Author: Adam Silver

Adam is a native of California, though relocated to North Carolina in August 2017. Currently providing WordPress development and support services through ConciergeWP.com. He also produces 2 wkly podcasts at KitchenSinkWP.com & The Get Options Podcast & was the lead organizer for WordCamp Los Angeles 2016 & 2017. In his free time, he speaks at industry events sharing his insights & expertise into all things digital. Married for 19 years to his amazing wife & has 3 wickedly cool kids.

Adam will present “The proper care, feeding and growth of your WordPress website”

A website is a living and breathing piece of your overall business & marketing plan. You need to feed it! This presentation will cover why a website isn’t a “set it and forget it” entity.  Learn about content creation types, determine the need for enhanced features (eCommerce, membership, LMS), ways to encourage visitor engagement, website security and site backups and when it might be time to redesign the site itself.

Alisa is a multi-disciplinarian who loves flexing her skills in strategy, data analysis, empathy, design, and web development. In 2016, she established Unity as a digital agency for community-focused businesses. A North Carolinian to the bone, Alisa is from the Triangle, has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Appalachian State University, a master’s degree in library and information science from UNC Chapel Hill, and ardently defends her preference for Lexington style bbq. She is a mom, wife, public speaker, open source evangelist, and serves on the community board of AIGA Raleigh as the chair of the Women Lead Initiative.

Alisa will be presenting: The Ultimate Guide to Building the Worst Product.

As she states “Let’s face it. There’s a gap between what developers care about and what users care about. In this session, we’ll explore what happens when we ignore this simple fact. We’ll discuss what UX is and why the user’s experience matters, how to think like your users, and some new rules we can all get behind. After all, UX is more than just about visual design, but also about making sure systems are set up in a way that makes them easy for people to actually use.”

I started using WordPress for my clients in 2008. I converted all the original website designs that I had made into WordPress themes. Then I emailed my clients and told them they could now login and edit their website through their browser. This was a huge game changer for my small business empowering small business to do it themselves and save money.

Since then I have leveraged WordPress as a Content Marketing Software to help my clients achieve their goals. In 2014 I sold the Shepherds Loft brand to Brightmill. I served as the Practice Director by helping WordPress clients.

In 2016, the Shepherds Loft brand shifted it’s focus solely on providing WordPress Management Services. Through our Youtube channel, shepherdsloft.tv, I provide both “WordPress in 60 seconds” tutorials and step by step instructional videos.

After two years, the growth of Shepherds Loft got back on track. As of September 2017, I purchased the business back from Brightmill with a renewed vision and mission, maintenance free WordPress.

David will be presenting: Site Maintenance: How to manage a single WordPress website to keep it safe, secure, updated and backed up.

Adam Sewell is a father, husband, and entrepreneur. Most of his time is spent with his IT support company, MyGeek Technologies. Though he is also known to develop WordPress sites and plugins as well as providing high performance hosting specific to WordPress. He is also very involved in his local community serving on boards and volunteering for events.

Adam will be presenting: Beyond the Website – Small Businesses and WordPress

In this talk, Adam will discuss several other uses a small business can use WordPress for rather than “just a website”. The WordPress ecosystem has grown well beyond a blogging platform and informational websites. It’s now possible to run an entire business off of WordPress.

Lauren Etheridge is a Web Developer and Designer with OIT Design and Web Services at NC State. She has a globe trotting background in social work and web development. Ask her about independent film, David Lynch, comedy shows, music & the Fibonacci Sequence in nature. If you’re lucky you might hear her play theremin.

Miles Elliott is also a Web Developer and Designer with OIT Design and Web Services at NC State. He has a background in graphic design and web development. He enjoys woodworking, electronics, and long walks by western avenue. If you’re lucky you might hear him struggle to play “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” on the Laser Harp.

They will be presenting:  The Blockenspiel: Tackling Gutenberg Development.

In this talk, they will cover how the central IT web team at NC State reworked development processes and tools to fit within a GutenWorld. They will discuss changing coding practices, new vocabulary, and cross-departmental collaboration all coming together in a campus-wide Blocks plugin.

Attendees of this talk will come away with strategies for adapting to change and working collaboratively, as well as a framework for developing a set of blocks for your campus.

Doug builds short stories, proof points, & engaging experiences that convince people to take action.

His best story? One Sunday morning in Dallas he tipped the sale for 180,000 Cisco IP phones to Bank of America in 10 minutes. http://bit.ly/2dlNPMB

With thirty+ years in sales, marketing, IT, engineering, and manufacturing with companies ranging from startups to global high tech. What’s fun? Biking, kayaking, travel, stories, and geeky stuff … like WordPress, building a geodesic dome home, & working with NASA.

Join Doug for 2 hours as he runs the Beginners Guide to WordPress workshop. 

Andrea (Andi) Ferguson is Founder & President of AndiSites Inc., an award-winning web design and development firm based in Chapel Hill, NC. AndiSites specializes in WordPress, including design, development, support, and maintenance. With 20+ years’ experience in project management, 12 years’ experience in corporate communications, and 10 years’ experience in web design and development, Andi knows what it takes to give clients an effective website–while they enjoy the process. Andi is a WordPress expert who loves sharing knowledge; bringing technology down to earth; and making the web a friendlier, more open, more welcoming place. Andi is also a film/TV actress (as Andrea Powell) and avid world traveler with husband/writer Paul, sweet dog Teddy, and rebellious bunny Dusty.

Andi will be presenting “We Like Big Buttons & We Cannot Lie: User-Friendly Design Tweaks for Your WordPress Website.

Whether you’re designing a new website or updating an old one, user-friendliness is key. Large fonts, big buttons, and strategic color motifs make calls to action obvious.  Help users take the actions you want them to. Help website users be happy. Happy website users convert to happy customers. Happy customers help your business thrive.

Josh is the owner of Expander Digital, an SEO-focused studio he started in 2014. Through his small business, Josh helps other small businesses improve their search visibility. When he’s not meeting with clients, you can find him hiking or biking on trails.

Join Josh Gellock of Expander Digital for a talk on local SEO. Find out how to reach local searchers, manage your online listings, and use structured data to optimize your business’ search presence.

Brian DeConinck is a Boston-based front-end designer and developer with NC State University’s Office of Information Technology. In all of his projects, Brian is committed to universal design principles emphasizing accessibility, usability and user empathy. He is also co-host of the WPCampus Podcast, where he gets to talk to interesting people about the interesting things they’re doing with WordPress in higher ed.

Crystal Tenan is the IT Accessibility Coordinator at NC State University. She earned her Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science in Education from Baylor University and a Masters of Science in Applied Information Technology from Towson University. Her areas of expertise include digital accessibility, assistive technology, student accommodations and campus accessibility. She is dedicated to the mission of making the world a more accessible place.

Brian & Crystal will be co-presenting Thinking About Accessibility Before You Hit Publish where they will examine the NC State Accessibility Helper, a homegrown plugin that makes accessibility testing a part of WordPress.

We will discuss common issues reported by users of assistive technology and how those issues are introduced when creating content. We will then discuss how our plugin addresses these issues using an open source accessibility testing engine called aXe.