Full disclosure, we’ve built three sites for our own kid’s school district. One we got paid for, the other two donated. So we’ve experienced up close the challenges school districts face when trying to manage online web development and online communications.

Why We’re Not Seeing More WordPress in K-12

What we’ve observed is that there are many many colleges and universities who’ve migrated away from proprietary and even other open source platforms to WordPress. A couple years ago you could find them if you looked. Today, they’re everywhere. Just everywhere. Why then are k-12 schools and districts not moving in the same direction?

There are certainly many reasons but three primary ones that I believe are in play.

Reason One
Lack of autonomy

For one, colleges and universities I believe typically have more autonomy than a more regulated k-12 school system in selecting a platform, a CMS from which to build their web presence including all the sub-colleges, departments and individual classes. This has been particularly true given how funding for technology has been structured as some proprietary platforms have worked for and gained “approved” status for funding. Further, for this reason I suggest we’re going to find the early adopters to WordPress coming from the private schools. We have tied the hands of our public schools with regulations in ways private schools are not burdened with. As such our public schools will likely have a harder time moving to WordPress which is unfortunate for the families and communities. Perhaps if we untie our public schools but I digress.

Reason Two
Follow the (subsidized) money

E-Rates. So I am absolutely not an expert by any means on e-rate funding. My observation though is that this funding mechanism is not much different than the time honored Wilkinson Razor model where you give away the razor and sell the blades. Or perhaps a more contemporary model of selling inexpensive printers where the cost of ink will cripple you. But I digress… again.

E-rates allowed school districts to get subsidized hosting with essentially free web development thrown in. At the time of it’s creation in the 80’s, hard wiring a school for technology was expensive and web development was not even on the radar. So what evolved was what amounted to purchasing hugely overpriced hosting from proprietary vendors who would throw in what would otherwise be hugely expensive, proprietary web development. This is likely an unfair simplification but I’m trying to be brief.

The result though was, huge inequity on what was being funded, how and the growth of an ecosystem of proprietary platforms which resulted in the proliferation of the crappy er, less-than-optimal school and district websites you see out there today. The kicker is that the subsidized development was hugely expensive for what you got. No one minded though because of the way it was paid for through e-rates, the government picked it up, not the district. It was a great deal… other than the fact that most had crappy er, less-than-optimal websites.

This is all past-tense though and e-rate funding has gone away. Schools and districts, particularly those facing declining budgets are now also scrambling because they have to foot the actual costs of web development also.

Reason Three
The safe decision

This is pure, unfounded, undocumented speculation. But based on what I do know to be the case in other industries because I’ve experienced it first hand. When the consumer does not understand the technology they’ll go with what is considered the safest choice. They will decide to go with what others have chosen. Well intentioned individuals, in full integrity and trying to make the very best choice for their school or district but unsure of technology, capabilities, limitations, use-cases, trade-offs etc. will likely go with a market leader, the best presentation (developed by professionals NOT an actual user) or what a neighboring school or district has chosen. It’s safe. Even if it turns out bad and expensive, no one will get in trouble for choosing a poor system in use by so many others. Going another direction requires some insight, confidence and likely a bit more time and investigation.

So, for these reasons and surely others we’ve not seen the same levels of adoption of WordPress in k-12 schools and districts for engagement and communication with their families and communities.

But why WordPress for Schools and Districts?

As long as the CMS is meeting the needs of the school or district isn’t the platform irrelevant? After all, platform selection should ultimately come down to what’s the best platform for a given project.

Full agreement. There are though some important and unique reasons to consider WordPress. I’ll point to only a couple I don’t hear mentioned often. It’s particularly important because your choice of CMS platform will succeed or fail most often because of one single aspect. And that is User Adoption.

Your platform and CMS of choice may have the ability to work miracles but if your staff, teachers, directors and administrators don’t use it, it fails.
If only a handful of key administrators are the only ones trying to carry the load for all the other non-adopters… you will wear these key individuals out.

This is the reason why you see so many crappy k-12 school and district sites. It’s not that the proprietary systems don’t have the capability, they often do. It’s because few are using it and fewer still are using it well. This is why you’ll see amazing demonstrations but can’t find decent examples from client schools and districts… other than their references.

