The #PressForward Podcast

This is the last PressPause from Micah Dailey, so I’d like to say a warm thanks to him for helping out with this project. It’s been great and I hope that there’s a chance in the future to do some work together.

Today, Micah is with Felicia, who a co-worker at WPMU Dev. She’s not normally that keen to be in large groups of people, so it was a little out of her comfort zone to attend a WordCamp. But the desire to meet other people from WPMU Dev was too much of a pull and so she decided to give it a try.

She’s got a couple of great memories from WordCamp. The first is a time when realised that you don’t need to know people to get the most out of a WordCamp. Sure it’s great if you know people, but it’s also possible to make new friends. Felicia suddenly found herself alone and Amina stepped right in to fill the void. The two had never met before but they hit it off right away and taught Felicia that you can be your true self and connect with new people.

At a later WordCamp, she took this experience and decided to attend a WordCamp where she knew that there would be none of her old friends, but that did not matter, she met knew people and had a great time nonetheless.

The lesson here is that it’s not bad to go to WordCamps alone. Even if you spend some time alone, that’s fine, but perhaps it’ll also provide some additional time to create new bonds with new people; and that would be great!

We hope you enjoy the show, please do subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We’re always looking for feedback, if you have any thoughts or comments, please do reach out.

And remember… Together we can #PressForward

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is just such a great story. It’s all about the transformation that something like WordCamp can have, if you’re willing to attend.

Rich has been working with the web and WordPress for a few years, but he was yet to discover the WordPress community. In fact, he was not even really aware that there was all that much of a community. Then he discovered WordCamps and all that changed.

But, that’s not the story… the story is about the journey to get to the WordCamp and the fact that Rich was not all that sure that he even wanted to go. On the journey down he found himself doubting that WordCamp would be for him. It would be full of people who would know more than him, those same people would not want to talk to him, it would be easier to turn the car right around and just stay at home because that is easier and less of a cause of anxiety.

Somehow though, Rich made it to his first WordCamp and met some people. They were nice people and they got along together. Before Rich knew it the first hour had passed, and then the morning, and then the first day, and nothing bad had occurred.

That evening Rich began to think about a future that he’s never seen for himself, he got lost in thought and literally lost in the city!

From that moment on his life has been transformed. He’s found new friends, new opportunities, a new environment for his work and new future.

This is a story about stepping out of what’s comfortable and doing something new, and ending up at a place that you had no idea existed.

We hope you enjoy the show, please do subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We’re always looking for feedback, if you have any thoughts or comments, please do reach out.

And remember… Together we can #PressForward

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mika has been involved with WordPress for about two years. Prior to that she was teaching small business owners how to build their websites.

This led her to start attending WordPress meetups and WordCamps; she’s been to three WordCamps thus far.

Today she tells us her story about a time at WordCamp Phoenix this year. She found the Wordfence stall where they were getting people to pick locks. Having done this before, she felt that this would be easy, but it wasn’t (on the first day).

She failed to pick any, but came back the next day to have another go and did it really fast.

But WordCamps are not all about picking locks, and Mika has other memories about talks that she’s attended which inspired her. The talks were about freelancing and blogging as well as distributed working and how to do this without feeling isolated.

This is an important message. You don’t need feel alone if you’re a WordPresser. You can go to WordCamps and get yourself into the community, to get some support, to hang around with people just like you.

We hope you enjoy the show, please do subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We’re always looking for feedback, if you have any thoughts or comments, please do reach out.

And remember… Together we can #PressForward

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today in number 8 of the #PressPause podcast we talk to Róbey Lawrence. He’s a WordPress freelancer in Australia and he’s got a few WordCamp goodies for you.

He’s not been attending WordCamps for all that long. His friends had been pestering him for ages to attend. In the end his friends got their way and Róbey bought his first ticket.

It became, “the most enjoyable conference that I’ve ever been to,” and opened his eyes to the possibilities of attending a WordCamp.

For the first time ever, Róbey was able to have techie conversations; he grew up in a place where his friends don’t use WordPress or even know what it is.

He was surprised by the diversity of the crowd who were attending, people from all sorts of WordPress backgrounds, plugin and theme developers and freelancers, just like him.

Although Róbey did feel a little like an imposter for a while, this did not last long. He quick realised that WordCamp is a level playing field and that people from all backgrounds mingle very freely.

He also shares a nice story about meeting one of his ‘idols’, Troy Dean. How he met him, how he turned out to be perfectly normal and how he ended up going out for a meal with him and a heap of other WordPressers after the WordCamp was over.

Remember that WordCamp is for all people. No matter what your background, no matter how much you think you know. You just need to buy a ticket and get yourself there.

We hope you enjoy the show, please do subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We’re always looking for feedback, if you have any thoughts or comments, please do reach out.

And remember… Together we can #PressForward

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Arindo has been working with WordPress for many years, creating plugins, but he’s quite new to WordCamps attending his first WordCamp in 2017.

His story is about jumping into the WordPress community even if you think that it’s not.

Arindo was not sure that WordCamp would be for him. He was a little intimidated with the community and did not know if he wanted to engage. But in 2017 he decided that the time was right. Not only did he attend a WordCamp, but he decided that he was going to all-in and speak at that event too!

