WordCamp Denver 2017 was a blast.
We couldn’t have asked for a better conference, and want to thank our organizers, speakers, sponsors, volunteers, and attendees for making it so great!
Here’s how the weekend went down:
SATURDAY
Keynote
Zack Katz talked about both the history and the future of WordPress. We started the conference with our minds absolutely blown with what’s to come.
Not to mention, the BEST song ever. We’re still doing the WordPress Wiggle!
Morning Talks
We wish we could recap EVERY single talk here, but that would take all day. Every speaker did an amazing job, and we couldn’t be happier!
On track one, we kicked off with Nathan Ingram sharing what he wished he knew when he started freelancing. Erin Flynn followed, telling her story about how she raised her web design rates. Pamela Herrmann taught us how to create and tell our brand story. And then Amber Hinds and her adorable daughter took the stage to talk about work/life balance.
On track two, Tricia Akins helped us get more done in less time (we could have used that when organizing the conference!). Mendel Kurland taught us what to do after the post is written. Phylecia Jones shared how to create a membership site in just 60 days. And Sherri Renner dropped some tips on virtual accessibility.
Lunch
With that much learning in one morning, we were HUNGRY.
We took lunch outside, and many made use of the picnic blankets we got as swag. It was amazing to see all the groups, discussions, and interaction going on. We’re hoping lots of attendees got to reconnect with old friends and make new ones!
Afternoon Talks
After lunch, track one hosted several townhalls. The first was our website takedown townhall, where attendees were given live feedback from our experts, Patrick Rauland, Diane Whiddon, and Cecily Crout.
Following, we had an expert discussion on matching themes with projects, featuring Kevin McKernan, Mike Selander, and Amber Hinds.
Wrapping up the day on track one, we discussed the business of web design with Miles Kailburn, Nathan Ingram, and Erin Flynn.
Back on track two, the talks continued with Maddy Osman teaching us how to write a kick-ass blog post. Kenn Kelly then shared how to sell products on WordPress. Diane Whiddon wrapped us up by helping us write a non-sleazy sales page.
We all gathered for closing remarks, then retreated for a break before the after party.
After Party
Free drinks AND tacos? Yeah. We know how to throw a great party!
We loved this venue because everyone was able to mix and mingle, and chat with each other, all while eating delicious tacos.
It was the perfect ending to a fantastic day.
SUNDAY
Workshop day! While only a half-day, Sunday was designed to be hands-on so that attendees could leave with new skills.
And it was awesome.
Attendees were able to learn everything from business skills to advanced WordPress. Here’s what we covered:
- Site SEO checkup with Maddy Osman and Mendel Kurland
- Flexbox with Tim Blodgett
- Defining, mapping, and automating your business processes with Christopher Hinds
- 5 Things you can do to get more traffic to your blog with Tracy Malone
- Making your first WP plugin with David Hayes
- Let’s learn Git with Dwayne McDaniel
- Take back the say with WP-CLI with Ryan Kanner
- Learn Vanilla Javascript with Zac Gordon
- How to create and intro packet with Erin Flynn
- Content Personalization with Michael Newman
- Advanced WP features for users/bloggers with Gordon Seirup
- Building a theme with Kevin McKernan
- How to attract clients with better branding with Diane Whiddon
The workshops were truly amazing, and gave a great opportunity to learn new skills.
We believe in ending early on Sunday, so around noon we wrapped up, said goodbye to all our friends, and closed the doors on a successful WordCamp.
Thank you again to everyone who made WordCamp Denver 2017 such a huge success!
Tracy is the owner of a successful marketing company – CoWEBop Marketing. Her team has been building websites for small businesses for over 20 years. She happily shares her knowledge with the WordPress community as a co-organizer of the 
David is a developer from Fort Collins, Colorado. He’s been working with PHP for almost a decade, and does a lot of intensive backend work, a fair bit of JavaScript, and dabbles with CSS sometimes. While I’m big into WordPress — he co-owns and runs the popular development tutorial site [WPShout](http://wpshout.com) — he’s got experience with everything from old school PHP to the latest and greatest of Symfony and Laravel.
Ryan is a WordPress Developer for Digital First Media from Denver, Colorado where he works on websites for newspapers such as the Denver Post, Orange County Register, and Mercury News. He has been working with WordPress for the past 9 years, building websites and products for customers around the world. He is also one of the organizers for the WordPress Denver Meetup. You can find him most places on the internet as 
Zac Gordon is a professional educator, currently working on the JavaScript for WordPress Master Course. Previously, Zac taught WordPress for Treehouse. He has years of experience teaching WordPress and JavaScript at high schools, colleges, bootcamps and online learning sites. In addition to teaching, Zac also runs Web Hosting for Students, one of the world’s largest hosting companies dedicated to students and teachers.
Erin has been making websites since 1999, and started her own web design and development company in 2012. After a few years creating websites for clients, Erin shifted her business. Now, her primary business is helping other designers and developers navigate the difficult waters of entrepreneurship by providing courses and guides to teach everything from how to start a web design business to how to deal with nightmare clients.
Michael Newman has designed and developed innovative, professional interactive experiences for over 20 years. He has worked with diverse clientele, including IFC, AT&T, Honda, UCLA, Godiva, MTV, Comcast, AOL and Gartner. After leading Interactive groups for companies including IFC, AT&T and Heavy.com, he founded Pomp Productions to create unique experiences for clients. Michael has taught at Pratt in New York City and currently teaches Design & Development courses at UCLA Extension.