{"id":658,"date":"2016-08-07T05:25:34","date_gmt":"2016-08-07T05:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2016.rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/?p=658"},"modified":"2016-09-08T00:00:28","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T00:00:28","slug":"start-a-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/2016\/start-a-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"“Start a conversation- you never know where it could lead!”"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the organizers for WordCamp RI 2016 is Mary Beth Amaral.\u00a0 She’s also the Lead Designer at Linchpin. Mary Beth takes us behind the scenes of WordCamp RI and explains how WordCamp RI is responsible for introducing her to Linchpin.<\/h3>\n

Q:\u00a0Mary Beth, you are back again this year as WordCamp RI is planned and coordinated.\u00a0 What draws you back?<\/h4>\n
A: <\/strong>Working for a company where WordPress plays a huge role in our day to day has made me more aware of the supporting community that makes it all possible. I\u2019m fortunate that my company is more than willing and able to take time out of our busy schedules to help organize and plan WordCamp. Being part of WordCamp for the past few years has helped me see how important everyone\u2019s involvement is, no matter how big or small.<\/div>\n
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Q: In your professional life, when you’re not helping to organize WordCamp RI, what do you do?\u00a0 What role does WordPress play?<\/h4>\n
A: <\/strong>Professionally, I spend my days designing websites for custom WordPress builds. With a full dev team on staff, I\u2019m able to work closely with our developers to create sites that not only achieve our clients\u2019 goals, but push the boundaries. Whether it be through visual animations or advanced functionality, having such a knowledgeable and skilled team here has taught me a lot about the capabilities of WordPress.<\/div>\n
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Q: WordCamp RI is two days of all things WordPress.\u00a0 For someone attending for the first time, what advice do you offer to get the most out of WordCamp?<\/h4>\n
A: <\/strong>Network! The great thing about WordCamp is that everyone there has a common interest in WordPress. Ask others how they use WordPress, start a conversation; you never know where it could lead! Four years ago, I attended the very first WordCamp RI where I met Aaron Ware, president and owner of Linchpin. Little did I know that a few months down the road I\u2019d be looking for a new job and lucky for me, Linchpin was the perfect fit!<\/div>\n
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Q:\u00a0Friday there are day-long in-depth sessions on various topics.\u00a0 Saturday is made up of a variety of 45-minutes seminars throughout the day.\u00a0 What is the advantage of taking the two approaches over the course of WordCamp RI?<\/h4>\n
A: <\/strong>Regardless of your experience with WordPress, both the day long sessions and shorter seminars are beneficial. Friday\u2019s sessions provide in depth, hands on workshops that cover a variety of skill levels. In the past these have included, WordPress Basics, Getting to Know Sass, Contributing to WordPress Core, and more! The shorter presentations on Saturday typically run on specific tracks, focused on development, design, content or business. With these tracks running at the same time, there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019ll find a session that interests you!<\/div>\n
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Q: What’s this Happiness Bar everyone is talking about?\u00a0 Why would I want to stop by?<\/h4>\n
A: <\/strong> If you\u2019re looking for some help, support, or have any WordPress related questions, the Happiness Bar is for you! Throughout the day WordCamp speakers and WordPress professionals will be camping out at the Happiness Bar at the ready.<\/div>\n
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Q: After WordCamp RI is over, there is the After-Party.\u00a0 What is that?\u00a0 Why should I attend?<\/h4>\n
A: <\/strong> Second to the awesome speakers and informative workshops, the After Party is the BEST way to end a great conference. If not for the amazing food and bevs, attend to mingle with others! It\u2019s a relaxed atmosphere where most of the speakers, volunteers and organizers will head after Saturday\u2019s sessions come to an end. If you wanted to talk with a speaker, or get some information on how you can get involved in the WordPress Community, it\u2019s the perfect venue to do so. I promise, you won\u2019t wanna miss it!<\/div>\n
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Q: WordCamp draws a diverse crowd: beginners, experienced coders, people who provide web content, project managers, and more.\u00a0 What approach does WordCamp RI take that such a varying group attends each year?<\/h4>\n
A: <\/strong> As a volunteer, I can attest to the amount of work that goes into promoting WordCamp. From university flyers and social media, to banner ads and extending reach beyond our own networks, we make sure to inform anyone and everyone we can. With a schedule of sessions targeting various career tracks, and presenters representing a range of professions, it\u2019s easy to appeal to a diverse crowd.<\/div>\n
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Q: What tips and tricks do you recommend to get the most out of WordCamp RI?\u00a0 What should I bring?\u00a0 What should I do?\u00a0 Does it matter if I look at the schedule posted on the WordCamp RI website a day or two before I attend?<\/h4>\n
A: <\/strong>You\u2019ll meet so many new people, some of whom you might want to reconnect with later – make it easy on yourself and bring business cards with you to hand out. I always have a pen and paper on me to jot down any references or contact info I don\u2019t want to forget, but that being said all the sessions will be recorded and posted up on WordPress.tv, so don\u2019t sweat it if you miss something. A laptop or tablet is recommended for the workshop day to be able to participate in any hands-on activities. I think it\u2019s helpful to have an idea of your game plan for the conference, and the website will provide additional information about the sessions and speakers, but the schedule will be up online and posted throughout the venue for any last minute updates!<\/div>\n
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Q: Once the actual days of WordCamp RI arrive, what do you personally like to make sure you do?<\/h4>\n
A: <\/strong> Stock up on some snacks and water to prepare for the day ahead! I have a bit of a commute to East Greenwich (and am always hungry!)\u00a0 so I like to make sure I have a LaraBar or two, maybe even a banana to get me through until the very end!<\/div>\n
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Q: Is there any follow-up that makes sense once WordCamp RI is over?<\/h4>\n
A: <\/strong>A few days following WordCamp, a survey will go out to all the attendees. Whether you have good or bad feedback, the survey is a great opportunity to not only contribute back to the community, but to help make next year\u2019s WordCamp even better!<\/div>\n

You can reach Mary Beth on Twitter @maryelizabeth55<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the organizers for WordCamp RI 2016 is Mary Beth Amaral.\u00a0 She’s also the Lead Designer at Linchpin. Mary Beth takes us behind the scenes of WordCamp RI and explains how WordCamp RI is responsible for introducing her to … Continue reading “Start a conversation- you never know where it could lead!”<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12477116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10402,4979,784521],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organizers","category-planning","category-wordcamp-overview"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7dOoO-aC","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12477116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1269,"href":"https:\/\/rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions\/1269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhodeisland.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}