BoldGrid is on the Road Again, with Trips to WordCamp Albuquerque, NamesCon, and WP Campus Online

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February 5, 2018 by Harry Jackson

Welcome to 2018. After a short break from traveling all over the world for events, MikeDemo gets back on the road. This time, he visited WordCamp Albuquerque, followed by a trip to Las Vegas for NamesCon Global and WP Campus Online. 

WordCamp Albuquerque 

The first trip of the year took MikeDemo to WordCamp Albuquerque, hosted at the CNM Work Force Training Center. MikeDemo flew in Thursday night and had dinner with Adam Warner from Sitelock at a local Mexican restaurant called Sadies        when he arrived. After a good meal, he headed back to the hotel to get ready for the event early in the morning.   In 2018 BoldGrid remains a global sponsor of WordCamp. However, to have a more intimate connection with WordCamp Attendees, BoldGrid will not have a booth at most WordCamps this year. But, have no fear: Boldie will still join MikeDemo on his adventures, much as he did in Albuquerque.  Friday served as Beginner Day, with a single track of talks geared toward beginner WordCamp users. This provided a great opportunity for those new to WordPress or WordCamps to learn from some awesome speakers. That night, MikeDemo went out to Dinner with Isaac from GoDaddy        at a local farm to table restaurant called – well — Farm & Table       .  Saturday served as the more traditional WordCamp, with a broader focus on the WordPress community at large. Albuquerque always puts on a great event, and this one was no exception. Food trucks provided the lunch options and guests had the opportunity to connect with some amazing people and take some selfies with Boldie. That night MikeDemo went out to dinner with Dwayne from Pantheon         and Nate Ingram from iThemes         to a local vegan Thai restaurant, Thai Vegan        .    Mike was supposed to go to Contributor Day on Sunday, but Delta called him to warn of a storm coming Monday, forcing him to switch flights and return home to Minnesota a day early. Sure enough, when Monday came MikeDemo checked and discovered that his original flight had, in fact, been diverted. In addition, freeways and airports closed and he could not even leave his garage with over 1-foot snowdrifts. Bet he wishes he stayed in the warmer climate of Albuquerque! 

NamesCon Global, Part 1 

After a little break to the bitter cold of the North, MikeDemo once again packed his bags. This time he was heading to one of his most frequent haunts – Las Vegas – to attend NamesCon Global        . In the past, BoldGrid has attended NamesCon Global’s sister events World Hosting Day Global and World Hosting Day USA. But, this marked the first time BoldGrid attended this unique domain-focused event.   The BoldGrid team landed Saturday and, after checking into their hotel, went over to the event center at the Tropicana Resort to make sure our Kiosk was in tip-top shape. After getting set up and registered the team met up with some other attendees for Dinner and the Penn & Teller show        . After the show, MikeDemo gave Penn some Minnesota Hot Sauce he had promised the talented performer.  On Sunday, MikeDemo had a meeting with a protentional partner and went to various talks discussing current events in the domain space and how BoldGrid could help domainers developer their domains. That afternoon MikeDemo gave a 15-minute demo on how BoldGrid works and how it can enhance the WordPress experience. Afterwards, he stuck around and fielded questions from the audience.    That evening the team went out to dinner with another speaker and several event attendees and attended the Opening Reception sponsored by Global. After that, the group went over to the MGM Grand to play some Top Golf.    Monday was the first day for the exhibit hall, and the BoldGrid team hung out next to our kiosk most of the day. They got to connect with a lot of people, and Boldie stole the show with his charming antics (as usual).     That evening Boldie wanted to see Piff the Magic Dragon’s show (a former contestant on America’s Got Talent). Piff expressed his displeasure at sharing the stage with another Dragon, like Boldie. Still, a good sport nonetheless, Piff invited Boldie on stage to help with a few tricks. It was truly a big night for Boldie. 

WP Campus Online 

The next morning MikeDemo had to get up super early to prepare for his famous          duck talk          at WP Campus Online at 7 a.m. Vegas time. WP Campus          has a great community and puts on both physical and virtual events for people that use WordPress in higher education.   Despite being the first time MikeDemo gave this talk when not in-person with the audience, it went quite well. The team looks forward to the next WP Campus event.   After that brief interlude, MikeDemo had to head back to NamesCon. 

NamesCon Global, Part 2 

The team had another great day at NamesCon on Tuesday. They loved connecting with all of the great attendees, many of whom the team would never normally bump into at the regular WordPress-focused events. The BoldGrid Kiosk was situated right next to our friends from WP Engine         . So, that evening they went out to dinner with Amanda          and Tony          from WP Engine to Wolfgang Puck and the Cirque du Soleil show KA. They had a great night connecting and talking about WordPress and the future of the community.   On Wednesday, the final day of the event, the team had their Kiosk open once more. They connected with more people about how Boldgrid works and how to develop their domains on our platform. The afternoon held an “unconference” where the team spoke on topics ranging from Branded Domains to Open Source.   After tearing down the kiosk, MikeDemo went out with a local friend to a Tiki bar reminiscent of Trader Sam’s at Disney: The Gloden Tiki          .   MikeDemo and the team had a great week attending two events while connecting with old friends and making new ones. BoldGrid looks forward to sponsoring NamesCon’s next event called CloudFest Global in Rust, Germany.   If you want free tickets to that event, just let us know… 

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