WordCamp Ottawa 2014

Shanta R. Nathwani is an IT and Social Media Consultant and an Instructor in Web Design and CCIT Capstone at Sheridan College, which includes teaching WordPress. The ICCIT program is a joint program with the University of Toronto at Mississauga. She teaches students and small businesses how to use their websites and social media to increase their online presence leading to increased revenues and improved customer service. She has assisted companies to incorporate social media in the real estate, financial, non-profit, education and technical fields to name a few.

Shanta is a problem solver and it has been said she has the patience of a saint. She can explain even the most difficult concepts to the most basic user and has developed training documents that allow clients to learn for themselves. She thrives on understanding the needs of her clients. She believes in making social media as simple as possible and making it fun, which allows her clients to seamlessly incorporate it into their organization.

Shanta is presenting: WordPress For Small Businesses

1) Why do you like using WordPress?
WordPress is extremely easy to use, but can also be as complex as we need it to be. It truly levels the playing field and empowers people to take charge of their own online presence.

2) Why did you decide to speak at WordCamp Ottawa?
It has been a number of years since I have been in Ottawa, and it fit in nicely with my gall to speak at five WordCamps this year. It is a beautiful city, so it seemed like a natural fit.

3) What is the one thing you want people to walk away with from your talk?
I want them to be able to manage their own website. It may only be the beginning, but they will certainly walk away with more than what they came in with especially as it relates to organizing the data on their website. If nothing else, they will walk away with a lot of post-it notes and a lot to think about.

4) What is your favourite WordPress plugin or theme? Why?
This is a tough decision. However there are two plug-ins that I would install for any of my clients: WordFence and Backup Buddy. WordFence helps protect against things like viruses and attacks on a WordPress site. It is the security plug-in. Backup Buddy does backups of your site automatically and it is also used as a migration tool. Both are extremely easy to use and I teach my clients how to use them.

Julie loves to play with words – for business and pleasure. As an independent communications consultant with CaffeineCommunications.ca, Julie develops strategies and creates content for businesses. As a personal blogger, she shares travel tales and family anecdotes on CoffeeWithJulie.ca. She’s a big fan of strong coffee, social media, and life-long learning. You can connect with her @coffeewithjulie.

Julie is presenting: Writing Tips for Non-Writers (No Grammar Geeks Allowed!)

1) Why do you like using WordPress?
Because it’s easy. And because most developers like it.

2) Why did you decide to speak at WordCamp Ottawa?
I loved (loved!) last year’s event and wanted to come back for more.

3) What is the one thing you want people to walk away with from your talk?
With a little bit of elbow grease, we can all be better writers. As Ernest Hemmingway once said: “It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.”

4) What is your favourite WordPress plugin or theme? Why?
Yoast’s WordPress SEO Plug-in. I don’t really like to think about SEO when I’m blogging, so this plug-in is a nice little friend tapping me on my shoulder before I press “publish” on a post.

Shawn Hooper has been a web developer for almost 20 years, creating applications for both the public and the private sectors.  He is a GIAC certified secure software programmer. At Fivesense Technologies, his current projects include work in e-commerce, 3rd party API integration and custom plugin development.

Shawn is presenting: Time Code: Scheduling Automated Tasks Using WP_Cron

1) Why do you like using WordPress?
I find WordPress both easy to use and extremely flexible. It also has an amazing community of developers supporting it.

2) Why did you decide to speak at WordCamp Ottawa?
I’ve been looking for a way to contribute back to the WordPress community, and starting with a talk in my home town seemed like a natural fit.

3) What is the one thing you want people to walk away with from your talk?
If they don’t already, I hope that people will start to see how WordPress can be used as a platform for more complex web-based applications, and not just as a publishing platform.

4) What is your favourite WordPress plugin or theme? Why?
I think I’m going to have to go with Jeff Farthing’s “Theme My Login” plugin. Why? It allows you to quickly make many of the default WordPress forms look like the rest of your site / application, and less like “every other WordPress site”.

Ben Fox is an entrepreneur, consultant and tech skills instructor. He and his team are based out of the Ryerson Digital Media Zone in Toronto. A self-described geek of all trades, he’s that guy you call when {insert technology here} doesn’t work. Ben is the Co-Founder of SIDEKICK, the first guided and interactive help & support plugin for WordPress and WPUniversity, a free and open-source learning centre for WordPress.

