More WordCamp US Speakers Tips and Teasers

Courtney Patubo Kranzke

Hi there! I’m Courtney P.K., a contributor to the Training Team on the WordPress Open Source project. The Training Team brings you the free resources at Learn.WordPress.org, a comprehensive educational platform for the WordPress community, by the WordPress community.

Did you know that Learn WordPress not only provides resources to help you excel with WordPress but also equips you with teaching materials to empower others in your local WordPress community? That’s right! Whether you’re a WordPress Meetup organizer, WordCamp organizer, educator, or simply a WordPress enthusiast with a thirst for knowledge, you can leverage the free resources on Learn WordPress to create a thriving learning environment within your community.

Come explore the world of WordPress education and empowerment at my session called “Learn WordPress: A Resource for You and Your Community“! Discover how Learn WordPress can not just elevate your skills, but also ignite your passion for teaching and shape the future of WordPress education through active contribution.

Sean Blakely

Hi, my name is Sean Blakely. I’m the technical director at AmericanEagle.com. I’m going to be talking at WordCamp US about the headless block editor. Things in this space have been moving incredibly quickly, and I’m going to talk about why the block editor is important for headless architecture.

I’m going to discuss the many challenges we face when trying to utilize the block editor within headless applications. But I’m also going to show how a single file, the block.json file, has been absolutely critical on our pathway to success for implementing the block editor in headless applications.

I want to walk you through the concept of a block bridge and show you a real-world example from Mecham.com, where we’ll see data coming from an external source pulling into WordPress, being distributed programmatically into Gutenberg, and then pulled out from WordPress into a front-end application like a Next.js application.

We’ll also look at some extraordinary new tools that have arrived recently from VIP, WPEngine, and a recent 10up offering. All these tools and momentum are building up steam in providing WordPress the opportunity to become the de facto visual headless CMS. This is an extraordinary opportunity for WordPress and our community. It’s reducing the complexity of building headless applications and lowering the bar of entry in terms of technical challenges.

If you’re coming to WordCamp, interested in WordPress, please come and say hi. If you can, please come and see my talk. Many thanks.

Jonathan Desrosiers

Hey, everyone. My name is Jonathan Desrosiers. I am a senior software engineer at Bluehost, and as part of Bluehost’s commitment to the Five for the Future program, I am pledged full-time to contribute to WordPress Core and the greater WordPress ecosystem and project.

So you pledged to contribute to WordPress. What next? That’s the title of the panel I’ll be sitting on at WordCamp US this year. We’ll discuss not only the Five for the Future program and its obvious benefits but also the ones that are not so obvious. There will be several different perspectives represented, from freelancers to those employed specifically for the Five for the Future program. I hope you’ll walk away with more understanding of what it’s like to be a sponsored contributor or someone who pledges to contribute regularly and the intangible benefits you receive from doing so.

I hope to see you there, and if not, I hope you’ll catch my recording after. Thanks!

Sumner Davenport

Look up, up there, up on the web. It’s a non-accessible website. Oh gosh. Persons of various disabilities are prevented from participating and getting information. Yikes. The designer had a good idea. The developer wrote good code. It seemed like a good theme at first. It passed the wave test. Lighthouse was fully lit, but it failed the user experience.

And the website is not attracting sufficient traffic and customers. The client is confused and not happy. This looks like a job for an accessibility superhero! Seeking to understand the bullet list, P O U R: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust. Consuming daily portions of WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the Breakfast of Accessibility Champions.

Avoiding the deadly arrows of loco overlays and false promises. Pulverizing malicious trolls with the forces of good and ethical remediation. Are you still faltering in mid-air? Do you need to know why WordPress is the best platform for accessibility? How to go from automatic checker to full assessment? And where to start?

You can start by attending Accessibility is an Inside Job at WordCamp US on Friday, August 25th, at 3:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time. Learn from a true-life, fearless accessibility superhero, disguised as mild-mannered, blue-eyed, red-headed Sumner Davenport, a mere mortal passionate about equal rights and disability access.

Owned by three rescue animals, she leads a never-ending battle for web truth, justice, and the accessible way. Get answers, find support, join friends, and make new ones on your web accessibility journey. See you there!

Destiny Kanno

Hi there. My name is Destiny Kanno, and I work as a sponsored WordPress contributor with Automattic, serving as the Head of Community Education. One thing I’m really excited about to dig into in my upcoming panel is the community through affinity aspect. I think that everyone can resonate with that ideal within the WordPress community space.

If you’re a teacher, join the training team. If you’re a designer, join the Make WordPress design team. If you’re a Black WordPress professional who uses, extends, or creates with WordPress, join BlackPress, and maybe a Make WordPress team. At BlackPress, we seek to empower, enable, and amplify Black voices within the WordPress community to increase opportunity, provide mentorship, and build community.

Whether you’re from the Black Diaspora or an ally, we invite you to participate, collaborate, and uplift Black voices through mentorship, open source projects, networking, and showcasing achievements. Please join us on Saturday, August 26 at 1:15 PM Eastern for our panel on BlackPress, Amplifying Black Professionals in WordPress.