This past weekend I attended my first WordCamp in Birmingham, Alabama. I made the 6 hour trip from Lexington to Birmingham with my friend Bill Powell of Inbox Orange to experience the developer track. Bill also shares my passion for social media and WordPress. It was a great experience filled with new found knowledge, friends and a new perspective on WordPress. I made the most of this WordCamp by taking a great deal of notes, asking questions and seeking the advice of more seasoned WordPress professionals. There were many there who had what we’d consider “Rockstar” status, but without the rockstar attitude. Everyone was very cool and willing to answer question, share stories and were very approachable.

There were many great presentations, but there were a few that helped me the most.  Syed Balkhi from WP Beginner presented How to Speed up WordPress and Boost Site Performance, covering the importance of optimization of plugins, consolidation of javascripts to reduce server calls and content delivery networks. You can view his presentation on slide share. Although only 19 years old, he carries himself with confidence and knowledge of someone twice his age. He is also very polite, we had to reprimand him constantly for calling us “sir”.

Sara Cannon from Scout Branding Company gave a light-hearted but technically solid presentation on Advanced Web Typography. It’s rare to have a presenter make you laugh and have an “ah ha” moment at the same time.

Last but not least, some WordPress contributors that left a lasting impression were Andrew Nacin (@nacin) and Otto Wood (@Otto42). Their passion for WordPress was evident and were a blast to hang out with at the after party. Here is a photo prior to the start of WordCamp.