Welcome!
WordCamp Orlando was December 5 2009, at Rollins College, in Orlando, Florida. We brought together a collection of developers and publishers from around the country to share in their love of words and WordPress. Follow us on Twitter and visit our Facebook page.
One Day til WordCamp Orlando
Posted by Nick Gernert on December 3, 2009
Posted in: Announcements
I am extremely pumped that we’re just one short day away from the first WordCamp Orlando. The last minute registrations have been pouring in which is great to see. Here’s a few final reminders about the day in general:
Last Minute Registration
A reminder that we will be shutting down online registration at the end of the day tomorrow. If you’re coming in last minute you need to get over to the Register page now. We will allow registration on the day of, just know that registration will be $20 and you will need to have exact change.
The Program
The day is split into two simultaneous tracks held in the Bush and SunTrust auditoriums at Rollins. The buildings are literally across from each other, but we will have volunteers and signs to help you find your way. You are more than welcome move between the sessions as you like. Check the schedule for full details on the day.
A BBQ lunch (with vegetarian options) will be provided for all attendees. Also, there will be a cocktail hour afterwards in Downtown Orlando at The Globe at Wall St Plaza. All are included in your WordCamp Orlando registration.
Getting There
There is an entire post dedicated to making your way to WordCamp Orlando. Please review it as there are some important notes regarding parking and navigating the area on Saturday.
Enjoy!
I can’t express how excited I am for the day and I hope you all are as well. It’s going to be great. If you have any questions or anything is unclear, feel free to contact us or just drop a note here in the comments. Your question could definitely help other attendees.
See you all soon!
Getting There – Directions and Parking
Posted by Nick Gernert on December 3, 2009
Posted in: Announcements
I want to make sure everyone knows where they are going when it comes to finding WordCamp Orlando. It’s at Rollins College in the Bush Auditorium. The address is:
1000 Holt Ave
Winter Park, FL 32789
I highly recommend using the SunTrust/Rollins Parking garage which is right off of Fairbanks Avenue. You will literally park in the garage and walk across Fairbanks and the large building directly in front of you is the Bush Auditorium. Note that parking in the garage may or may not be free. On Saturdays there is usually an attendant for part of the day. If the attendant leaves before you do, you’ll have free parking. If the attendant is still there when you leave, expect to pay $5. Parking is not covered in your WordCamp Orlando registration.
You are also welcome to try to park within the Rollins campus at any of the other parking lots. Space is somewhat limited, but there will be no charge. These lots are not nearly as convenient to the event as the parking garage, so my recommendation is use the garage.
Important Notes
To keep things interesting, the Winter Park Christmas parade is this Saturday. The parade is held on Park Avenue, so it should not impact being able to drive on Fairbanks, but know that there may be an increased amount of traffic, so leave yourself ample time to get to registration and into the first session.
Keeping things even more interesting is that the Orlando (OUC) Half Marathon is Saturday as well. This definitely will impact what roads are and are not open Saturday morning, so if you’re navigating downtown Orlando, be advised you may hit some road closures. My best recommendation is to get on Interstate 4 and take that to Fairbanks. I don’t think they’re running the race on I4.
Feel free to use your GPS/iPhone/Rand McNally Road Atlas to find your way, but here are some basic directions to the parking garage at Rollins.
From Interstate 4
- I-4 to Fairbanks Avenue (Exit 87)
- Turn east onto Fairbanks Avenue.
- This is a right turn if you were heading east on I-4
- This is a left turn if you were heading west on 1-4
- Continue on Fairbanks for approximately 2 miles.
- Turn left (north) onto Park Avenue, heading away from the Rollins campus.
- Make the first right onto Comstock Avenue.
- Proceed half a block and turn left into the SunTrust/Rollins Parking Garage.
- To get to the campus, walk out of the garage on the Fairbanks Avenue (south) side.
From Orlando International Airport, State Road 436:
- Exit the airport onto State Road 436 (Semoran Blvd.)
- Proceed north on Semoran Blvd. for approx. 10 miles
- Turn left onto Aloma Ave. continue west for approx. 3 miles
- The name of the road changes from Aloma to Fairbanks Avenue
- At the intersection Fairbanks Avenue and Park Avenue, turn right onto Park Avenue.
- Make the first right onto Comstock Avenue.
- Proceed half a block and turn left into the SunTrust Parking Garage
- To get to the campus, walk out of the garage on the Fairbanks Avenue (south) side
Helpful Map
Session Details: A Site Seeing Tour
Posted by Nick Gernert on December 1, 2009
Posted in: Sessions
After all the plugins are plugged-in, after all of the themes have been applied and content added have you ever stepped back to look at your site and seen Frankenstein? We’ve all been there, a site that looks cobbled together, or like three sites smashed into one. We have a tendency to lose sight of the real goal of the sites we create – giving our users a great experience. There’s no magic plugin for great experience – we have to design, nurture it and ultimately deliver it.
So rather than ramble on, Jeremy Harrington thought he would take you through a visual tour of some of the web’s best experiences. Together, you will look at a variety of sites on various platforms and have some fun along the way. Hopefully this will inspire you try something new or maybe reconsider some a plugin or two.
T-Shirts Are In
Posted by Nick Gernert on November 30, 2009
Posted in: Announcements
The stylish WordCamp Orlando shirts are in! Don’t forget to register so we’re sure to have your size.
Photo Credit: Sean O’Shaughnessy
Design Credit: Jeremy Harrington
Session Details: WordPress on Windows using Web Platform Installer
Posted by Nick Gernert on November 25, 2009
Posted in: Sessions
So, interestingly, there has been a bit of chatter around WordPress and Windows lately. Last week, Matt made a surprise visit to Microsoft’s Professional Developer Conference to discuss WordPress, Apache, MySQL and PHP running on Windows Azure. It just so happens we have Brian Johnson, a startup evangelist for Microsoft, living right here in Orlando and he has a bit of experience around WordPress and running it on a Windows server with IIS. Here’s what we’ll learn:
Web Platform Installer (Web PI) is a tool from Microsoft that allows developers and system administrators to easily add Web applications to a Windows server or a developer box running IIS. In this talk Brian will walk through deploying WordPress on a Windows developer machine using Web Platform Installer. He’ll also talk about some other features of Web PI, including SEO optimization and the large number of Web server applications you can install using this tool.
Recent Updates
- @photomatt posted his shots from WordCamp Orlando - http://bit.ly/5p9K1G #wco...
Dec 17th 1:19 pm - Calling all WordCamp Orlando speakers - If your slide deck is online DM us the link and will post it on the event site!...
Dec 7th 11:58 pm - RT @ericmarden: My "WordPress IS a CMS" slides from @wordcamporlando are up: http://bit.ly/wco-wordpress-cms-talk #wco...
Dec 7th 2:30 pm
Flickr
More WordCampOrlando photos on Flickr…
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