User Adoption
Availability and cost of training

Here’s the thing particularly troublesome with proprietary systems and to a lesser extent with other CMS’s. Proprietary systems and districts rely on the “train the trainer” concept because more extensive training is simply far too expensive. There is only one expert and it is the company who authored their CMS. So your administrators, department heads, teachers… everyone is at least two step away from an actual authority.

With WordPress, given just how pervasive it is in the marketplace there are WordPress “experts” on every block it would seem. Of course not all “experts” are created equal and you would need to vet your “expert”, but help is generally all around you and readily available at a fraction of the price of specialized proprietary system trainers.

Now here’s a thought. And a bit of a tease to when I write next about WordPress in the classroom. Consider this. What if your students were being taught on the world’s single most widely used CMS, and incidentally where there are actual paying jobs. (Who’s hiring DIY Wix & Weebly professionals? Listen… crickets) What if advanced students were actually resources for updating content for over-burdened or tech-phobic teachers, school newspapers and more within a secure environment?

User Adoption
The opportunity for personal use

This may sound off-putting, like taking school property or resources for personal use but this is much different. And it is a distinct advantage you should cultivate and work to your school or district’s advantage.

A key problem with proprietary systems and even other open source CMS platforms is that you are asking your staff to learn something they will only use at the workplace. While certainly concepts can be transferred to other things they may encounter in their personal non-work life the fact is, they’re not going to encounter X platform outside of school.

Now, one thing I am certain of, teachers by habit extend themselves beyond what should reasonably be expected of them for their students. It happens daily. And they will do their utmost to master the technology presented to them for their students. Consider though, what if you were introducing them to and asking them to master something that might also aid them in other non-work pursuits. This is assuming teachers have time and energy for anything else.

Given just how pervasive WordPress is in the world around us, chances are they can use these skills elsewhere. Their church or synagogue, club, association, personal website or blog etc. In fact I’ll wager, if you were to poll your existing staff and faculty, is anyone ALREADY familiar with or using WordPress, don’t be surprised to find that you may already have some existing in-house talent.

The very fact that they’ll have the opportunity to use what they’re learning for personal use is a huge advantage you should cultivate. WordPress by the way is the singly most widely used CMS in the world today. It now represents over 25% of all websites in the world today. For those who are interested, they’ll find other uses for what they’re introduced to.

A Few Examples of School District and Schools using WordPress

• Newark Public Schools – Newark NJ
• Penn Manor School District – Lancaster PA
• Granite School District – Salt Lake City UT
• Alabama School of Mathematics & Science – Mobile AL
• Dillard High School – Ft. Lauderdale, FL

A WordPress platform specifically tailored for Schools & Districts?

• WordPress for Schools – Open Source Web Site Management Solutions for Public Schools

There is much more that could be said but if you’ve read this far, wow. Thank you. If you have other insights or corrections I’m open to learning more.
If you know of other k-12 schools and districts using  WordPress, please share.

The post Schools and School Districts Using WordPress appeared first on Resonate Dev.

The FCC has restructured what and how funding is provided for technologies in eligible school districts.  While change can be difficult this is definitely good for our schools. This is good for our communities. This is good for families and our children.

This is the first major change to how E-Rate is structured in a full seventeen years. Consider for a moment just how much the world has changed particularly with regard to the web and web based communications. Think about what the web was like in 1997. The legacy practices and solutions to a large extent have been holding us all back for a long time.

WordPress in Schools – Cameron Barrett

Cameron Barrett:
cbarrett@nps.k12.nj.us
cameron@barrett.org

WordPress in Schools – Resonate Web Marketing

When we found out that Cameron Barrett was presenting on WordPress in Schools in Grand Rapids we were excited. We made sure we were there. Above is an abbreviated version of his presentation. It was amazing. Cameron will be presenting more on this topic in time. If you are involved with your school or district and have an opportunity to listen to Cameron speak on this topic you will want to attend.

Obstacles for School and District Websites

There are several primary causes for the predicament schools, districts and our communities find themselves in.

• Decision Maker Familiarity with Web Technologies:
  First and foremost is that too many school district boards and policy makers are not really familiar with web technologies.

Because it has to do with computers it’s assumed tech, systems or network support personnel can do this. These however are very different skill sets.

