Is the Happiness Bartender any good?
Boston WordCamp 2015 …
Recently I was a Volunteer at Boston WordCamp 2015 at BU.
I had a wonderful experience volunteering at Boston WordCamp 2015, which moved from MIT to BU this year. Every Boston Area Blogger turns out for at least part of this 2 Day Event.
I started using WordPress last year with the creation of this Blog. As you probably know WordPress is the traditional blogging platform, which now is also the Content Management System, used for the largest percentage of worldwide websites as well. https://managewp.com/14-surprising-statistics-about-wordpress-usage
Why did I start Blogging?
I did this because I felt a Blog would be enjoyable to do … and I needed to update my long standing IT skills and develop some “Web Skills!”
Over the past few years I had seen some friends repeatedly ripped-off by “Social Media Experts” so I decided to take the bull by the horns! I have years of experience with heavy-duty IT having even rescued EDS from the BankBoston/Baybank Merger where they failed, but time and time again when I would point out the obvious facts about Facebook Pages or LinkedIn pages friends would ask, “Where is your Blog? Where is your Facebook Page?”, and then watch them toss away a few more thousand dollars on another Web Charlatan.
What Boston WordCamp 2015 all about?
Before Boston Word Camp 2015 I decided to go to a WordPress meetup and see what WordCamp might be like. I was already booked in Cambridge that night for an alumni event so I only spent about half-an-hour at the WordPress meetup at the Microsoft NERD Center. My timing might have been bad as this event was just a big roomful of friends standing in small groups and chatting. I had a Question about Yoast, a key Add-in to WordPress, but did not get an opportunity to pose my question and get an answer.
As opposed to Twitter crowds, much different demographic with people involved with open source and blogging for decades who have all settled on WordPress as the Platform of preference.
New to the organization I figured I’d start out volunteering to help at Boston WordCamp 2015 and slowly learn how things worked in the WordPress world. I figured if I arrived a couple of hours before the start of WordCamp and sorted T-Shirts, set-up chairs or carried boxes, I would start to learn a little more about this organization … and maybe find somebody I could run my occasional questions by. To be considered I had to submit my Website Address and my Blog Address.
“Happiness Bar?”
In a couple of days I received a notice that I had been accepted as a Volunteer and assigned to the “Happiness Bar” for Day 2 of the Conference. I went to Google to see if in being assigned, I would have to learn current drink recipes and know where to get more ice … but to my utter amazement … I found that at a WordCamp, the Happiness Bar is the Help Desk!
Oh Oh!!!
After giving the organizers a chance to find somebody with more experience, they assured me I would do fine … and I did!
I happened to meet developers from as far away as Orlando and Toronto. I learned a lot of interesting things about WordPress and its Add-ins!
For example, I can’t wait to do something with BuddyPress! It is a Social Media Network from the folks at WordPress! Companies I’ve worked with like IPOPUPOP where I partnered with the Founder on a plan to re-launch, become much easier and instantly viable with an automatic, proprietary Social Media System. I am told that Groups and all other objects are there!
After the Key Note, I spent Day 2 all day long on the “Happiness Bar,” helping with elementary questions and matching advanced resources with advanced questions.
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