BoldGrid Week in Review July 11 – July 16, 2017

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July 21, 2017 by Guest Contributor

This has been a busy week on the east coast for the BoldGrid team. We attended three events this week:
·        WHIR Washington, D.C. ·        WordCamp Washington, D.C. ·        WPCampus in Buffalo, NY Here’s how they went.

WHIR Washington, D.C.:

WHIR (Web Host Industry Review) hosts a series of events all across the US and Canada. These events serve as the networking arm of the popular hosting community website, and the team behind them also run the very popular HostingCon. Our resident evangelist MikeDemo flew on an early morning flight to Washington DC. Running a little late following a flight delay, he took a quick tour of the convention sight, then got to attend an exclusive event at the Living Room DC lounge where he connected with current and former BoldGrid partners. The WHIR event coincided with the Microsoft Technology Summit, so it had a broad mix of attendees from across different industries. We were excited to see the Plesk team at the event, as we just launched our Plesk extension in early July. We also had the chance to connect with i2Coalition, a political lobbying group dedicated to the open internet. Anybody who has not heard of i2Coalition should check them out, as they are a wealth of information about our industry and the dangers of an internet that is not open. Although short, we loved the opportunity to connect with these and other thought leaders.

WordCamp Washington, D.C.:

As MikeDemo left town, Tim and Daniel made their way to the first ever WordCamp Washington, D.C. The event sold out with over 500 attendees. According to the event organizers, that made it the largest first time WordCamp outside of San Francisco. Local eclectic meeting spot Busboys & Poets hosted Thursday’s speaker event, and gave Tim the opportunity to catch up with old friends. Of course, the late night fun on Thursday led to an early Friday morning when the venue opened at 8 am. BoldGrid had a booth in the main room, and the location could not have been better. After an hour, Tim knew he had not brought nearly enough swag to give away given the amount of traffic at the booth. The crowd contained a good mix of first-time campers (about 60%) and more experienced vets, leading to some great conversations. Saturday took a slower start, but soon picked up to the same level of activity that Friday saw. While Daniel spoke to customers, he also got to show off a recent BoldGrid website he built. As the day came to a close, only 25 of the original 275 Tide Pens (our swag item) remained, meaning we gave out the other 275 to an event of 500! The after-party took place in the Carnegie Library. It included music, drinks, and a great opportunity for our team to unwind after a long, but exciting couple of days. But, WordCamp had more in store for us. Sunday was Contributor Day. Somehow Tim found himself in the “support” area, answering questions from the WordPress forums. Despite having only three people in the pit, they managed to provide WordPress support to 25 forum posts. Looks like Tim really knows his stuff!

WPCampus Buffalo, NY:

Next, MikeDemo headed to Buffalo, NY to attend the second-ever WPCampus event. Despite its relative newness, WPCampus has become the premier event for all things related to WordPress for higher education. Held at Canisius College, MikeDemo arrived on Friday and immediately fell in love with the beautiful venue and amazing dining hall that (commendably) offered full vegan options. Attendance on Friday was great, the sessions were well planned and executed, and the entire experience reminded us why this is such a great event. The location took the spotlight, though, as a trip to Niagara Falls to watch the fireworks capped off a truly great day. On Saturday, MikeDemo gave his talk about rethinking web design classes. Well received by the audience, the talk inspired a lively discussion. A tremendous lineup of speakers followed throughout the day, and the discussions remained engaging and interesting. Although we did not sponsor WPCampus we were proud to have attended this outstanding event.

More to Come

Although we had a busy weekend last week, we have many more events to go this year. Up next, the BoldGrid team will attend WordCamp Boston (July 22 and 23). We hope you will stop by and see us!

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