Speakers Slides from WordCamp Raleigh 2016

We have now collected together links to all of the slides for each session from our speakers.  Thank you again to all our speakers, we hope they enjoyed speaking as much as we enjoyed their sessions.

Here are all the links for the slides separated by track:

Beginner’s Track

To Democratize Publishing! – An Introduction to the Basics of WordPress – Linton Hale

Using Shortcodes In WordPress – Peter Baylies

Captivate your audience with data-driven storytelling – Alisa R. Herr

The Magic of Funnels: Using WordPress to Turn Visitors into Buyers – Andrea Olson

Using Curated Content in WordPress – Why and How – Adam W. Warner

Common Sense SEO – Corey Freeman

Improving Your Website’s UX: Your Questions Answered

A house with no walls: Creating a site structure for the future – Lisa Ghisolf

Choosing WordPress Plugins: Like Being a Kid in a Candy Store – Andrea Ferguson

Business Track

How To Promote Your WordPress Site For Free – Lee Blue

Not One and Done – Sharon Dawson

Automate or Die! – David Bentley

10 Key Elements Your Website Must Have – Amy Howard

Making WordPress Work for The Enterprise – Blake Gruber

WordPress for Schools – Cameron Barrett

Start Your WordPress Business This Weekend – Ray Mitchell

How to Build a Sustainable WordPress Product Business – Thomas Griffin

Social SEO for Business – Tony Zeoli

Developer’s Track

Using Chrome Developer Tools – Micah Wood

Why and How you should be using Semantic Markup – Lisa Linn Allen

JS Framework Showdown – Julien Melissas

Get Off My Lawn and Out of My Dashboard! – Dougal Campbell

Build Custom Themes with Less Code using TypeRocket – Kevin Dees

WP API, what is it good for? Absolutely Everything! – Evan Mullins

WordPress beyond Websites – Scott Saunders

Creating SOLID (not STUPID) Plugins and Themes – Brian Reed

Power User Track

The Power of the WordPress Editor – Kyle Laverty

Troubleshooting for Beginning Developers – Jonathan Kay

Google Tag Manager Can Do What Now? – Patrick Stox

WordPress Operations / Management – A Reality Check – David Grubb

Lies, Damned Lies, and Google Analytics – Calvin Powers

Teachers Make the Worst Students! – Susan Campbell

Debugging Common Errors in WordPress – Steve Mortiboy

The Power of a Video Library – Lauren Jeffcoat

I’ve Been Hacked! – Adam Sewell

Important Information for Attendees

WordCamp is almost here!  We’re looking forward to welcoming you tomorrow for a weekend of WordPress learning, networking and fun.

Here are some important things to know about WordCamp and answers to some frequently asked questions.  Please take a minute to read this as it will help you get the most out of WordCamp.

Getting To WordCamp:

WordCamp Raleigh is hosted by North Carolina State University College of Engineering on Centennial Campus.  You can find the address, directions, and a map here – https://2016.raleigh.wordcamp.org/location/

Parking:

We have plenty of parking in the decks on Partners Way which is adjacent to Engineering Building 1.  You can find a map here – https://2016.raleigh.wordcamp.org/location/

Finding WordCamp:

Once you arrive at Centennial Campus and the College of Engineering, make your way to the lawn in the center of the three Engineering Buildings.  You will find signs directing you to Engineering Building 1.

Important Note: If you’ve attended WordCamp Raleigh before, we are not in the same building as last year. We are now in Engineering Building 1.  There is a large entrance hallway where you will find registration, coffee, snacks, sponsor booths, and the Happiness Bar.

You can find a map and photos of our new location here – https://2016.raleigh.wordcamp.org/location/getting-to-wordcamp-raleigh/.  The red star marks the entrance to EB1 where registration is located.

Registration:

Registration will open at 8:30am.  There will be someone at registration all day on Saturday in case you can’t make it in the morning.

You do not need to bring your ticket.  We have a list of attendees and a badge for each attendee that registered prior to 12pm ET on Friday 23rd September.  Please give your name to the volunteer at registration and they will hand you your badge.

T-Shirts:

We will have t-shirts for all those who registered prior to the cut off date last week. If you do not receive a t-shirt at registration, do not panic.  We will be ordering more t-shirts after WordCamp so you can get one after the event is over.

If you need a different size t-shirt then please contact us via the contact form here – https://2016.raleigh.wordcamp.org/contact/.  We cannot give you a different size t-shirt at registration but we will be ordering more t-shirts after WordCamp so you can get one after the event is over.

