UPDATE 9/12/2018: We will be refunding all attendees within a week. If you don’t see a refund by next week, please reach out to support@wordcamp.org. It isn’t necessary to request a chargeback in the meantime.
Earlier this morning we made the decision to cancel WordCamp Wilmington 2018.
While we regret knowing this means we will not get to hear our amazing Speaker Line-up, nor meet with our Sponsors it is incumbent on us to declare: Canceled 2018 WordCamp Wilmington.
We wish all of our WordCamp Wilmington enthusiasts a minimum of impact from Hurricane Florence.
On behalf of my fellow Organizers for 2018 WordCamp Wilmington, we are looking forward to seeing everyone in 2019!
Clickable Image linking to The Weather Channel, 2018 September 11: “Hurricane, Storm Surge Watch Issued as Florence Targets Carolinas With Flooding, Destructive Winds” By weather.com meteorologists
Not only do they use WordPress, this is a Sponsor who believes in WordCamp and the WordPress Community. Thank you tekMountain for being WordCamp Wilmington 2018’s Platinum Sponsor!
Not only are our monthly WordPress Meetups hosted throughout the year at tekMountain, our inaugural WordCamp in 2016 was hosted at tekMountain. We moved to CFCC in 2017 due to our rapid growth and tekMountain became a returning Sponsor. The 2017 Key Note Presenter was tekMountain’s Sean Ahlum. We are grateful for tekMountain’s continued support at WordCamp Wilmington 2018.
tekMountain’s enthusiastic participation and support as our Platinum Community Sponsor help make having this conference a reality for us all here in the Cape Fear region.
– Helen Rittersporn, Organizer, WordCamp Wilmington 2018
Our WordCamp Wilmington 2018 event is entirely financed by our Sponsors, the WordCamp foundation, and ticket sales.
Who is tekMountain?
As an arm of CastleBranch, the tekMountain innovation center provides everyday access to industry thought leaders, mentors and pivotal partnerships to help startups launch and grow. tekMountain helps entrepreneurs challenge, change and transform markets. If your startup is looking to challenge the status quo, give tekMountain a visit.
Don’t miss Sean’s Keynote from WordCamp Wilmington 2017
The following is Sean Ahlum, from last year, providing us an overview of the tech industry in the Cape Fear region.
Calling all WordCamp Attendees… Be sure to join us for WordCamp Wilmington’s official After-party! This soiree is hosted by one of Downtown Wilmington’s most unique pubs, the Pour Taproom. Every conference attendee is invited and will receive $5 off of their first drink! There’s also a food menu for those who want something more substantial.
‘Our unique self-serve system gives you access to over 70 taps of beer, cider and wine.’
-Brian Ballard, Owner/Operator of Pour Taproom.
Learn Beyond the Classroom
Attending our speaker sessions will improve your WordPress knowledge tremendously. However, you may want to have a deeper chat about a problem or design idea. The WordCamp Wilmington After-party is the appropriate time for such a conversation. This Saturday evening party is your time to:
Network with experienced WordPress Professionals.
Exchange web UX and SEO ideas and practices.
Ask your favorite speaker that burning question you forgot to ask during the talk session.
Learn about premium offerings from our sponsors.
When is the WordCamp Party?
On Saturday, September 22nd, immediately following the last afternoon speaker session (4:30ish), we’ll all walk down to the Pour Taproom!
Where it’s Being Held…
The Pour Taproom is the stress-free scene for our party. It’s a mere 5 minute walk from the conference venue, on N. Front Street at the corner of Chestnut Street!
Look for the big beer tap on the Murchison Building in Historic Downtown Wilmington.
More taps than your tastebuds can handle! Plus, there’s a food menu to complement your desired beverage.
Check in When You Arrive
Upon arriving at Pour Taproom, check in at the front desk to get a wristband and instructions on how to use the taps — yup, it’s all self-serve. Afterwards, head right upstairs to the great table located at the street side of the building.
201 N Front St, Wilmington, North Carolina
(After you check-in, meet us upstairs at the Front Street side of the restaurant.)
About Pour Taproom
Pour Taproom offers a unique self-serve environment so all party-goers will have easy access to over 70 different taps of beer, cider and wine. And on the food menu, there’s a gluttonous selection of delicious appetizers, sandwiches, and flatbreads to choose from.
A Big THANK YOU to Pour Taproom
All of us from WordCamp Wilmington give Pour Taproom and owner Brian Ballard a warm expression of gratitude for sponsoring this year’s after-party! A brew pub-restaurant atmosphere that’s as enjoyable as the Pour Taproom is something we want to share with our WordPress community!
