Vasken's 15 years of technology leadership and experience working in both the public and private sectors have brought him most recently to 10up, a leading WordPress engineering and design firm, where he mentors a team of 80+ engineers.

Before learning about WordPress in 2009, Vasken worked at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, in several roles ranging from desktop support to systems administration, and occasionally, adjunct faculty member.

In November of 2010, Vasken joined GigaOM, a leading technology news and research online publication, as a WordPress developer working remotely from New Hampshire. Upon moving to the Bay Area in mid-2012, he assumed the role of a team leader within GigaOM’s rapidly growing product development group, a position he held until joining the team at 10up in February of 2013.

Vasken enjoys creating natural, consistent user experiences that enhance and promote interactivity through simplicity. As a developer, one of Vasken’s strengths is his ability to communicate highly technical concepts in a clear, non-technical way in order to build understanding between various project stakeholders. This, along with significant experience across several technology sectors, has allowed him to lead teams and engineer successful projects within organizations ranging from small, independent businesses to public universities to online publications with millions of unique visitors each month.

A strong believer in open source technologies, Vasken has spoken and hosted panels at numerous WordCamp, NERCOMP, and EDUCAUSE events, on subjects ranging from Green Computing to WordPress-based centralized authentication systems. He currently holds a Bachelor of Arts in German Studies from Haverford College and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Plymouth State University, where he was also an adjunct faculty member in the Computer Science and Languages and Linguistics Departments.

When he’s not testing cache performance or planning projects, Vasken enjoys spending time with his wife, hiking with his dogs in the Bay Area’s many beautiful nature parks, and as a recent California transplant, is once again trying to find a good group of musicians to jam with in yet another new city.

Nancy Lyons works at the intersection of technology, community, and people. As a leader and technologist, she creates solutions that further community and business goals by meeting the needs of individuals.Nancy supports clients and teams by fostering a collaborative, idea-driven culture that nurtures creativity and brainpower.

She speaks extensively about work culture, social media, technology, and leadership and has been locally and nationally recognized for her role as owner and CEO of Clockwork. She's co-author of Interactive Project Management: Pixels, People, and Process (New Riders, 2012), serves as the Vice Chair on the National Board of Directors at The Family Equality Council, is on the Board of Trustees at Minnesota Public Radio, and is a member of the advisory board for the innovative entrepreneurial conference, Giant Steps.

Jason Cohen is the founder and CTO of WP Engine, a growing 230 employee enterprise based out of Austin, TX expected to double in size in 2015. He has built four software startups ranging from bootstrapped to funded, both alone and with co-founders - all to more than $1m in annual revenue.

Jason is an angel investor and was a founding member of Capital Factory, an Austin incubator and co-working space. He writes about early-stage startups on his blog, or you can find him on Twitter @asmartbear.

Lea Newman is the embodiment of the lifestyle and practices she recommends. She is the author of You Healthier Now, Small Steps to Big Changes in your Health and Wellness. She owns and operates BALANCE Wellness Coaching, a successful health coaching practice. Her success as an entrepreneur in the area of personal health transformations gives her a unique business perspective to bring to Prestige Conference.

Lea retired from the United States Air Force just last year. During her active duty service, she focused on being a student of life and learning as much as possible, including extensive study with Tony Robbins. She speaks fluent French, Spanish and Chinese, is certified as a National Academy of Sports Medicine Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist, as well as an Institute for Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. With all of these talents and tools, she now travels the country in her RV while coaching, supporting life transformations, and taking every opportunity to squeeze the juice out of life each and everyday and to live her life to the fullest in each moment.

Tony is CEO and Co-Founder at Sucuri. Sucuri is a globally recognized website security firm, focused on providing websites owners peace of mind through comprehensive security products.

He has, in collaboration with his business partner, built and navigated a small project into a Multi-Million dollar globally distributed team, providing 24/7/365 support to over 30,000 paying clients. The Sucuri team is spread over 19 countries, 6 continents and boasts over 60 full-time employees. The company currently supports over 300,00 websites, and protects against 45 million attacks a month. In the past five years he has led and managed the company through various events to include M&A's, Investments, Growth, Re-Branding and a number of other organizational/business related events.

Tony is a former United States Marine, with two tours in Iraq between 2003 and 2005, and earned his undergraduate degree in Technology Management in 2009. He is an adamant Brazilian JiuJitsu practitioner, and when not being his computer can often be found working for a submission on the mats.

Dre Armeda is an old-timer. He has been using WordPress since 2004. You may know Dre as one of the Co-Founders of Sucuri Inc. where he was CEO from 2010-2014. After helping build and grow Sucuri, Dre joined the team at WebDevStudios as VP of Operations, where today he helps lead the team through WordPress projects with companies like Microsoft, Discovery, and Move.com.

Dre presents at various WordCamps and other events every year on security and business topics. Dre is a proud WordPress contributor and was the lead organizer that brought WordCamp to San Diego.

On his off time you’ll find Dre on the mat practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with Carlson Gracie Team Menifee where he earned his blue belt, or on the softball fields with his girls!

Dre is also the Co-Host of the worlds best WordPress podcast, DradCast. Join them on Wednesday nights at 8PM Eastern.

April is the CFO of WP Engine, a fully-managed premium WordPress hosting provider with over 200 employees. Having raised over $200 million in capital and completed more than 15 acquisitions, April appreciates the complexity of managing technology and services companies at various stages. In addition to leading the finance side of the house for both publicly and privately held companies, April has a passion for people and has lead the talent and culture teams for her various companies over the last decade.

Ben Fox is an entrepreneur and co-founder of SIDEKICK.pro, a guided and interactive help & support platform that easily integrates into WordPress. Prior to co-creating SIDEKICK with Bart Dabek he was a window washer, event rep (read: guy with megaphone outside Best Buy on Black Friday), clothing jobber, marketing client manager and digital agency owner. He and his team are produly based out of the Ryerson Digital Media Zone in Toronto.

