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Meet the speaker: Brad Williams

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Brad Williams

He’s a published book author, the founder of a prominent WordPress agency, and he’s been developing websites for over 20 years. He’s also the only “official” guru we know. (He won the SitePoint Forums ASP Guru of the Year Award 2005 - 2007).

Brad Williams is the co-founder of WebDevStudios.com and co-author of the books Professional WordPress and Professional WordPress Plugin Development. He’ll be joining us at Prestige Conference Las Vegas to discuss hiring employee #1 and the process of moving from self-employed to building a team.

In 3 sentences or less, please describe what you do for a living:

I am the Co-founder and CEO of WebDevStudios.com, the Co-Author of Professional WordPress 1E-3E & Professional WordPress Plugin Development, and a Co-host on the DradCast WordPress podcast. I also Co-organize the Philly WordPress Meetup and WordCamp Philly.

You could say I love WordPress and might be slightly addicted! 😀

Why this career and not something else?

I have always been fascinated by computers and technology. My first computer was a Commodore 64, which is the first machine I learned to program on around the age of 10. Over the years I knew computers were the future for me, but I wasn’t entirely sure what area of computers I wanted to focus on. Then the internet was born and that question was very easy to answer. I wanted to build websites.

When did you figure out what you wanted to be when you grew up?

I knew from an early age I wanted to work with computers and specifically the internet. When I first experienced the internet I knew I was home. I began coding websites early on when most of my friends had no idea what the internet was. I think I rolled out my first static HTML website on AOL 2.0 over at 2400bps modem.

Once you figured out you wanted to build websites for a living, how did you start making things happen?

When I knew building websites was it for me I sought out every single computer course I could take. In High School, I took every programming course available, which was one. I also took courses at local community colleges that were available. My Parents were extremely supportive and helped me not only find these courses, but get me there as well.

If it wasn’t about computers I wasn’t interested, which is why I wasn’t a great student. When deciding what to do after graduating High School I came to the conclusion that college was not for me. Instead, I decided to join the United States Marine Corps as, get this, a computer programmer. The Marine Corps sent me to extensive training for computer programming and I served 4-years in the Corps learning as much as I could. My military career really laid the groundwork for my career in computer programming.

Who were your most valuable mentors and how did you connect with them?

I think my most valuable mentors were the developers I worked with over the years that were better than me. They gave me the mentorship, training, and drive I needed to push myself to bigger and better things. The best way to push yourself to greatness is to work with people smarter than you.

That’s why I consider my team at WebDevStudios my mentors now. They are hands down the best WordPress developers and designers out there and inspire me on a daily basis.

What’s coming up next for you?

I am always striving to grow WebDevStudios to be the best WordPress agency on the planet. We started the company on a coffee table and have grown into an amazing agency with a portfolio that still boggles my mind.

We also love to push the envelope of WordPress and create websites and apps that blow people’s minds when they realize its WordPress. You can expect to see much more of this in the future!

Any industry predictions for 2015?

I strongly feel the WordPress REST API is a game changer. I expect to see completely new commercial markets emerge that interact with WordPress through this new API. We’re already seeing this is some spaces, including Reactor from AppPresser.

What book(s) are you reading right now?

I don’t generally read books, I just write them. 😉

Favorite “guilty pleasure” song or band that you can’t help but rock out to?

Christmas music. I love Christmas music!

Name one thing you’re looking forward to for Prestige Conference Las Vegas:

Networking with new and old friends alike. Also, warm weather!

Meet the Speaker: Andrew Norcross

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Andrew Norcross

Yes, he has a tattoo of WordPress. And yes, it’s best to make sure he’s had his coffee before talking to him. Don’t worry - we always have plenty of coffee at Prestige Conference.

Andrew Norcross is the founder and lead developer at Reaktiv Studios, a full-service WordPress development studio. Prior to figuring out how to make all things Internets, he had careers in the financial sector and in marketing.

Norcross has a natural ability break down problems and build amazing solutions with WordPress. He’s a very down-to-earth guy and a great asset to the WordPress community.

In 3 sentences or less, please describe what you do for a living:

I am a founding partner and lead developer of Reaktiv Studios, a VIP designated WordPress development agency. We focus on custom plugins and complex builds, in addition to our flagship product Design Palette Pro for the Genesis framework.

Why this career and not something else?

Because this is so much fun :) In all seriousness, I had a previous career in finance and I was bored to death. There’s something about making a tangible thing (even if it’s digital) that can’t be beat. That, and it affords me the lifestyle and personality I want.

When did you figure out what you wanted to be when you grew up?

Who said I ever grew up? I was a computer nerd from a young age, but after the age of 9 or so I didn’t do much because being a “nerd” meant getting beat up and having no friends. So I focused on sports and music and other stuff. I got back into it in my early 20’s while working for a large financial firm, writing calculator macros in Excel to handle corporate reorganizations and other stock accounting things. It just took off from there.

Once you figured out what you wanted to do with your career, how did you start making things happen?

I just jumped in. I quit my job in finance and gave myself a short runway to see if this “coding stuff” would take off. I busted my ass and worked really hard, and was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time in terms of the growth in the WP community.