Too often when it is time for a decision it is safer to go with a proprietary solution that other schools and districts select. This in spite of the fact that upon easy observation, those other school and district sites are very poor models to follow. The challenge is to find an example of best-practices actually demonstrated by those actually using the proprietary solutions vendor.

Don’t look at the demo. Look at the websites of actual users. They’re all bad. Lastly, please do not be fooled by splashy pictures on the home page. Real value is in website usability, quality of content and the ability to access it. DO NOT stop at the home page. Mark what time it is. Now try locating a few commonly needed, current pieces of information. There is the test.

• Closed-Source vs Open Source:
  There is a fundamental flaw with proprietary, closed source web technologies and it is this. The vendor controls everything and you dear client have no control. None, zero. You are handcuffed. If you don’t know this just try switching platforms.  

You are dependent upon their ability to adapt to a very rapidly evolving web ecosystem. One fundamental shortcoming is that no single proprietary solutions vendor can adapt their platform as quickly as the world of developers are updating the open-source platforms. It simply cannot be done. They will always lag behind. If a thing is being done, online it’s available in open-source. It’s available on WordPress. Next year or never, it will be available on a proprietary platform.

The argument will be made that a closed-source solution affords greater control, security and reliability. These are legitimate needs. The fact is however that open-source and WordPress in particular is as secure and reliable as any platform available and is widely used by more security and reliability dependent organizations, around the world than any of the largest proprietary solutions providers. It simply isn’t true. Currently WordPress powers nearly one in every four websites being developed, around the world.

The greater control argument is even more flawed. The basic problem and irony with closed-source is lack of control. The closed source vendor indeed does have control, all the control. The client has virtually none. So this is really a benefit for who? If as a client you need something that is not in the packaged solution you are required to work through the closed-source vendor to have a modification made for your circumstance. This is exceedingly expensive and time consuming.

• Actual User Adoption:
  “Train the Trainer” You’ve been presented with this solution right? It’s really hard to make it work in actual practice.

Here’s the thing. When you view the demo’s from the closed-source proprietary vendors they’re amazing, truly. The capabilities and potential of these solutions are grand. Why then do we not see this in practice? The demo featured only those things it was designed to do in that particular way, with that particular input and critically, with that particular platform knowledge and expertise.

What if, in practice your school or district users don’t have the time, comfort level with the technology or motivation to learn this system? Critically, what if this platform they’re being asked to use has absolutely no value or application outside of these specific work duties? The fact is people change jobs and responsibilities all the time. Turn over is a fact of life.

There is a learning curve. Consider being required to learn a proprietary system which, who knows if you’ll ever be faced with again? You’ll never use it at home or any other organization you’re involved with. Frankly, while everyone wants to do a good job at work there’s nothing really in it for you. Now consider this, WordPress powers nearly a quarter of all websites around the world. Chances are your church, your club, your community organization is using WordPress. Ask around. You’ll find this to be true. Now, something that you’re learning for your school or district has direct application for your personal life. You can take this learning with you wherever you go, in-district or out. Consider how this would impact your learning this open-source platform.

• Training on Proprietary Systems vs Open Source:  Here is why schools and districts rely on “Train the Trainer”. There really isn’t a viable, cost-effective option.

Training is expensive. Personnel time is expensive, particularly that of an out-of-state proprietary vendor and E-Rates does not cover this.  The burden of training is essentially shifted to the schools and districts to do this themselves. They are frequently challenged to handle this critical step. The website platform may even have potential. It comes down to execution though. If the available capabilities are not used or used poorly it’s a disservice to tax payers, the community and the families depending on this information from their children’s schools.

With Open-source platforms there are many… many more options for user training. This includes many free options. In addition its likely friends, acquaintances and coworkers are themselves already familiar with WordPress already, because it is everywhere. The “user community” is pervasive and that’s good for you. Additionally, the world is full of vendors all competing to provide the best possible training on a given platform and WordPress in particular. If there is something new in the web ecosystem there are professional experts prepared to help you. Proprietary solutions… they hold the monopoly. They control everything. You are left with “train the trainer”.

Help for school and district websites decision makers

Frankly, as long as this is it is only the tip of the iceberg. I could go on but I’ll spare you.

