sessions

Recap: Prestige Conference Las Vegas

•

What happens at Prestige Conference Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas…or does it?

Prestige_Conference_Las_Vegas
Photo: Aaron Hockley

 

Now, don’t worry, we won’t spill details about things that happened after the After Party. But we do want to share some highlights from the conference for those that couldn’t make it or those that are wondering what to expect at the next event in Minneapolis this August.

You can verify that our memories aren’t too fuzzy by cross-checking our story with these other great Prestige recaps:

Friday Night Product Panel

Our Friday night product panel included Andrew Norcross of Reaktiv Studios, Cory Miller of iThemes, and Ben Fox of Sidekick.pro, moderated by Jake Goldman of 10up.

Ben Fox, Cory Miller, and Andrew Norcross are interviewed by Jake Goldman at Prestige Conference Las Vegas.
Photo: Mendel Kurland

 

It’s easy for us to be biased about our own event, so we pulled some Twitter highlights to share instead.

Saturday: Tons of Great Sessions

We kicked off Saturday with a unique perspective from John Hawkins of 9seeds and Kim Schaefer of Downtown Project. Hearing both perspectives from developer and client led to some fantastic discussion and questions from the audience.

Kim Schaefer and John Hawkins present at Prestige Conference Las Vegas
Photo: Aaron Hockley

April Downing, CFO of WP Engine, has raised over $200 million in capital throughout her career. She gave a great talk on options to to fund your business.

April Downing of WP Engine speaks about business funding options at Prestige Conference Las Vegas.
Photo: Aaron Hockley

Pippin Williamson of Pippin’s Plugins & Easy Digital Downloads was interviewed by Jake Goldman on his place in the WordPress marketplace.

Pippin Williamson of Pippin's Plugins and Easy Digital Downloads is interviewed by Jake Goldman at Prestige Conference Las Vegas.
Photo: Aaron Hockley

Brad Williams of WebDevStudios addressed those looking to move from freelancer to agency. His talk was “Hiring Employee #1.”

Brad Williams of WebDevStudios shares his presentation on Hiring Employee #1 at Prestige Conference Las Vegas
Photo: Aaron Hockley

Stop Sucking at Accounting was the message Brianna Norcross of Balance Virtual shared at Prestige. And she totally nailed it.

Brianna Norcross of Balance Virtual presents Stop Sucking at Accounting at Prestige Conference Las Vegas.
Photo: Aaron Hockley

John Eckman of 10up took the stage to share his “Tales from the CMS Wars” and provided great insight on the enterprise side of WordPress.

John Eckman of 10up shares "Tales from the CMS Wars" at Prestige Conference Las Vegas.
Photo: Mendel Kurland

To round out the day, Chris Lema of Crowd Favorite took the stage to discuss “Why Here, Why Now?” in an interview with Jake Goldman.

Chris Lema is interviewed by Jake Goldman at Prestige Conference Las Vegas.
Photo: Aaron Hockley

We received overwhelmingly positive feedback for the event and the content our speakers presented. Thank you to all of the attendees, speakers, sponsors, and volunteers that made Prestige Conference a success!

Las Vegas Prestige Conference Schedule Posted

•

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

More than just another WordPress conference

•
Prestige_Logo_Small

When Kiko & Josh conceptualized Prestige Conference, they did it using WordPress as the framework for the education they wanted to provide their attendees.

While that’s still a piece of the puzzle, the event has evolved into something so much more than just another WordPress conference.

The event organizers have taken the core of what makes the WordPress community great and used that model to create a business conference that’s unlike those you’ve seen in the past. You’ll find the same friendliness and willingness to help you with your goals. The same Open Source concept for problem solving. The same high-level experts you see making waves in the space.

But you won’t find any JQuery or plugin integration sessions here. Prestige Conference isn’t about building your skills as a developer or a designer. It’s a whole new level of sessions on what it takes to manage your business and your career.

Need help figuring out your pricing model? Lisa Sabin-Wilson will tell you why you should charge more and how to get clients to accept a rate that reflects the value you bring to the table.

Want to know what attracts clients & customers to your business? Whether you’re looking for them to hire you, buy from you, or learn from you, Jennifer Bourn will explain how a design-first approach sets the stage for success.

Feel like sometimes you have no idea what the hell you’re doing? Reid Peifer has been there. He’s even willing to share a bunch of the stupid mistakes he made along the way to building a $1 million dollar a year “side business.”

Wonder how to handle growth? Jake Goldman took his company 10up from a 1-man show to a 70+ person brand in less than 3.5 years. He’s offered to get up on stage for an intensive interview that will walk you through his watershed moments & risks that paid off. Like all of our speakers, Jake will be equally candid about decisions he regretted making along the way.

This is just a sampling of the type of business insights and advice you’ll gain by attending Prestige. Yes, all the speakers work in the WordPress environment. But the sessions apply to anyone that’s currently freelancing or building their business, regardless of the industry they’re working in.

You can view our full speaker lineup for Prestige Conference, or click the image below to purchase your tickets now.
Register_Now

Why I’m Excited for Prestige Conference

•
Nikhil Vimal

Hello WordPressers!

My name is Nikhil Vimal. I’m a 15 year-old WordPress developer, but my interests span far further. I also have an interest in business. When I saw Prestige Conference show up, I was very excited. It was close to where I live so that was also a big plus. But the most exciting part? The speakers. Those speakers include bright minds like Jennifer Bourn, Jake Goldman, and Carl Hancock. Three of the many great speakers who will be there.

What’s even better? The topics they will be talking about. It will be even cooler to meet everyone speaking in person as well. Prestige is really shaping up to be a great event with great sessions and more. On top of that, some of the ticket money will go to different companies to help them grow (like Happy Joe, a program to help veterans learn code).

So what if you can’t make it? Well, you’re in luck! The organizers have decided to live stream the event for you, so wether you’re on the road or at home, you can catch it live and go back to sessions later. If you want to, you can also head up to “sunny” Minnesota before winter hits and enjoy the event from right at the venue, ask questions on the spot, and of course, meet the speakers face-to-face.

Also, for people coming to Minnesota, they have an exclusive panel the night before the event featuring great speakers talking about cool things. It’s not live streamed or recorded, so be there!

So anyways, I can’t wait, very excited to meet people and to learn business. I hope to one day grow my own business to great heights, and the knowledge shared by the speakers will be the first step to getting there.

So what are you waiting for? Purchase a ticket!

Organizer Note: This guest post was written by Nikhil Vimal, a fantastically talented young developer and great guy. He’ll *obviously* be at Prestige Conference, so make sure you say hi.