The WordCamp Wilmington team is thrilled to announce our 2018 speaker line-up! This year’s 29 speakers is a testament to how hard our Speaker Recruitment team has worked to attract notable experts from across the WordPress Community.
Choose your own WordCamp Adventure!
Kyle Laverty speaking at WordCamp Wilmington 2016
For WordCamp Wilmington 2018, we’ve planned four learning tracks across two days. You choose the talks that appeal to you. All ticket holders will be able to sit in on any talk presented across these four different tracks.
With four different tracks, there is truly something for everyone. Review the great presentations we’ve planned; every talk topic and speaker listed on our schedule is linked to a summary.
Track 1: Beginners
Are you a beginner with WordPress? This track is for you! Talks for this track will focus on WordPress for the beginner. Sample beginner talk topics include:
If you’re a business owner or key marketing person, this track will help you get the most out of Internet marketing and WordPress. Sample business marketing talk topics include:
Is WordPress already integrated into your weekly or monthly workflow? This track was created for designers and power users who regularly use WordPress but wouldn’t consider themselves a “coder”. Sample designer and power user topics include:
This track is designed for those who live and breathe the WordPress lifestyle… You know who you are! The talks here will cover various advanced techniques and concepts. Sample developer talk topics include:
Although WordCamp Wilmington’s Speaker and Session Schedule is only days away from publication, we’d like to make our first big speaker announcement …the KEYNOTE.
And now, without further ado…
We’re very excited to announce that this year’s keynote speaker is Jennifer Riehle McFarland, the Web Services Coordinator at NC State University. For over 10 years she has been an integral part of NC State’s Office of Information Technology (OIT). Jennifer and her A-team of IT professionals are knee-deep wading through the Herculean task of educating WordPress users, testing themes and plugins, and planning contingencies for the Gutenberg roll-out across NC State’s 10K+ WordPress websites.
From the time it was announced that Gutenberg will (very soon) be the default editor in WordPress, Jennifer’s team became our unsung heroes for testing software compatibility and cataloging common user reactions to Gutenberg. The research and guidance published by her group has been a source of incredible value for all who use WordPress (from beginners to administrators to developers). We expect Jennifer to present some great Gutenberg insight for the keynote.
Recently, Jennifer made global WordPress headlines when an article on her WordPress efforts was published in the official WordPress news source, WP Tavern.
A tidbit about our Gutenberg future…
2018 is a milestone year for WordPress and the WordPress community. Not only did WordPress turn 15-years old this year, but the new Gutenberg next-generation text editor is expected to be rolled out.
The integration of Gutenberg into WordPress is a really big deal. Many WordPress users are completely unaware that it will affect the functionality of their WordPress site and the workflow of publishing posts. Gutenberg is an unconventional text editor and will require some learning. At some point, it will completely replace the current TinyMCE text editor (also known as the WordPress word processor) on every single WordPress installation. If you’re not familiar with Gutenberg, then this year’s WordCamp Wilmington is a conference for you.
Jennifer Riehle McFarland is the Web Services Coordinator and the Design & Web Services team lead for the central IT unit at NC State. McFarland is active in the WordPress community and helps coordinate the annual Raleigh-area WordCamp. Along with colleague Brian DeConinck she is a contributor to the monthly WPCampus podcast (go listen!).
WordCamp Wilmington is currently accepting speaker submissions for WordCamp 2018!
Sean Ahlum of TekMountain giving the keynote presentation at WordCamp Wilmington 2017.
WordCamp Wilmington is now seeking passionate individuals who wish to share their knowledge with the WordPress community. You don’t need to be famous or even a seasoned speaker. Designers, bloggers, developers, artists, small business owners, entrepreneurs, and educators–all encouraged to apply!
Talk Details:
Talks will be a total of 45 minutes, but expect to leave about 15 minutes for Q&A.
Talks will be on Saturday September 22nd & Sunday September 23rd.
We plan to record all talks and post the videos to WordPress.tv. Speakers will need to sign an A/V release form prior to giving their presentation.
Speakers will be offered free admission to WordCamp Wilmington and be invited to the Speaker Dinner, but will not be otherwise compensated.
The deadline to submit your Speaker Application is 11:59pm, August 3rd, 2018. Applications received after that time/date will NOT be considered.
Submit your talk by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.
Do you need Ideas for a talk?
Check out the WordCamp talk tracks we’re planning for this conference on the Speakers page.
Why Should You Apply to Speak at WordCamp Wilmington 2018?
