Registration is complete and we’re currently watching a super cool WordPress montage video here at WordCamp Whistler. I have to head up to the podium in a minute but I’ll be updating throughout the day as best I can.
Here’s a quick video from Kris and Duane while setting up this morning.
Update: Lorelle is the first person up and she has very good things to say about Glenda Watson Hyatt right off the bat.
Lorelle is a great speaker with a lot of energy, she introduced herself playfully, “I’m here as a representative of WordPress today – on behalf of Matt since he’s in Toronto today… how dare he!” Although Lorelle the top WordPress evangelist she also works for Woopra.
A few pet peeves of Matt and the WordPress crew is when WordPress does not have an uppercase “P”. Another is the logo, it should be a “tall and graceful W” (I just checked the toques and it looks like Linus got it right for us. By the way, toques were made my Linusco Designs).
Lorelle is sharing a few “power” tips and one is Future Posts (which is something I use often). “I write 3, 4, 5, 6 posts at a time and I schedule them to publish over time. It allows me to have a life.” She also says that those who are not on updated versions are “idiots, and I don’t use the term lightly.”
For her next tip she shows the Firefox logo (YES!). “I’m a tab junkie and here’s why you should be too, especially for WordPress.” Also, “pro bloggers use the HTML editor.” I absolutely agree with all of Lorelle’s points – very useful and helpful for anyone who does a lots of publishing with WP.
Lorelle asks, “how many are winning the SEO game?” she goes on to provide more tips about title tags. “It is the law in some countries — you need to put in your alt tag.”
Back to Lorelle, she is giving a few notes on why you should be using the HTML editor (you can turn off visual editor in your user profile). She has so many tools, Firefox add-ons, scripts, and recommendations it’s hard to keep up, which is certainly a good sign. Sites to find plugins include Blog Herald, Weblog Tools Collection, Planet WordPress, the Codex, WordPress Planet from Ozh, WordPress Podcast and more including WordPress TV.
Lorelle is now going around the room and getting top WordPress tips from the crowd and sharing the top plugins you should be using. Her talk ends successfully and attendees flock to the registration table to purchase copies of her book. We have now bumped up #wcw09 to be one of the top ten trending topics on Twitter right now.
Update: Dale Mugford from Brave New Code is up next with, “An Incovenient Blog — WordPress is going mobile, you should too.” Dale offers suggests mobile plugins and solutions for WordPress, “for a lot of people, mobile internet is the only internet they use.”
Dale gives a quick demo of WPtouch, which allows your website to be optimized for mobile devices and judging by the tweets I’m seeing, it’s a crowd-favourite already.
Update:John Biehler is up next and he seriously has the largest collection of interesting, and flat out wicked-cool tricks and tips for video and photos on websites and blogs. Here’s a quick time lapse he made on his way up to Whistler.
The first plugin John is demoing is FAlbum, for grabbing Flickr albums and images and popping them on your WordPress site.
Up next John shares the pb-embedflash plugin. “Create playlists, embed videos from multiple sources, as well as local files. You can also skin it so there’s not a lot of code hacking.” This plugin offers so many cool features like captions (if you want to transcribe the video) as well as custom logos and images, which I love since sometimes the still image or thumbnail it displays for your video may not be the most flattering or have the best description of the content. Not sure if YouTube does this but Viddler does.
As John is giving the demo of the custom logo thumbnails he adds the WordPress “W” then flips it to an image of bacon coining the term, “baconvision”. Awesome.
Update: Lorelle announces a quick contest before the mic is handed over to Morten (our last presenter before lunch). She has brought some WordPress tattoos and if you win her creative tattoo application and display contest, then you will win the last copy of her book that is here at WordCamp Whistler.
Update: Morten is up with “how to emancipate yourself from the shackles of a ‘blog'” when dealing with WordPress. He goes through what actually defines a blog and how even though WordPress is a blogging platform you don’t have to use it simply for “personal journals”. An example he uses is DeSmogBlog, where even though blog is in the title, it’s more article-driven and breaks the mold when it comes to traditional thinking on blogs. “What defines a blog is not really the content, it’s how the content is presented.” Morten offers up a few amusing and updated definitions Ancient Norwegian Proverb “A blog is only a blog if it looks like a blog.”
He demonstrates how to make a static page your front page (and bump the blog to a specific “blog” page on your site). Steps to ‘Emancipation’ 1. Focus on Pages, 2. Custom Templates, 3. Remove Bloggish Content ie. Sidebars. This is where we get elbow-deep in PH code, which is awesome for the more intermediate and even beginners — just to know what’s possible.
It’s lunch time now – I’ll be back at 2:00pm from the Fairmont in Whistler.
On the way up to Whistler this afternoon for WordCamp Duane, John, Dale and I recorded a quick podcast. It was a fun trip and we actually found smooth sailing along the Sea to Sky Highway.
Upon arriving at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Resort (home of WordCamp Whistler) we ran into Lorelle at the registration desk. It was such a pleasure to finally meet her as she’s definitely someone I look up to in the WordPress realm and moreso the general blogging universe.
After finding out rooms and freshening up we headed out to Beer for Bloggers, presented by Reachd. I must say, they are quite the hosts and even though there was plenty of beer provided, I spent most of the time networking with various individuals from businesses that had come to Whistler, either specifically for WordCamp or just for the Beer for Bloggers event.
“Happy Birthday” was also sung in honor of Chris Briekss of 6S Marketing, who has been an excellent sponsor of WordCamp Whistler.