As a school or school district you’re likely already aware that the circumstances are stacked against you and you have little room and resources to maneuver. You are being held accountable but your hands are tied over the situation regarding your school or districts web site and web based communications with your community and families. Further, you may not yourself be fully comfortable with the technologies being considered and their trade-offs.

There’s more to cover but it would take too much time. If you would like to talk about what you’re facing with regard to E-Rate, school and district websites, web based communications with your community and families we would love to talk with you. If you need some expert input at a schools or district conference we would be happy to meet with you. Let us know. We’d like to help. We feel your pain.

Further reading on E-Rates and changes to school website funding:

• Federal Communications Commission: “Modernizing the E-rate Program for Schools and Libraries” Adopted July 11, 2014  Note: Pg. 60. article 145, Pg. 61. article 347, Pg. 62 article 150

• Federal Communications Commission:  “Summary of the E-Rate Modernization Order“

• E-Rate Central:  “E-Rate Central News for the Week“

• Education Week:  “Schools Set to Adjust to Revamped E-Rate Policies“

The post WordPress in Schools | E-Rate Changes appeared first on Resonate Dev.

Then Poof! There it is… GONE!

It’s happened yet again. With another client. We warned the client more than once. You’re gonna’ get burned. And they did.

At the end of the day you cannot make a client do something for their own good.

Here’s the deal. Is this you?

You’ve been running or working in your organization or business for some time now. You’ve always simply used your personal email address because…

• It’s what you’ve always done
• It’s where your to-date, legacy communications reside
• You’re using some clever name that is an outgrowth of your own personal brand identity as opposed to that of the business ie. cleverme@something.com
• It’s simply close enough. Afterall you’re using:  yourname_businessname@gmail.com or other.

Here’s the BIG problem though.

You likely see this coming. It’s surprising to me though that smart people still run along this cliff’s edge.

There is such a thing as turn-over. People don’t stay in their job or position for ever. At some point EVERY… SINGLE… ONE, without exception will move on. They’ll retire, they’ll take another position, they’ll be terminated… people, humans move on. Hopefully the institution or business is intended to continue on as people come and go.

When these individuals do leave the organization or business, more often than not when they go, if they’ve been using their personal email for business, there too goes all those vital communications. For the organization or business left behind there remains the void. Who communicated what, to whom and when? What were those commitments?

Why point out the obvious?

Because it continues to happen. You’d be surprised. Here’s how it typically happens.

The organization or business leader has been running things since before they ever had developed a professional website and associated business email addresses. Adopting the new, professional email address is viewed as too disruptive or unfamiliar. Migrating pertinent legacy communication to the new email channel, groom their existing relationships to move to the new email address and get comfortable themselves; there’s no time or willingness. So, while subordinates and new hires generally migrate they themselves don’t quite make it.

The other scenario is a new administrator comes in with their own, legacy, branded identity that is tied to their email address. They are likewise reluctant to make the transition. Board members or other executives are either unaware of the looming peril or unable to assert the needed change on the “boss”.

The results are the same. Also, it’s not a matter of IF tragedy will occur. It is simply a matter of time. You can warn the client but at the end of the day you cannot make a client do something. You wait for the inevitable phone call or email from the new admin with your bad news prepared.

What your email address says about you

If you’re still using:  me_mybusiness@gmail.com   this is really less-than-professional, particularly if you have available to you;  me@mybusiness.com

If you’re using: @aol.com,  @yahoo.com,  @earthlink.com, @charter.net etc. now you’re communicating, IMO  Hey! I’m old and have not kept up with the times!  Sorry if this is blunt. Frankly, it’s what comes to my mind when I see this.

If you’re communicating professionally with others you really need to be using your professional email address particularly when the company or organization does not belong to you.

If you’re a board member, executive or administrator and you observe folks using their legacy, personal email addresses for business correspondence, there is trouble in the future for your business or organization.

It can be tough, many of us lapse in this regard, I certainly have. When we identify so tightly with our business or organization the lines between work and personal lives and communications are blurry and border on arbitrary. I’ve been reminded to be more diligent in this regard as I watch this client deal with their turmoil.

The post Business Email Lost appeared first on Resonate Dev.

What’s WordCamp? Why should I care?