Passionate about WordPress? Have a success story to share? Always wanted to speak but just haven’t taken the plunge? Didn’t get chosen last year? There are many reasons you might want to speak, here are a few reasons why we think you should speak…
Share your talent
You’re a whiz at stuff other people want to learn. You’re passionate about what you do and you have expertise in a niche area of WordPress. You have much to offer those who may be just entering your field or who are looking to expand their knowledge base. WordCamp is all about sharing knowledge and helping the WordPress community grow. Everyone started somewhere and this is a great way to pay it forward to the next generation of developers, designers, and general users.
Speaking Helps Develop Ideas More Clearly
It’s true. Much like writing a paper or report, you’ll sort through your ideas, research, scrutinize, ponder and make conclusions. If you thought you knew your topic well before, just wait and see how you feel when you’re done writing your talk. (We’re talking genius status).
Networking and Publicity
Attendees and fellow speakers will look to you as an industry leader. Speaking is a great way to make connections with potential clients, potential vendors or employees; or possibly connect with someone you may go on to collaborate with on your next project. You will receive publicity. Although this may not be a driving factor in becoming a speaker it certainly is a perk! Potential clients, or potential employers may see you speak, see your name on the schedule, or see your talk on WordPress.tv. Your bio and a link to your business or portfolio will be on the website. Speaking at WordCamp gets your name out there.
Have a Blast!
If you’ve been a speaker at a past WordCamp, well, you already know. But, if you haven’t, speaking at WordCamp Wilmington provides an experience where you’ll meet awesome people from the WordPress community who may live right in your backyard. You can mingle and network at the speaker dinner and celebrate with them at the after party. You’ll also get to be a part of a volunteer run, community organized- Super Awesome Event.
Wilmington, North Carolina… Where’s That?
With a population of just over 100,000, Wilmington is the largest city in the coastal Cape Fear region. With its pristine white sand beaches, picturesque estuaries and historical riverfront downtown, Wilmington is a favored backdrop for some of Hollywood’s films and TV shows (such as, Safe Haven, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Dawson’s Creek, Good Behavior and One Tree Hill). The upcoming movie Writing on Bathroom Walls (starring Andy Garcia and Molly Parker) just wrapped film production here.
Film production occurs here frequently, so while you’re here don’t be surprised to see blocks of Downtown Wilmington blocked off for shoots.
Our speakers’ dinner will be held at a restaurant named Hell’s Kitchen, the actual restaurant of where Katie Holmes’ fictional character (from Dawson’s Creek) worked. Hell’s Kitchen continues to look much like it did when Dawson’s Creek aired.
WordCamp organizer Peter La Fond snapped this photo after he accidentally walked onto a production shoot for the upcoming movie Writing on Bathroom Walls, starring Molly Parker and Andy Garcia. Molly Parker is center-right in grey.
Speaker Submission Form
Now’s the Time to Apply!
Feel free to submit multiple talk topics. When filling out the form, send one talk at a time. Multiple talks included within a single form submission will be discarded.
WordCamp Wilmington is excited to announce thattickets for our 2018 WordPress learning conference are now available!
This event will take place September 22-23, 2018. We plan to bring together students, business owners, non-profits, marketers, bloggers, designers, coders and developers to connect with each other on WordPress topics. If you want learn how to use your WordPress website, step up your website’s marketing plan, learn about SEO, or something else WordPress related, you won’t want to miss this conference!
And yes, all tickets provide access to every event and session on both days!
Building a Bigger, Better WordPress Learning Conference
As the result of an early sold out event last year, with many disappointed they couldn’t purchase tickets, we’re opening a larger block of tickets. For this year, we’ve planned for 250 attendees. However, don’t sit your laurels and try to register at the last minute. Telltale signs point to another sold-out event. REGISTER EARLY to reserve your seat at this years event!
Where will it be held?
WordCamp Wilmington 2018 will again be held at Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station (5th Floor), located walking distance from the Cape Fear River in historic Downtown Wilmington, North Carolina.
What is a WordCamp conference?
WordCamp Wilmington is one of 120 yearly WordPress learning conferences held around the world. It’s a two-day weekend conference that’s structured to be an educational setting for small business owners, marketers, designers, developers or anyone who’d like to become more proficient with WordPress.
The WordCamp conference philosophy is to be accessible to all who’d like to attend. With that in mind, the two-day ticket is set at a remarkably low price of $40. To achieve that low cost for admittance, every organizer, staff member and speaker are all volunteers; and all expenses are funded by the WordPress Foundation, ticket sales, and our sponsors.
Details on our speakers and schedule are coming soon. Stay tuned!
WordCamp Wilmington 2018 will be here this September! What better way to reach the 250-plus marketing-centric, high-tech attendees than being a WordCamp Wilmington sponsor?!
WordCamp Wilmington has more than tripled in attendance since 2016, with more than half of the attendees coming from outside of the Cape Fear region. Sponsors help to keep this all-volunteer event low cost for attendees.
