Category: Speaker Spotlight

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.

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.