Sure. You own or manage a business or organization. You’re trying to reach your target audience online, engage with them in a meaningful and ongoing way and hopefully encourage them towards a desired action.
You have business needs.

Well its in your own best interests to know that we at Resonate are actively engaged in the never ending pursuit of keeping current with the rapid pace of evolution in the web technologies we use to meet our client needs. There’s no coasting here. It doesn’t work.

The term WordPress may not mean anything to you, perhaps it shouldn’t.  You have running your business or organization to stay on top of. Allow us to be the experts here in helping guide you to meet your online aspirations. If in fact you are aware of WordPress and already know it’s the way you should be going or simply are curious to know more or why… we’d be happy to talk with you. Suffice to say that you’ve come to the right place.

But What’s in it for you?

I wanted to talk a bit about our attendance at this regional technology users group gathering this last weekend for a couple reasons. Firstly we had a great time and learned a lot. We love this stuff. We were able to reconnect with a range of subject matter experts who have become friends, colleagues and collaborators over all these years and had many great conversations. I continue to be enthused about the work that we do. I’m a lucky guy.

What’s in it for our clients is the assurance that we’re working hard for you to stay current with this rapidly advancing world of web based communications and marketing. We’re not new to this. We’ve been working in this space for close to twenty years now. We have some deep experience and relationships to draw upon in helping our clients.

Some things that spark our interest

There is no such thing as having arrived. There is always more to learn. I must say though that it was affirming to find that all things considered we’re doing well and better than most. That’s likely due to the fact that we’ve been doing this for some time now and have been fortunate enough to have worked with some fantastic clients who have had interesting, complex and challenging projects. While we welcome and can do the simple “brochure” websites we gravitate towards the interesting challenges. We’re not afraid to tackle the hard projects.

So the subjects we focus on and our conversations often revolve around current and potential client needs. Some times we’ll attend sessions on where we’re already deep to see what’s new, sometimes we’ll attend something completely different as these often strikes new ideas.

We attend a lot of WordCamps and have for years. For us the key determinant for these professional development events is the quality of the conversations. The sessions are great of course but firstly, for us it’s the attendees and the conversations.

As for the sessions, a few favorites:

Lisa Sabin-Wilson | Check & Double Check – Internal QA is Vital
Lisa’s presentations are always first rate. Given that we attend a lot of WordCamps we’ve heard Lisa’s presentations any number of times so the fact that she was addressing a new topic was really intriguing and a must-attend for us. Of course it was great, very informative and action-able. A huge thank you to Lisa. You help us to help our clients.

Dre Armeda | WordPress Security – Kill The Noise
Dre… what can you say. Energy, enthusiasm, to the point and informative. If you’ve not heard of Dre he’s the co-founder of Sucuri, arguably the leader in website security services. Security, it’s an issue for so many and likewise something we focus on and help new clients with who’ve found themselves in trouble. Thank you Dre for helping us help our clients.

Greg Rickaby | SASS Basics
This was a real treat for us. You see, we’ve been big fans of Greg for years now but never had the opportunity to meet or listen to him speak. I suspect Ana may have given the wrong impression as creeper given her enthusiasm for having finally met someone who’s professional / technology insights we’ve enjoyed for years. Here again, his presentation was content rich and an eye opener. Thank you for that.

We’ll keep attending

The WordPress WordCamps like Milwaukee’s don’t disappoint. We’ll keep attending, keep learning and keep talking with both new and old compatriots. It’s good for us. It’s good for our clients.

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Months ago I read a great blog post making this point better than I could hope to. If you’re reading this and it was you, apologies. You’re welcome to remind me.

Where I got it wrong

The point being made was that WordPress IS NOT easy. And that’s the trap many fall into. Frankly, honestly that may be where I myself unintentionally may have misguided people myself. For this I apologize. Sad secret, I can’t code my way out of a wet sack. Thankfully I know some very smart people who can. So I figured, heck if I can do this WordPress thing surely I could coach others. I was wrong. It’s simply beyond what many have the time and interest to build the skill set or discerning eye to see. The devil in the details stuff.

