WordCamp Brisbane 2018

WordCamp Brisbane 2018

WordCamp Brisbane was held on 27th and 28th October. I had a virus (of the human variety) and only spent two half-days at the conference. But, I still learned a great deal. Here’s a quick summary of the sessions I attended.

 

Talks I attended

 

WordCamp Brisbane 2018

 

Saturday

WordPress As A Static Site Generator

 

WordPress as a static site generator was a bit beyond me. It sounded interesting. From what I understood of it!! I have very little idea about how or why you would look into these options but the good thing is that it sounds like plenty of (low cost – always a benefit) options exist if this is something you need.

 

How to make the most of your WordCamp experience

 

I enjoyed Sally’s talk for two reasons:

 

One: She talked about networking as an introvert. While I’m not shy, I am an introvert and get very people’d out easily. But at the same time, years of not being able to attend things for health reasons has made me feel like I’m all left out in the knowing what’s going on sort of area – and I want to start networking and learning more.

 

Two: She’s an author. It was interesting to see how she made her book and her work relevant at a WordPress conference. Because speaking is something that I also want to do.

 

Basically she is a bunch of steps ahead of where I want to be, which is fantastic and exactly who I want to learn from.

 

10 Ways You Can Improve Your Website Copy To Drive More Conversions

 

I tweeted the crap out of this and was thinking I would do a separate blog post on this session. But really, if this is something you want to work on, just watch the session 🙂

 

Sunday

 

Humanising Your Digital Experience

 

This is a great session to watch if you want to think more about being a “personal brand” and telling your story. But not in a wanky way. Very down to earth. 

 

It’s not all about you. How to take an audience first approach to connecting with your customers online.

 

A great counterpoint straight after the more personal brand focused session – this was about learning about your customers. 

 

Packaging your web design service to save time and make more money

This session had a heap of good points – a quick summary was really to make sure you are covering ALL costs, not undercharging, and to make your business efficient.

 

Biggest takeaways:

  • Use heat mapping software
  • Help/serve/inform
  • Use video
  • Make things about your audience
  • Be yourself. Don’t be generic
  • Make sure customers have the information they need to purchase
  • Don’t be boring
  • Be specific

 

Have you ever been to a WordCamp conference? 

 

10 Replies to “WordCamp Brisbane 2018”

  1. I should probably do this one day. I don’t use Word Press for blogging, but I do use it for my Cheer Chick Charlie website and I have no idea how it all works and how to optimise it nor get the most out of it etc. I just pay someone to fix things up for me from time to time. The football club website is also Word Press. I am just starting to dabble in uploading stuff there but I still get another volunteer who is proficient in Word Press to create the pages. I just edit them etc. Interesting.

    1. Vanessa Smith says: Reply

      It’s usually good to know a bit, when you can find the time. But what I liked about this conference is that it wasn’t as technical as I thought it would be. Heaps of sessions on business, not just wordpress development stuff (which was over my level of skill).

  2. Like most bloggers – we are self-taught. I am at the stage where I need to focus on what I do and not all the techie stuff around it. My little brain is exhausted.

    1. Vanessa Smith says: Reply

      It’s not a 100% technical conference. A good proportion of the sessions were on business and focused on sole traders.

  3. I am so clueless, I had no idea Wordcamp was about WordPress! I’m in awe of your technical knowledge, this would be way over my head. It sounds like you got lots of value from it – thanks for sharing!

    1. Vanessa Smith says: Reply

      Some sessions were really technical and above me but others were business advice – not even specific to wordpress, but relevant for the audience, eg tips on freelancing.

  4. I have a wordpress blog but hosted on my own site. BUT my friend has a wordpress.com blog and for the life of me, it will not let me comment. Says I am a “suspicious bot”. I know it is probably her settings and she is getting her son to help her with it but even with me using different email addresses and different computer/phone etc it still does it. I love her blog – she is a fellow head and neck cancer survivor from NZ and is older than me – I admire her skills in getting it started immensely as I paid someone.
    Glad you went and got something worthwhile from it too.
    Denyse

    1. I have similar issues on some wp.com sites and some blogger sites. Which means I just skip commenting on them. It’s all in the set up really.

  5. Sounds like a lot of valuable info was shared. I must look into these events!

    1. You can view the sessions online if there are any that jump out at you 🙂

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