WordCamp Portland 2009 Recap

I spent my weekend with a group of enthusiastic WordPress users and developers. Wow, I learned so much! I’ve been watching the Twitter stream, and there are some great things in there!

Here’s a few pictures, along with some notes:

This was the opening, with the lovely logo on the screen. The kickoff to a great weekend!

Podcasting:

I attended a session on podcasting. There were several people in the room who were already in podcasting (only three of us had been around for more than a year), and those interested in the subject. Dr. Normal and CamiKaos gave some great tips, and words of wisdom based on their experiences.

Matt Mullenweg’s Keynote:

Here is Aaron Hockley (did I mention he’s the organizer of the event?) introducting Matt. I had never heard Matt speak, so this was a treat. He answered a lot of audience questions. I was impressed with his open style, friendly attitude and remarkable knowledge. If you weren’t a WordPress lover before, his obvious passion for the WordPress & Open Source community was infectious.

“To Open Source!”

Un-Conferencing:

I loved this concept last year, and was happy to see it back again. I ended up co-facilitating two sessions, on two subjects I wanted to know more about. The Un-Conference idea is to suggest subjects to cover, and by doing so, you are volunteering to facilitate a discussion or present. I was so impressed with the knowledge in the room, and willingness to share resources. I enjoyed the sessions I helped with, those I attended and came away with some great tools!

Chocolate.

Did I mention there was chocolate? Yeah, let’s just say I am now having a torrid love affair with Coconut Bliss.

Lorelle Speaks:

Lorelle (also lovingly known as the Fairy BlogMother) gave a great presentation on blog Categories & Tags. This session alone was worth the price of admission (which was only $20 I might add). I not only came away with some clarity around the subject, but a roadmap to make my sites better. Thank you so much, Lorelle!

What a great weekend.

This was my second WordCamp Portland. Last year my head was swimming. This year I was actually able to keep up for about 80% of the time. That’s improvement baby.

I came away with things I can use (right away) on my blogs and business. I also sat in on some very thought provoking conversations. The creativity and community are unreal, and I’m glad to be a part of it.

Thanks to all the presenters, attendees (too many I didn’t catch up with), volunteers and organizers who all worked so hard to make it all happen. I learned so much from all of you, and I can’t wait for the next event.