WordCamp Raleigh would not be possible without our speakers. As a community-driven event these speakers graciously volunteer their time and wisdom with us. Be sure to visit their sites and say thanks.
Adam Sewell
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.
Colin Lord
Colin Lord is a Senior Front End Developer for Modea in Blacksburg, Virginia. He has spent the last three years working in the healthcare industry for the Vanderbilt University Medical System, the Duke University Health System, and Carilion Clinic. Before that, he spent time in the music industry building sites for artists like Brad Paisley, Garth Brooks, Imagine Dragons, and The Band Perry. Other clients that have crossed his path are Verizon Wireless, ADT Home Security and DirecTV.
Kyle Laverty
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.
John Cornthwait
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.
Corey Freeman
Corey Freeman has been building WordPress sites for over 10 years. When she’s not teaching others how to build a better online presence, she can be found doing comedy in and around the triangle. She is the owner of the world’s most ridiculous animal, Olive “The Puppy” Freeman.
Eric Debelak
Eric Debelak has been creating WordPress sites for over 10 years. He is currently a co-founder and senior developer at 11 Online, a full service digital agency in Albuquerque, NM. At 11 Online, Eric works with a variety of technology, including React.js, Python, Laravel, Android and of course WordPress. Eric also previously taught full-stack web development at Central New Mexico Community College’s STEMulus Center.
Bridget Willard
Bridget Willard is a marketing consultant and educator with a passion to help small businesses. She began in construction, and worked in franchise development, nonprofits, and tech. She is known for her brand building for Riggins Construction and GiveWP.
She is the co-host of WPblab, a show on the WPwatercooler network, co-organizer of Women Who WP Meetup, and Marketing Team Rep for Make WordPress.
She writes about social media and WordPress on her site at bridgetwillard.com and teaches social strategy on her YouTube channel.
Amanda Gorman
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.
Adam Silver
Adam is a native of California, though relocated to North Carolina in 2017. Currently providing WordPress development and support services through ConciergeWP.com. He 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.
Laura Rabell
Laura’s family roots run deep in North Carolina, where her mother grew up in a textile mill town and her father played basketball for Davidson College. After growing up in Pensacola, Florida, she lived in Charlotte, NC with her husband E.J. for 10 years before they moved to Nashville, TN, to pursue music. With a marketing and client services background in fields such as healthcare consulting and financial services, Laura found a niche in helping small business owners with business development through digital marketing.
She began freelancing for clients as far back as 2009, helping with everything from brochure design to book editing. Eventually, her interest in technology led to the discovery of WordPress led to an affinity for web design. The field of web design brings together Laura’s skills in communications, editing, graphic arts, and marketing all in one package.
Rabell Creative, founded by E.J. and Laura in 2012, offers WordPress website design and digital marketing services to help organizations make the most of their online presence. Rabell Creative is a Google Partner agency, and Laura is a Certified Adwords Specialist. Visit www.rabellcreative.com to see our portfolio of recent client projects.
Rabell Creative was founded with the concept of giving back in mind, striving to build intention around working with non-profit organizations that are doing meaningful work and making the world a better place. Laura is also a performing musician and songwriter (www.laurarabell.com) and enjoys staying active in the local community through various community organizations and activities, including:
• Apparo “Website for Good” Agency Partner 2017 & 2018
• Co-Chair, Great Gatsby Gala benefitting the MS Society
• Board Member, MS Movers & Shakers
• Volunteer, The Relatives of Alexander Youth Network
• Past Community Development Chair, Charlotte Junior Chamber Board of Directors
• Past Chicago Marathon Charity Runner, Hope Worldwide
• Past Classroom Mentor, Thompson Child & Family Focus
• Past Event Chairperson, Relay for Life of Mecklenburg County
Laura graduated with honors from the University of West Florida in Pensacola, earning a degree in Interdisciplinary Humanities, focused on Communication Arts, Arts and English.
Lauren Etheridge and Miles Elliott
This will be a co-presentation with Lauren Etheridge and Miles Elliott
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.
Jen Miller
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.
Jamie Schmid
Jamie Schmid has a particular passion for creating excellent content experiences. Originally from Milwaukee, WI, she has been working as a WordPress freelancer and consultant since 2012, regularly taking sites from conception through a well-managed build process that encourages communication, planning, and smart use of content. She has a background in Information Architecture and Content Strategy and a big ol’ enthusiasm for all things WordPress. Now living in Portland, OR, Jamie is a Community Evangelist for SiteLock, traveling the country to help build awareness of website security best practices and solutions.