Who were your most valuable mentors and how did you connect with them?

There have been a few. First off, my Dad was (and is) my biggest mentor. He’s a minister, but never let the label define who he was. He did his job well, but had a sense of justice and social welfare and never looked down on people with less than he did. He also was able to raise a family on a minister’s salary.

In the WP community, folks like Mark Jaquith and Andrew Nacin have been mentors (even if they don’t know it) with how they handle the community and the size & scope of the WP project, while always being approachable and willing to admit they’re wrong (not that they are very often).

Chris Lema has been a big mentor in the business space, with his seemingly endless amount of time and patience with folks like me who stumbled into the business side of WP and is always willing to share his knowledge and experience.

What’s coming up next for you?

Looking at some more commercial plugin releases in the next 6-12 months, along with improving Design Palette.

Any industry predictions for 2015?

More growth and some consolidation. I think smaller teams are going to look at larger companies and decide it’s worth joining up and getting some of the benefits of scale, while others will carve out a niche for themselves and prosper.

What book(s) are you reading right now?

None at the moment. Reading time is hard to come by, but I keep up on shorter reading from blogs and writers I trust.

Favorite “guilty pleasure” song or band that you can’t help but rock out to?

I don’t feel guilty about any of the music I listen to :) I usually swing between the punk rock I grew up on, old outlaw country, newer alt country like Lucero, bands like Murder By Death, and some newer indie stuff like The National.

Name one thing you’re looking forward to for Prestige Conference Las Vegas:

Seeing old friends and folks that aren’t yet friends, and spending some time away from the house. Not to mention the speaker lineup looks stellar.

Meet the Speaker: John Hawkins

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John Hawkins

If you’ve been to a WordCamp, chances are you’ve met John Hawkins before. This self-proclaimed WordCamp addict has attended, spoken, and sponsored more than 20 of them across the US. We’re willing to bet the number is much, much higher than that, but after so many, it’s easy to lose count.

John is the founder of 9seeds, a WordPress development team based on Las Vegas, NV. He runs the Las Vegas WordPress meetup group and is the lead organizer for WordCamp Las Vegas. Most recently, John launched the Hawk Talk Podcast where interviews guests on a variety of topics, including (of course) WordPress. He also blogs at VegasGeek.com.

To say John is a community leader is an understatement. We’re excited to have him involved with Prestige Conference as both a speaker and a sponsor for our Las Vegas event.

In 3 sentences or less, please describe what you do for a living:

I’m a partner at 9seeds. I lead the biz dev team and focus on client communications. Occasionally, they let me write a line or two of code. Occasionally.

Why this career and not something else?

As an early adopter of WordPress, I was already in the community from the beginning. As I started building more and more sites for friends, family and a couple small businesses, I really fell in love with the process. Why not do something I love for a living?

When did you figure out what you wanted to be when you grew up?

When I was 10 years old I bought my first computer with my own money. An Atari 400. I was hooked. I don’t know that I knew then what exactly I wanted to be, but I knew that it would be focused on building stuff with computers.

Once you figured out what you wanted to do with your career, how did you start making things happen?

I spent nights and weekends all through my teenage years writing all sorts of little programs on a Commodore 64. Remember Compute magazine? It used to have code for programs you could write and then run to play games. I’d stay up all night on a Friday to type in the code, play the game for a short time and then, because I had no way to save what I was doing, I’d turn the machine off and the game would be gone. It sounds kinda painful, but those were some of my favorite weekends ever.

Who were your most valuable mentors and how did you connect with them?

Wow, that’s a tough one. I’m like a sponge and I like to pick up tips and tricks from a lot of different people. Chris Brogan has always been somebody I’ve looked up to and have learned a ton from.

What’s coming up next for you?

At my company we’re looking at products as a way to grow our business. So I see a bit of a shift coming from us in 2015. Nothing drastic, we’re not stopping client work, but more likely building up a new team to have a different focus.

What book(s) are you reading right now?

I just finished reading a book called Embrace the Suck. It’s about a guy’s journey in to the world of CrossFit. While I’m driving, I’m currently listening to Book 3 of the Game of Thrones series (but I don’t drive a lot, so it’s going to take me forever to finish all 5 books). And I just started a book called “18 minutes: Find your focus, master distraction and get the right things done.”

Favorite “guilty pleasure” song or band that you can’t help but rock out to?

Seriously, that Taylor Swift writes some catchy tunes. I’d be lying if I said they didn’t get stuck in my head lately.

You’re not going to print this, right? 😉

Name one thing you’re looking forward to for Prestige Conference Las Vegas:

Honestly, just the conference as a whole. I heard so much great stuff about the first Prestige event, I’m absolutely thrilled that they picked Vegas as the second location. I would have traveled to attend if it wasn’t in Vegas, but it’s sure nice to have it right here in my back yard!

Meet the speaker: Cory Miller

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Cory Miller

Cory Miller wasn’t always an entrepreneur. Before he founded iThemes, he worked as a newspaper journalist and also served as the Communications Director for Midwestern Seminary.

