation Ceremonies for The Art Institutes, Women Veteran Entrepreneurs, UTSA Small Business events, and hundreds of WordPress Meetups and workshops.


  • Kyle Maurer

    Kyle Maurer

    Kyle works at Sandhills Development on Easy Digital Downloads which is a WordPress plugin that makes selling digital products ridiculously simple. He’s a native of Jackson, Michigan and helps organize meetups and WordCamps in the region while brewing fine beer and playing guitar as often as possible.


  • Laura Willis

    Laura Willis

    Laura Willis is a brand positioning expert and strategist, who has created award winning web and print communications to help local, national and global companies, stand apart from the competition. With over 25 years  experience working in advertising agencies and mid to large corporations in the greater Boston area, as well as in her own business, her real-world expertise spans a wide range of vertical industries. With the launch of Encore Revolution, Laura’s speaking engagements, educational programs and consulting combines her brand development process with personal growth and awareness work to inspire business professionals to align with their deeper passion, mission or purpose, to give it an authentic voice and position them for greater success.


  • Lauren Jeffcoat

    Lauren Jeffcoat

    Lauren has been building WordPress websites for almost a decade and is currently part of the OnTheGoSystems WPML Customer Support team. She enjoys creating WordPress websites and has worn many hats in the world of web development including Project Manager, Customer Service Representative, Account Strategist, and Web Designer.

    Originally from New England, she now lives in Surfside Beach, South Carolina. Lauren enjoys sharing her knowledge along with tips and tricks that she has learned either through furthering her education or personal experience.

    Lauren is the organizer of WordPress Meetup Myrtle Beach, a co-organizer of WordCamp Wilmington, a WordCamp Speaker and a lover of all things WordPress.


  • Lisa B Snyder

    Lisa B Snyder

    Lisa B. Snyder, Silver Hoop Edge After almost 2 decades in insurance and financial sales, Lisa transitioned into to working with local organizations on creating and managing the operation of websites powered by WordPress. Lisa is based in Central NJ with her husband Ira. When her young adult sons are in town—a graphic designer and a computer science student – it frequently makes for a (semi) technical dinner conversation about CSS, email templates and SQL nested queries. Lisa is an active member of HDR Lawrenceville Toastmasters club, a volunteer at WordCamp US 2015 and 2016, a past teaching assistant for GDI Philly, occasionally can be found in the WordPress.org support forum, and is extending her developer skills using KnowTheCodePro.


  • Marc Gratch

    Marc Gratch

    I am a WordPress Consultant, a life long student, a husband and father. I have been developing themes and plugins for WordPress since 2.8 (give or take a point release,) with a strong focus on simple, specific, niche functionality. Most everything I know about code comes from the WordPress community which is why I try to give back as much as I can. I love the WordPress platform and the community!


  • Marcus Ohanesian

    Marcus Ohanesian

    Visual Communicator (Designer & Project Manager). Music Entrepreneur (Drummer & Event Manager) Sandwich Lover (Human that likes food) Been working on websites since 1999, started to build a freelance business and portfolio (Perfect Evolution, LLC), got a BFA in Graphic Design in 2007, built the business more with branding and UI/UX projects. Simultaneously, I went on tour with bands and tour managed, booked shows, and sold merchandise. Got back from tour/freelance design business life and started working in the Agency world in Providence. Now, I work remotely as a Senior Digital Project Manager at a boutique hotel web agency, continuing to do freelance branding and web design on the side (Perfect Evolution, LLC), booking music at Ralph’s Diner in Worcester, and eating sandwiches weekly 🙂


  • Mary Beth Amaral

    Mary Beth Amaral

    With a keen eye for detail, Mary Beth dreams of a pixel perfect world. After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with a BFA in Graphic Design and a minor in Art History, Mary Beth’s love of learning sent her back to her alma mater where she further explored her passion for information architecture and user experience, earning a degree in Web & Interactive Design. Mary Beth has worked professionally as a web designer for over 8 years and is currently the lead designer at Linchpin. When she’s away from her computer, Mary Beth enjoys renovation projects around the house and spending time with her two dogs.


  • Mat Marquis

    Mat Marquis

    While not making fast, accessible, responsive websites at Bocoup, Mat “Wilto” Marquis is a halfway decent carpenter, so-so boxer, aspiring French chef, passable antique British motorcycle mechanic, and completely incompetent Mega Man 2 speed-runner.

    As Chair of the Responsive Issues Community Group, Mat spearheaded the effort to bring native responsive image solutions to the HTML5 specification, later going on to facilitate browser implementations and oversee the addition of native responsive image techniques to major CMSes. Mat is a frequent An Event Apart speaker, a former editor at A List Apart and past member of the jQuery team. He recently published his first book, JavaScript for Web Designers, with A Book Apart.

    He also had the honor of appearing in the film What Comes Next is the Future. He has an IMDB page and everything! Just—… just ignore the other thing on there. Don’t look at that.


  • Mathew Clancy

    Mathew Clancy

    Clancy began working with GoDaddy in customer support in 2005 and shortly after began building sites using WordPress for family and friends. Currently based in Phoenix, AZ he is a Program Manager for GoDaddy Hosting designing WordPress training and WordPress Help. In his free time he teaches becoming Agile, anything Star Wars, Destiny, Pokemon, and spending as much time with his kids as possible.


