Meet our 2nd Keynote: Aaron Jorbin

On day 2 of WordCamp St. Louis, we’ve invited Aaron Jorbin to deliver a keynote talk on Why WordPress Works This Way. Aaron is a core committer to WordPress, and was perfect for the job.

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Aside from being a core committer, Aaron is from New York City, and is currently the CTO of Happytables. He has spoken at conferences around the world. He’s worked with Conde Nast, and worked on some well known websites like WIRED, The New Yorker, and Vogue.

An interesting fact for our beer fans, Aaron is an active user of Untappd, so you can follow along with him, or maybe catch a drink with him. If you’ve been wanting to meet him and talk with him, as an icebreaker, you might want to ask him what his favorite beer is.

Other interesting facts about Aaron:

  • He’s originally from Chicago
  • He’s Team Logan (Gilmore Girls reference)

Aaron’s describes his talk:

Ever wonder why WordPress approaches things the way it does? Or how something with so many contributors manages to hold together and grow, year after year?

Is there some quirk in the code, or the way we talk, that strikes you as, well, bizarre?

The single biggest strength WordPress can claim is not the user experience. It’s not the platform’s hundreds of contributors. It’s not even its phenomenally widespread adoption.

Nope. It’s the philosophies that underlie all that.

One benefit of those philosophies is a common trait of nearly all successful projects: A unified system for making decisions.

So let’s take a look inside the philosophies of WordPress core — and see how those principles guide the WordPress project.

From there, we’ll look at how defining philosophies in your own projects will make them better, too.

Don’t miss out on Aaron Jorbin’s talk, buy your WordCamp St. Louis ticket today!

 

Meet our Keynote: Chris Lema

We’re really happy to announce that Chris Lema is one of our keynotes at WordCamp St. Louis 2016. For our 5th WordCamp for St. Louis, we wanted it to be extra special, and what better to do that then have Chris Lema be a keynote!

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Chris is from San Diego, California. He is a public speaker, and a product stategist. He’s also a daily blogger at ChrisLema.com. He’s also a dad, who have gotten his family to blog too! 🙂

Chris has become an inspiration to the WordPress community as a whole, especially in drawing them together. When he presents, he weaves a story that many can relate to.  His talks at WordCamps and other conferences, leave you thinking on how you can apply his concepts to your own business.

He’s also an inspiration to bloggers, proving that you can blog daily, still work, and still have time for the family.

Personally, I’ve enjoyed every talk he has done. One of my favorite quotes from a past talk by Chris, is “Hope is not a strategy.”

Chris will be speaking on The Future of WordPress & Where You Fit In. He describes his talk as:

There’s always a risk that the technology you invest in will disappear. WordPress as a product requires WordPress as a community to ensure a long future. Come hear Chris’ perspective on how what’s good for us is good for WordPress. Your future awaits.

He will also be a part of the Business panel on Day 2. Chris makes himself very available, so if you have some questions, you’re in luck!

We look forward to having Chris Lema at the event, and we think you will too.

If you haven’t gotten your WordCamp tickets, please don’t miss out on Chris Lema’s talk, as well as the awesome speakers on our schedule. Get your WordCamp St. Louis tickets today!