To his surprise the organisers accepted his proposal and so now he had to go. He was nervous, but could see that the event was really well organised. People kept making sure that he was feeling okay and that reassured him a lot and reduced his anxiety.

He talked about MultiSite and although he feels like the talk that he gave was a little too niche, that did not put him off and he’s now a seasoned WordCamper!

Now he’s involved in getting a WordPress Meetup off the ground in the town where he lives. Already he’s got 35 people attending, which is really great.

We hope you enjoy the show, please do subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We’re always looking for feedback, if you have any thoughts or comments, please do reach out.

And remember… Together we can #PressForward

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this, the sixth episode of #PressPause mini podcast series, we speak with Dave Toomey. He’s a website and ads consultant from Ireland.

All of the episodes are released in the run up to WordCamp Europe. My name is Nathan Wrigley, and Micah Dailey (from WPMU Dev) and I have been on the lookout for some WordCamp stories to share with you; stories that have stuck with previous attendees of WordCamps. It’s a chance to pause and remember that WordPress is made up of people, just like you.

Dave talks about a time that he overcame his anxiety and attended WordCamp London. How he arranged to meet up with some of his online friends before he set off, so that there would be things ‘booked’ in – things to do when he arrived.

He wanted to meet people who shared his passion for WordPress, because in his normal day to day life, there are none of them around. This is the perfect reason to attend, but it’s so much more than that.

We hope you enjoy the show, please do subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We're always looking for feedback, if you have any thoughts or comments, please do reach out.

And remember... Together we can #PressForward

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So we’ve somehow managed to reach the end of week one of this PressPause mini series running up to WordCamp in Europe. Where did that go?

Today we hear from Dave, the guy who Micah mentioned in episode #1. He’s the guy who told Micah that he had to attend the WordPress meetup in their shared hometown.

His first WordCamp was one that he organised, WordCamp Phoenix (Arizona) in 2016! He talks about a time when a sixteen year old amazed him and made him realise that WordCamps are open and available for all.

Dave’s message is clear, there’s a place for each and every one of us at WordCamp.

He also has some other advice… if you’re not yet ready to take the plunge and book onto one of larger WordCamps, you can always get yourself into a more local, smaller WordCamp, or WordPress meetup.

We hope you enjoy the show, please do subscribe on iTunes or Spotify. We’re always looking for feedback, if you have any thoughts or comments, please do reach out.

And remember… Together we can #PressForward

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wow, we’re already at the near the end of the first week of this PressPause podcast mini series.

It’s been great working with Micah Dailey from WPMU Dev, and getting his ideas about how we can encourage you to get yourself to a WordCamp in the near future.

Today we hear from Tina Todorovic and her story about who she feels is a good fit for a WordCamp. Spoiler alter – it’s everyone!

We talk about the fact that she’s been trying to encourage more women to attend the WordCamps close to where she lives; trying to let them know that it’s not intimidating, but is inclusive.

We also get onto the topic of age and the fact that people of all ages are welcome. She tells the story of an inspirational young man, who she wishes were her son as well as a story about how older people can take part too.

So now that you know that it’s for all people, whoever you are, whatever you do, whatever age you are… what are you waiting for?

We hope you enjoy the show, please do subscribe on iTunes or Spotify. We’re always looking for feedback, if you have any thoughts or comments, please do reach out.

And remember… Together we can #PressForward

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the third episode of the PressPause podcast brought to you with WP&UP and WPMU Dev.

Today we hear a WordCamp story from Tess from Mind Doodle, where she’s a marketing manager.

She is now heavily involved in WordPress and more specifically WordCamps. She’s been helping out as a content writer for WordCamp Bristol, as well as a regular at local meetups. She’s now a member of the WordCamp Europe, leading the communications team.

This year she was a lightening speaker at WordCamp London, giving a talk on a “do action hackathon”.

She speaks about how she’s becoming more and more involved with WordCamps and how it’s creating real connections and friendships. She also talks about the fact that it’s not important what skill you bring to the table, WordCamp has a place for all. Even if you think that your skills are not as ‘valuable’ as others, there are so many ways that you can get involved.

We hope you enjoy the show, please do subscribe on iTunes or Spotify. We’re always looking for feedback, if you have any thoughts or comments, please do reach out.

And remember… Together we can #PressForward

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the second episode of the PressPause podcast brought to you with WP&UP and WPMU Dev.

The purpose of the PressPause podcast series is to encourage people to attend WordCamps.

To that end we've interviewed people who have had a great WordCamp experience at some point.

Today we hear from Julio Andrade and his journey to WordCamp US. He went not really knowing who he was going to spend his time with. This can be quite an anxious thing. Turning up to a major event with nobody to talk to.

He showed up and made some new friends and did things that he never expected.

It's a great lesson in just taking the plunge and booking a ticket, even if you're not sure who you're going to hang out with.

We hope you enjoy the show, please do subscribe on iTunes or Spotify. We're always looking for feedback, if you have any thoughts or comments, please do reach out.

And remember... Together we can #PressForward

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.