  • Maura Webster

    Maura Webster

    Maura Webster is the Founder, CEO, & Chief Strategist at LillaBlu Strategies, a boutique marketing company focused on real meaningful marketing. Her background includes a account management for a private PR firm, non-profit communications, government, and managing the marketing team of a growing software company through re-branding and new product launches to acquisition. These days, Maura and LillaBlu find themselves moving all of their clients’ websites over to WordPress so they can take their online presence to the next level – and have control over doing it

    Because of these experiences and more, Maura brings an authentic, creative, strategic, and people-centered approach to marketing for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and growing companies who want to make a difference.

    When not engaging in fun brainstorming sessions with her clients or being all “social”, Maura can be found traveling (not often enough!), running, cooking, or sitting by the ocean. That is when she’s not keeping up with her two daughters, and their pets – Larry the black lab, and Toby and Gilbert, the guinea pigs.


  • Mel Choyce-Dwan

    Mel Choyce-Dwan

    Mel is a Boston-based Product Designer and a WordPress core contributor. She loves big type, cold brew coffee, and printmaking.


  • Mike Demo

    Mike Demo

    Mike “Demo” Demopoulos is a longtime lover of Open Source Software. He currently works at BoldGrid (a WordPress Site Builder) as an Evangelist. He has spoken at numerous open source events around the world. Mike is also a contributor to Huffington Post as well as other publications. He also volunteers as Treasuer for the Joomla project.


  • Mike Kirby

    Mike Kirby

    Mike Kirby, the manager of digital communications at University of Maine, is responsible for the overall web presence and marketing strategy of Maine’s land and sea grant institution, the flagship campus of the University of Maine system. He assists with branding UMaine’s websites through its WordPress content management system and is passionate about the potential for a robust internet presence. Mike has managed enterprise websites for over 20 years and joined UMaine in 2014.


  • Moira Ashleigh

    Moira Ashleigh


  • Naoko Takano

    Naoko Takano


  • Nathan Ingram

    Nathan Ingram

    Nathan is the Host at iThemes Training where he teaches WordPress and freelance business development topics via live webinar.

    He is also the creator of >ADVANCE Coaching. He works with WordPress web developers individually and in groups to help them become more successful in their freelance businesses.

    Nathan has been a freelance web developer since 1995, and is based in Birmingham, Alabama where he is the co-lead organizer of the Birmingham WordPress Meetup and WordCamp Birmingham.

    You can learn more about Nathan at https://nathaningram.com.


  • Ro Pirog

    Ro Pirog

    An employee for a local state university Ro has been creating websites for years as a side venture, in addition to her regular work. Ro has experience in digital marketing, community outreach, and content creation. WordPress is her go-to format because of the ease one can use it, the depth of customization, and the supportive community that flourishes around it. Ro volunteers at the Quincy Animal Shelter, enjoys photography, and prefers oceans to pools for swimming.


  • Rocío Valdivia

    Rocío Valdivia


  • Ryan Kanner

    Ryan Kanner

    Ryan is a WordPress Developer for Digital First Media from Denver, Colorado where he works on websites for newspapers such as the Denver Post, and Mercury News. He has been working with WordPress for the past 8 years, building websites and products for customers around the world. He is also one of the organizers for the WordPress Denver Meetup. You can find him most places on the internet as @CodeProKid


  • Sam Brodie

    Sam Brodie

    Sam is a big proponent of the productized mentality, having built a successful productized web design business (https://jurispage.com) that was acquired for 7 figures in 2016. He now teaches about the productized service business model (http://productized.com) and has a new business, Offsprout (https://offsprout.com), a website building platform built specifically for web design agencies who want to build and manage their client sites faster.


  • Steven Word

    Steven Word

    Steven is a seasoned web developer focusing his development efforts towards the WordPress open source project. A former freelancer, agency developer, and now working for a leading managed WordPress host, Steven is eager to share his experiences working with his favorite software in one of the cities that was fundamental to his growth as a WordPress developer.


  • Tara Johnson

    Tara Johnson

    Tara Johnson is a front-end web developer, print designer, WordPress consultant, photographer, digital marketer and business owner (https://alchemythree.com). She’s committed to humanizing the online experience by way of smart design, compelling content and elevated branding. She’s been building sites with WordPress since 2006 and adores the WP community!

    In her free time Tara loves to knit, spin fiber, hang with her 2 kids & 5 chickens and drink the hoppiest IPAs she can find!

    Email: tara@alchemythree.com
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alchemythree/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alchemythree/
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alchemy3Studio


  • Tom Shapiro

    Tom Shapiro

    Tom Shapiro is CEO of Stratabeat, Inc. (https://stratabeat.com/), a marketing, branding, and web design agency. Shapiro has developed marketing strategies for market leaders such as AT&T, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Clarks Shoes, Kraft Foods, and P&G. Shapiro has a deep passion for neuroscience and human psychology, and his insights have appeared in CMO.com, CNN, Forbes, MarketingProfs, MediaPost, and National Center for the Middle Market. His book “Rethink Your Marketing” will be published in 2017.


  • Vedanshu Jain

    Vedanshu Jain

    “Let’s use GitLab.”


  • Yvonne Christian

    Yvonne Christian

    Yvonne Christian is an author, artist and WordPress blogger. Her 2 blogs are Outside In and Uncommon Bostonian. She is a member of the group called Writers Anonymous that published the book, Seven at the Sevens. Her current book is called The Outside In View of the Uncommon Bostonian: What an Autistic Black Woman Sees.



WordCamp Testing 2050 is over. Check out the next edition!