[Related - Possible Conference Speaking Sponsorships - 2011]
WordCamp Phoenix is coming on Feb 24-26 2012. I've been asked by a few people to submit a talk, and while I'd love to speak there ... it would require missing a day of work and traveling from Oregon to Arizona.
Basically, not something I can afford to do on my own.
I'm proposing that the Stack Exchange team sponsor my attendance and travel. In exchange, I'm more than happy to represent WordPress Answers at the event, answer questions for other attendees, and represent the community as part of the Genius Bar.
About WordCamp Phoenix
This particular WordCamp will take place in Chandler, AZ, just outside of Phoenix. It's a three-day conference featuring:
- WordPress Classes on Friday
- A progressive track schedule of speakers on Saturday
- Advanced development topics on Sunday
Last year, WordCamp Phoenix had more than 600 attendees. The organizers hope to have as many or more attendees this time around.
What Would I Talk About?
After a few developers proposed the idea of me speaking, I asked for recommendations. The most popular of which seems to be making WordPress work with other systems - both integrating WP with external APIs and interacting with WordPress' API remotely.
Basically, teaching WordPress to "play nice with others."
What's in it for You?
Most WP developers know about the official forums over on WP.org. A few more know about Stack Overflow. While we've done a pretty good job of getting the word out thus far, "WordPress Answers" doesn't come up very often when developers are looking for answers about WordPress.
Having a presence at WordCamps is important - A presence at large WordCamps is even better.
In addition, I have a tendency to liveblog the conferences I attend. So when I'm not hacking code, helping other people learn to hack code, or giving my own talk, you'll have a direct view of everything happening at WordCamp.
Those of you who know me know how active I am on Twitter. In addition to being able to follow the talks through my liveblog, you'll be able to proxy your questions through me to other speakers and attendees.
What's in it for Me?
I haven't yet attended a WordCamp outside my home state of Oregon. But I'm fairly active in the community and I'm hoping for more opportunities to connect with other WordPress fans in real life
More Details
If you could provide more details about who the audience is for this conference, how you'd be willing/able to promote WP, and how WPA can benefit from the site, and any other info you think would sway our decision, that would be awesome.
Like all WordCamps, the audience is a collection of WordPress freelancers, WordPress developers, professional consultants, and end-users (bloggers). Then entire event is geared around promoting WP.
I would likely pitch WPA in personal conversations, hand out swag (if available), talk about WPA during hackathon sessions, and mention it during my proposed talk.
WPA would benefit primarily through exposure - telling new (and seasoned) developers about the site is the first step to gaining new users. New questions and new resources for answering those questions depend on our ability to:
- gain new members
- stay relevant to the WordPress ecosystem
So ... any questions? Concerns? Alternative talk topics?
