Chris Lema – Welcome to Texas!

chirs-lemaChris Lema scared his parents by dropping out of the engineering school at Berkeley in order to get a degree in Social Welfare. That didn’t stop him from playing with computers and starting a career at Berkeley National Lab right after graduation. He started managing software engineers back in 1994, at the same time that he started building business software using the Internet.

Today he continues to lead innovation and software development for Emphasys Software, manage staff on different continents, in multiple countries and across the US – all with his trusted internet account and phone. He’s helped design, develop and launch over 90 different software solutions delivered as online services (SaaS) and in his spare time coaches start-ups and other small companies looking to leverage technology. A regular speaker at WordCamps and other conferences, Chris is also a blogger, ebook author and runs a WordPress meetup in North County San Diego.

Chris will be Featured in the  Business Track and will present, ‘The Client’s Not Always Right: How to Protect yourself from Overshoot & Dwindling Profits with WordPress

The Results of The Austin WordPress 2013 Survey Are In

The organizers of the Austin WordPress Group would like to express our gratitude to Blossom Braemer, of Posh Co-Working Lounge, for analyzing the raw data from the 2013 Austin WordPress Survey and producing an actionable report. Thanks to our members who took the time to respond to the survey, we now have a better idea of the skill levels and interests of our WordPress Community. Not only will we plan our future WordPress Meetups based on our member’s requests, we used the topics you requested to plan the Tracks and Sessions for the 2013 Austin WordCamp.

Based on the survey results we have set the session tracks for WordCamp

Thanks to the larger venue for this year’s WordCamp, we will be offering four Tracks: Content, Site Administration and Management, Technical-Design and Development and Business.

The Track Sessions are being  developed right now based on the topics requested by our members. We’ve reached out to the subject matter experts and a gratifying number have accepted our invitations to present at WordCamp Austin 2013. The session tracks will be finalized in a few weeks. In the meantime we’ll announce the sessions and speakers as they are confirmed on the site. Go ahead and signup to receive automatic updates to Wordcamp Austin 2013, Saturday May 18th

WordPress was Born in Texas and thanks to our vital WordPress Community Grown in Texas.

Our goal for the 2013 Austin WordCamp is to throw a WordPress 10th Anniversary Celebration — Lonestar Style.

See you there!

 

 

 

.

A Small Orange Joins WordCamp Austin 2013 as a BRONZE Level Sponsor

a-small-orange-logoA Small Orange has once again joined Word Camp Austin as a BRONZE Sponsor.  Since A Small Orange was founded in Atlanta in 2003, they have grown to a point where we now have over 30 employees and serve tens of thousands of customers around the world. Their team provides award winning customer service and support 24-hours a day, 7-days a week over email.

The Small Orange team feels that the best customer experience is offered by focusing on the customer’s perspective. They design all their products and services with customer satisfaction in mind. Ease of use and clarity in presentation are some of the key factors to A Small Orange success, and they enjoy providing their customers with rewarding experiences every day.

Their vision is simple: “Perfecting hosting while maintaining a homegrown feel with a focus on people – our customers, our employees, and our community.” The Small Orange headquarters are now located in beautiful downtown Durham, NC. When you see the A Small Orange representatives at WordCamp, please welcome them to Austin and give them our thanks for supporting the Austin WordPress Community.

If you’re interested in joining the ‘A Small Orange’ always-growing team, check out their jobs section.

Code Poet Joins WordCamp Austin 2013 as SILVER Sponsor

The WordCamp Austin 2013 Organizing Team is happy to announce that Code Poet has agreed to sponsor this year’s WordCamp at the SILVER level.  This the second year that Code Post has sponsored our WordCamp.

Last year the Code Poet representatives gave a well-attended presentation about why Code Poet was formed and explained their charge to find ways to Learn, teach, inspire and motivate the ever-growing WordPress Community.

If you use WordPress to build things for other people, Code Poet wants to make your life easier. No matter whether you freelance on a solo basis, lead a small web shop, make plugins in a dark closet, or crack the whip at a large design firm, our aim is to become your go-to source of information and resources to help you expand your WordPress skills and know-how. To make you better at what you do. To make it easier to make your living and look great doing it.

You’re part of a tribe of WordPress designers and developers over 10,000 strong, spanning the entire globe. codepoet.com aims to bring the working knowledge and real world strategies of those people into one place, for you to tap into.

Here’s what Code Poet has accomplished in their first year: they’ve collected their favorite resources, published case studies featuring real live Code Poets out in the wild. They share their experiences, reflections, and tips on how they tackle the challenges of making a living with WordPress. Code Poet has created two ebooks, one on Responsive Web Design, and one that tackles the treachery of charging for your work. Dive into the Code Poet content, install that security scanning plugin on the site of your choice, and let us know what you think.

Please note, while Code Poet offers resources for people who work with WordPress, we’re not able to offer WordPress support. For help, please visit the WordPress Forums.

Automattic is the parent company of Code Poet, WordPress.com, Polldaddy, Akismet, VaultPress, Gravatar, and more.

Fat Media

FAT Media Signs On As WordCamp Austin 2013 First GOLD Sponsor

WordPress Austin 2013 is happy to announce that FAT Media has agreed to be our first Gold Level Sponsor.

FAT Media is a new-media marketing agency based out of Tampa, Florida. They understand that if you’re doing business online you need to do things BIG.
Their Business focus is to make sure their clients get noticed, no matter what.

FAT Media is deeply connected to the web and how it functions at a cellular level. They specialize in positioning their client’s brand online and leverage the web to increase the client’s bottom line.

FAT Media offers custom WordPress development, eCommerce solutions, website migration, internet marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing, content marketing, eMail marketing, WordPress consulting and support.

When you see the FAT Media representatives at WordCamp, be sure to welcome them to Austin with a BIG THANK YOU for supporting the Austin WordPress Community!

Want to learn more? Contact FAT Media.

WP Engine Agrees to DIAMOND Sponsor Level for WordCamp Austin 2013

The organizers of WordCamp Austin 2013 are proud to announce that once again WP Engine has sign on as our first official Sponsor of WordCamp Austin 2013. WP Engine was our first Sponsor for WordCamp Austin 2010 and  2012. In 2011 WP Engine sponsored the Austin WordPress Developer’s  WordUp ‘Un-Conference”.

WP Engine and the Capital Factory also hosts our Austin WordPress Developers Meetup at their downtown office facility every month. The folks at WP Engine are an integral part of the Austin WordPress Community, who over the years, have invested time, talent and treasure to help the Austin WordPress group grow to be one of the largest, most active WordPress MeetUps in the Country.

WP Engine Team

WP Engine Team

Shayda Torabi, Austin WordPress Fairy Godsister, inexplicably left out of team photo on the WP Engine Team Photo

Shayda Torabi, Austin WordPress Fairy God Sister, inexplicably left out of team photo on the WP Engine

 

POK-E-JO’s BBQ will cater 2013 WordCamp Austin

pokey-e-josbbq

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back By Popular demand, POK-E-JO’s BBQ will again be catering the 2013 Austin WordCamp lunch service. The 2012 Austin WordCamp attendees filled the Twitter-verse and Facebook with pictures and ‘umm–umm good’ comments about the delicious food that our friends at POK-E-Jo’s served up. In addition to the smoked Texas brisket and other carnivore treats, POK-E-JO’s also offered a tasty vegetarian service with vegan options.

So many 2012 attendees commented on how nice it was to relax outside while munching great BBQ, that we will set up tented outdoor eating areas for our Campers to kick-back, hang out and enjoy some down time between the morning and afternoon sessions.