Ben is presenting: How to Effectively Teach WordPress

1) Why do you like using WordPress?
It’s free, easy to use, open-source and a lot like Lego. What’s not to like?

2) Why did you decide to speak at WordCamp Ottawa?
I’ll take any chance I have to join the WordPress community educating ourselves and others. I’m just flattered you’ve chosen to have me at the front of the class instead of in it. Thank you.

3) What is the one thing you want people to walk away with from your talk?
Not everyone looks at technology through a pair of rose coloured glasses. I know it’s hard to believe but there are people out there that think of things like WordPress as simple a tool they have to learn to accomplish their goals. Teaching them to use WordPress takes a little finesse.

4) What is your favourite WordPress plugin or theme? Why?
You mean besides SIDEKICK?
Definitely Masterpress It makes planning and developing a site in WordPress easier. If you build Custom WordPress sites, you definitely want to try it out.

Alison Barrett has been working with WordPress since 2008, when she started building custom sites for clients and creating plugins for fun. She enjoys speaking at WordCamps and various local meetups, and is a passionate advocate for women in WordPress and tech. When not writing code, she’s usually binge-watching a show on Netflix or building castles in Minecraft. Alison currently works for 10up as a Senior Web Engineer.

Alison is presenting:  Develop Plugins Like a Pro

1) Why do you like using WordPress?
As a developer, I love the community surrounding WordPress. It’s the most active and welcoming community I’ve been a part of in my career. Collaboration is always put before competition, which makes learning easy. WordPress is a really accessible platform and is a great place for web developers to get their start.

2) Why did you decide to speak at WordCamp Ottawa?
Speaking at WordCamps is my favorite way to give back to the community. I get to meet so many amazing people and learn lots of new things at every WordCamp I attend. Speaking is particularly fun because I love learning, and teaching someone else is one of the best ways to learn.

3) What is the one thing you want people to walk away with from your talk?
I want people to leave my workshop with the confidence that they can put a plugin out there for the world to enjoy. Finding a need and filling it is a valuable thing, no matter how small that need is. If there’s something you find lacking in WordPress, chances are there are others thinking the same thing and looking for a plugin to fix it.

4) What is your favourite WordPress plugin or theme? Why?
One of my favorite plugins is Members by Justin Tadlock. Roles and capabilities in WordPress are more complex than one might think, and Members makes role management dead simple.

With 17 years of Internet marketing experience, Brian is a strategic consultant, entrepreneur, author, and speaker. As the head of well-established brands such as Uniseo (a boutique Internet marketing agency) and RedstoneX.com (a web design and online marketing company), he brings a hype-free, seasoned approach to working with clients. You may have caught his appearances on CTV News or local radio shows. He writes about SEO, social media, content marketing, business, and entrepreneurship, among other topics. His work has been used by ABC News, USA Today, Search Engine Journal, Social Media Today, Business 2 Community, and other prominent sources. Brian holds two Master’s degrees, has taught university courses, and provides training services on topics such as SEO, content marketing, and social media. His love affair with WordPress began in 2005 when he started with version 1.6! Connect with him on rotsztein.com or on Twitter: @brianrotsztein.

Brian is presenting: Content Marketing with Guest Posts for Businesses and Bloggers

1) Why do you like using WordPress?
Creating a scalable product that is easy for clients to use while remaining designer and programmer-friendly, is a Herculean task. Yet, the mere fact that about 20% of the world’s websites run on the WordPress platform is a testament to how useful it is on these varying levels. WordPress is a great solution for different business types, irrespective of size or custom requirements. My team consists of WordPress specialists who find that it’s an effective time management tool. It allows us to generate realistic estimates for how long projects are going to take. Finally, it’s an effective platform for SEO, content marketing, and other Internet marketing endeavours which is perhaps my favourite part.

2) Why did you decide to speak at WordCamp Ottawa?
My team and I have benefited greatly from using WordPress for the last nine years and I like to give back to the community to help it grow. I have given talks about using WordPress for SEO, social media marketing and content marketing at different WordCamps and have found that there’s a hunger for information on these topics. Also, I spoke at last year’s WordCamp Ottawa which was a great event as I’m sure this year’s will be. Get your tickets before they sell out!