In 2008, he started iThemes, a fast-growing company that builds web design software and offers cutting-edge web design training for thousands of customers around the globe. He is the co-founder of The Div, Inc, a 501(c)3 nonprofit tech foundation aimed at inspiring and training the next generation of web developers through its kid’s program, Div Jr, as well as the co-author of WordPress All-in-One for Dummies.

Cory brings a huge breadth of knowledge of CMS systems and working in the digital space to Prestige Conference. Read on to get to know him a bit better before he joins us as a panelist for the discussion topic “Are WordPress products big business?” at our Las Vegas event.

In 3 sentences or less, please describe what you do for a living:

I make people’s lives awesome by leading our 20-plus person team to build, maintain and support WordPress software that makes building and maintaining websites easier and better for our thousands of customers all over the world.

Mostly, I just am the CEO … Chief Entertainment Officer … at iThemes.

Why this career and not something else?

This is my 3rd career so far. I’ve done tours in journalism and also ministry.

Entrepreneurship was something I dreamed of as a kid, as I watched two entrepreneurial grandfathers run their vastly different businesses, and employing most of their family.

It’s the best job I’ve ever had. Extremely fulfilling and rewarding.

When did you figure out what you wanted to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a truck driver when I was a kid. So that didn’t pan out. :)

But I’m not sure I ever figured it out … what I have done is consistently sought to find jobs that play to my strengths and interests so that I can do work I enjoy, with people I like, for people I care about.

That’s really how I landed where I am today. And how I measure my success in my career.

P.S. — I’ve always enjoyed my work and have written extensively about my experiences here:

Once you figured out what you wanted to do with your career, how did you start making things happen?

In my experience, it seems so similar to surfing … and just super silly simple.

I put in the hard work and hustle to paddle out to where the waves come in …

And then I waited, watched, learned … but most importantly, I was ready and prepared for when my opportunity came in.

I’m still riding that wave.

Who were your most valuable mentors and how did you connect with them?

My grandfather, Leo, as an entrepreneur and family man — watching him as I grew up was inspiring and motivating and I seek to be like him in many ways.

My business coach and dear friend Michael Smith (http://imentorleaders.com/) — for helping take us to the next level, and teaching us how to care for people. Referred to me by good business friends.

My partners, Scott and Jay — for being amazing role models and friends. We met as business partners first (a mutual friend introduced us), then we became great friends. I respect and admire who they are first and foremost and how they do business as a guide for my own life.

My forum groups from the Oklahoma Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization — for reminding me that I’m not alone, and sharing their life and stories with me each month for the last four years that have had a profound impact on my happiness and success in life and business.

What’s coming up next for you?

Our customer focus this year is WProsper.

We want to help our customers do well, do better this year, specifically making money with WordPress and iThemes.

Product wise … some highlights are we’re going to …

  • Continue to make BackupBuddy the best all-in-one solution for backing up, restoring and moving WordPress sites.
  • Get iThemes Exchange, our WP ecommerce plugin, to critical mass by focusing on key features people need most and keeping it super simple and easy to sell online.
  • Continue to strengthen iThemes Security as one of the best utility tools to lockdown your WP websites.
  • Turn iThemes Sync into the premiere software for managing a fleet of WordPress sites and a key partner in growing your freelance business

Any industry predictions for 2015?

  • Hyper growth (and competition) in WordPress enterprise agencies (both for talent and clients)
  • A growing (and concerning) gap of highly talented, quality WP people (developers and designers) to fill the many position needed for the growth of WordPress companies (from Automattic to enterprise companies and to us)
  • The return of Jason Schuller (fingers crossed)

What book(s) are you reading right now?

The Automatic Customer by John Warrilow

Favorite “guilty pleasure” song or band that you can’t help but rock out to?

I’ve admittedly got the most eclectic and embarrassing music tastes in the world … so … Eminem for starters. I often forget to put Private on my Spotify and get exposed to the lame music I secretly love.

Name one thing you’re looking forward to for Prestige Conference Las Vegas:

Meeting new people and building relationships with old friends

Meet the Speaker: Brianna Norcross

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Brianna Norcross

Are you ready to analyze ALL THE THINGS? Get ready for a kick in the pants from Brianna Norcross, accounting expert and gummy bear addict extraordinaire. She’ll be joining us at Prestige Conference Las Vegas to address something every business owner needs to do (or be able to hire someone to do) - “Stop Sucking at Accounting.”

Bri owns Balance Virtual, a full-service bookkeeping and office assistance company. She’s a mastermind when it comes to creating a framework for businesses both large and small to get their books in order so they can focus on what they do best.

Read on to learn more about Brianna Norcross before meeting her in Las Vegas later this month (or virtually through our conference livestream).

In 3 sentences or less, please describe what you do for a living:

Balance Virtual offers virtual accounting services so business owners can focus on their business.

Why this career and not something else?

Because being an EMT doesn’t pay well. But really- because I like the numbers game. It’s never black and white, although most people think it is. Good accounting is a puzzle.

When did you figure out what you wanted to be when you grew up?

I was a single mom with two young kids, and I was in college. I needed a way to make money from home, with flexible hours. So I thought about what skills I could offer and shazam, bookkeeping turned out to be the one with the biggest marketable skill. I wish the story was sexier. I didn’t know I wanted to be an accountant. I am still not sure if I do want to remain an accountant forever- because I want to keep loving it and sometimes when you do something 40 hours a week, you stop loving it.

