Speakers

Here’s the list of our speakers this year.

Travis Taylor

General Manager at Pleth

Angela Belford

Often called the Marketing Maven, Angela Belford speaks regionally and nationally on topics ranging from goal setting and personal development to marketing and branding. She owns digital Marketing Agency, The Belford Group, in Fayetteville, AR. Angela has served as Organizer for WordCamp Fayetteville for 2 years and served on the organizing committee for 4 years. Additionally, Angela is active in her local Toastmasters group, Razorback WordMasters.

Cotton Rohrscheib – Keynote

Cotton Rohrscheib has been active in the web development community for over a decade and been involved in a wide range of projects for clients ranging from Small Business, Non-Profit, Fortune 500, and Celebrities. In addition to his role as lead developer on hundreds of projects, he has also produced several startups of his own over the years, including The Protein Store, an e-commerce portal specializing in niche low-carbohydrate / high protein food products, a personal venture that he would sell only a few years after its conception.

In 2002, he acquired Webworks, an established hosting provider. This acquisition introduced him to Web Hosting, an industry he is still very involved in today. Rohrscheib’s unique experiences, as both a developer and entrepreneur, have provided him with a unique and valuable perspective on the industry.

In 2004, Rohrscheib, along with business partners, Greg and Stephen Smart, formed Pleth, LLC, an award-winning interactive agency headquartered in Batesville, Arkansas. Presently Pleth has a presence in both Jonesboro and Conway and they service the needs of clients from around the world with their many products and services that include; Web Design, Application Development, Managed Hosting, Business Class Email, Social Media Consulting, and Graphic Design.

As a developer, Rohrscheib is active in the open-source community, primarily PHP/MySQL development and the advancement of WordPress as a CMS. When not seated behind a row of computer terminals he can be found discussing industry related topics with his peers at the Central Arkansas Refresh Group, a user group of web professionals that he helped organize. The #RefreshCA group, as they have come to be known, have regularly scheduled monthly meetings to discuss emerging technologies and share ideas. As part of the leadership in the #RefreshCA community, he helps handle the coordination of monthly speakers and oversees corporate sponsorships. Presently, #RefreshCA has 20 corporate sponsors who have contributed everything from books, t-shirts, and software licenses for monthly giveaways.

Aside from his role as a developer, Rohrscheib is also very involved with all aspects of Social Media and Viral Marketing. He can frequently be found consulting with clients or speaking to groups on the benefits of leveraging social networks such as Facebook and Twitter for marketing and brand reputation. Rohrscheib is also a very active blogger on a wide variety of topics at his blog titled, The Cotton Club.

Over the years Rohrscheib has also served on the board of directors for numerous organizations including the role of President for a state-funded tourism association. Rohrscheib is also serving his second term on the Customer Advisory Board for Rackspace Apps (NASDAQ: RAX) and is occasionally asked to provide input on many of their web-based cloud applications and marketing practices.

Married in 2005, Cotton and his wife Donna reside in Conway, Arkansas where they are both extremely active in their church and community, in 2010 he was asked to serve on the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. In 2011 Cotton, along with his friends Aaron Reddin and Mark Currey, took their ministry and passion for helping the homeless in Central Arkansas to the next level by forming The One, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization recognized by the State of Arkansas and the US Government. Some of their projects include The Van, and a mobile shower / laundry trailer that will be available to the many homeless camps in Central Arkansas.

In 2012, Cotton and his wife Donna adopted their son, Spencer Henry Rohrscheib.

In his spare time Cotton can be found trout fishing, relaxing at the farm, or chasing storms!

James Lane

James began working with WordPress in 2009, which is when he built his first theme for Macenstein.com. He has become addicted ever since, and try to keep current on any upcoming and developing issues. Currently he is employed as a front end developer for Consumer Media Network. Also doing some freelance on the side. His education has been all self taught for the 15 years he’s been developing websites.

Jamie Smith

Jamie Smith has never been afraid to admit that WordPress made her cry a little bit when she first started. That means she understands how getting started in WordPress can feel overwhelming but she also knows it can be learned! A veteran writer with experience including newspaper journalism, content marketing and personal blogging, Jamie now leads workshops on various writing topics including writing in WordPress.

Dr. Margaret Rutherford

Dr. Margaret Rutherford is a clinical psychologist who has practiced in Fayetteville, Arkansas for over 20 years.  She began blogging in 2012, coining the term “NestAche” for her empty nest experience after her only son left for college.  Her posts are now featured on the Huffington Post, Midlife Boulevard, Boomeon, Arkansas Women Bloggers, and BlogHer.  You can find her on her own website atDr.MargaretRutherford.com or on Twitter @doctor_margaret!

Valerie Cudnik

Valerie has been developing web sites, primarily in WordPress, since 2007. She specializes in working for small local businesses with focus on organic rankings. She started her graphic design business in Silicon Valley in 1986 with the advent ‘desktop publishing’ and has grown with technology to offer a wide range of services since her move to Chesapeake, Virginia in 1998. She loves the opportunity to use both halves of her brain when working on web projects: making it pretty and making it functional. Valerie is proud to be a a WordPress evangelist and loves all things WordPress.

