First Time Online is all about building scalable in expensive and effective websites. WordPress is the platform that helps us do what we do. In attempts to expand First Time Online’s knowledge of WordPress and meet local experts, I decided it was time to branch out. Last night I attended my first WordPress based event in Seattle. Coming from NYC, I was used to meeting the likes of Matt Mullenweg and his committed followers. I was a bit curious to explore the WordPress community here and to be honest, I was very happy with what I found…

Explode the WordPress Learning Curve: An Evening with the Experts

Within minutes of signing up for business networking social network, Biznik, I immediately found what I was looking for: “Explode the WordPress Learning Curve: An Evening with the Experts“…simply put, a great opportunity to meet the local experts.

The speakers include the following:

• Miles Austin, Fill The Funnel, Inc.
• Tom Todd, T2 Affordable Web Design
• Mark McLaren, McBuzz Communications
• Bob Dunn, Savvy WordPress and Cat’s Eye Marketing

What Did First Time Online Learn About WordPress?

Obviously networking was key, but what did I learn about WordPress that I didn’t know before…and wouldn’t mind sharing with you? Great Question! Each individual speaker brought fourth amazing content and there are copies of all presentations online if you want to get an idea of what you missed. I’d like to point out what I found to be the key points of the evening:

Miles Austin: I’d like to thank Miles Austin of Fill The Funnel, Inc., for putting together this event. He gave a wonderful introduction which included a video (waiting on getting it from Miles) which showed off just how many uses there were for WordPress. You could check out First Time Online WordPress Portfolio or WordPress Showcase for a similar idea of just how flexible WordPress really is. “IT’S NOT JUST FOR BLOGGING”.

Quoting 6th Century BC Chinese General, Sun Tzu – “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” In this context, building a website without a strategy will ultimately slow down progress.

Tom Todd: Tom Todd, T2 Affordable Web Design merged well with Sun Tzu’s quote, asking “How many have no website or not finished?”, upon which an audience member asked “Define finished”…everybody in the room laughed. Funny as it may be, it’s a serious issue. One of the main reasons websites took so long to build were due to static sight methods, updates and training. Clients want a site they can edit easily, but doesn’t look like a blog…and this is exactly why many companies are leaning towards WordPress. WordPress can best be described as the best route to building a great web-presence.

Mark McLaren: Mark McLaren, McBuzz Communications was very good for those looking to improve Search Engine Rankings on the fly. He bowed down to people who did SEO and made a point of the fact that  WP makes it easy to not have to deal with code. He outlined 4 stages to finding success in ranking, and I’ve reworded to it for form the acronym “K.R.O.R.”:

• Keyword
• Ranking
• Optimize
• Results

This represents the 4 stages of SEO and if you’re looking for the right tools to match up with each stage, I have an endless list of free tools. Feel free to contact me for more info. He mentioned Digital Point, a free ranking tool, though I’m not familiar with it. You learn something new every day.

Bob Dunn: Bob Dunn, Savvy WordPress and Cat’s Eye Marketing, finished off the night by giving us a preview of what we can expect of the new WordPress 3.0 upgrade. Important for client’s deciding on the right platform, it’s obvious WordPress is here to stay and is growing exponentially to meet the needs of the everyday user. Bob featured “What’s coming in WP3.0″ and highlighted 3 specific features, which turned into more like

1. Merging  WordPress with WPMU – integrated and easier for sub domains.
2. The Default Theme got a makeover!  They chose to use Twenty Ten: http://2010dev.wordpress.com/
3. Set a Featured Image For Individual Page Headers (My favorite addition!)
4. Background Image section
5. WooThemes inspired Navigation Menu Page (Drag & Drop Order, and Unlimited Menu’s)
6. …5 More Things Learned @ WordCamp SF
   1. New Default Theme Each Year
   2. 4 major updates per year
   3. 21mm downloads of WP last year
   4. biggest growth is using WP as CMS
   5. It will soon rule the online world!

In Conclusion: I Want To See More Events Like This…

WordPress is an open-source free platform and in that same manner, First Time Online is an open resource for clients and competitors alike. I’ve decided to begin opening up more resources via this blog to help everyday users find valuable plugins, themes, advice and more.

Most important, Seattle needs to see more events like this one. Without a WordPress community, there’d be no WordPress.  For those of you looking to get more involved in WordPress, check out WordCampSeattle.com. Not sure as to when the next conference will be, but look forward to letting you know when I do.

All the best,

Joshua Russak | Founder, First Time Online

PS: Note To Self: Check Out…

• Pluginsandwidgets.com
• HeadWay theme
• Widget Logic
• Live Stream