The fact is unless you’re doing more than basic things, unless you’re working it on a regular basis, done well WordPress still takes a lot of time and effort to master. Further, it requires some expertise developed out of experience. WordPress is NOT easy. It is simply easier than other full featured CMS’s. It’s relatively easy. Yes, you can find easier canned web solutions but lord help you if your needs fall outside the lines of specifically it has been designed to do.

Back-Peddling

And here comes the disclaimer. Agreed, it still and has always come down to right tool for the right job. And there are certainly applications and client circumstances where another CMS solutions would be a better choice and WP would not be advised. That however is a thick topic for another day.

WordPress is relatively easy, particularly to update once a site has been expertly designed for you. This when compared to other full CMS platforms.

WordPress is easier to learn and customize for general or individual needs.

Sirens Song of WordPress

Given that WordPress is relatively easy many brave souls are seduced into thinking… hey, yeah! I’m going go pick out one of those beautiful templates and build me a website. I’ve seen late night commercials. Kids do this right? It looks easy enough, it’ll take me a few hours and I’ll be in business. Besides, WordPress is open source and Free anyways, right?

Or the other dynamic is honest, hard-working, well meaning people interested in launching into the world of “professional” web development will start pounding out website for others.

The Unfortunate Part

The unfortunate part of WordPress is that with a lower bar of entry also comes a higher volume of do-it-yourself-ers and “professionals” who’ve not quite yet mastered the subtle complexities of web design and customization. This or they don’t quite yet have the horsepower for the needed follow-through. WordPress is not… take a breath… a set it and forget it platform. As much as you might wish it to be so it takes care and feeding. It is an evolving platform and that’s a good thing. You will need to either master updating and maintaining the site or have it done for you. Set it and forget it? That’s how sad things happen.

The WP paradox that leads to Job Security

The reason why all this comes to mind is we keep getting website owners (or other developers) coming to us who’ve gotten themselves in a pickle or in over their head. This is not a failing of WordPress. We’re huge fans ourselves and absolutely believe it is the right tool for the job for most folks we speak with. When it’s not we’ll admit that and refer you to some trusted experts. Even for those coming to us with broken sites it’s still the right platform for them, they simply need greater expertise.

A final note of caution though. Each of these folks we’ve helped get back on the rails and moving forward, every one of them had already paid someone else once already. Now they’re paying us to fix the mess, that is if it’s not a total train wreck and its not quicker and cheaper for them to have us redo it from scratch.  Job security? Between our own clients and fixing other’s messes WordPress may be the gift that keeps on giving.

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Here in North America most local and regional groups of WordPress users use Meetup as the vehicle of choice for organizing their local user gatherings. Curious to see if there’s a local community of WordPress users in your area? Check Meetup. Traveling or moving to another region? Check meetup to find your WP com-padres.

We’ve been deeply involved in the WordPress community for years now. While we’ve attended many WordCamps across the mid-west and some further way we’ve not gotten to as many WordPress meetups as we’d like as the closest ones for us are still a bit of a hike. So we’ll give this a go and see what kind of interest there is regionally regarding the WordPress CMS and related subjects.

If you’re a professional working with WordPress, someone simply blogging for your own personal use, somewhere in between and live or work in the area, join us. Learn something. Share something you’ve learned.

Check the Meetup for more detail.

 Meetup Location:  Bushel & Peck’s | 328 State St. Beloit WI | 608-363-3911

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Ana and I had the opportunity to participate on the team of event organizers for the WordCamp Chicago that was held last weekend. It was a wonderful event on many levels. To be sure it was professionally beneficial but it was also, simply a lot of fun. It’s one of the perks in doing what we do. We enjoy the technology. We enjoy the work. We enjoy the company of others who are likewise engaged. It truly is a “community” of users. Interesting people doing interesting things with the technology. We enjoy their personal stories of what they’re working on, the challenges they’re facing and the problems they’re solving. It’s all big fun for us.

A Pleasant Surprise… Matt Mullenweg

One of the pleasant surprises of the weekend was the surprise inclusion of a presentation by none other than Matt Mullenweg.

Now I don’t believe Matt has attained household name recognition of others in technology like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and the short list of others so this may not be a name familiar to you. If though you’ve spent time in the world of WordPress however you’ll know Matt Mullenweg as “the guy”.

So this was really cool for us.

