WordCamp Whistler is just around the corner, and we’ve already seen an increase in ticket sales these last few days. If you’re interested in coming, you should go ahead and buy your tickets now. Right now tickets are $35, but as of Friday, January 9th, they’ll increase to $40. The following Friday, January 16th, they will increase to $50, and shortly afterwards they will no longer be available. If you’d like to purchase your tickets, please visit our EventBrite page and pick up your tickets now. Included in the price of your ticket is a full day of WordPress-related talks, complimentary lunch, a one-of-a-kind piece of winter-related WordPress swag, and access to the social event, complete with a few free drinks.
There are still a few sponsorship spots open, so if you’re looking for some extra exposure for your company, and to be a part of the first WordCamp in Whistler, then please visit our sponsorship page for more information.
Also, we have a really great group rate at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, so if you’re interested in booking, please use this link. Many people have booked both Friday and Saturday nights, so there should be lots to do that weekend and lots of great people to hang out with.
We’re announcing the last few speakers today and tomorrow, and then we’ll start final preparations for the event. We already have a pretty awesome line-up, and will be adding a few more talks today regarding using WordPress as a CMS, and an SEO power talk.
So, now is the time to act, before it’s too late! Hope to see you all up on the hill!
Also, we’ve just received our first look at the WordCamp Whistler toques! Check ‘em out. Everyone who attends will get one.
My mom reminded me tonight that at this time in exactly two weeks, I’ll no longer be in Vancouver. The time sure has gone quickly. I actually get the keys to my new apartment on the 15th, so I might head out on the night of the 14th and grab them in person.
I’ve been slowly organizing things in my current apartment, and strangely enough, I really don’t have that much stuff here. I’ll probably load up my car on the 14th with all my valuables and drive those out to Chilliwack myself. I also need to find my Shaw cable modem, which apparently I’m to bring back to Chilliwack for them to reactivate. On the 18th I’ll grab the truck and do the final deed.
The only thing I still haven’t quite figured out is what to do about a phone. I’m going to keep my current Vancouver number since I still plan to do a lot of work in the Vancouver area. Unfortunately though, the intercom system in my new apartment requires a phone number so that it can call your phone. I doubt it’ll work with a Vancouver number, which basically means that I’ll have to get a Chilliwack number. Vonage is still around $20/month, with around a $70 hit just to sign up. I don’t know what Telus is, but I suspect it’s similar. Roger’s will be at least $20/month to add another number onto my account, so basically I’m looking at at least $240/year, simply for the privilege of letting people into my apartment. Maybe I should just install a gong outside or something that people can whack to get me to let them in.
A friend asked me last night if I was nervous at all about this. Truthfully, not really. I’m more nervous about WordCamp Whistler than I am about starting a new career. I think if anything I’m comforted by the fact that whatever happens over the next year, I’ll be essentially 100% in charge of my own destiny.
I have ten more days of work left, and then I’ll be done. I’ll spend most of that time transitioning myself out of my current role, and helping bring others up to speed. My final day will undoubtedly be pretty weird. I have a lot of friends at work, and I watched the company grow from around 8 people all the way up to 150 or so. That being said, I’ll be happy when I’m on the other side of January, sitting on the couch in my new place in front of my gas fireplace.
Someone came to look at my apartment in Vancouver the other day, and their first comment about it was how noisy they thought it would be with all the traffic over the Howe Street on-ramp. I guess after living here for years, I’ve sort of grown used to it.
Truthfully though, it is really loud. While lying in bed this morning I heard at least three loud sirens in about ten minutes, along with tons of trucks, cars honking, and traffic over the bridge. I’ve never really been one for earplugs, mainly because I’m paranoid about sleeping through a fire alarm or something like that. That being said, I tried wearing some ear plugs the other night, and actually ended up sleeping a lot better.
I’m pretty certain that noise will not really be a problem in my new place. There’s no police station, firehall or hospital nearby, so the chances of hearing a siren are pretty much zero. Also, I’m not really next to any major roads, so I don’t think I’ll hear much in the way of traffic during the night. It’s been years since I’ve had a sleep that wasn’t interrupted by noises, so it’s going to be a welcome change living somewhere quiet again.
Jeff Pulver is not only one of the original pioneers of voice over IP (VoIP), but also a really great individual who dedicates himself to technology and meeting all the people involved in it. I first met Jeff in the lounge of the Fairmont San Jose where him, Erik Lagerway and myself all sat around drinking one night years ago. If I remember correctly, Jeff picked up the tab that night, so I definitely owe him a few beers.
Jeff will be up in Vancouver on the 10th and 11th of January. If you’re around and want to grab breakfast with him on the morning of the 11th, check out the Facebook event he set up.
I’m looking forward to catching up with Jeff again, and for helping contribute to a January 11th hangover for the guy.
To say that this month is going to be a complete gongshow would be an understatement. I have so much on my plate that I wake up every day and wonder just how in the world I’m going to make it through it all.
