First Round of Speakers Announced

WordCamp Miami is happy to announce the first wave of approved and confirmed speakers for 2014. We decided to announce some of our “out of town” speakers first. We will be announcing additional speakers – including a wave of local speakers – very soon. But for now we welcome…

Noel Tock

Noel is Swiss web guy that enjoys building solutions online. He is a Partner at Human Made, a top tier WordPress agency (and VIP Partner). As Chief Product Officer, he oversees the product portfolio and acts as liaison for the Swiss client market.

He’s a jack of all trades, master of none, usually bouncing between project management and front-end development. The projects he enjoys working most on target small businesses and the long tail, democratizing opportunity so that smaller players have a shot at being successful online (happytables & Clickbank Powered both being excellent examples).

Chris Lema

Chris Lema has been building web applications since 1995. He’s also started and sold several software startups and has been coaching entrepreneurs for the last decade. He’s the author of two eBooks on high performing and virtual teams and currently manages innovation and product development for Emphasys Software. A regular conference speaker, his blog (chrislema.com) covers WordPress, Presentations & Coaching advice..

Mika Epstein

Mika Ariela Epstein is better known as Ipstenu, the Half-Elf Support Rogue. Working for DreamHost, she solves any WordPress problem that comes up, and still finds time to slash unanswered WordPress.org forum threads by night and wrangle plugins by day. A self-taught guru on Multisite and .htaccess, she has a passion for writing and technology and blogs about them on her own site, as well as for DreamHost.

Sarah Gooding

Sarah Gooding is an Editorial Ninja at Audrey Capital. When not writing about WordPress, she enjoys baking, knitting, judging beer competitions and spending time with her Italian Greyhound. She also writes for the popular WordPress news blog WPTavern.com


Pippin Williamson

If you are a WordPress plugin developer, you probably have used or seen one of Pippin’s plugins. He’s written more than 100 plugins (we are looking to see if he has a social life) He has spent a long time working on improving community involvement on projects by developers / designers. Not to mention contributing to the WordPress core and WordPress Codex.

Rebecca Gill

Rebecca Gill is founder of Michigan based Web Savvy Marketing – where graphic designers, WordPress coders, and SEO consultants are all rolled up into one. From stock Genesis themes and custom WordPress design to full blown website development with organic SEO, Rebecca and her team deliver websites fantastic web sites to satisifed clients.

Speaker Submission Update

We are extending the speaker submission deadline for WordCamp Miami for one week. The new deadline is Feb. 10th, 2014.

We have listened to some feedback and allowing potential speakers some additional time to create or revise their application. We also realize that with the date change announced earlier this month, some speakers who couldn’t consider Miami before now can and needed some additional time.

If you are interested in speaking at BuddyCamp, please send in your application as well – although we are extending speaker submission and schedule planning to Feb. 20th.

Please read the speaker submission page carefully before submitting an application.

What Would You Like To See At WordCamp Miami 2014?

Click here and let us know what you would like to see and learn about at WordCamp Miami this year. Your thoughts give us vital information that help shape the event for the benefit of as many people as possible. Feel free to also reach out to @wordcampmiami on Twitter.

As part of celebrating our 5th anniversary, we will give away a WordCamp Miami ticket to a lucky person (so make sure you give us your name and email address) if you complete this survey by Feb. 1st, 2014. Winners will be announced by Feb. 20th (even if you purchase a ticket – if you win, we will reimburse you).

Win A WordCamp Miami Ticket or T-Shirt!

WordCamp Miami is celebrating our 5th anniversary in 2014 on May 23rd-25th. We wanted to do something for the entire WordPress community to say thanks for the support of the last five years. We went from barely 200 people at our first WordCamp to over 500 in 2013. In 2014, we are expecting close to 700. Even if you aren’t coming to WordCamp Miami 2014 (although if you aren’t, shame on you and your household) chances are you’ve been to a WordCamp before. And that’s cool.

If you submit a photo in our photo contest, you’ll get into the contest to win (among other things) a free WordCamp Miami shirt or ticket. Hurray, because the contest doesn’t last forever!

Announcing BuddyCamp Miami 2014!

There’s been quite a bit of chatter regarding if we are having BuddyCamp Miami again this year:

So let’s go for it.

 

What Is A BuddyCamp?

BuddyCamp is a mini-conference (a conference inside a conference – almost inception-like) that focuses on the BuddyPress and bbPress plugins. This unique conference focuses on how you can use these plugins as you use WordPress to build sites for you or your clients.

As of now, the schedule follows a traditional WordCamp format, with beginner sessions along with designer / developer presentations. Key people and contributors will be speaking, answering questions, and hanging out.

buddycamp

Looking For Speakers

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Are you be interested in being a presenter at BuddyCamp? Perhaps you’re a BuddyPress developer or if you want to show off your BuddyPress site? Applications are open!

Full details are available on our speaker submission page. Deadline for submissions are the same as WordCamp speaker submissions at this time:  Feb. 3rd, 2014.

