Presentations & Videos

We have updated speaker bios with links to presentation slides, videos and notes on WordCamp from speakers. Have a look; if there’s a (*) next to the speaker’s name, we have stuff for them or from them!

Camper Reviews

Notes and reviews of WordCamp 2010 and various presentations. Most recently discovered listed first:

• Leslie Gilmour
• Andrea Trasatti
• Yoast
• Steve Flinter 1 | 2
• Anthony McG
• Thoroughly Good 1 | 2 | 3
• Niall Harbison
• Freeman Contingent
• Paris by Numbers 1 | 2
• Anna Bee
• Irish Dev
• Sabrina Dent
• Donncha O Caoimh

Photos!

• Martha Rotter
• Ann Donnelly
• Liam de Burca
• Pixie (official photo pool – add yours!)
• Blacknight
• Donncha O Caoimh

Photo Credit: Mykl Roventine

We’ve been inundated with great enthusiasm for Wordcamp Ireland 2010 on Twitter, from attendees, speakers and sponsors alike. We’re delighted so many of you had such a great time, and in the face of so much enthusiasm, we’re going to go ahead and start planning WordCamp 2011 with your help and feedback.

For WordCamp 2011, we promise to:

• Use the right WordPress logo (I’m going to WordPress Hell – Sabrina)
• Block book all rooms at Langton’s so more people can stay there
• Have a smoother registration and check-in system
• Have an online list of attendees so people can find each other after camp
• Re-work the Speakers & Sponsors dinner so it’s more mingle-y
• Signpost the outside of Langton’s so it’s easier to get into!
• Sort out the Conservatory sunlight issue and blackout draping (So sorry about that…)
• Do a better job with lunches (we got slammed by the walk-in registration numbers)
• Have VGA hookup dongle thingies for both kinds of Macs for all rooms
• Have tea, coffee and water available all day every day, instead of tea and coffee service
• Open the bar in the ballroom after the last talk both days so we have our own bar
• Organise volunteer videographers for all sessions, speaker permission allowing
• Organise more volunteer opportunities now that we know what we’ll need
• Do more further in advance so we have a chance to sleep, shower and hang out more with 250 amazing, amazing people

Part of the reason why, after having sworn we would never do this again, we are suddenly mad-keen to host Wordcamp 2011 is that we want want the chance to fix the things we cocked up this year. We genuinely want to know what else you’d like us to do better. Please let us have your feedback in the comments and we’ll do our very best!

SO: Tell us what you liked best, what you liked least, and what just plain didn’t work for you. We do this for the WordPress community, and we want to know what the community wants!

We’ll be adding a few posts in the next few days for speaker presentation links, feedback, photos and videos, but meantime, you can catch some of the buzz on Twitter at #WCIRL. Right now, the most important thing we want to say is thank you. Thank you so much to everyone who came together to make WordCamp Ireland 2010 a huge success. We know it wasn’t perfect, and we’ve learned so much from this inaugural event about what we can do better next time, but just now as we bask in the warm glow of a truly brilliant weekend, we want to thank:

• The speakers – all 35 of them, who covered three tracks with huge bredth and great generosity of time and knowledge;
• The sponsors – the amazing 14 companies who made this event possible, many of whom came out to take part and contribute to Camp with enthusiasm (and great prizes!);
• The volunteers – Darragh, Steph and Niamh who stepped in to do the things we didn’t even know would have to be done, and did it without being asked and with enormous capability;
• The “staff” – Mark and Lily, who ran 3 million errands, carried 3 million boxes, stuffed 3 million bags and looked after approximately a billion kids in excellent humour;
• The campers – 236 people from 9 countries who made this an AMAZING experience filled with good-natured WordPress lovers who were keen, friendly and so excited to be at this event.

Thank you again to each and every one of you. Speaking for myself and Katherine, I can say our only serious regret is that we didn’t get to spend more time hanging out with the fantastic crowd  who gathered in Kilkenny this weekend. But we look forward to seeing you at the next WordCamp Ireland!

If you’ve got photos, please post them to http://pix.ie/group/wordcamp, our official photo pool, so we can all see them!

We’re delighted that so many of you who would otherwise not be able to come to a weekend conference are bringing your children with you.

