Talks
I'm very proud to have had the opportunity to give back to the community and share my knowledge through webinars, meetups and conferences around the country.
Are you looking for a talk at your next event? Hopefully one of the ones below or one of the talks I want to give sparks your interest and we can chat more about it.
The WP REST API as the Foundation of the Open Web - WordCamp for Publishers 2018
The WordPress REST API allows you to support a wide variety of clients from mobile apps to voice interfaces to desktop apps to solutions that haven’t even been imagined yet. In this talk, we explored: How the WP REST API can enable web to print workflows through InDesign, how to make your content more accessible through Google Home and Alexa, and even how your content can exist in virtual reality (with a live demo)!
What is a Zip Bomb? - PromptConf 2019
A zip bomb is a particular type of virus that sends the victim a ZIP archive that when extracted, takes up all the space on the victim’s hard drive and renders their machine useless. In this talk, we use these as a tool to learn about how ZIP compression works, how you can put that technology to use and how to avoid annoying your friends with this newfound knowledge. This is a deep dive into a very specific, but broadly applicable piece of technology. And even though it’s a bit of a silly example, you’ll learn more about something you (and your computer) use every day.
Just 4 Chords - Ignite Chicago
Getting out of my comfort zone a bit, I discovered the concept of Ignite Talks. In a nutshell, it's a 5 minute talk, where your slides auto-advance, so if you get off track, you just kind of have to keep going. In this talk, I very briefly went into the concept of music theory and why so many songs sound the same.
Selling DevOps To Non-Technical Management - DevOpsDays Des Moines
Introducing DevOps into a legacy development process can be tough. This talk will be a look at how we introduced a build system, updated version control practices and changed communication standards at a company with a decade old toolset and mindset. We’ll also examine how a fragile servers and rigid deploys were transitioned to a more fluid DevOps model. Together, these changes resulted in greater development velocity and a much smoother process from ticket to deploy.
All Other Talks
Helping Your Team Transition to Gutenberg - WordCamp for Publishers 2019
With the introduction of the block editor, the WordPress ecosystem and editing experience has shifted. With editorial under pressure to continue producing content, it can be tough to put together a plan to move your site, especially if it’s a large site, over to the new editor.
In this talk, we explore the migration path to Gutenberg at a high level and some strategies for making the transition as seamless as possible. We also drill down and got tactical, with tasks that development and editorial can work on together. These included an audit of existing components and workflow and making a plan for how these might be implemented in the new editor.
Voice Is The New Keyboard: Voice Interfaces In 2018 And Beyond - Midwest PHP 2019, WordCamp Chicago 2018, WordCamp Peoria 2018
The next generation of devices is here, and they’re all voice enabled. With the rise of technologies like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Assistant and Microsoft’s Cortana, businesses need to think about how to structure their offerings to be compatible with these interfaces. This talk explores how voice search is influencing SEO and customer acquisition as well as how to adapt to give customers a viable voice-interface option to interact with your services. We interact with Alexa and Google Assistant live to see how they can take your WordPress site to the next level and provide a unique interface to your content.
Modern WordPress Tooling - Chicago PHP User Group, WordCamp Dayton 2019
It used to be that WordPress required a very different toolset than other types of modern PHP apps. In this talk, we look at how to modernize development of WordPress sites by using Bedrock to give us a modern stack, WP-CLI to interface with WordPress through the command line or even create scripts to run operations, and ways to deploy WordPress that are easier and more stable than FTP.
Contributing to WordPress: From Beginning to Closed Ticket - WordCamp NYC 2017, WordCamp Miami 2020
One of the greatest benefits of using WordPress is that it’s open source and is constantly being improved by the community. However, few people know exactly what that process looks like. In this talk, we look at the progression of a bug ticket from beginning to the very end and see how the software we use every day is continually improved. Attendees will learn how they too can contribute to WordPress, even if they don’t code.
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Want to see one of these or one of the talks I want to give at your next event? Feel free to reach out and let's chat.