Alisa R. Herr
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.
Ray Mitchell
Ray is the owner of SixFour Web Design & Marketing, which focuses on meeting the unique marketing needs of small businesses and non-profit organizations. He also serves as a Mentor at the Small Business Center at Forsyth Technical Community College.
Active in the local community, Ray is a member of, and sits on the board, of several community non-profit organizations.
Josh Gellock
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.
David Grubb
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.
Andrea Ferguson
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.
Sharon A. Dawson
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.
Micah Wood
Micah is an Atlanta-based, full-stack developer committed to improving his craft continuously and sharing his insights with the development community. He is currently the dev team lead at Narwhal Digital and specializes in building websites and applications on the WordPress platform for enterprise clients.
Steve Mortiboy
Steve Mortiboy is the COO and Service Delivery Manager for Semper Plugins. He leads the team that develops plugins such as All in One SEO Pack. He has been working with WordPress for over 8 years and devotes much of his time to helping people get the most from WordPress. He is also one of the co-organizers of WordCamp Raleigh and the Raleigh WordPress Meetup Group. When not hard at work he’s working on DIY projects at home or off traveling.
Jen McFarland
Jen Riehle McFarland has been working in NC State’s central IT group for over 10 years, starting in the Help Desk, moving into web design/dev and eventually, the agony of management. She’s a WordPress fangirl, a champion for women in IT, a serious beer enthusiast, an adequate technical communicator (but she writes awful run-on sentences), and a proud geek chick.
Alex Centeno
With more than 15 years of interactive work and digital media design experience, Alex has helped many national and international clients maximize their online strategies through the integration of design, development and online marketing. Through custom graphics, WordPress development, and SEO consulting, he helps AndiSites deliver the most effective websites for our clients. His skills in digital photography and video provide striking imagery that blends perfectly with written content.
Alex’s Masters of Business Administration gives him a deep understanding of clients’ goals. His passion for digital media earned him the Robert F. Lauderborn advertising scholarship from the American Advertising Federation. As a valedictorian graduate of the Living Arts College specializing in digital advertising and design and Internet site development, his work has been nominated for multiple American Advertising Awards (ADDY).
Alex was born in Costa Rica, the #1 country in the Happy Planet Index. He and his wife Ann have a sweet baby daughter named Kylie and a beautiful golden retriever named Beta.
Tony Zeoli
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.
In addition to his client work, for the past two-years, Tony has been the resident Digital Strategist at Mountain BizWorks, an Asheville based lending and learning organization, which lended over $5M in low-interest business loans to small businesses in Western North Carolina.
Through MountainBizWorks learning programs, Tony trains on WordPress and guides digital strategy for over 30 small businesses on how to best leverage WordPress as a CMS for content publishing, marketing, scheduling, SEO, Ecommerce, and other small business applications.
Tony is a 2009 graduate of New York University with Bachelor of Science in Digital Communications and Media. Tony is also a prolific house music DJ with a career spanning 30-years. He podcasts and live streams on his WordPress powered, Netmix.com, website.
Brian DeConinck
(This session co-presented by Brian DeConinck and Crystal Tenan)
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.
Brian 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.
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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.
Doug Foster
Doug Foster is the Founder and CEO of Convinsys, a sales engineering company. Started in 2006, Convinsys specializes in story driven, technical product demonstrations. As CEO, Doug is focused on helping organizations build revenue by delivering convincingly simple and engaging customer experiences.
Prior to starting Convinsys, Doug served in technical and managerial roles for sales, marketing, IT, engineering, and manufacturing companies ranging from startups to global high tech.
Since giving his first demo at age 12, Doug has helped people understand new technology and how it can solve challenging problems. He has built international computer networks, spoken at industry events, developed software, taught classes, provided guidance for licensing NASA intellectual property, given countless executive presentations & demonstrations, and helped close global sales opportunities.
Doug holds a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University with postgraduate work in numerical calculations at the University of Iowa. Learn more at https://dougfoster.me
Amanda French
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.
Peter La Fond
Peter La Fond is the Founder and CEO of My Internet Scout, LLC, a digital marketing firm serving businesses of all sizes in locations across the country.
Peter graduated from California State University, Sacramento in 1994. Peter’s high technology career has spanned across two decades in Silicon Valley. He’s worked for various sized high technology firms, ranging from start-up to Fortune 500. Peter has employed the WordPress engine as the exclusive platform for the websites his firm develops. In addition, Peter is the Founder of the San Jose WordPress Meetup.