Author: Adam Silver

I’ve helped build and manage several large-scale and small-scale websites with WordPress that serve as network hubs for anywhere from 100 to 10,000 people. From 2010-2014 I ran the THATCamp (The Humanities and Technology Camp) initiative at GMU’s Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, helping scholars worldwide organize unconferences about technology and the humanities: over 11,000 registered users have attended over 300 THATCamps since its inception. I am currently Director of the Resilient Networks for Inclusive Digital Humanities initiative at George Washington University and Community Manager for Frankenreads, a global initiative to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s novel _Frankenstein_ with readings and other events for Halloween 2018.

Amanda will be presenting “Building and Managing Communities with Multisite, BuddyPress, Commons-in-a-Box, and bbPress”

In this session, attendees will learn about the basic features of some of the most popular and powerful tools for making a WordPress site into a community hub: Multisite, BuddyPress, Commons-in-a-Box, and bbPress. We’ll also discuss how and whether to offer particular functionalities with one or more of these tools:

* Collecting specific user data (BuddyPress Extended Profile Fields)
* Letting users talk to one another on your site (forums, groups, private messages)
* Allowing users to create their own sub-communities on your community site (sites with Multisite, Groups with BuddyPress)
* Displaying user directories and profiles
* One-way communication with users (dashboard messages, mass emails, enabling email subscriptions to blog posts)

Amanda Gorman helps nonprofits and wellness-based businesses build thriving online communities. As a Customer Success Coordinator at GiveWP she works diligently each day to assist nonprofits in growing their communities and receiving more donations online to make a bigger impact in the world. As an SEO consultant, she’s passionate about tending to the internet like a gardener would tend to their garden, so it can become a safe and fun place to connect again. Amanda uses her SEO superpowers to help her clients better understand their purpose, their audience, and how to better reach their people. Amanda is in love with her husband Casey, her nephew Jackson, and their dog Topanga whom all live together in Rochester, New York.

Amanda will be presenting “3 SEO Strategies for Building a Bigger Online Community”

Learn how to boost your SEO to build a bigger community online with these 3 strategies: Keyword Research & Organization, Leveraging Competitor Insights, and Writing Content that Resonates.

John Cornthwait is a Partner and the Director of Products at Firefli, a Roanoke, VA company that specializes in digital solutions. As a designer and full-stack developer with 15 years of experience, John has used WordPress regularly for the last decade. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in User Experience Design from Kent State University.

John will present: “How to Win at Information Architecture”

A solid Information Architecture is the backbone of a successful website. In this session, we’ll define what Information Architecture is, why it’s important, and how you can quickly incorporate best practices into every project with real-world examples. Attendees will learn tips and tricks for organizing a website’s content, building easy-to-use navigation systems, and what to do when you get stuck.

Sharon Dawson is a Marketing Manager at TheeDesign. She plans and executes marketing campaigns to help small, local, and national companies get more customers and strengthen their branding, and leads a team of SEO and PPC gurus. She’s learned over the years that while many people grasp the concept of ranking high on Google, they don’t understand the ins-and-outs of SEO, and are often overwhelmed by industry jargon and name-dropping popular tools.

Prior to TheeDesign, Sharon was the Webmaster at Burt’s Bees where she managed the b2b and b2c websites for the US, Canada, UK, and Australia.

Sharon will be presenting: “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: Repurposing Your WordPress Content”
Attendees will learn plugins, social media platforms, and time saving free tools to help repurpose their existing content to get more traffic to their WordPress site.

Kyle is a freelance digital creative in Apex, NC. Originally from Pittsburgh, he served 4 years in the Air Force working on fighter jets before transitioning out and eventually finding an interest in web design and development.

A self-taught developer, Kyle currently does freelance work for several different companies as part of his freelance business, Laverty Creative. In addition to this, he manages a veteran-focused website, Creative Vets, and also designs T-Shirts for Peak of Things.

Outside of that he enjoys spending time with his fiancé, 5 kids and 2 dogs.

Kyle will be presenting “Freelancer’s Guide to Survival with WordPress”

Surviving as a freelancer can be tough. I didn’t have a guide when I started. I read some articles, looked at other freelancers, and still it wasn’t a very straightforward process. I wish I would have had a guide.

In this presentation, I will go over what it takes to not just survive as a WordPress freelancer but hopefully thrive as well. I will provide useful tools, links, and info on how to find work, where to look for inspiration, mental health, and work/life balance as a freelancer.

Tony Zeoli is founder of Digital Strategy Works, an Asheville, NC-based WordPress consulting and digital strategy company . Tony has worked on WordPress since 2004 on 300+ WordPress projects of all shapes and sizes for a variety of small business, nonprofits, education, and large corporations. He has planned and managed the creation of WordPress multisite networks (Jazzboo), social networks with BuddyPress (Neighborbee), restaurant websites (Sen Sakana, Posana Restaurant), nonprofit platforms (Save The Great South Bay), content publishing sites (Fuel The Future / AdWeek), and many more. He has also implemented and managed social media, PPC (Facebook/AdWords), email newsletter marketing, landing page lead generation, content production and management, and SEO for clients ranging from All in One SEO Pack to Total Merchant Resources, who appeared on an episode of Shark Tank.

Tony will be leading  Beginners Guide to WordPress SEO workshop.

Combining her lifelong journalism, public relations and website experience, Jen Miller created NeedSomeoneToBlog.com, a highly-targeted, hyperlocal blogging service and sought ways to enhance client authority, trust and engagement, so launched her agency, Need Someone To, LLC. As host of Be Seen Blogging and co-host of Community Connections, a WP Watercooler network show, Jen helps people gain skills, establish their voice and share their stories. Jen has served on the organizing boards of Word Camp, Los Angeles, WordCamp, Orange County and WordCamp, Riverside. She founded WomenWhoWP.org, a nonprofit and Meetup to support women in WordPress. She also volunteers on the make.WordPress.org Marketing Team.

Jen will be speaking about “Creating Content in Your Client’s Voice”

Beautifully designed, high functioning websites fall flat with poorly composed content. Search engines and readers value unique content. WordPress websites are the perfect place to showcase the details behind every client’s story and product. This talk will share tips and techniques for capturing your client’s voice and vision in your writing, giving insight into how attendees can great content in website pages and blog posts.

Examples of outsourced blogging gone wrong will be illustrated, showing how 2 minutes of additional research can be key to understanding topics. Helpful tips that allow copywriters to mentally transport themselves into the minds of their clients will be revealed as well.

Using real-world, every day client examples, attendees will learn to think and blog as their clients would, if their clients only had the time. This talk is not just for writers, it’s one agency owners and developers need in order to better evaluate WordPress website content and enhance quality control.