Once you figured out what you wanted to do with your career, how did you start making things happen?

1.) Did good work
2.) Got referrals from happy clients
3.) Profit

That’s it. That’s the basic recipe for any successful business. It’s no secret and my story was no different.

Who were your most valuable mentors and how did you connect with them?

My mom is a big one. I connected with her in the usual parent-child way: birth.

My mom raised a ton of kids while getting her masters and working super hard to advance her career. So she was someone I always thought of for inspiration when I was sick and tired of working.

What’s coming up next for you?

I don’t really have any big changes planned, but I am mentally roadmapping a QB training course for solopreneurs/small web dev agencies.

What book(s) are you reading right now?

Playing to Win- a business strategy book

Favorite “guilty pleasure” song or band that you can’t help but rock out to?

Big fan of TSwift. Big fan.

Name one thing you’re looking forward to for Prestige Conference Las Vegas:

THE VEGAS BUFFETS.

Meet the Speaker: John Eckman

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John Eckman

With 15+ years experience working in digital strategy, user experience design, and software engineering with professional services agencies, John Eckman brings a lot to the table for the Las Vegas edition of Prestige Conference.

The current CEO of 10up, one of the fastest-growing agencies in the WordPress ecosystem, will be speaking about the enterprise market and how CMS systems can be marketed beyond small- to medium-sized business clients. He has worked with clients ranging from small startups to Fortune 50 companies, and his session is one you won’t want to miss.

Read on to get to know John a little bit better before our event, and make sure to check out his blog Open Parenthesis where he writes regularly about free and open source software, internet strategy, and building compelling experiences for the web and mobile.

In 3 sentences or less, please describe what you do for a living:

I help run 10up, a distributed digital agency delivering content-centric web experiences on the WordPress platform. I focus on operations, hr, culture, and process - scaling the firm - and work with selected clients on strategy.

Why this career and not something else?

Beats digging ditches. My first career was in academia - did a PhD and taught in an English department. But then the web came along, and it was just too revolutionary, world-changing, and cool to avoid.

The internet, and most specifically the web as a manifestation of the best the internet can do, is the most revolutionary innovation since movable type, and perhaps bigger than that.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Depending on how far back you go: Novelist, Literature Professor, Rock Star, Race Car Driver, Chemical Engineer, Teacher.

Once you figured out what you wanted to do with your career, how did you start making things happen?

Ran hard and fast at every opportunity. Front-end development, user experience, information architecture, project management, technical architecture, engineering, sales, management - every role I took I focused on what new thing I was learning.

Back in 2005/2006, I decided to focus in on open source, and specifically Drupal and WordPress. I started WordCamp Boston in 2010 - that started a number of snowballs rolling down hills.

Who were your most valuable mentors and how did you connect with them?

Ralph Folz and Tom Little, who were the cofounders of TVisions; Mavis Chin and Dave Gynn from Optaros, Jeff Cram from ISITE - all people I’ve worked with/for and kept in touch with.

Now, of course, that list includes Jake Goldman and the team at 10up.

What’s coming up next for you?

Continuing to focus on 10up - improving our processes, investing in our culture - making sure we can continue to scale without sacrificing quality of delivery or employee experience.

Any industry predictions for 2015?

More focus on financial metrics - how can we demonstrate the real value of the investments we make in web products. This includes optimization (A/B and multivariate testing) but also wholesale redesigns and replatforms - how do we know we’re getting our money’s worth?

What book(s) are you reading right now?

Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous, by Gabriella Coleman.

Favorite “guilty pleasure” song or band that you can’t help but rock out to?

Too many to count. I guess the most unavoidable is New Order’s “Blue Monday” - gets me dancing every time.

Name something you’re looking forward to for Prestige Conference Las Vegas:

A quality, curated content experience with plenty of time for discussion - more of what we saw in Minneapolis last time.

Specifically, Pippin and Jake, John Hawkins & Kim Schaefer.

Going to the Pawn Shop from Pawn Stars.

Meet the speaker: Carl Hancock

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Carl Hancock

Carl Hancock knows a thing or two about the power of WordPress and how different plugins can extend the powerful CMS to accomplish just about anything. He’s the co-founder of Rocketgenius and creator of one of the most successful commercial plugins in the marketplace: Gravity Forms.

One of the great things about Carl is his ability to give and receive advice, even when it’s not the easiest thing to say or hear. He understands that there’s often a learning experience to take away from negative criticism; one that can help you identify issues to create solutions that can take your business to a whole new level.

Carl was part of our Expert Business Panel at the 2014 Prestige Conference in Minneapolis. We’re very excited to welcome him back as a speaker to Prestige Las Vegas, discussing the business background of his commercial plugin success.

In 3 sentences or less, please describe what you do for a living:

I get to build WordPress products for a living. How great is that?!

Why this career and not something else?

I’ve been working with computers since I was in Elementary School and began doing internet development when dial up was king so there has never really been “something else” as far as career goes.

When did you figure out what you wanted to be when you grew up?

