There's a new kid on the block in terms of Vancouver WordPress conferences, and that kid's name is WordCamp:Developers. Unlike previous incarnations of WordCamp in the Vancouver area, WordCamp:Developers will have less content about the beginner aspects of WordPress (like the difference between .com and .org, which comes up at many conferences) and more content about advanced aspects of WordPress, such as development. As many people know, I've helped organize three WordCamp conferences in the Vancouver area. The first was a small WordCamp Vancouver that was attached to BarCamp (which is no longer ...

I've been busy lately, busier in fact that I've been in quite some time. WPtouch 2.0 Pro has been a lot of work and a lot of fun, and we're getting ready to release it shortly. If you're interested in checking it out, sign up for updates. WordCamp Vancouver is this weekend as well, and the last week especially has been a lot of work. The event is shaping up to be really great, so I'm definitely looking forward to being there. That said, I'm also looking forward to being on the other side of it so I can get back into my normal routine. With everything going on these last few weeks, I haven't really ...

I had a rough sleep the other night, so I was a bit tired yesterday. I passed out on the couch for a bit in the late afternoon and early evening, and woke up just long enough to grab some McDonald's for supper. Afterwards I started watching a bit of Lost, but could hardly keep my eyes open. I strolled into bed at around 9pm last night, thinking I would read for a while. Apparently I passed out, because next thing I knew it was about 4am in the morning. By the time the night was over, I had slept 11 hours, which is a pretty long sleep for me. I'm just taking it easy this weekend. I have a WordCamp ...

It's still early in the process, but today we (as a group) started planning a big WordPress event in Vancouver: WordCamp Vancouver. For those of you who follow regularly, you'll remember that I was a co-organizer of WordCamp Whistler, which turned out to be a very well received event with an attendance of about 120 people, which is rather remarkable, given how expensive Whistler is and how far many people drove to be there. In the past, I've helped put together a few small WordCamp Vancouver events, but the one we're planning is going to be a fairly large one I imagine. Right now we're exploring ...

Everyone keeps asking me if there's going to be another WordCamp Whistler this year. Unfortunately the answer is no (at least for the January - March period), not because there's not enough interest (in fact, many people approached me during the social last year and said what a great time they had, and how they wanted to do it again), but because the 2010 Olympics are happening around the same time, and the logistics of that event will basically make it impossible to pull off this year. So while I make no promises, perhaps there will be a late 2010 version or and early 2011 version of WordCamp ...

Walking around WordCamp Portland today it was completely evident not only how much work has gone into it, but just how big the WordPress community is here in Portland. I knew this would be a good event, and have been pleasantly surprised with the number of people randomly coming up to me and saying hi, or just passively making WordPress conversation. I commented during my talk today that other web events have tickets with prices that can range up to $700 or so. Most WordCamps, due largely in part to help from sponsors, have prices that average around $25 or so. As a result, anyone who wants to ...

I finished my presentation about an hour ago, and have just been drinking a bit of beer since then. I just wrote a little post over at BraveNewCode about a cool little addition I had for my WordCamp Portland presentation, and wanted to post about it here. Both Andrew Sampson and comedian Stephen Fry contributed some data and a video for my presentation, talking about WPtouch and WordPress. It was very much appreciated, and was extremely well received down here. You can read the whole entry over at BraveNewCode, or check out the video here: ...

Well, here we are. It's been a long time coming, but WordCamp Portland is finally here. I spent most of yesterday traveling, mainly due to the slowness of airlines, but ended up arriving around 6:30pm or so last night. There was a dinner last night for the speakers and sponsors, and it was good to finally meet everyone involved in the event. The restaurant was Ethiopian, which you don't see too many of back in BC, so it was a great treat. Thanks to the dinner sponsor who picked up the food and drinks last night. I was originally going to come back to my hotel room last night and work on my slides, ...

Almost time to get in a plane. Tomorrow night I'll pack everything up and get ready for a trip down to the states on Friday. Definitely looking forward to the weekend, and also being on the other side of it since it's the last real event of the summer before I can downshift a few gears and take things a bit slower again. I probably won't post again until WordCamp, but who knows. ...

Ahh yes, the end of a long weekend. And not just any long weekend, the last long weekend of the summer. So long summer of 2009, it was nice to know you. My niece and nephew head back to school tomorrow, which is sort of exciting for them. I always liked going back to school for some reason. Maybe it was buying a whole new batch of school supplies, or seeing some of your friends again after a summer apart. Granted, after about a week I was sick of the new year, but that first week was usually fun. As for me, I took it pretty easy this weekend. I was originally supposed to go camping, but opted ...