Tracks and Sessions:

We get a lot of questions about whether you can switch tracks and sessions during the day.  The answer is yes.  You are free to move about between tracks and sessions as you like.  WordCamps are very informal.  Your attendee badge will have the schedule printed on the back.  Rooms will be clearly signed and there will be volunteers on hand to help you find a room.

Refreshments:

There will be water, coffee and snacks available during the breaks on both days.  You will find these in the main hallway where registration, sponsor booths and the Happiness Bar are located.

Lunch:

We provide a hot lunch included with your ticket.  We are excited that this year lunch will be at On The Oval which is a large cafeteria area on Centennial Campus across the lawn from Engineering Building 1.  The menu will include Carolina BBQ as well as an Asian menu for both meat-lovers and vegans/vegetarians.  We’re very grateful to NC State’s Dining Services for accommodating us.

WIFI:

NC State provides an NCSU Guest network with open access.  No password is required to connect.  If you have a problem connecting, please contact an organizer.

As this is a University, you can expect lots of power outlets in each of the rooms for charging your phones, tablets and laptops.

Happiness Bar:

If you’ve never attended a WordCamp before, or never heard of the Happiness Bar, then this is a table where you will find volunteers willing to answer your questions about WordPress.  Whether it’s a technical issue or non-technical, someone will be willing to help.

We’ve asked all of our speakers to spend a little time at the Happiness Bar to answer your questions.  The Happiness Bar will be located in the main hallway where registration, sponsor booths and refreshments are located.

Social Media:

We encourage you to Tweet and post on your social media.  Please use the hashtag #WCRaleigh.  You can find us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/wordcampraleigh and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WordCampRaleigh/.

After-Party:

The After-Party will be held on Saturday night at 7pm at The Raleigh Beer Garden which is located in downtown Raleigh.  The address is 614 Glenwood Avenue and their website is https://www.theraleighbeergarden.com/.

Media Policy:

All sessions are video recorded by a professional video company and will be uploaded to WordPress.tv at a later date.  There will also be a couple of photographers taking photos for use on this website, the WordCamp Central website and on our social media channels.  By attending this event, attendees agree to be photographed/videoed and that the images/content collected may be used to promote WordCamp.

Code of Conduct:

The WordPress Foundation has a Code of Conduct that EVERYONE at WordCamp must follow so that the experience can be welcoming and non-threatening to all participants. The Foundation takes great pride that those who are associated with WordPress are role models to admire and respect. If you DO see something unbecoming of the Foundation’s expectations, please notify an Organizer or Volunteer IMMEDIATELY.

You can find the Code of Conduct here – https://2016.raleigh.wordcamp.org/code-of-conduct/.

WordCamp Volunteers and Organizers:

WordCamp couldn’t happen without a lot of hard work from volunteers.  This is not a for-profit conference, it is volunteer organized, volunteer run by people just like you who wanted to give a little back to the WordPress community.  You’ll find the organizers and volunteers around the main hallway as well as volunteers in each room.  Please say hello and thank them for their efforts.

Whilst we do our utmost to provide a great experience, we acknowledge that things can sometimes go wrong.  We are not professional event organizers but each one of the organizers and volunteers works very hard to make sure you have a great experience.  If you do encounter a problem please let us know either by finding an organizer or via the contact form here – https://2016.raleigh.wordcamp.org/contact/.

Some fun Changes to this Year’s WordCamp!

This post is from fellow WordCamp Raleigh organizer Jen McFarland:

Welcome back for Raleigh WordCamp 2016! If you’re a returning attendee then you’re familiar with the WordCamp space on NC State’s Centennial campus. We’ve been happy to host this event for the past 3 years and we’re delighted to have you back again!

Last year the conference continued its trend of growth, and as a result we found ourselves straining at the seams. But the good news about hosting the event on a university campus: always a few more classrooms around.

In past years we’ve straddled the breezeway between the two halves of Engineering Building II. This year we’ll be staying on the northwest side of the building and we’ll instead be sharing space with the neighboring Engineering Building I. This should afford us plenty of extra classrooms, plus some large hallway space for networking and hanging with your new conference besties.