3) What is the one thing you want people to walk away with from your talk?
WordPress is a great platform for content marketing and SEO. I want attendees to understand that content marketing takes time but can yield great results with a plan in mind from the outset. Too many companies and bloggers are rudderless when it comes to publishing content. It’s important to anticipate consumer needs and work toward meeting them.

4) What is your favourite WordPress plugin or theme? Why?
You would think that my favourite plugin would be a marketing plugin but it’s not. There are a few great plugins that I intend to discuss during my session but overall, my favourite plugin is Advanced Custom Fields. It’s a flexible plugin that allows you to do a lot of customization. It saves my team a lot of time.

Brendan Sera-Shriar a.k.a. digibomb

Brendan Sera-Shriar has been an interactive designer, developer, college and university professor, community manager, author, consultant, and professional speaker at some of the largest corporations and festivals in the world, including Microsoft, Mozilla Firefox, Sun Microsystems, WordCamp, BlogWorld, SXSW and more. His work has also appeared in TechCrunch, TechVibes, WordPress TV, and a host of other blogs. He was also featured in the October 2012 issue of Marketing Magazine.

Not only does Brendan help others build their businesses he has also founded a few himself, including StartupBump, Creer Magazine, and PressWork just to name a few.

Despite being known best for his work as a WordPress designer, developer, and WordCamp speaker and organizer, Brendan’s best communications skills lie in his ability to help organizations understand how they can build communities around their products and services.  thebrendans.com, @digibomb

Brendan is presenting: Build a Responsive WordPress Theme with Zurbs Foundation Framework

1) Why do you like using WordPress?
That is a HUGE question 🙂 I’ve been using WordPress since v1.2. I stumbled upon it by pure chance and it has played an important role in my career. I like it Because it is easy to use for the developer, designer, and the client. The WordPress community is one of the most active, supportive, vocal, and passionate communities I have come across. I can always find the answers I’m looking for. And, it’s pretty much a web standard these days in terms of CMSs.

2) Why did you decide to speak at WordCamp Ottawa?
To be honest, it is the only WordCamp in Canada I have yet to speak at! I’m always interested in learning about other WordPress communities and I’m looking forward to meet in person with Ottawa WP’ers I’ve only connected with online.

3) What is the one thing you want people to walk away with from your talk?
That building a responsive theme is no longer a choice – it is mandatory! And, it is easier to do than you think.

4) What is your favourite WordPress plugin or theme? Why?
Favourite theme – Reverie by Themefortress (http://themefortress.com/reverie-5), because it is the most stable and up to date Foundation theme framework. Plugin – at the moment that would be Simple Fields (http://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-fields/) as a theme developer it allows me to add extremely useful options for my clients in the dashboard for managing their sites.

A newspaper reporter by trade, Christoph left the newspaper industry in 2007 to research, write and produce training videos for the U.S. financial services industry. He then started a community news site and currently works as a communications executive in the nonprofit sector.

His career has focused on helping organizations tell their stories in authentic and meaningful ways. He uses and teaches brand and traditional journalism as well as content marketing techniques in the pursuit of great stories.

Until recently he helped United Way of East Central Iowa tell its stories in an authentic way through a multi-channel content delivery strategy that engages all of United Way’s key audiences. In April, he started at MedTouch where he works with hospitals across the U.S. on digital strategies.

He lives in Marion, Iowa, USA, with his wife and their daughter.

Christoph is presenting: Blogging from your mobile devices

1) Why do you like using WordPress?
Easy to use. The community is also very supportive.

2) Why did you decide to speak at WordCamp Ottawa?
I want to give back to the WordPress community and pitched this new session in the hopes of sharing some of my tips and tricks in content creation. Plus, I’ve never been to Canada. 🙂

3) What is the one thing you want people to walk away with from your talk?
Creating meaningful content is easy and can be done anywhere. Really, anywhere.

4) What is your favourite WordPress plugin or theme? Why?
I love the Editorial Calendar. It keeps me organized. I will talk about this in my talk, too.