Hard to believe that just last weekend we were heading into WordCamp US! Luke had tons of work to do while he was there, so we didn’t see him much, but I also had a ticket and really enjoyed going to a few of the sessions (as many as possible while looking after 3 kids!). Luke’s been working on a really awesome project called Tide and it was great to see it launch at WordCamp, and be announced during State of the Word, and to be there with him through it all (even if it did mean late nights and stressful times, it also meant celebrations and congratulations. I also got pretty good at tension releasing shoulder massages!).
I thought I might highlight a few of my favourite sessions I attended, including what I learnt from them and how this will impact me going forward.
Beginner’s Guide to Contributions by Josepha Haden.
I really enjoyed this talk by Josepha and particularly enjoyed how she highlighted ways we could contribute to WordPress without having to code (because that is not currently my strong suit!). I was inspired by the idea of writing documentation, and also being involved in WordCamps.
DESIGNING FOR DYNAMIC WORDPRESS CONTENT WITH CSS GRID, FLEXBOX (AND MORE CSS TRICKERY) by Bob Visser
This talk wasn’t so amazingly relevant to me, because of course I don’t code. But I thought it was really helpful to me to understand some of the direction the web is taking. I also feel like Luke might talk to me about something along these lines at some point in the future and now I will have some fundamentals understandings when he does!
Documentation for Developers by Katherine White
Again, I’m not a developer, but I felt like the things Katherine talked about were relevant across many fields and aspects of life, not just dev work.
Kids and Code: The Facts and the Future by Sandy Edwards
I REALLY enjoyed this talk by Sandy. I felt really inspired as a mother in general, but especially as a homeschooling mum. I remember when I started this blog I only had a tiny Lior baby growing in my tummy, but my plans were to homeschool him, and to use my blog as a place to teach him about the internet, and writing, and all those good things. This talk really brought me back to all of that, and has inspired me to include more of this in my homeschool plan for 2018.
Sandy talked a bit about what they are doing in Kids WordCamps she has helped facilitate, and I found that to be incredibly inspiring. Perhaps it’s something I can be involved in in the future…
Raising Kids with Code by Jonathan Brinley
This was another great talk – and another inspirational one that I’m sure will affect the way I teach and parent my children in the future. Lior will by 6 in January, and I feel like he is almost at a point where he can benefit more from direct learning about code. Making logic based activities and using coding language will be a priority for me after listening to Jonathan’s talk.
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Many of you reading this will know that last year (2016) Luke & I helped organise WordCamp Sunshine Coast. That was a great experience, but I also quite enjoyed just attending the WordCamp and getting to enjoy the sessions. If you can get yourself to a WordCamp you should! Even if you’re not a developer there is always helps on offer for WordPress users, including networking opportunities (and fun after parties!).