WordCamp Fayettevile and why I love this city

[reprinted from Ozarks Unbound]

I did something this weekend which was far outside my comfort zone – I organized a conference of almost 100 folks who love WordPress as much as I do.

Since WordPress is free open source software I feel so strongly about, I got a contact high just from seeing people learn to use it better. It’s my sincere hope that more people use it to write about their local communities.

WordCamp Fayetteville was a tremendous experience. I got a chance to work with amazing volunteers, speakers and sponsors as the two-day conference unfolded right here at the Fayetteville Town Center and the New Design School.

One of the speakers, Mitch Canter, wrote on his Studionashvegas site that the event was “small, intimate and awesome” and I couldn’t ask for a better description that jives with the vibe I wanted to create.

I also need to give a shout out to Mitch who was a pure rock star during the conference. I scheduled myself to give a lecture during the day, but quickly discovered that organizing a conference and speaking at a conference was a juggling act I wasn’t ready to pull off yet.

Mitch stepped into my slot and delivered an impromptu overview of WordPress 3.0 that two people told me was the highlight of the conference for them.

I’ve had about 20 people ask me since it started if I plan to put together another conference in 2011. I take that as proof that people enjoyed themselves. Also the steady and almost universally positive series of tweets under the #wcfay hashtag, makes me feel things were a success.

And for the record – yes, I do plan to do it again next year.

It was so much fun to show off my town to people from at least five different states who made the pilgrimage here to get a little WordPress learnin’.

We had a special dinner for speakers at Hugo’s. Everyone seemed impressed with the homemade french fries and a number of blackened chicken sandwiches were seen around the table.

The Fayetteville Town Center was perfect. Staff there were immediately responsive and knowledgeable.

Our lead sponsors, Paze Interactive of Fayetteville, made sure we could bring in fantastic speakers. Without their generous contribution, I doubt WordCamp Fayetteville would have gotten up and off the ground.

Cox Communication donated materials and service to fire up six wireless routers and a wired ethernet connection. WordCamp attendees are a demanding group when it comes to Wi-fi, expecting immediate and constant internet connections.

I was told by veterans of other WordCamps that we were the best they’d experienced in terms of wireless. That’s a real kudos. Thanks Cox.

Because of Beaver Water District‘s generosity, we were able to offer reusable water bottles and nice reusable bags to attendees. We made cold tap water available during the entire conference and I didn’t once see a disposable plastic water bottle in use. Yay for less trash and more publicity for our region’s amazing watershed.

A personal indulgence was conducting a forum at the end of the day titled “The Transparent Blogger: How Much Disclosure is Enough” I want to thank Jon, Terri and Toni for participating. I really enjoyed moderating that.

You can see a number of the lectures on UStream, thanks to Daniel Gold’s effort to capture everything on video. Thanks Daniel. You can also see several of the presentations at Slideshare.

After a full day of lectures Saturday, we had a great After Party at New Design School. Sonia Davis Gutierrez hosted us and folks were impressed immediately upon entering the awesome space. If you’ve not seen the renovations to the old Fulbright Building, you really should take a look.

The architecture is astounding and everyone had a great time as we had a few drinks and gave away several prizes. Local musician Emily Kaitzprovided great acoustic entertainment.

Finally, Sunday we had a “Guru Gallery” as attendees stopped by and were able to ask any question they wanted and hopefully sit down and share knowledge with others who might just be able to help them.

Mike Davis at the New Design School grilled some burgers for us. Around 4 p.m, I declared the conference officially over.

In retrospect, I have to say running a conference is a much more demanding and rewarding experience than I’d ever guessed. It requires full concentration and without the help of my wife and volunteers I worked like “rented mules” it would not have come together so well.

Thanks Fayetteville for all of your help.