I’ve always been involved in technology but I wanted to get involved in creating a startup when I got fed up with dealing with poorly made decisions by people running the companies I worked for before I co-founded Rocketgenius.

Once you figured out what you wanted to do with your career, how did you start making things happen?

I went all in from the beginning. I withdrew from college on the first day of classes and accepted a job with a startup halfway across the country when I was 18.

Who were your most valuable mentors and how did you connect with them?

From a startup perspective, the 37Signals blog and books that they published inspired me to quit my job and start my own company.

What’s coming up next for you?

Expanding the Gravity Forms ecosystem and taking it places that people within the WordPress community may not expect.

Any industry predictions for 2015?

The WordPress API will be huge.

What book(s) are you reading right now?

Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden and The Startup Playbook by David Kidder and Reid Hoffman.

Favorite “guilty pleasure” song or band that you can’t help but rock out to?

Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Name one thing you’re looking forward to for Prestige Conference Las Vegas:

The people.

Attending Prestige Las Vegas? Get Your Web Badges Here

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Prestige Conference is the hottest WordPress business event to come to Vegas, so we’re not surprised you want to show off that you’ll be attending.

You can grab the embed codes for the badges below. Don’t forget to Tweet us at @PrestigeConf or use the official conference hashtag #PrestigeConf to let us know you’re excited about the event!


For our Las Vegas attendees:

attending

For our livestreamers:

livestreaming

For our speakers:

speaker

For our sponsors:

sponsors

MailChimp Women In Tech Scholarship Awards

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Trophies

We are thrilled to be able to offer scholarships for the 2015 Las Vegas Prestige Conference thanks to our partnership with MailChimp.

We were truly blown away by the interest in the program. Thanks to additional from MailChimp, we are pleased to offer a 6th scholarship spot for this event.

After a careful review and deliberation by our selection committee, Prestige Conference is proud to announce the winners of the Las Vegas MailChimp Women In Tech Scholarship program.

  • Krista McPhee of Fruitvale, British Columbia, Canada
  • Lauren Pittenger of Warminster, PA
  • Chinwe Mabel Onukwube of Las Vegas, NV
  • Andreatte Caliguire of Minneapolis, MN
  • Simone Russ of Las Vegas, NV
  • Michelle Schulp of Minneapolis, MN

All winners have been notified via email with information on the next steps needed to register for the conference.

Thank you to everyone that applied!

 

 

 

Las Vegas Prestige Conference Schedule Posted

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schedule

With so many great speakers included in our Las Vegas Prestige Conference line up, we know you’re ready to see what sessions they’ll be presenting during the event.

You can find the full schedule on the Prestige homepage, but here are the highlights:

Friday Night - Business Experts Get Real

We’ll be kicking off Prestige Las Vegas with two opportunities to learn from highly successful WordPress business owners. First up is a Q&A between Jake Goldman of 10up and Chris Lema of Crowd Favorite discussing the journey from enterprise software to WordPress.

The next section of the evening is aptly titled “Honest Answers from Business Experts.” We’ve used this format before to create in-depth conversations between our business panelists, with plenty of opportunities for audience questions. Panelists include Cory Miller of iThemes, Ben Fox of Sidekick, and Andrew Norcross of Reaktiv Studios. Jake Goldman will hang on the mic from earlier in the evening and act as moderator for the panel.

Saturday - 6 Stellar Sessions

Prestige offers a single track of sessions so all attendees have the opportunity to hear every speaker we’ve flown in for the conference. Don’t worry - we build in time for audience Q&A, visits to the sponsor tables, and the ever-important hallway networking.

We’ll kick off Saturday’s full day of business talks with our local speakers - Las Vegas tech scene leaders John Hawkins of 9seeds and Kim Schaefer of Downtown Project. Rounding out the morning will be Pippin Williamson of Pippin’s Plugins and Jake Goldman of 10up sharing the values, challenges, and boundaries of serving the WordPress economy.

After a catered lunch provided by the venue, we’ll dive right into the afternoon sessions. Brad Williams of WebDevStudios will share advice on making your first hire, followed by Brianna Norcross presenting on accounting for small business. We’ll take a short break for snacks, then continue on with John Eckman of 10up discussing WordPress in the Enterprise. Our final session of the day will be with Carl Hancock of RocketGenius discussing growing a big “small company.”

We know that’s a lot of information packed into a day and a half conference. That’s why we’ve got more conference magic up our sleeves.

Saturday After Party

We’ve got a great after party planned for Prestige Conference. We know your head is going to be filled with ideas and new directions you can take your business. We’ve structured the after party as a time for everyone to relax, unwind, share their ideas, and network in a low-key environment. This is the perfect time to share ideas and connect with our speakers, sponsors, and other attendees.

Bonus: Post-Prestige Video Access

Our event has so many speakers and information packed into it, it’ll be impossible to remember it all. We’ve got your back - each ticket includes a special bonus: access to the recordings of all Saturday sessions for 6 months after the event.

If you haven’t already booked your ticket, what are you waiting for? Head on over to our Registration page to get started.

Image Credit: Steve, Planet of Success

Women In Tech Scholarships Available for Prestige Las Vegas

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Simply stated, there aren’t enough women in technology. According to CompTIA, only 24% of US IT professionals are female.

