Geek for a Day @ #WordCampNL

Nov 4, 2009 by Suzy Ogé    No Comments    Posted under: Blogging, Tech

Twenty year old guys (my students) have been calling me a Tech Geek quite often lately!  After getting over the initial shock, I realized that I actually find this more flattering than insulting,  so maybe I do secretly wish I were a tech geek?  Seriously I am not one, but why not embrace it and try it out?  So, off I went to GeekCamp WordCamp NL in Utrecht on Saturday.

Social media, internet applications and gadgets all interest me, but I could not write a piece of code to save my life.  My biggest “programming” achievement is something around the technical difficulty of figuring out how to get rid of an unwanted page break in the HTML of my WordPress blog.  Unimpressive by any measure.

Luckily, I was introduced to WordPress by a friend, much more savvy than myself, Lisa Rouissi of Orange Buzz, and by introduced I mean; she downloaded WordPress, pimped my theme and operated a 24/7 help desk via Google Chat, for me almost exclusively.  (Occasionally I make the mistake of referring clients her way and losing her undivided attention, but I have become evangelical about WordPress, so I can’t help spreading the word.)

Lisa was on the organizing team for WordCampNL and my first impression was that WordCamp would be too technical for me.  That turned out to be nonsense!  I didn’t dare enter the speed installation of WordPress contest or sit in on the session about developing plug ins for multiple languages, but the keynote speakers offered nuggets of wisdom for “Campers” of all levels. I met amazing people and picked up some really practical tips that I can immediately implement myself.

Lorelle van Fossen, WordPress Evangelist from the U.S., dazzled us all with a speed blogging demo, completing a post in two minutes flat.  I know I’m not the only one spending hours per post, so this gave us all something to aspire to.  @Lorelleonwp‘s energy, eagerness to connect and her passion for blogging were an inspiration.

It is fun to meet people in person that you know online through blogs, or twitter.  The diversity of attendees was indicative…WordPress is for EVERYONE! I walked away with a better understanding of how WordPress can help me realize my dream for this blog, because it is more than a tool, WordPress is a community.

This week in Business Planning class, I proudly showed off the photo of me with famous Internet Strategist, Joost de Valk.   The students were predictably unimpressed as I dropped names of techies they had never heard of, but they smiled and seemed genuinely amused that I was embracing my inner geek!

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