On January 5th I go back to work, and have 10 more days until I’m done my current job. I’ve been there nearly five years, and it’s a very strange feeling to be nearly done. I started when I was 26, and at the ripe old age of 31 now, I hardly remember what type of person I was way back then. Seems so strange that that much time has elapsed, since really, it seems like yesterday to me. During that time I also have to somehow pack up the rest of my apartment and start the transition out of city life.
On January 15th I take possession of my new apartment in Chilliwack. Given that I have to work that day, I’m not really sure who will be grabbing my keys for me. I have Shaw cable coming that morning in Chilliwack, so somebody really needs to be there.
On January 18th I’m doing the actual move. I’ll probably be forced to drive my car to Chilliwack on the night of the 16th and leave it there. That means I’ll be bussing back or getting a ride from someone on the 17th or 18th, and grabbing the u-haul truck. Some friends are swinging by on the 18th to help me pack stuff into a truck, at which point, for the first time since I was 18, I will no longer live in a major Canadian city.
I have a few days to unwind in Chilliwack before some new furniture arrives on January 20th. I took advantage of some boxing day sales and picked up a new coffee table, some extra stools for my “bar”, and a new bedroom suite, since I’ve lived without one by whole adult life.
A few days later, Dale Mugford should be flying into Vancouver or Abbotsford, at which point we’ll start the drive up to WordCamp Whistler for a few days of fun in the snow (something Dale’s probably rather good at, living in Ontario as he does). On the way back we’ll hopefully hook up with Matt for a quick visit before Dale flies back that Monday.
How I’ll manage to make it through January is still beyond me. Like the dentist, I’m already imagining myself on the other side of the appointment, and trying to convince myself that yes, I will make it through everything. I’m definitely looking forward to the next month, but will definitely be happy in late January when all the hard stuff is over. But until then, I’ll just take it a day at a time.
I had planned to spend tonight curled up on my couch watching movies, and for the most part I pulled that off. Keira and Jennifer stopped by for a few hours, which was a welcomed distraction, but they just left. I’m actually pretty bagged, so once midnight rolls around, I’m gonna hit the sack and sleep in tomorrow.
I used to get all excited about New Year’s Eve and usually ended up at a party drinking until the wee hours of the morning. But that’s just not something I’m really interested in these days. Had the girls not swung by, I would have simply had diet pepsi instead of wine. To me, it’s just another day in the year.
I find that I’m a bit anxious these last few days. I sort of feel like I’m in limbo right now, and I’m anxious to move back to Chilliwack and get all set up. As I’ve already started packing stuff up in my apartment, it’s slowly feeling less and less like home, something that won’t be completely remedied until I’m set up in my new apartment. I’m not usually one to worry about things, and sort of have always just rolled with the punches, but I have a lot on my plate for January, and my mind has been racing lately trying to make sure I have all my bases covered.
Unlike the two years prior, nothing really major happened during these last twelve months. No surgeries, no broken windows, no major health problems in the family, and for all of that I’m definitely thankful. In terms of the New Year, I’m looking forward to spending some more time with my family, and reconnecting with some old friends back home. I’m also looking forward to working with Dale full time, and not having to walk across town every morning to head into an office. Cooking for myself again ranks pretty highly as well, as my current lifestyle involves far too much restaurant food. It’ll be nice to have time to cook for myself, or to swing by the odd family member’s house for dinner from time to time.
So, hopefully everyone spent tonight hanging out with friends and family. To all of you, have a happy new year, and I wish you all the best in 2009!
Because it’s the holidays, and because I’m trying to clear out my apartment, I’m going to offer some free prints of the Vancouver area on my website. If you’d like one, place a comment below. I’ll give one to the 5th commenter, the 10th commenter, the 15th commenter, and the 20th commenter. I’m going to moderate all comments on this post and release them five at a time, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t see any below at first!
The original four photos have been taken, but I’m going to do a draw at 10pm PST for another Inuqshuk. Everyone who hasn’t already won a photo and who is on this comment list will be eligible. This one is sort of unique — it’s currently on my wall. I’ll even ship it in the frame if you want it. It doesn’t get any more unique than that, so hurry and leave a comment if you want in.
The prints I have at home are all high dynamic range shots from around Vancouver, taken by yours truly. The four I have here available in 8×12s are:
The Vancouver Inuqshuk:
Sunrise Over Yaletown:
Kitsilano Beach and the North Shore Mountains:
I also have another cool shot of the sun setting of Yaletown, but I can’t seem to find a copy online to post here. So you’ll have to take my word for it that it’s pretty cool.
So that’s four in total. I’ll mail them anywhere in North America at my expense, so feel free to drop a comment if you want one.
Update — The winner of the first photo (comment #5) is Jeff Carter, congrats! The winner of the second photo is Donna (comment #10)! Who hoo! The winner of the 3rd photo is A. J. Rowley (comment #15)! Awesome! Last photo went to Jeff Black! Congrats!
