WordCamp Phoenix 2011

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So it’s pretty obvious I don’t blog as much as I probably should, but this is my site so whatever, right?!

Anyway, to get things sort of caught up, I’ve been busy. 9seeds has been busy, thus the lack of posting…just working going on here. But this weekend I’ll be at WordCamp Phoenix and thought I’d write a little about it.

First, on Friday I’ll be doing a free Intro to WordPress for Beginners class as part of the Free WorkShop Friday, which should be really cool. It’s from 9am-4pm and we’ll cover everything you’d probably ever want to know about using WordPress. I really like this idea as a lot of beginners are lost at WordCamps and just need a very basic intro to what WordPress is, etc so I’m excited to have been asked to do this.

Saturday I’ll be speaking about WordPress and eCommerce at 1:30pm and will cover WP eCommerce, Shopp and PHPurchase which are shopping cart solutions for WordPress. I have 30 minutes, so don’t blink as you might miss something ! I’ll be around all day and helping out at the Genius Bar so there will be plenty of time for questions.

On Sunday my wife Abbie was asked to teach a WordPress for Kids class. This is really cool! Again – they’ve thought of everything. Everything! We homeschool our kiddos so she’s the perfect fit for this class and what better thing to teach kids than to know WordPress?

Working at home and being far away from my WordPress friends is tough sometimes but it all evens out at WordCamps – it’s sort of like reunion time so I’m excited about seeing all my friends that I haven’t seen in a while. The whole 9seeds crew will be there as well so that’s cool, since we don’t see each other often enough either – so it’s going to be a packed weekend but good times will be had.

I’d also like to recognize Amanda Blum, Chuck Reynolds and the rest of the team at WordCamp Phoenix for all the hard work they’ve put into this event. 5 days of WordPress, over 600 attendees and surprises around every turn – I really don’t think they’ve left a single detail unnoticed. If you’re attending WordCamp Phoenix, make sure to find them and let them know how much they are appreciated and not just drink all of the free coffee :)

That’s it for now…

Need a place to whine?

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So you’ve had a rough day, the boss in an a-hole, the kids are being difficult and you want to scream. What do you do? You go to that other social networking site and post your rant and then worry about everyone thinking you’re too whiny. What a dilemma…what to do? You still need to vent your frustrations but are concerned that everyone will think you’re “that person” that they immediately want to block. Well, help has arrived.

Let me introduce WhineBook*. It’s just as it sounds – a place to whine.

It actually started out as a joke, but sounded fun so I built it, and I had a good time getting more familiar with BuddyPress. I’d also like to thank my friend Boone who lent his knowledge when I needed help with BuddyPress.

It’s a community site for you to let it all out. No judging, just whining. Everyone is there for the same reason, so don’t hold back – we want to hear you whine! You can friend other users, send private messages, chat (in beta) and all of the cool things you’re used to doing on that other social networking site, but without any of the shame.

I’m sure you have -something- to say, so head over and get your account set up and start whining.

Get Started Whining

* that other social networking site isn’t too keen on other “book” sites, so I can’t guarantee how long this will be online

Busy Fall

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So I haven’t posted in quite a while and need to catch up.

It was a super busy fall this year and the month of October I was barely home at all.

It started with WordCamp Detroit on October 8th. This was Detroit’s first WordCamp and it was great. The organization and varying topics that were presented were done well. It’s always nice to see a “first” WordCamp with lots of eager minds ready to learn.

The following weekend, October 15th, I was at WordCamp NYC for the second year. This year’s event was much smaller than the previous year, but it was awesome nonetheless. It was more locally focused, but still brought together some great minds and topics.

From NYC, I flew to Las Vegas (where my 9seeds partners are) and spent the week there helping prepare for WordCamp Las Vegas which was on October 23rd. This was the 3rd WordCamp Las Vegas and while we didn’t have a huge turnout (BlogWorld was the weekend before), it was a really great event. Everything went smoothly, there were no big issues and everyone that attended was excited to have a smaller “classroom” feel I think. I saw a lot of friends I haven’t seen in a while and had a really good time, but at this point I was just tired and really missing home.

I’m home now and don’t plan on going anywhere until WordCamp Phoenix in January, so back to work I go.