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.
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WordCamp Wilmington 2018, NC is over. Check out the next edition!