Paula Finch

Paula has the unique ability to hear, interpret, and clarify communication. Her degree, Bachelor of Science in Education, helps her cut through the details and present information in a concise manner that is easy to understand.  She is a mixture of teacher, gear head, and cheerleader.  She works as a web developer for The Belford Group remotely from Conway, Arkansas where she lives with her husband and 4 children.  Her interests outside of work include New Life Church, Bluegrass music, Razorback sports, and vintage acoustic instruments. She and her husband, David, own and operate Round Mountain Sounds, an online music store and Unicorn Mandolin registry.

Christopher Spencer

In 2002-2003, being a passionate film fan, he got involved with and later directed the Fayetteville Film Fest and Eureka Springs Digital Film Festivals. It was during this time that storytelling became an important part of graphic design and marketing solutions.

Todd E. Jones

I have been using, building, designing and creating WordPress websites since 2006 running various blogs. I am currently a freelance designer for a Arkansas based company and I run AR Scene, the premier news website for entrepreneurs and startups in Arkansas.

Kim Herrington

Kim Herrington is a blog and content marketing expert and owner of Bear & Beagle Creative. She works with businesses and bloggers to collaboratively build their online presence and achieve their goals through workshops and content marketing consulting. Kim lives in Conway, Arkansas. She developed a profitable way to build real relationships with influential bloggers and industry experts for her clients and has helped brands and bloggers go on to big things. You can find Kim at BearandBeagleCreative.com or her lifestyle blog TheMadeThing.com

Sky Shabatura

Sky Shabatura is a web developer and owner of taproot studios, a small web agency in Fayetteville, AR. He currently works at the University of Arkansas as a WordPress Support Specialist. When not hacking away at WordPress, he likes to spend time with his wife Jessica and daughter Arianna.

Eric Huber

Eric Huber, Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of Blue Zoo Creative, has the distinguished honor of telling people when their website and design sucks… and then constructively and creatively finds solutions to create an image that matches their vision and passion. “When I find people who are passionate about what they do, they light up. That’s the story I want them to share with their own clients and customers,” Huber says.  Graduating from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, Huber has 26 years in the design field, 17 in web design, and his experience spans from running a printing press, typesetting, starting a design boutique (Vulcan Creative), and being Creative Director of both the Eureka Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission and in the corporate communications department of Tyson Foods, Inc. You can find Eric at www.BlueZooCreative.com or his own site, www.EricHuber.com

Dustin Williams

Dustin started life as a developer, which influences his design. He draws on keen understanding, experience, seeing, and confidence to design with clean lines and strong user focus. Dustin has worked for many Fortune 500 companies & startups, often employing user research to focus on user experience.

Dustin’s many specialties all have “user experience” at their core. They include Interaction Design, User Interface Design, Website Design, Website Development, Conversion Rate Optimization, User Testing and Usability. With a strong user experience background and deep understanding of the production process, Dustin is well equipped to conceive innovative experiences, but also manage the execution of those ideas down to the pixel.

Dustin is deeply rooted in the Arkansas Startup Eco-System and is currently a founding partner of a startup (BourbonAndBoots.com). Dustin is a supporter of the Arkansas Venture Center, an organizer in the Little Rock, AR chapter of 1 Million Cups and a past Mentor for The ARK Challenge Northwest Arkansas.

While living in Seattle, Dustin worked with Microsoft Mobile, Microsoft Zune and TEAGUE. Dustin has also worked with Arkansas based companies such as Walmart and Acumen Brands (CountryOutfitter.com).

website: www.dustinowilliams.com
email: dustin@dustinowilliams.com
twitter: @dustinowilliams
linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dustinwilliams

Rebecca Haden

Rebecca has been writing for the web since 1998, and has been an SEO professional since 2006. Her degrees are in Linguistics and she has extensive experience in marketing and strategic communication. Featured in the Wall Street Journal in 2009, Rebecca has optimized websites and provided SEO strategy and content for clients on four continents. Before taking on the web, Rebecca was a writer and a teacher, and she still teaches writing at a local college. Rebecca is a frequent presenter at conferences and workshops.

Josepha Haden

Josepha Haden works with Haden Interactive as a content provider and data analyst. She is an analytics specialist in the Kansas City office of an international marketing firm. She also frequently presents at conferences, workshops, and is one of the organizers of WordCamp Kansas City.

Tate Barber

I am a self-taught developer new to the WordPress scene, and have been developing alongside my brother, Blake, for one to two years. Among other things, I am an entrepreneur, husband, pianist, camper, Frisbee thrower, and paleo/primal-blueprint enthusiast.

Ben Pollock

Ben Pollock is a nine-year WordPress enthusiast, more content- than code-oriented. He is Director of Online Media for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, columnists.com. Ben manages other sites; his is benpollock.com with a blog at benpollock.com/brick. A three-decade-plus journalist, he reports for thecitywire.com. He lives in Fayetteville with his wife and their critters.

Fayetteville Word Camp 2014 is over. Check out the next edition!