Women Who Code
Women Who Code aim to change this trend - their goal is to connect 1 million women in tech careers.

More Women In Tech Are Needed

Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights reported over 500,000 IT job openings were available in the US in the last quarter of 2013. That’s half a million jobs in areas such as cyber security, web design, network management, data analysis, and software development.

This gender inequality is also present within the WordPress community. We’re seeing more women attend and even speak at these events, but they still make up less than half of the audience. How do we change this under-representation?

More Women In Tech Benefit Everyone

Diversity of skills and backgrounds can only benefit the WordPress ecosystem. New eyes on projects, fresh perspectives, and different communication styles can help move us forward by leaps and bounds. As part of our goal to encourage audience diversity, we’re excited to partner with MailChimp to offer five scholarships to our Las Vegas conference February 27-28, 2015.

We Want To See More Women At Prestige Conference

Knowing what we do about the typical gender ratio that happens at tech conferences, we’re trying to encourage more women to attend our events. One way we’re doing this is by inviting female industry leaders to speak at every conference we put on. Another way we’re encouraging women to participate at our Las Vegas event is through our partnership with MailChimp to provide scholarships for women in tech.

Each scholarship covers one full conference pass (up to a $199 value). You’ll receive access to the Friday night Expert Business Panel, all Saturday Speaker sessions, lunch, and the infamous Prestige Conference After Party.

The deadline to apply for a scholarship is Friday, January 9th, 2015. Head on over to our MailChimp Scholarship Page to submit your application now.

Help Us Spread The Word

Know a woman who could use a boost to help build her business or career? Please share this scholarship opportunity with them!

Image Credit: Alaina Percival

 

Prestige Conference Las Vegas: Hotel & Transportation Info

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Traveling to Las Vegas for the February 2015 Prestige Conference event? It’s going to be two days packed with business learning opportunities. Here are the details you’ll want to know:

Prestige Conference Hotel Info

We’ve negotiated special group rates at the Downtown Grand Las Vegas. The rate is $103 per night*, plus 13% applicable sales tax. This rate is available February 25th, 2015 - February 28th, 2015.

DowntownGrandLogo

Rooms can be reserved by calling the reservation office at 855-479-8777 and requesting the Prestige Conference rate. Online booking is available through this link.

The cutoff to book under the conference rate is 5pm Pacific time on February 6, 2015.

Prestige Conference Transportation

Prestige will be providing a free shuttle from the Downtown Grand hotel to and from the Innevation Center for both Friday & Saturday conference events.

Parking at the Downtown Grand hotel is free for guests registered under our room block. The conference will take place at the Innevation Center, located approximately 11.2 miles from the hotel. Free parking is available at the Innevation Center.

Nearest Airport

McCarran International (LAS) is the nearest airport. It is located 8.9 miles from the Downtown Grand hotel. More than 10 taxi companies offer service from McCarran to the downtown area. Public transportation by bus is also available.

 

*The nightly rate is calculated as the base rate ($85) + resort fee ($18) for a total of $103 per night. The resort fee includes: Complimentary parking, Free Guest Room Wi Fi, Complimentary Bottled Water upon Arrival, “Grand Experience” book filled with Discounts at hotel outlets, Complimentary Coffee each morning, Free local and toll free calls, Access to the fitness room and outdoor pool (seasonal), Match Play and Free Play, and Complimentary Shuttle Service to downtown area attractions. All amenities are based on availability and are not “guaranteed”.

Welcome to Vegas WP Engine!

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Welcome to Vegas WP Engine!

WP Engine

Prestige is pleased to announce that WP Engine, the premiere fully-managed WordPress hosting platform, is returning as a sponsor for our Las Vegas event.

WP Engine is built on a solid foundation of security, scalability, speed, and support that offers their customers peace of mind that their sites are in good hands when managed on their hosting platform. They offer the features that serious business owners demand in the world of fast-paced Internet business growth and expansion. Their agile enterprise platform moves at the speed of the market, constantly adjusting and responding to the needs of your business and your customers.

In addition to being great leaders in the WordPress ecosystem, they’re also committed to giving back to the community through sharing expertise and original contributions, local community involvement, and active participation in WordPress events such as Prestige Conference.

We’re honored to have their support as a returning sponsor, and can’t wait to share more about their services at our Las Vegas event. If you haven’t bought your ticket yet, be sure to grab one on our Ticket Page.

25 Ways a Virtual Assistant Can Save You Time & Money

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If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, outsourcing tasks to a virtual assistant (VA) can help save you time and money.

25 Ways a Virtual Assistant Can Save You Time and Money

What is a Virtual Assistant?

Virtual Assistants help busy business people save time and money by providing professional administrative, technical, and creative services. They are independent contractors that work remotely, allowing for flexible scheduling to meet your needs.

The best tasks to outsource to a VA are ones that they can perform more quickly or efficiently than you or your in-house staff. There are only so many hours in a day, so having a VA on retainer can be a huge benefit when higher-level projects and tasks require your individual attention. Many entrepreneurs and small business owners find that using a virtual assistant frees up their time to focus on more important aspects of their business.