The Disclaimer

I’m sure Matt would testify himself to the fact that there were individuals and code from which he helped lead to what WordPress has become. Further, that by definition an open source platform like WordPress is the cumulative result of hundreds if not thousands of unnamed and largely un-thanked individuals who have helped contribute to the code that makes it the amazing platform that it has become. All that said yeah, Matt is “the guy” and it was cool to have him present and field unfiltered questions from those of us that use the platform and were in attendance at WordCamp Chicago.

Our Brush with Greatness…

Matt really only “presented” for about ten minutes of the hour that was available for him before he simply shifted to fielding questions. There were lots of questions. I know the session was recorded. If it’s available I’ll attach it below. Given my observance of his presentation and subsequent conversations with others and ourselves I suspect he’d not be comfortable with the “Brush with Greatness” allusion. It’s just an expression and a bit tong-in-cheek at that. It is though a reflection of our enjoying getting to meet the guy that helped shepherd in the technology we personally use every day.

His interactions with us were very casual and unassuming. While we were waiting for Matt to finish a conversation we were chatting with his “significant”. I’ll reserve her name. A gracious and very delightful conversation.

Hangin’ at the After Party

So, along with a few other things part of our contribution for the Chicago WordCamp was organizing the “After Party”. A perennial, popular and important aspect to any WordCamp. I’d asked Aaron, the primary, lead organizer for WordCamp Chicago along with the lovely and talented Michelle, if he thought Matt and his significant might attend the After Party. The consensus was, not likely. After all, Matt is “the guy” and likely needs to jet off for hobnobing with other luminaries. Turns out they showed at the After Party. Again, how cool is that?

The take away

So, any insights or epiphanies I can share from our brief interactions? Hmmm. Not really. So why am I posting this then in the first place? Why would I think anyone would care?

I’m thinking…

How’s this. Mr. Bill Monroe

I once had the opportunity to shake the hand of Mr. Bill Monroe. (I almost accidentally knocked down Vassar but that’s another story) Bill was “the guy” in that world of music as the one who ushered into existence the new musical art form known as Bluegrass. As I play the mandolin this was a big deal for me and I’ll remember it always. While Bill has been credited for having invented Bluegrass in fact he too took aspects of the contributions of others and re-fashioned these influences into something new but not really detached from those earlier and other influences. Additionally, Bill did not actually do this by himself. Without the talents and contributions of Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, Chubby Wise, Vassar Clements and innumerable others Bluegrass might not have happened or evolved as it has. I see some parallels here.

Just me or do you see a resemblance?

Bill Monroe & Matt Mullenweg | The Men and Their Instruments

So anyway. Ana and I use WordPress every day. We use it professionally. We use it for fun. And often times for us the two mix together. It was cool to meet Bill. It was cool to meet both Matt and his significant and chat. It made an amazing WordCamp Chicago even amazing-er.

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• Great food & drink
• Great venue
• Walking distance from WordCamp Chicago
• Great opportunity to get to know other WCCHI attendees

Bar Louie / Dearborn Station

This year the afterparty is located at Bar Louie – Dearborn Station (47 W. Polk St.)

It’s just a short four block walk from the WCCHI University Center location. How convenient is that!

We’ll be gathering together Saturday evening at 6:00 pm, not that long after the the close of the last WC sessions. We’ll have ample food waiting for you including vegetarian fare so you can simply stroll on over and keep the conversations going.

More Info: Their Bar Louie – Dearborn Station FB page

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On the Menu:

• Drink tickets – Well liquor, Domestic bottles. We’ve got more than enough for one each for all attendees. After that, cash bar.
• “Build Your Own Burger Buffet”
  • Hamburgers
  • Assorted cheese
  • Grilled mushrooms
  • Lettuce, tomato, jalapeno, giardinera, pickles
  • Fries
• Full salad bar for our vegetarian pals

The venue:  Bar Louie | Dearborn Station

Check this. This is one of our favorite downtown locations, firstly because Bar Louie has great food but also we’re huge architecture buffs. It’s in the DNA of many Chicagoans. The old Dearborn Station is a wonderful, historic, distinctly Chicago location. If you’re visiting Chicago you’ll enjoy the experience of entering this wonderful example of adaptive reuse of an important historic Chicago landmark. Curious what this landmark looked like back in the day? Chicago’s Dearborn Station: Circa 1910.