Many details are being worked out, so the sooner you submit your speaker application the better we can plan.


What is the date for BuddyCamp Miami 2014?

The date has not been decided yet – but it will be either May 9th or May 11st, 2014.

Be a BuddyCamp sponsor!

BuddyCamp, is a not-for-profit, community organized event that relies on the generosity of the community to bring it to life. If you’re interested in directly supporting BuddyCamp Miami, please see our sponsors page.

Tickets coming soon!

Watch this site (or jump on our mailing list) for ticket announcements in the upcoming days. You can also follow us on Twitter at @wordcampmiami for more details.

Please spread the word, and we look forward to seeing many of you at the second BuddyCamp in Miami!

Thanks,
The BuddyCamp Miami planning team

WordCamp Miami Hotels

We are currently maintaining a list of hotels via a shared Google Map (sorry, we can’t embed the map): https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zU7I5WXrVkwg.kBB3pqAS1ApU

Overall, if you are looking for an economy location then hotels closer to the Miami International Airport offer respectable rates. Hotels in Coconut Grove (just east of University of Miami) and Coral Gables generally specialize in atmosphere and respectable amenities, but more expensive. Please see our location page for information on public transportation and major streets (with directions to University of Miami).

WordCamp Miami Date Change: May 9-11, 2014

The dates for WordCamp Miami have changed. The new dates are May 9th, 10th, and 11th 2014.

We will be sending these dates to applied volunteers, speakers, and to our mailing lists.

Why the change?

Several reasons. Our old dates were on a holiday weekend in the US, which presented some concerned regarding travel, traffic, and hotel availability. Also we are preparing several SPECIAL and SECRET events and activities that required some resources and the May 9-11, 2014 dates. If you know about WordCamp Miami (and the people that help organize it) or know how much planning it takes to put one together, you know that we wouldn’t make this change unless it’s a change that benefit everyone as a whole. We greatly appreciate your patience.

What else has changed?

Nothing, just the dates. Even the venue is the same.

Mother’s Day Is May 11th

Yes it is. Therefore we are planning on calling WordCamp Miami Sunday “WORD TO YOUR MOTHER” day.

What are you planning for WordCamp?

Here’s a few tidbits:

– BuddyCamp/bbPress Miami 2014 is being highly considered. It would be the second BuddyCamp for Miami.
– Multiple beginner’s workshops.
– Doubling the size and scope of the after party.
– Contributor Day (actually contribute to WordPress, whether you are a developer or not).
– Special sponsored events.
– If you’ve been to all past WordCamp Miami events, we’ll have something special for you.
– In honor of our 5th anniversary, there will be some unique surprises for everyone.

Like every year, we plan on having multiple sessions devoted to design, front-end development, business, and advanced developer tracks.

If you have a suggestion – something you want to see at WordCamp Miami – feel free to drop us a comment.

Call For Speakers!

Screen shot 2013-12-12 at 12.06.10 AMWith our dates officially announced (May 9-11, 2014), we are immediately opening up our call for speakers.

We always like to make this call as soon as possible for a few reasons. Main reason is speakers (especially out of town ones) need time to schedule and book travel. Speakers with experience sometimes wish to submit speaker submission requests to conferences as soon as possible. These make a decision (or at least are fairly sure) they will attend WordCamp Miami – either they come every year, or they live close to the area. In either case, we are opening up speaker submissions now and the deadline for submissions will be February 3rd, 2014.

All the information you need to know – including the link to submit a speaker proposal – is located here.

We welcome back anyone who has attended and spoken at WordCamp Miami in the past – repeat speakers welcome! On the other hand, we are looking especially for those who might not have spoken at WordCamp Miami before – or perhaps those wanting to make WordCamp Miami their first speaking conference!

We are looking for unique and interesting topics that beginners, advanced users, or both would be interested in (and that relate to WordPress in some way – read this page).

When submitting proposals, please assume at this time you will have 30 minutes for your session, plus some brief time to answer questions. Also assume your talk will be recorded, so you will have to sign a media release before giving your presentation.

Again, the deadline for speaker submissions is February 3rd, 2014.

Venue Preview

WordCamp Miami 2014 will be held that the University of Miami, in the brand new Student Center building. The venue holds 700 people and everything is located on the third floor of the massive building. First floor has various restaurants, second floor has offices (with some nice seating areas if you want to get away from the WordCamp crowds briefly to talk or rest). There is also a large outdoor balcony (able to hold 50+ people) that overlooks the river – great area for a speaker’s lounge or Happiness Bar.

This is the first time we’ve been at this venue and are very excited. Sponsors will be happy to know that they’ll be completely indoors this year, and that attendees will have probably the easiest access to talk and interact with them.

These are pictures I took of the venue while attending another large-scale event. Consider this a preview! If you need need directions or want to learn about the hotels in the area, read our location page.

Note: The pictures were taken at night – instead of blackness, imagine any windows showing a view of the water.

Celebrating Our 5th Anniversary (May 9-11, 2014)

WordCamp Miami 2014 is over. Check out the next edition!