Author Archives: Rebecca Haden

5 Reasons to Speak at WordCamp Fayetteville 2017

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If you’ve been toying with the idea of speaking at WordCamp Fayetteville 2017, here are some reasons to go ahead and take the plunge.

  1. If you make your living or support your cause with WordPress, speaking is an opportunity to give back to the community. You know things that some of the other people coming to WordCamp don’t know. If you share your knowledge, they’ll benefit, just as you benefit from the other speakers’ willingness to share their knowledge. That’s the beauty of the WordPress community.
  2. Speaking at WordCamp can give you visibility, possibly in a new community you haven’t already reached. Not only will you put yourself out there in front of people in Northwest Arkansas, but you’ll also be seen on WordPress TV, by a potentially much larger audience.
  3. It’s a chance to make friends and influence people. WordCamp is a casual, friendly, fun place to speak. You can read prepared notes if you want to, but you can also make your presentation a conversation with other people. Plenty of good friendships — and business relationships — have started at WordCamp.
  4. Preparing your presentation gives you strong motivation to get your ideas really clear and to find real support for those ideas. You already have knowledge and expertise that can be useful to the community, but putting together a solid presentation with slides is the perfect way to develop that knowledge to the next level. That will benefit you as well  as your audience.
  5. Helping make WordCamp Fayetteville a little more awesome helps put Fayetteville on the map. A rising tide in Northwest Arkansas lifts all our Northwest Arkansas boats, and you can be a part of that.

The Call for Speakers has all the details.

What are your Goals for WordCamp?

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WordCamp Fayetteville’s 2015 keynote speaker, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, was given a goal by Automattic when they sent her to WordCamp Brisbane in Australia: she had to meet 30 new people. She met that goal.

You don’t have to set goals for WordCamp. You can come just for fun and look on the experience as an adventure.

But if you like to have goals, here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Meet new people. It doesn’t have to be 30 new people, but challenge yourself to make some new connections.
  • Find the right person. Looking to hire someone? Hoping to be hired? Need a strategic partner or a gym buddy? WordCamp is a great place to find the right WordPress partner.
  • Learn some new things. I (Rebecca) always write a blog post about 10 things I learned at WordCamp, so that’s a goal for me. (Click through that link for some special treats.)
  • Find the answers to some questions. Each session usually includes a Q and A portion at the end and you’ll find that the WordPress community loves to help fellow members with questions. Also, Sunday Jam Session is a great place to get questions answered, but you can get answers all along the way, too.
  • Learn what you don’t know. No matter what your background or training, there’s somebody at WordCamp who knows things you don’t know. WordCamp can start you off in a brand new direction.
  • Share your knowledge. Not only is there someone who knows something you don’t know, but there are also people who don’t know everything you know. You will have an opportunity to help someone, so be prepared to take that opportunity.
  • Get refreshed and inspired. If you sometimes get burned out with blogging or disenchanted with development, WordCamp can be your annual restart.
  • Develop a new goal for yourself or your company. It’s easy to get settled in. You can come away from WordCamp with a new personal challenge for yourself.

Do you have goals for WordCamp Fayetteville 2017?