A Word about WordCamp After-Parties

So we’ve like attended, like a dozen WordCamps across the Mid-west and as far away as Miami over the last five years. For us much of the value of WordCamps are in fact the after-parties. We, Ana says it’s just me. generally attend WordCamps with some explicit stated objectives when we attend. Ana claims simply to want to have some fun, hang out and get out of town for a bit. I generally have in mind a specific problem we’re dealing with or burning question we’re sure someone has grappled with, getting some feedback on an idea etc. Of course we expect unexpected wonderfulness but we typically have a few things in mind. If we can gain X insight or relationship, WordCamp to the greatest extent will have been a success for us. Further, it’s the opportunity for us to experience some connectedness with the broader WordPress community.

We love the sessions. There’s always something more to learn. The make-or-break moment however for us typically comes down to that one or several conversations we had with someone or that breakthrough from acquaintance to friend. These are the conversations with the presenters, the organizers and other attendees. Frequently these conversations happen where? You guessed it… the after-party.

A tip or two

Personally, I’m in full possession of all those stereotypical geeky, nerdy introverted social skills or should I say lack-thereof. So this is coming not from suave expertise but rather struggling to make the best of it with the rest of you. A room full of strangers and particularly those arranged in fixed constellations of seeming old-friends and intimates can be daunting. You should take comfort in the expectation that the WordPress community is particularly warm and welcoming.

In circumstances such as this I turn to a favorite authority. The Art of Manliness where in their post The Art of Conversation is offered 5 Do’s, 5 Don’ts and 4 things Not to say.
(Yes, sorry ladies this is mostly addressed to your male colleagues. Like male patterned baldness this is an affliction borne more commonly by ourselves.)

Two things we would echo.

• Tip One:  I like having one or two question in mind, particularly if it dovetails from a session you attended. It invites others to talk and shine.
• Tip Two:  Sharing my lame-o secret weapon here.  Bring your wife as I do or your girlfriend. The innate social lubricant the fairer sex affords you cannot be matched at any price.

If you’re really in a pinch, find Ana-n-I. We’ll introduce you to some of the friends we’ve made.

So there you have it. When driving home from a WordCamp our conversation more often revolves around the people we’ve met and the conversations we’ve had. Don’t check-out early, reserve some energy and join us for the after-party. Chances are good it could be your best time spent at WCCHI.

After-after party?

If you want to carry on the party still later we’ve another even later recommendations for you.

In the very same building and just steps away is one of the premier Chicago Jazz venues, The Jazz Showcase.

Keep in mind, get your sleep. You don’t want to miss the Sunday sessions. There are a lot of wonderful things planned for you.

So Saturday night, we’ve got you covered. See you there.
Rick-n-Ana

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Please. Website owners cannot simply ignore updating their platform simply because they, or their “web developer” don’t know how. This NEEDS to be done. It’s not a set-it-forget-it type of proposition. If your “web developer” is not doing this or doesn’t know how, frankly you need to change horses.

Computer Updating & Website updating

You know how there are updates for your computer for feature/function enhancements, bug fixes and so that your computer does not get viruses etc.?
You know how you do, or should be doing things regularly as just a normal practice? You would be surprised how many folks don’t apply the same reasoning and practice to their websites.

“We just need something ‘quick and easy’. We’ll just have (x) do it. They know how to build websites”.

This amateur hour approach is not a sound practice for those serious about their web presence. We’re getting more of these calls.

Static “Brochure” website? Meh.

If your intent is to have a static “brochure” website that you plan on NOT updating and you just want to just let it coast, I’m sure there are viable options for you. That’s not really our business but perhaps we can point you in the right direction. For most people however that is not their intent. They at least intend to update their sites with fresh content. Now if they in fact don’t get around to it, well that’s another matter.

Keep in mind:

Un-updated website platforms = website security vulnerabilities
Vulnerabilities = exploits (viruses, worms, site hacks etc.)
Exploits, eventually = getting blacklisted by Google.
Blacklisting = lost revenue, traffic and more money & time to fix it and much longer for Google to get around reconsidering.

This is going to be a very painful (and expensive) situation for the folks that just called. This was completely preventable. Ugh…. guess I already said that.

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