The other perk for this year is our new food venue. Past attendees may recall the large tent in the expansive lawn outside the engineering buildings. While this was a workable solution you may also recall the crummy weather – Murphy’s Law of outdoor events means we almost always end up with rain, chilly temperatures and/or wind. This year we’re moving indoors to The Oval, a large cafeteria area located across the lawn. We’ll have food courtesy of NC State’s Dining services. On the menu for this year we have buffet style barbecue with Carolina pulled pork, BBQ beef brisket, collard greens, coleslaw, green beans and potatoes. We also asian stir-fry with tofu for our vegan/vegetarian friends.

Looking forward to seeing you for this year’s event!

Come Check Out This Year’s Dual-Threat Business Track!

It's about business AND WordPress business this year. Creative Commons Image Attribution
It’s about business AND WordPress business this year. Creative Commons Image Attribution
When we decided last year to add a business track to WordCamp Raleigh, the idea was to attract local business who either were already using WordPress to power their website, or who might be interested in seeing whether it could power their site.

Most of the talks last year were in that vein. This year, whether by luck or poor communication on our part, a significant percentage of the talk submissions for the business track were more related to folks running business in the WordPress space: plugin shops, theme shops, and freelance developer/designers.

So we split the business track in half: On Saturday the talks are geared toward non-WordPress businesses and how they can integrate WordPress into their web site. On Sunday the talks are geared toward WordPress businesses (or folks looking to get into business in the WordPress world).

The bottom line is simple: if you are a small business owner, or even a large business owner, our Business track on Saturday will help you.

If you are a WordPress freelancer looking to rub shoulders with some of the best and brightest in the WOrdPress business ecosystem, we’ve got a spot for you, too.
Get your Ticket today!

First Wave of Speakers Announced!

The first wave crashed into the site today!  Get your tickets now! Creative Commons Image Attribution
The first wave crashed into the site today! Get your tickets now!
Creative Commons Image Attribution
We are excited to announce the first wave of Speakers for WordCamp Raleigh! Head over to our Speaker page to see the beginning of the lineup.

In case you missed it, we are featuring a business track again this year, as well as a beginner track, power user track, and our critically acclaimed developer’s track.

We’ll be announcing the remainder of the speakers very soon.

But you should definitely get your ticket today. Every ticket comes with an exclusive invitation to our WCRaleigh Slack channel, so get yours sooner than later!

Group Rate for WordCamp Raleigh at Red Roof Inn Plus

If you are coming into Raleigh from out of town and need accommodation then we have news for you.  We’ve negotiated a group rate at the Red Roof Inn Plus which is a few minutes from NC State Centennial Campus.

Guests must call the hotel to make their reservations before September 9th.  To make reservations, please call 1-919-833-6005 and make sure you refer to WordCamp to get the group rate.

Rates vary from $69.99 to $85.99 (excl. tax) based on room type.  The room types available are Standard 2 bed room, Deluxe 2 bed room, and Superior King room.

There is an additional fee of $1.50 per night for use of the in-room safe.  If you don’t use the safe then advise the front desk at check out.

The hotel address is:

1813 South Saunders Street,
Raleigh, NC 27603

Map of the hotel location

Tickets are LIVE!

WordCamp Raleigh – Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September

We are still in the midst of selecting some GREAT speakers for this year’s WordCamp Raleigh. We’ve had some great submissions, and you are going to love this year’s lineup.

Which makes us very excited to announce that ticket sales are live, starting today!

Head over to the Tickets page to secure your spot.

Also, this year, for the first time ever, the event starts immediately. (what?)

By purchasing a ticket, you’ll be invited to our exclusive Slack channel where you can digitally “meet” others attending, and find out more information as the event draws closer. You don’t want to miss this.

Buy a Ticket NOW!

Call for Volunteers

Are you interested in pitching in to help at this year’s WordCamp? We assembling a solid team of volunteers to do cool stuff like man the swag table, help with audiovisual needs, and lend their expertise to the Happiness Bar.

Our WordCamp is only as awesome as our volunteers.

Sign up below, and we’ll be in touch!

{This form is closed! Now your best bet is to buy a ticket!}

Welcome to WordCamp Raleigh

We’re happy to announce that WordCamp Raleigh 2016 is officially on the calendar!

WordCamp Raleigh 2016 will be September 24th and 25th at the College of Engineering on the Centennial Campus of NC State.

Subscribe to stay up to date on the most recent news. We’ll be keeping you posted on all the details over the coming months, including speaker submissions, a call for volunteers, ticket sales and more!

WordCamp Raleigh is over. Check out the next edition!