I will be attending WordCamp Sydney this weekend, and will be losing my WordCamp virginity. I do remember many years ago when there was a WordCamp Australia, and the first that I heard of it was the Monday after the event happened, when Matt Mullenweg shared his photos and that he had enjoyed himself. I wonder if he will drop in this time around, here’s hoping he does.
Speaker Lineup
There are 21 speakers at WordCamp Sydney this time around, and they are covering topics ranging from beginners topics such as “WordPress for Noobs” through to heavy topics such as “Stop Hacking WordPress and start Working with it”.
I like the looks of topics from both sides of the schedule, and some topics I feel are going to overlap with each other. I need to sit down and go through the summaries of each session to determine those I really want to attend.
Twitter Promotion
The organisers of WordCamp Sydney have been in overdrive the last few weeks promoting the event heavily on Twitter and Facebook. To get an idea how much they are promoting the event and the sessions, just follow the WordCamp Sydney Twitter account, or the hashtag (#wcsyd) they are encouraging people to use on their tweets.
Sessions I want to Attend
Having a quick look at the sessions list, the topics I am particularly interested in attending include:
- Demystifying Custom Post Types and Taxonomies
- The Plugin Spectacular
- The Future of WordPress
- Stop Hacking WordPress and start Working with it
- Siloing your site for SEO success
- Optimising SEO for WordPress
This list is mix of both low tech and high tech sessions I hope to attend, which ones will you be attending?
What I hope to walk away with
New Friends – These events are good for networking with other WordPress users, particularly from Australia, but being the introvert that I am, this won’t come easily. I will probably be the one hiding in the back corner of the room, so come say hi to me and try and drag me out of my shell.
Better SEO Knowledge – I use an SEO friendly theme, as well as using Yoast’s SEO plugin, but that still doesn’t explain to me the why and how it works. I just tick the boxes, and do as these plugins say to get the optimum score, but the why still mystifies me.
Advanced WP Functionality – I have created CPTs in the past, and managed to implement them, but I haven’t looked at the custom taxonomies, so that will be a challenge, and hopefully I can work on some new projects using them.
WordCamp Sydney
Have you registered for WordCamp Sydney yet? It is this weekend, and ticket sales close on Thursday. You better hurry, maybe you will even get to meet me. Isn’t that something to look forward to?