The schedule for both days of childcare can be downloaded here.We can care for children from 0 – 12 years, and all of the activities are designed for a mixed-age group of children, with extra hands for infants and toddlers. Children will be supervised at all times.

Please Note: This is informal child minding; our goal is to keep your kids corralled, safe and entertained, but we’re not really concerned with their educational development or the fact that they are quite likely to get magic marker on themselves. There will be G-rated movies involved, and there will be Xbox 360 games. Sure, there will be outdoor games and crafting, too, but Montessori education this is not.

Childcare is located in the ballroom, to which you have access at all times. All of the children will be together for all of the day, including toddlers and babies in arms. We do ask that if you are dropping off babies and toddlers whilst you attend sessions, that you leave their push chairs or slings with them.

• You must not leave Langton’s while your children are with us.
• We must know what sessions you are going to, and have your mobile number. A sheet for this will be provided.
• Nappy changing is fine, just be sure to leave gear with your child if they are at all likely to need a change.
• We will be giving out snacks of fruit and popcorn. If you child has an allergy that makes this unacceptable, YOU MUST LET US KNOW.

Hopefully, this will be a fun couple of days for the kids, and we look forward to meeting your kids at WordCamp!

©Stephen Hanafin

If you’re arriving in Kilkenny on Friday and looking for something to do and a nice way to meet your fellow campers, join a night time photo walk through one of Ireland’s most scenic cities.

Edit: We’ve got a time and a place now!

When: 8 PM
Where: The Lobby at Langton’s Hotel
Who: Look for the people with cameras in hand!
Sign Up: Just add your name to the comments below.

Online purchase for WordCamp Ireland is now closed. However, you can still purchase tickets – we’ll be running a cash desk at WordCamp registration for those who have not been able register before hand.Please note these will be cash transactions only – no cheques, no credit cards.

Guidelines are as follows:

Saturday Tickets:

• ALL tickets purchased on Saturday are €50. There is no discount even if you are only planning to attend on the Saturday.
• Tickets include lunch and coffee breaks both days.
• Tickets may be also be purchased for the optional Saturday Night Dinner. These tickets are €25 each and children under 12 are free of charge.

Sunday Tickets:

• Sunday tickets are €25 each. There is no additional discount for late entry.
• Please have mercy on our souls and bring exact change. The WordPress gods will thank you.

If you are going to do a walk-up registration, we would REALLY APPRECIATE IT if you could add your name to the comments so we can get some kind of vague count. Thanks a lot!

Community focused, Josh has founded and/or run many technology organizations from the Great Lakes Area .NET Users Group to the Ann Arbor Computer Society and was on the forming committee for CodeMash.

Session: WordPress on Windows

Tinkering with WordPress since before it was WordPress, Hanni Ross hails from both Warwick, UK and Bordeaux, France. When not engineering happiness, she spends her time studying law. The hilarity of trying to fit everything in means she often feels the need to, in the words of Monty Python, run away.

Session: WordPress 101

In this session, Sheri and Hanni will take you through the basics of setting up a blog with WordPress and creating your first posts.

Somewhere around ten years ago Frank began living on the web as project manager with Zenith Solutions in Cork, followed by the position of technical director with Pulse Learning. He then helped found Aonach, a consultancy specialising in internet strategy, before becoming a freelance web designer. Frank still works closely with Aonach as a design partner.

Frank drinks a hell of a lot of tea and occasionally sneaks out to Karaoke bars.

WordCamp Ireland 2010

Presentation | Video | Notes

Session: WordPress as a CMS

WordPress is much more than blogging software, it is used by many companies, including some Fortune 500’s, as a Content Management System. This talk will cover the basics of setting up WordPress to act as a CMS, and several invaluable plugins for any site delivered using WordPress.

She lives in Stoneybatter and her main passion in writing, as in life, is fashion. When she’s not writing, blogging or tweeting, you can usually find her shopping for shoes.

Session: A Bit of a Blather with Beaut.ie

For many bloggers, the story of Beaut.ie is a fairytale dream come true; Kirstie and Aisling McDermott have built a blog with humble beginnings into one of the most powerful online properties in the country and two full-time jobs. Rosemary Mac Cabe sits down with the gals from Beaut.ie to talk about the history of one of Ireland’s most popular sites, the growth of their business, how they manage their active community, and what blogging has meant to them in a wider context.