WordCamp is the WordPress Foundation’s official conference for the WordPress website building platform.
There are more than 100 annual WordCamps held across the globe each year, where tens of thousands software engineers, designers, webmasters and business marketers go to learn about web publishing. In 2016, the Cape Fear metro area was determined to be an emerging tech market and the WordPress Foundation decided to invest in a WordCamp conference here.
What is the WordPress platform?
For prospective sponsors who are less familiar with web tech, WordPress is an open-source software platform that powers 30 percent of all websites on the Internet. It currently holds a 60 percent market share on all newly published websites. If your company has a presence on the web, it is very likely using WordPress.
Why be a WordCamp Wilmington Sponsor?
WordCamp is Wilmington’s premiere tech conference on Internet publishing, digital marketing best practices and website development. If your business is interested in targeting high-tech individuals and small business owners, this is your conference.
Learn more about the quality of our conference…
So, what kind of conference is this? Get a first-hand look… The following video is last year’s keynote from Sean Ahlum of TekMountain. See the link below the video for additional talks from this event’s 30-plus speakers.
All of last year’s presentations were recorded and published for public viewing.
There are sponsorship levels to fit any marketing budget. Whether you are a larger company or freelance developer, supporting WordCamp Wilmington 2018 will give your brand the exposure it needs with the WordCamp community and the talent it cultivates.
Please take a look at the various sponsorship opportunities detailed below, and use the form to inquire about being a sponsor!
Gold Sponsor
$850ea
4 Tickets for 2-day WordCamp Gold Sponsor Benefits:
Inclusion in blog post thanking all sponsors
Individual thank you tweet when we add you to the website
Name, logo and company description on website
Inclusion in tweet during the conference thanking all Gold sponsors
Recurring shout-outs on Facebook and Twitter leading up to WordCamp (1/week)
Featured alongside other Gold sponsors in a blog post
Table for info & swag at event
Silver Sponsor
$700ea
3 Tickets for 2-day WordCamp Silver Sponsor Benefits:
Inclusion in blog post thanking all sponsors
Individual thank you tweet when we add you to the website
Text link on website
Business card on small business section of swag table
Bronze Sponsor
$300ea
2 Tickets for 2-day WordCamp Bronze Benefits:
Thank you tweet (with other supporters) with your personal twitter
Listed on supporter poster – Your Name
Listed on supporter web page – Your Name / Twitter Handle
Individual Sponsor
$65ea. (for individual people, non-business entities)
1 Ticket for 2-day WordCamp Benefits:
Thank you tweet (with other supporters) with your personal twitter
Listed on supporter web page – Your Name / Twitter Handle
We are thrilled to announce that WordCamp Wilmington 2018 is officially on the calendar!
Our local WordCamp team is hard at work on another spectacular line up of speakers and anticipate a 3rd year of inspiring talks, excellent networking, and all around good times. Last year’s sold out venue (with 175 registered attendees) prompted us to expand our capacity. So, this year we’re planning for an attendance of 250.
Mark your Calendar…
WordCamp Wilmington 2018 will be September 22nd and 23rd, 2018 at Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station conference center (5th Floor) in historic downtown Wilmington. If you’re a WordPress beginner, developer, designer, marketing expert or general enthusiast, this is a weekend you don’t want to miss.
About the Venue
Back by popular demand, our conference will once again be located in historic downtown Wilmington. Our facility, Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station, overlooks the Cape Fear River.
Historic Downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, on the Cape Fear River.
Unfamiliar with the Cape Fear Region?
The Cape Fear area has a rich military history. It’s known for 17th century pirates, one of Washington’s first Coast Guard ports, the last significant U.S. Civil War battle, and WWII German POW camps.
Today, Wilmington is home to the World War II battleship, the USS North Carolina, and the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Diligence. Being a drive away from several military bases, Wilmington is a popular recreational destination for our service men and women when they’re on leave.
In addition to it’s rich military history, Wilmington is also home to some unique shops and art galleries downtown. When time permits, hop on a horse drawn carriage tour, stroll the Riverwalk, or take a short drive across town to visit some of the most beautiful beaches along the Atlantic seaboard. There are some fabulous restaurants and craft breweries here, many of which are located in the downtown area.
Get the Latest Information…
Subscribe using the form in the sidebar (or footer) 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 release dates and more!
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WordCamp Wilmington 2018, NC is over. Check out the next edition!
Not only are our monthly WordPress Meetups hosted throughout the year at tekMountain, our inaugural WordCamp in 2016 was hosted at tekMountain. We moved to CFCC in 2017 due to our rapid growth and tekMountain became a returning Sponsor. The 2017 Key Note Presenter was tekMountain’s 