Brad is the co-founder and CEO of WebDevStudios.com, a co-host on the DradCast podcast, and the co-author of Professional WordPress (1E & 2E) and Professional WordPress Plugin Development. Brad is also one of the organizers of the Philadelphia WordPress Meetup Group and WordCamp Philly. Brad blogs at http://strangework.com and tweets at @williamsba.

As CEO of 10up, John Eckman is focused on making content management easy - and maybe even fun. Prior to 10up, John held a number of leadership roles in strategy, technology, and user experience for agencies like ISITE Design, Molecular, PixelMEDIA, and Optaros. A veteran of the content management industry, he’s an avid web technologist and is often found organizing, speaking at, or attending conferences for web geeks throughout New England. He earned a Ph.D. in American Literature and a Master’s degree in Information Systems, which means he speaks fluent Academia as well as several dialects of Engineering.

Brianna Norcross serves as Chief Everything for Balance Virtual, a virtual accounting agency that helps WordPress agencies keep their books in line. When she’s not inhaling gummy bears, she likes to holler to the internet about cloud accounting software and IRS practices. Founded in 2009, Balance Virtual specializes in accounting for entreprenuers, as Brianna has found they normally need the most help navigating the waters of business finance. When she’s not swooning over double-entry accounting, Brianna can be found herding her three kids or the developers at Reaktiv Studios.

Carl Hancock is one of the co-founders of Rocketgenius, Inc. A premier provider of WordPress plugin solutions and the creators of one one of the most successful commercial WordPress plugins: Gravity Forms. He loves building innovative solutions for WordPress, and is a devoted father, loving husband, amateur photographer, startup founder and travel addict.

Pippin Williamson is a developer from Hutchinson, KS, and is the founder of several large WordPress-focused projects, including Easy Digital Downloads, Restrict Content Pro, and AffiliateWP.

When not deep in the depths of PHP or Javascript, Pippin spends his time brewing beer, cycling around Kansas, and spending as much time as possible with his wife and kids.

Hi I'm Shane. I'm a partner at Modern Tribe Inc. We're a digital agency of over 40 people and get to work with some of the world’s top companies (SAP, MTV, Bon Appétit, eBay, Microsoft...) and public agencies (MIT, Stanord, Harvard, IEEE, City governments and more...).

Beyond services, we are committed to open source and our plugins have millions of downloads. These have evolved into a highly profitable freemium plugin business featuring The Events Calendar. I'm heavily involved in Gov 2.0, shaping how local government uses technology, resulting in both a Gov 2.0 Award and a couple mayoral commendation.

Freelance Evangelist, Project Manager, Speaker, Blogger, Surfer, Toddler Wrangler, Goat Herder, Real Estate Investor, Teacher, Intrepid Traveler & Voracious Reader.

Kim Schaefer is Director of Communications for Downtown Project. Her work encompasses a wide variety of communications needs for the organization including the creation of content for downtownproject.com, along with weekly publications, which are created in conjunction with the company’s speaker series. Kim and her team handle branding, media relations, social media, and community outreach.

Downtown Project is a group of passionate people committed to helping to revitalize Downtown Las Vegas. The organization has allocated $350 million to aid in the these efforts through investments in real estate, education, small businesses, and tech startups. Downtown Project aims to accelerate collision, co-learning, and connectedness through the serendipitous interactions of the people who live in and visit Downtown Las Vegas.

John was an early adopter of WordPress. He moved his blog to the brand new platform a few short months after it was released. After doing countless updates to his own site and those of a few dozen friends, John co-founded 9seeds.com to focus full time on WordPress development. In his spare time, John is the lead organizer of the Las Vegas WordPress meetup and a co-organizer for WordCamp Las Vegas.

Andrew, or Norcross, as most know him, is the founder and lead developer of Reaktiv Studios, an agency focused on solving complex problems with killer WordPress solutions. After quite a few years in the finance industry, Norcross switched to coding and hasn’t looked back. He’s got skin in both the service game— Reaktiv Studios is a WordPress VIP Featured Partner, helping top-tier clients with their WordPress development— and the product game, with Reaktiv’s flagship plugin, Design Palette Pro, continually being developed and supported. An organizer for WordCamp Tampa, Norcross loves to keep giving back to the WordPress community with free plugins, education talks at conferences, and core contribution to WordPress. Norcross lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife, three kids, and smelly old basset hound.

Jake is the President of 10up, a full service digital agency that makes web publishing and content management simple and fun. At 10up, he serves name brand clients like TechCrunch, ESPN, Consumer Reports, NBC Universal, and Google. In just over 3 years, Jake built 10up from 1 to more than 70 full time employees. Jake has been quoted on publications like c|net, written for Smashing Magazine, taught at Boston University, and presented at conferences around the country. He is a core contributor to WordPress, maintains some highly rated WordPress plug-ins, and organizes the Sacramento WordPress Meetup.

Chris Lema is the CTO and Chief Strategist at Crowd Favorite.

He’s also a daily blogger, a public speaker, and product strategist. He helps companies leverage WordPress, and helps WordPress companies find leverage.

Cory J. Miller is a former newspaper journalist turned full-time Internet entrepreneur. In 2008, he founded iThemes, which builds easy-to-use software and offers cutting-edge training for thousands of web designers around the globe. Currently iThemes employs over 20 people with headquarters in Oklahoma City. In 2010, he co-authored WordPress All-in-One for Dummies. He also writes and speaks frequently on his passion — entrepreneurship and helping others start and grow their businesses.

Cory is married to Lindsey Miller and they have an adorable baby boy named Caloway, with another on the way this year.