Sponsor Spotlight: Watch.tv

We’re really excited to be a Stoked sponsor for WordCamp OC. The WordPress community is so vibrant and active  – and at VeriSign, and especially the .tv domain name, we want to build awareness about creating really great video experiences on your blogs and websites. We have a lot of great resources available to learn from and we’e looking forward to sharing these in person!

Here’s some information about the .tv domain: With millions of websites hosting web video, it’s hard for new ones to get noticed. You need a better way to get your video site to stand out by getting the domain name that best fits your needs. You need .tv, the new home of video on the web. With a .tv domain it’s easy to let people know that your siote is all about video, just by looking at your URL. Plus, you’ll get to choose from a huge inventory of domain names that will promote your brand, keep you memorable and make it easy to find you.

If your site has a Play button, it was made for .tv.

See you in Orange County!

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Our sponsor, Atkins Marketing Solutions, is offering a 15% discount on their book Small Business Marketing to WCOC attendees.  Go to https://www.createspace.com/1000252302 and use Promotion Code SJ7VX7TV to receive the discount.  Offer ends at midnight after WordCamp.

About the book:

Marketing is vital to ensure the success of your small business. This practical book, endorsed by John Tu, President of Kingston Technology and one of Forbes 400 richest people in America, is designed to accelerate your small business marketing learning curve and review key revenue-generating marketing strategies.

If you currently own or work in a small business, or are thinking of starting one, this book is for you. Take a fresh look at both the traditional and digital aspects of how marketing can grow your small business. Fourteen informative chapters by a marketing consultant and professor cover topics such as the definition of marketing, social media, and eco-friendly marketing and more.

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Raffle: Books from Que

Que PublishingThe kind folks from Que Publishing/InformIT contacted us and asked if we would like to give away a few books at our end-of-day raffle.  Of course we would!  But wait, there’s more.  They also gave us a coupon code for WCOC attendees to use to buy discounted books through their site.  They’ve sent 2 copies of the following titles: WordPress In Depth, USING WordPress, and  Sams Teach Yourself WordPress.  It’s worth noting they they have a new edition of WordPress in Depth (2nd
Ed) coming out later this summer. (You can use our discount code to purchase!)

WCOC Discount Code Info – Save 35% Every Day on InformIT.com & QuePublishing.com

  • Create free account at informit.com/join (this account login and password will also work on QuePublishing.com)
  • Enter USERGROUP in optional member code line on registration form
  • Click “Create My Account”
  • You only need to apply the code once at time of registration, but must be logged-in to receive 35% discounted pricing

NEW Coupon Codes for 2011 – Buying more than one book? Want to save on an eBook or video product? Try these coupon codes at step 3 of checkout to increase savings.

InformIT.com
Buy 2 Products, Save 40%*

  • Enter Coupon Code IUG240 at Step 3 of checkout Save 45% on Digital Products**
  • Enter Coupon Code IUGD45 at Step 3 of checkout

QuePublishing.com
Buy 2 Products, Save 40%*

  • Enter Coupon Code QUG240 at Step 3 of checkout Save 45% on Digital Products**
  • Enter Coupon Code QUGD45 at Step 3 of checkout

* Eligible titles. Pearson and InformIT have a long tradition of supporting our retail partners and helping them to grow their business through promotions. When our retail partners are promoting a Pearson title, we support their sales success and do no compete with direct offers.

** All Digital Products including eBooks, Cert Flash Cards Online, Simulators, Video = DVD, Full Download (not individual lessons), Book+DVD bundles and Cert Kits

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Sponsor Spotlight: VaultPress

VaultPressMost of us have been in the horrible situation of having a complete website meltdown (either caused by machine fail or human fail).  It’s an absolutely awful feeling, which is why backing up websites is so important.  But how to do that?

Automattic’s answer is VaultPress.  It’s a solid and continuous back up service that backs-up a site’s files as well as it’s database.  More importantly, it also provides for easy back up restoration – the crucial Step 2 of the back up process.

From VaultPress’ site:

VaultPress provides realtime, continuous backup and synchronization of every post, comment, media file, revision and dash­board setting across at least two separate cloud services in addition to the Automattic grid, ensuring no loss of content.

How? Using WordPress hooks to receive alerts when information changes on your site, VaultPress immediately syncs all of your changes with our servers. The net result? 11 copies of your data, backed up continuously and in realtime.

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Sponsor Spotlight: Spoken City

I’m a big fan of supporting local business.Spoken City That’s how I get the best coffee and the best burritos.  But it’s also how my town stays my town and doesn’t become another strip mall city with all the same chain stores.  Spoken City created a great plugin that will help you seek out Ma and Pa.

