The month of March not only brought a break in the weather but also an opportunity for me to attend two WordCamps in the span of eight days. On March 14th I attended WordCamp St. Louis and on March 20th and 21st found me at WordCamp Dayton.

WordCamp St. Louis

WordCamp St. :ouis

WordCamp St. :ouis

I had received a personal invitation to attend WordCamp St. Louis by Nile Flores. Initially I thought that an eight hour drive from eastern Ohio to St. Louis was going to be a bit much but after thinking about it I decided to go for it.  Boy, am I glad I did!

I drove to within a few miles of the site and stayed overnight in Troy. Saturday morning was a short drive to the event which was being held at Washington University. BIG surprise! Parking was directly across the street from the entrance and WordCamp volunteer Bob Barker was standing outside with a sign directing attendees to the correct locations.

The morning kicked off with Cain & Obenland in the Morning. This was the first time I had heard these two guys and it was great! As you can see on the schedule, there were 4 tracks to choose from. The sessions were varied and informative. I know that well over 300 people registered for the event and I am guessing that 280 to 300 were in attendance.

WordCamp Dayton

The next Friday found me arriving at the Dayton Convention Center around IMG_0762noon. Traveling with me to WordCamp Dayton was my son Michael. He was excited to come with me for the weekend. I will have more about Michael later.

The Dayton Convention Center was a great venue! All of the rooms and lounge area used for the WordCamp were within 100 feet of each other.

The schedule provided sessions for all skill levels. Saturday kicked of with a panel discussion about something called The Imposter Syndrome. Very interesting thoughts and comments. After lunch was the keynote speaker John James Jacoby. I have heard John speak before but this day seemed different. He gave some background on his work experiences but something that struck me was his comments about keeping healthy. Eating right, exercise, walking away from work and doing something completely different was the message.

I attended sessions throughout the day and even spent time in the Happiness Bar talking with people. Mike and I meet some great people and had a great time!

Both WordCamps were well worth the trip. About 1,400 miles of driving, 3 nights stay in hotels. Yep, worth it. AND I got to have BBQ both weekends! Yum Yum!

Michael

This past weekend was a good opportunity for Michael and I to spend some together. With his work schedule, it has been difficult to try to spend time with him so WordCamp Dayton was a good opportunity for us. He had a FANTASTIC time! He met so many people that made an impression on him. And I am truly thankful to all who took time to talk with him! To find out more about Michael, you can read about this on my personal website.

WordPressTV

In the few months that I have been volunteering time to WordPressTV, I have certainly learned a lot about videos and met some fantastic people. A few days before WordCamp Dayton, I read the speaker interview for John James Jacoby. During the interview John stated that he recommended WordPressTV as a resource for WordPress users. I checked with John before I went very far with this idea. I thought that the WordCamp might be a good opportunity to do a video interview with him and this is the result: http://wordpress.tv/2015/03/21/john-james-jacoby-interview-at-wordcamp-dayton-2015/

jjj

 

 


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