WordCamp Columbus 2011 (June 17-19)

[amdesign]

My name is Angie Meeker - I'm the primary organizer for WordCamp Columbus 2011 (June 17-19).

You can catch up on the latest at www.wordcampcolumbus.com and grab your tickets there, too.

Our primary goal for this year's WordCamp is to ensure that it is squarely focused on WordPress itself, rather than on social media, blogging, marketing, etc... We're working hard to gather and invite speakers who will present topics that are both attractive and challenging to the WordPress community here in Ohio and nearby.

To make space for that, we're offering WordPress for Businesses and Beginners on Friday, June 17, and are looking for presenters who can talk to guests in a way that is simple and easy to understand. If you run a blog or have written some ebooks or video courses that walk users through starting with WordPress, this could be a great opportunity for you to share yourself with a new audience.

On Saturday though, the field is wide open for the more in-depth topics that developers and designers will find useful. I remember the feedback after last year's WordCamp - not all positive - and lots of you said that it just wasn't an event focused on WordPress. I want you to know that if there is a topic that you want or need to hear about, then either submit the session yourself or let me know so we can find someone to do it. We have some of the Automattic team coming out to both present and hang out, too.

On Sunday, we're offering a genius bar, and also a session similar to Friday's...only for non-profits. We'd like to give back to the Ohio community by showing these non-profit friends how to use WordPress to move their organizations forward online. If you're a developer in this area, we're looking also for presenters and coaches for these sessions.

We're getting some good sponsorships and feedback, so far. If you're interested in speaking, sponsoring or helping, please get in touch at angie@wordcampcolumbus.com or @angiemeeker on twitter.

Thanks!

Angie Meeker

[Jeffro]

Sounds good Angie. You're on the right track with finally making this hometown event respectable :) i did promise a blog post about the event and I'm still going to do that. I'm going to see if I can't get some sponsorships to attend the event. With it being in June, that will make for a nice early morning drive or this year, I might just stay at a hotel in the Columbus area. It's nice being just 2 hours away from a WordCamp.

[amdesign]

Hey - thanks for the reply. We definitely need you there - it wouldn't be a WordCamp in OH if you're not there! It just won't make sense! Let us know if there's any way we can help you secure sponsorships to get here.

We are definitely still looking for speakers to present topics that will be challenging/attractive to developers. I'm hoping to publish what we do have scheduled later this week. You know, so many people want to present topics that are basically marketing, rather than development or design. I think that we've struck a chord by offering the beginners sessions, but now we need to amp up developers'!

[Jeffro]

Promise fulfilled :) http://www.wptavern.com/wordcamp-col...-more-speakers I hope to see some WordPress peeps and definitely loving the fact that most of the folks will be from the local area.

This looks like a three day event, will the event really start on Friday evening for the first set of sessions?

[amdesign]

The way it's shaping up - Friday afternoon will be for beginners and businesses who don't have a clue how to get started with WP. Speaker/VIP dinner/party Friday night; Saturday for developers; Afterparty Sat. night; Sunday after lunch, Genius bar and WP for Non-Profits.

[Jeffro]

What a busy weekend for you :) I actually enjoy hanging out in the Genius bar room even though I'm not a genius. I can sometimes help out with the plugin/theme questions in terms of what's available.

Do you know if the venue will have a space dedicated to interviews such as a media room?

[amdesign]

Today was the first day of WordCamp Columbus...Want to tell you all more about it, but am SOOOOOOOO tired, and we have to be back at it so early tomorrow! I will write more soon...

[amdesign]

If you were at WordCamp Columbus today or yesterday, I'd love to hear what you thought about it (good or bad)...

[Jeffro]

Well, I showed up with literally 10 minutes left in the day. Would have gone sooner but dad had the truck that day and I was late getting the car. Enjoyed my time around some fellow WordPress people though. From who I talked to regarding the event, seems like you did a great job with it as opposed to the previous ones that were held in Ohio. Hoping this experience will help you create a better event for next year if you decide to do it again.