Spoken City supports local businesses against larger chain stores. We provide a map search for local businesses around the US along with resources for local businesses. We also have a WordPress widget for webmasters who want to support local businesses: http://www.spokencity.com/widgets/

 

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Marcy Massura: Visually Speaking

Topic: Visually Speaking: conveying your brand message with design, layout and visuals.
Clever url, great content but something just doesn’t feel right. We will take a look at maximizing your website real estate, and discuss the power of photos, logos and yes, even the dreaded color story. Think these things don’t matter? They do! Visuals make the difference between an okay site- and an awesome one. Let’s find ways to put your over the top!

Visually Speaking: conveying your brand message with design, layout and visuals.Based in Orange County, California, Marcy Massura is a Digital Community Manager at Weber Shandwick.  In addition to developing social strategies for numerous high-profile clients this award-winning international agency represents, Marcy serves as the digital voice for Oscar Mayer and Lunchables within the social media space.  Her love of writing inspired her to create Smartly, a network of regional websites showcasing essays from a national collective of writers. Additionally, Marcy is Co-Founder and President of the largest North American regional blogging organization, BlogCrush.  She is also heavily involved in several other websites, where she contributes essays, photography and video on a weekly basis.  She maintains her own popular humor website The Glamorous Life Association, and speaks as often as possible spreading her passion and joy for all things social. Her second book “How to Play with Words and Make Them Do (great) Things” is expected for Spring 2012.

Posted in Presentation Topics, Speakers | 4 Comments

Topic: Social Media for Social Change
Taking authenticity online to create a committed following for your cause.  Learn how Krochet Kids intl. has leveraged the free tools of social media to drive awareness and new followers in support of their work and their products.  Using a WordPress powered site to drive social change on a bootstrapped budget.

Kohl CreceliusKohl Crecelius is the CEO & Co-founder of Krochet Kids intl.  Kohl and his team of close friends are on a journey to revolutionize what it means to do business and do good.  In 2007 they foundedKrochet Kids intl. (KKi) – a non-profit lifestyle brand focused on empowering communities and engaging customers to make a sustainable impact on global poverty.  KKi is a leader in producing and selling products made in Africa.  They employ over 100 people in Northern Uganda through the production of their handmade headwear and fashion accessories, and have recently started a new program in Peru.  Now spanning three continents, their work connects the producer with the customer through a hand-signed label that accompanies every product.

Yes, Kohl does crochet.  He also has a variety of other interests that keep him grounded, including surfing, skateboarding, and blogging. You can normally find him wearing a KKi beanie and occasionally sporting a mustache.

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Topic: Content Development for your Blog
Blogging is a topic that can scare away even the most outgoing person or brand – the idea of writing on a regular schedule is not only intimidating but can be very frustrating to accomplish. In this session, we will delve into creating categories (both conceptually and within WordPress), planning out blog posts (how to create drafts & schedule in advance) and uncover some great plugins and tools that can take your writing to the next level once you get started. If you’ve been wanting to take your blog to the next level…or maybe just get one started, this session will give you all the ammo you need to create a strong blog calendar that will propel you into the blogging world with force – and help bring you business!

Kirsten WrightKirsten Wright received a degree in Rhetorical Communications from California State University, Long Beach in 2006 and soon after, found the world of social media and blogging. She launched her first WordPress site in 2007 and currently runs Wright Creativity, a successful web design and social strategy firm in Orange County. Her business is dedicated to taking the small business to the next level through individualized social strategies, custom WordPress designs and a complete understanding of communication marketing. She and has a passion for writing and helping others find their inner voice. In her free time, she lives in south Orange County with her husband, enjoys good food and wine, and loves taking their greyhound, Badger, for runs.

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SucuriThe great folks at Sucuri.net are throwing in big for this year’s raffle. They are giving away TWO 1-year Sucuri Business Accounts. Each account has a $289.99 value! Each account protects up to 10 websites, scans each site every 3 hours and includes up to 5 malware clean up cases. Protect your interwebs with Sucuri: no more malware, no more blacklists, no more worries!

Visit Sucuri.net

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Topic: Optimizing WordPress – Speed Matters

By itself, WordPress is fast and snappy application but over time your site may become slugish and laggy. A slow site is not good for your readers, or your search engine rankings. In a one hour presentation, Josh Highland will show you some practicle ways to optimize your WordPress sites content and configuration. The presentation will cover best practices, helpful plugins and real life optimization examples.

Josh HighlandJosh Highland is an internet aficionado entrepreneur, developer, community builder, and lover of all things tech. With a strong background in Computer Science, he believes in the power of WordPress and the community surrounding it. For several years he has been helping his clients make the switch to WordPress. Along with his WordPress, and social media obsession, Josh creates iPhone/iPad applications, and is the founder of NewLeaf Labs.

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