25 Ways a Virtual Assistant Can Save You Time & Money

  1. Create an email system of folders and filters to manage your incoming business or personal correspondence
  2. Unsubscribe you from newsletters & mailing lists
  3. Manage your business’s email subscriber list
  4. Create newsletter templates for customer mailings
  5. Blog post or website page SEO
  6. Write headlines for social media marketing
  7. Convert documents to other file types as needed
  8. Add alt tags and image titles to older articles
  9. Set up meetings with prospective clients
  10. Screen and respond to voicemail messages
  11. Find the lowest airfare for your next business trip
  12. Research topics for speaking engagements
  13. Proofread presentations or other documents
  14. Transcribe podcasts or interviews
  15. Build charts or graphs with provided data
  16. Send customer emails for upcoming promotions or sales
  17. Develop workflow checklists to ensure consistency of service
  18. Collect data & write copy for podcast episode notes
  19. Analyze website analytics
  20. Prioritize HelpDesk support requests
  21. Submit your content to republishing sites
  22. Interact with potential clients on discussion boards or forums
  23. List upcoming events on local or national community calendars
  24. Moderate blog comments and manage spam
  25. Build inbound links for internal SEO

This list of 25 ways a virtual assistant can save you time & money is by no means exhaustive. You can hire a VA to do almost any task you can think of that they can accomplish remotely. VA service providers range from generalists to specialists, and rates vary according to experience and expertise.

We’ll share more about how to find a virtual assistant and what to look for when hiring one in the coming weeks.

Image Credit: Adrián Pérez

Welcome Back Gravity Forms

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Contact forms for WordPress don’t get any easier than Gravity Forms. That’s why we’re proud to announce they are a returning sponsor for Prestige Conference Las Vegas.

Gravity Forms

Over a million sites use Gravity Forms. With their easy-t0-use premium WordPress plugin, they take the drudgery out of custom form building. Gravity Forms allows you to quickly and easily integrate with a variety of third party services such as PayPal, AWeber, MailChimp, FreshBooks, and many more. You don’t even need programming knowledge to use it.

There’s a reason why Chris Lema called Gravity Forms “the best WordPress plugin ever.” And he’s not alone. WP Explorer calls it the “WordPress plugin of choice for many power users and developers.” Through a commitment to innovation and development, Gravity Forms consistently lands on developer “must-have” and “best” WordPress plugin lists.

We’re honored to have the support of Gravity Forms for our Las Vegas Prestige Conference event.

Plan Ahead: Prestige Conference Las Vegas Hotel Info

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With Prestige Conference: Las Vegas only a few short months away, we’re making it easy for you to budget for the event by sharing hotel info now. We don’t want you to miss out on the Early Bird prices ending Nov 21st.

Downtown_Grand_Las_Vegas

We’ve negotiated special group rates at the Downtown Grand Las Vegas. Although not available for booking yet, our room rate of approximately $120/night* will include amenities such as free in-room wifi, complimentary parking, complimentary coffee in the morning, and a coupon book filled with discounts for area attractions.

No car? No problem! A shuttle will be provided from the Downtown Grand hotel to and from the Innevation Center for both Friday & Saturday conference events.

Stay tuned for additional announcements, including an email to all Prestige Conference ticketholders once our room block opens for reservations.

*Nightly cost estimate includes room rate & resort fee. All rooms are subject to applicable taxes & hotel fees.

Photo credit: tojones007 on Flickr

Top Entrepreneurs Share Their Favorite Business Books

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Business_Books

During the Prestige Conference Expert Business Panel in Minneapolis, moderator Matt Medeiros asked the panelists which business books they would recommend for our audience of entrepreneurs. His question prompted a new Prestige tradition to ask all of our top entrepreneur speakers to share their favorite business books.

Top Business Books

Recommended by
Prestige Minneapolis Speakers

Recommended by Travis Totz of WerkPress: You’re My Favorite Client - Mike Monteiro

Recommended by Carl Hancock of Gravity Forms: Zero to One - Peter Thiel

Recommended by Reid Peifer of Modern Tribe: Let My People Go Surfing - Yvon Chouinard

Recommended by Jake Goldman of 10up: Decisive - Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Recommended by Matt Medeiros of Slocum Studio: Running Lean - Ash Maurya

Recommended by Toby Cryns of The Mighty Mo! Design Co: The 4-Hour Workweek - Timothy Ferriss

Recommended by Jennifer Bourn of Bourn Creative: Book Yourself Solid - Michael Port

Bonus recommendation from Jennifer Bourn: Youtility - Jay Baer

Recommended by Lisa Sabin Wilson of WebDevStudios: The Leadership Challenge - James Kouzes & Barry Posner

Bonus recommendation from Lisa: Rework - Jason Fried and David Hansson

Featured image photo credit: Abhi Sharma on Flickr

Share Your Prestige Pride - Conference Badges

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You’ve already bought your ticket to Prestige Conference.

You’ve tweeted us @PrestigeConf about your excitement with hashtag #PrestigeConf.

Now you’re wondering what else you can do to show the world how excited you are to attend Prestige this weekend.