While decompressing later tonight with Duane and John we reflected on how the heck the three of us have managed to arrange this conference that has attracted over 100 people to this wonderful location.
The true test will come tomorrow when we get to hear the speakers and socialize with many more companies and like-minded folks who use WordPress.
I’ve decided that I will do a “day blog” tomorrow since I’ll probably be too busy to liveblog diligently, yet I will still be updating my site with speaker notes and photos. Please tune in tomorrow morning at 10:00am as Lorelle presents her keynote for WordCamp Whistler.
I was given media passes to the Taste BC event (as well as the contest tickets) although I was planning on staying in last night and preparing for the trip to WordCamp Whistler. I completely forgot that I had arranged to cover Ideas on Tap for Media2O Productions so I raced out for the liveblog. Fortunately, I was able to send two lovely ladies to Taste BC in my place to cover the event for Miss604.com.
Keira and Amy along with Miss604.com contest winners.
The only thing better than enjoying fantastic wines, incredible cheeses and decadent chocolate is indulging in all of the above for charity. Last night the second annual Taste BC welcomed fine food lovers to the grand ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Vancouver.
“Vancouver’s largest food and drink tasting featuring everything BC! From wineries to restaurants, cheese to cider and seafood to beer, Taste BC features the best food and drink BC has to offer.”
Attendees were quickly whisked inside, wine glass in hand, and greeted by a number of exhibitors offering everything from fruit-based liqueurs, delicate cheeses, red wine, white wine, oysters, mussels and chocolate truffles. Given that I had three hours to sample all the local fare, I took my time and had a chance to speak with each merchant about their products.
One of the first exhibitors that drew my eye was Forbidden Fruit Winery from Cawston. Their unique organic fruit wines are produced with some of the most beautiful flavours I’ve ever tasted – or smelled – from a glass. The 2007 Crushed Innocence white peach dessert wine was a favourite.
Being that I’m from Vancouver Island, in recent years I’ve watched vineyards start to dot the Island, almost all of which have been producing outstanding wines. I had a chance to talk with Andy Johnston, proprietor of Averill Creek Vineyard near Duncan. He explained to me one of his favourite traditions in winemaking, using the french oak method, which reduces the acidity and brings out fragrant flavour notes – particularly in their 2006 Pinot Gris.
In a room so full of varied and phenomenal vino, keeping the palate clear is important. In between sips, I treated myself to fresh Denman Island oysters courtesy of Rodney’s Oyster House, organic turkey sausage from Whole Foods Market, outstanding tonic water (brewed for over 100 years) from Fentimans and old world breads from Granville Island’s La Baguette.
Before I knew it, my evening was over and, much like Cinderella losing her glass slipper, I left my wine glass behind at the stroke of 7:30 and dashed out the door. My belly full, my point-of-view a little fuzzy from all the great wine but my conscience clear knowing how many children will be helped through the proceeds of this extraordinary evening.
Last fall I heard of an amazing initiative called Beauty Night. It is an event that has been taking place in several cities across Canada for the last few years with a goal to bring women together for a bit of a boost through makeover sessions, book clubs, yoga classes, movie nights, and more.
I recently contacted organizer Caroline MacGillivray (recipient of the 2002 Flare Volunteer Award, among other noble achievements) who was kind enough to answer some questions so that I could share more information with my readers about Beauty Night; “Because dignity is beautiful”.
How did it start?
My best friend from theatre school wrote a script and asked me to play a young suburban girl’s transition to a DTES survival sex worker dealing with addiction. I volunteered at a shelter for research. One night I did one of the ladies hair, makeup and nails because I wanted to see her eyes light up the way little kids do when they see Santa. They did and I started wondering if this could be done for other women.
Who can benefit/Who are the clients in general?
It is win/win for everyone. The entire community benefits. We work in conjunction with agencies and NGOs that provide addiction, mental ill health, and violence against women support. We are able to work together to make a difference in the lives of many. Our volunteers empower the women and themselves by sharing their gifts (skills) with the clients. The programs bridge the gap between different areas of society. I believe this creates a synergy for us to make a positive impact by breaking down barriers and working together.
One third of our clients are seniors, one third is survival sex workers, and the last third is mothers and youth. Many of our clients deal with issues such as poverty, homelessness, addiction, mental ill health, illness – HIV, Hep C. Most of our clients have deal with violence against women.
Who can help?
Everyone. Each of us — to paraphrase Nelson Mandela or Marianne Williamson — have gifts. I like to think of beauty night as a vessel for people to share those gifts. By sharing, they inspire and heal others and themselves.
Beauty industry professionals and medical professionals are the staple of our programming. We have volunteers for fitness, media, and literacy. We do need help with our media, fundraising and website.
We do need volunteers to facilitate events in Vancouver, Toronto and Prince George.
How can others contribute?
They can donate online — if they go to CanadaHelps they can donate to Beauty Night. We are a registered charity so we can issue tax receipts for monetary donations.
What services or products can be donated?
Beauty products – mascara wands, nail files, barbacide are most needed.
Storage space, fitness equipment like jump ropes, twist products, etc. Journals for the literacy program. Printing – brochures, posters, business cards, etc. Hair dressing, grant proposal writing, yoga instructors.
Check out the Beauty Night website to learn about upcoming events in your community or to contact Caroline about how you can assist with these programs.
Once again the Yaletown Brewing Company is packed shoulder-to-shoulder with business folks, techies, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in beer and networking at the first Ideas on Tap of 2009.
