WordCamp NYC 2009 Recap

I just returned from an awesome weekend at WordCamp NYC 2009! This years event was massive, with 8 tracks of WordPress related sessions and over 700 attendees, all gathered for the love of one software package: WordPress

This year I attended with Matt Martz, Jeff Chandler, Travis Ballard, and the entire WebDevStudios crew. We had an awesome time bouncing around the various sessions.

I gave a presentation on WordPress Security during the event. My presentation was so well received that I was voted to present during the ultra-fast 5 minute ignite round on day two. WebDevStudios also entered two plugins into the plugin/theme competition: WP Manage Plugins and BuddyPress Registration Options. Although we didn’t win the competition our plugins were very well received and we received plenty of compliments. In fact Mark Jaquith stated our plugin was the only one in the competition with no security holes, which equals a win in my book!

The best part of any WordCamp is networking and finally getting to meet people that I’ve talked to online but never actually met. It was great seeing some familiar faces like Lisa Sabin-Wilson and her husband Chris, Mark Jaquith, Matt Mullenweg, Andy Peatling, Aaron Brazell, Jeremy Clarke, Jane Wells, Steve Bruner, Keith Casey, Margaret Roach, and Ken Smith. I also finally got to meet Brian Gardner and Craig Tuller of StudioPress, Jonathan Dingman, Andrea and Ron, Dan Milward, Shane F, Syed Balkhi of WPBeginner.com, Todd and Darin from Inmotion hosting, Beau Lebens, Daryl Koopersmith, Elisha Dang, and Daisy Olsen. If we met and I missed you on the list please ping me on Twitter. I talked with so many people it was tough keeping it all straight!

WordCamp NYC was the best WordCamp I’ve attended yet! Props to Jane and Steve for organizing, and all of the volunteers who helped pull it off. This is the fourth and final WordCamp I’ll be attending this year, but I’m already looking forward to more WordCamps next year! I hope to see you there!