We’ve got the answer - geek out with these fabulous Prestige Conference badges!

attending
livestreaming
speaker
volunteer

Hear Lisa Sabin-Wilson Speak At Prestige

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Lisa Sabin-WilsonIf you haven’t heard Lisa Sabin-Wilson speak yet, you’re missing out.

For the past 10 years, Lisa has been working in the web design and development industry, focusing on WordPress design, development, and consulting. She is currently co-owner and partner of WebDev Studios, a company specializing in WordPress and related open source platforms. Their clients include Microsoft, the YMCA, MSNBC, and livefyre.

When we say that Lisa wrote the book on WordPress, we’re not kidding. She’s the author of WordPress for Dummies,, now in it’s 6th edition, as well as BuddyPress For Dummies, WordPress All In One For Dummies, and WordPress Web Design For Dummies.

Anyone that makes money from work involving WordPress will be able to benefit from hearing Lisa speak at Prestige Conference. Her session is titled “You Should Charge More” and right from the get-go, she’ll be diving into pricing considerations when bidding projects, common mistakes freelancers make when quoting clients, and advice for bumping up your current rates. Lisa will also be covering different pricing models, how to identify signs your rates are too low, and the difference between agency and freelance pricing structures.

Hear Lisa Sabin-Wilson speak at Prestige

Make sure you don’t miss out on hearing Lisa Sabin-Wilson present at Prestige Conference. Saturday Conference tickets include Lisa’s presentation and much more. Streaming tickets are also available for remote attendees.

WordPress Podcasts Worth Listening To

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WordPress is an open source software that’s constantly changing & improving through contributions from a very active developer community.

Whether you’re a developer yourself, a designer, or someone that uses WordPress for your business, stay up-to-date on the latest WordPress news by tuning in to these podcasts.

14 WordPress Podcasts Worth Listening To

In alphabetical order:

Apply Filters

Apply Filters is a podcast dedicated to WordPress development. Hosts Brad Touesnard and Pippin Williamson share their experiences in the development world, including development in WordPress core, plugins, and themes. They also bring in guests and occasionally cover the business side of WordPress.

The DradCast

The DradCast is a video podcast featuring Dre Armeda and Brad Williams. Each week they feature a guest host and discussion of all things WordPress, including WordPress news, upcoming events, and the WordPress community in general.

Kitchen Sink WP

Just like their name implies, this podcast covers everything WordPress but the kitchen sink. Hosted by Adam Silver, this podcast is his way of giving back to the WordPress community that has supported him through the years.

Matt Report

The Matt Report is a WordPress business podcast created and hosted by Matt Medeiros. Matt has interviewed hundreds of WordPress professionals throughout his career, and his podcast is full of great information on WordPress entrepreneurship, startups, and freelancing.

*If you’d like to hear Matt Medeiros live, he’ll be speaking at our upcoming Minneapolis event. Ticket info: PrestigeConf.com/Tickets

Please Advise

Please Advise is an occasional live podcast by Mike McAlister, Jake Caputo, and Chris Molitor. As commercial theme developers, they are able to speak expertly on topics related to theme industry, theme development, and WordPress in general.

WordPress Breakdown with BobWP

Bob Dunn is a professional trainer. His podcast teaches beginner and intermediate users the strategy, marketing, and design side of WordPress.

The WordPress Chick’s Podcast

Kim Doyal is “The WordPress Chick” and her podcast focuses on “WordPress happiness made easy.” Her show discusses WordPress themes, plugins, publishing, and more.

WordPress Plugins from A to Z

As anyone using WordPress knows, there is a massive collection of free and premium plugins that have been created by and for the WordPress community. Created and hosted by John Overall and Marcus Couch, the WordPress Plugins from A to Z podcast regularly reviews new and updated plugins to help you find the best tools for your site.

WordPress Tips & Tricks

WordPress Tips & Tricks by Steve Hart is gaining some popularity and momentum. Steve has a great personality and is able to deliver useful content in short bursts. Each podcast is typically 5 minutes or less, though some do come in closer to the 10 minute mark. His recordings stay on topic and deliver great value for those looking to expand their WordPress knowledge.

WordPress Weekly

WordPress Weekly is a WPTavern podcast hosted by Jeff Chandler and Marcus Couch and recorded live each week at 9:30pm EST on Wednesday night. WordPress Weekly focuses on industry news with supplemental interviews and discussion.

WPcast

This professional WordPress podcast is hosted by Doug Yuen and David Hehenberger. The podcast focus is on providing valuable information for WordPress professionals, including designers, consultants, developers, and even end users that run their businesses on WordPress.

WP Elevation

WP Elevation interviews successful entrepreneurs in the WordPress industry. Their business podcast focuses on ways to help you build a successful WordPress enterprise.

WP Watercooler

WP Watercooler is a live video roundtable discussion hosted by WordPress developer Jason Tucker. This weekly show discusses what’s happening in the WordPress community and how WordPress has changed people’s lives and their businesses.

Your Website Engineer

Your Website Engineer is a podcast created and hosted by Dustin Hartzler that, each week, provides a simple approach to creating high quality websites with WordPress. His goal is to inspire you to do great things with WordPress. Each week, he tackles a new topic to help small business owners build their WordPress websites.