I just finished booking my flight to WordCamp Portland, so I figured now was a good time to write a post about it. I was a co-organizer for two WordCamp Vancouver events, as well as one up in Whistler, but strangely enough I haven't actually spoken at a WordCamp for almost about two years now. So having me up front should make for some interesting entertainment. I'll be speaking on mobile blogging, with an emphasis on our WPtouch plugin. I'll probably also talk a bit about mobile blogging in general, similarly to what I talked about at the Network Hub a few years ago. If I have time, I'll probably ...

I was looking at my schedule tonight, trying to figure out where I have to be and when. Here's what it's currently looking like: Sep 3 - 7, Camping at the Lake Sep 10 - 13, Canadian Country Music Awards, Vancouver Sep 18 - 20, Speaking at WordCamp Portland Sep 24 - 28, Friends from Ontario in town So basically every single weekend in September is already jam packed. I still haven't decided whether or not I'm flying to Portland or driving. Considering I just drove to Portland a while ago, I'm leaning more towards flying. If I do that, I'll probably fly out of Bellingham, since it's a pretty close ...

I'm going to overhaul this website again, most likely starting in July. To be perfectly honest, writing content just isn't as satisfying as it once was, partially because I don't have as much to write these days, and partially because I am just enjoying other aspects of my life more (such as going outside to hit some tennis balls around or heading up to the lake for lunch). Something I've always wanted on this blog, and that I've never really been able to achieve, is to have something that's predominantly photo-centric. So my goal in July will be transform this blog into something more photo oriented, ...

Yesterday was WordCamp San Francisco, and Rebecca, John Bollwitt, John BIehler, Dale and myself all attended. The night before we thought it was a good idea to sit around and drink margaritas until around 2am, so we were all a bit tired during the event. But it was a great event, and we're all glad we made the trip down. Several fairly exciting things happened during Matt Mullenweg's State of the Word Presentation. First, Matt showed a slide which displayed some of the new profile information that is going to be coming to WordPress.org -- BraveNewCode has actually been helping with that effort, ...

I was talking to my mom on the phone the other night, and she reminded me that it had been nearly a week since I'd written a post on here. Truthfully I almost forgot that I had a blog -- I just haven't had the urge to write much lately. Maybe it's because my days all sort of blur into each other these days, something hopefully the summer will remedy. I hung out with an old friend on Sunday, and we basically just bounced around Chilliwack drinking the odd beer in the sun - it was good times. I even managed to whack a few balls up at the Cultus Lake driving range. Most of them ended up about four ...

As Matt recently indicated, there will be a developer day on the Sunday after WordCamp San Francisco down at the Automattic offices on Pier 38. Should be a good time -- I'm looking forward to meeting some other developers. Hopefully the hangover won't be too bad that day. Unlike last year, I actually scheduled a bit of breathing room this trip, so I'll have time to check out the event and also catch a few sights in the Bay Area. ...

As I'm pretty beat, I'll post in more detail about WordCamp Whistler over the next few days. But I wanted to just say that it was a really great success in my opinion, and for the most part, went off without any hitches. I want to thank John Bollwitt and Rebecca Bollwitt for all their hard work over the last two months to help make it possible. I also want to thank all of the sponsors, speakers, and of course, the attendees who came up and made it a success. Photo by John Biehler We were hoping that at least 50 people would ultimately show up. The official turn out was somewhere around 105 people, ...

I did an interview last week with the Whistler Pique newspaper about WordCamp Whistler. You can check it out here. ...

Yes folks, in only six more days we'll be forced to close down registration for WordCamp Whistler so that we can give our final numbers to the Fairmont. Tickets are still available, so if you'd like to come, make sure you sign up now. Included in the price of a ticket is a full day of WordPress and social media related talks, lunch, a few drinks at the social event, and a piece of one-of-a-kind WordPress schwag. The participants of WordCamp Whistler have also been extended an invite to a Beer For Bloggers event up in Whistler on Friday, the 23rd. So if you're up in Whistler by then, there are ...

If you're on Twitter, and want to follow updates for WordCamp Whister, feel free to follow the official Twitter account here. We're just waiting for confirmation from the venue, and then we'll step on the gas and put the stick-shift into high gear. ...