WordPress meetups are now being handled on Meetup.com, via Meetup.com/SeattleWordPressMeetup. I’ve been handling write ups for this event since inception in August. (August & September). While I missed last month’s meetup, there were 30 present and I’m excited to see this month brought in 30+ as well.

WordPress News by Josh Harrison:

• 1 million mobile users
• WP Nokia App
• WP 3.1 is releasing hot new features (AJAX admin screens, MU improvements, UI improvement to theme search, advanced taxonomy queries and link transfer issues have been resolved.) Planned delivery: DECEMBER 15th

Having covered that, we began intro’s. The room was full of more freelance developer than full time staffed employees, but the overall feeling was everyone was here to find ways to improve their skills and find more work. I was happy to receive a “round-of-applause” after introducing myself as the sponsor of 4 dozen KrispyKreme donuts. Apparently WordPress and KrispyKreme go really well together.

WordCamp 2011 Update:

They are closing in on a UW venue and looking at the end of March and beginning of April for the event. They are also interested in getting help from the local WordPress community for the following tasks related to WordCamp 2010:

• Authors
• Logo Design Suggestions
• Developers & Design

A lot depends on the date chosen. Once they figure that out, a lot more volunteer opportunities will open up. Please talk to either Josh Harrison or Calvin Freitas.

WordPress Meetup Presentation:

First off, an Audio Player Plugin presentation by Mike Brogan of Mikebroganconsulting.com.  This process automates the short-code inserted for the audio and play within the post.

We then had a presentation on basic theme development by Eric A. of IvyCat Web Hosting will be presenting. IvyCat not only sponsors our group; they also provide great designers to give presentations! Today’s presentation covered GridFox, FireBug, & Web Development ToolBar addon for Firefox.

Jeff Logan of InsideOut Solutions promoted a subscription product good for users in need of tutorials: VideoUserManuals.com. There were more mentioned as well…all of which will be added to the Meetup.com thread for this user group.

Conclusion:

If you’re still looking for WordPress help, check out the Freelance WordPress Design/Development /Consulting listing on the meetup group site. If you have ideas for what to present next month, feel free to post that on the meetup site as well. The group is willing to break up into groups depending on the type of attendee.

I’m personally interested in planning a WordPress training course of some level, from setup & installation, theme choices to marketing plugins and integrations. If there’s an interest in this topic, feel free to contact me here.

It was a great meetup and I look forward to next months meetup: December 8th.