We’re currently in the bonus round (read up above), so leave a comment if you want to be included in the draw for a one of a kind, personally framed version of the Inuqshuk.
Contest over people. The winner of the framed Inuqshuk is Steve Pratt from Vancouver.
A couple people have recently asked me about my future plans with regards to employment and what not. Surprisingly, a few of my close friends didn’t really know what BraveNewCode was. So, for all of you who don’t, I thought I’d give a quick breakdown.
BraveNewCode is a small web design company composed of myself and Dale Mugford. Dale’s been using the name for doing various jobs for about a year now, and also for showcasing some of his design portfolio. About six months ago Dale asked if I wanted to be a part of it, primarily by hosting my plugins on BraveNewCode. At that time I had mainly been hosting all my plugins on my personal site, and thought it would be pretty cool putting them with some of Dale’s open-source WordPress themes.
At around the same time, Dale approached me about doing an iPhone specific theme for WordPress. We originally did an iPhone theme for Matthew Good’s website, and used some of the concepts we learned in that process to do the first beta for WPtouch. Based on positive user feedback, we have continued to improve it and are currently about to release version 1.6 sometime in the near future. Between the WordPress repository and the WPtouch section of BraveNewCode, we’ve seen close to 50,000 downloads of WPtouch so far. We’ve also had some interest from the guys at Automattic about putting it on WordPress.com, which we think would be pretty cool.
Since then, Dale has continued designing websites, and has let me pick up the odd bit of cash on the side by helping develop some of them. I originally started helping out during my evenings and weekends simply so I could pay off my student loan sometime before I die. However, in recent months given the requests that we’ve had, the positive feedback from clients and people in the industry, the country music award we were both nominated for, and also the fun we’ve had working on it, we’ve both come to the realization that BraveNewCode can be something a lot more than it already is. So with that in mind, I recently decided to leave my job and focus on BraveNewCode full time.
As I can basically do work wherever there’s a computer and an Internet connection (and really, the latter is only needed from time to time), I have opted to move back to Chilliwack where rent is cheaper, and the odd free meal magically shows up on my front door from time to time. Plus, being around my family and friends back home is something I’m obviously looking forward to.
Dale and I have a lot in store for BraveNewCode, so make sure you keep track of what’s going on. Head over to our main site and take a look around, or subscribe to the feed. BraveNewCode also has a Twitter account, so follow us there if you use that.
I’m looking forward to contributing to BraveNewCode, and working with Dale on a routine basis. I’ll post about exciting BraveNewCode things on here from time to time as well.
Also, WordCamp Whistler is coming up! Make sure you head on up and check it out! If you’d like to come, but something is holding you back, please let us know. Some people are interested in carpooling and we have a post up on the main website to help people organize those. Driving up for the day is definitely doable, so we’d like to see as many people from Vancouver as possible!
It seems that after eight years of university I’ve acquired a fairy large array of engineering books. Since I haven’t read any of them in years, I figure I might as well sell a few of them off. Here’s a list of some of them. If you’re interested, drop me a comment. Also, please feel free to forward this list on to any physics or electrical engineering students.
Yes folks, WordCamp Whistler is only about a month away now. It’s shaping up to be a really great event, and everyone should make sure they come out and attend.
We’re still accepting speaker submissions, although we have a pretty good lineup in the works already. Lorelle Van Fossen will be making the trek up from Oregon for our keynote speech. John Biehler will be talking about using multimedia to sex up your blog. Dale Mugford will be out and talking about mobile blogging. Dave Olson (who gave one of the best talks at Northern Voice 2008) will be giving a great talk as well, as will Andy Peatling, who recently released the first social networking framework for WordPress, BuddyPress. We’re also going to be announcing a few more speakers shortly as well, one of which is in the area of search engine optimization.
If you’re a business or an individual, this event will definitely help you better understand how to use WordPress and various social media services. There are approximately eight hours worth of talks scheduled, so you’re definitely get your money’s worth for $35. In addition, everyone will receive a really cool piece of winter-related WordPress swag, and also gain attendance for the social event in the evening where people can mingle and potentially market themselves or their business.
Our current sponsors are Automattic, Molson, and 6S Marketing. We’re still looking for a few more sponsors, so if you have a business and would like some added exposure, please see the official sponsorship packages.
We also have a group rate at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, so please take advantage of that if you’re coming up for the event and to ski or snowboard for a few days. Most of us have already booked Friday and Saturday night, and I’ve heard a few cases of people booking for even longer. If you’d like to book, please visit the information page on the official website.
Tickets for the event can be found on the EventBrite page for $35. They’re going fast, so make sure you snag your ticket when you can! The event will be scheduled so that it will be possible to wake up in Vancouver and make the drive up on the morning of the 24th, so commuting shouldn’t be a problem for any Vancouver people who would like to attend. I hope to see everyone out up on the hill!