WordCamp Orange County 2018 (WCOC) promises to be an epic event, and WebDevStudios (WDS) Client Strategist, John Hawkins, will be there. The magic happens this weekend, June 9-10, in Irvine, California.
“WordCamp OC is one of my favorite events and I try to attend each and every year,” says John. In fact, he’s attended so often that he can’t remember how many times he’s been, but he thinks this year’s WCOC event is likely his seventh. John will be presenting “Fun with Page Builders” where he will cover a handful of page editors and how to use them to build beautiful page layouts quickly and easily without writing a line of code.
“Over the past year or two, my involvement with page builders has grown tremendously,” John explains, as he is among the leadership team at WDS’ small business division, eWebscapes.
“We’ve always talked about how great it is to be able to build a website and hand it over to small business clients, allowing them to easily continue adding content on their own. With page builders and a bit of training, we can hand off sites that are infinitely more customizable without requiring custom development,” he continues.
Additionally, as a part of John’s WCOC participation, eWebscapes is offering a free website consultation to all WCOC attendees.
“I really enjoy analyzing a small business website and helping the owner discover ways to improve it, such as enhancing optimization or adding call-to-action prompts that can convert more visitors. It’s amazing how one small change can have such a big impact on a person’s small business,” says John.
One of the biggest highlights of every WCOC event is Plugin-a-Palooza. John has entered the plugin competition before, placing second for his plugin CC Devs. This year, he’s entering again.
“I’m a big fan of single-function plugins, and the plugin I’ve created is both simple and highly niche. For me, it’s more about being involved than it is with winning,” he says.
Aside from John’s presentation on Saturday at 9:50 a.m. (Beginner track, Venture room), other talks WCOC attendees should check out include “Girl Develop It” by Michelle Rodriguez and “Gamify Your WordPress User Experience” by Brenner Adams. With two days of educational talks, plus a fun after-party, WCOC attendees are guaranteed a memorable WordCamp experience. See the full schedule here.
“There are so many great things to look forward to at WCOC,” John declares. “They have an AMAZING community, the lineup of speakers is always rock solid, their venue is fantastic, and let’s not forget that they typically have two or three food trucks delivering lunch. And who doesn’t love food trucks?”
If you see John at WCOC, take a selfie with him! But if you can’t make the event, follow WCOC on Twitter, as well as the hashtag #WCOC. To find a WordCamp event near you, go to Central.WordCamp.org.