Hello from Janine, Project Manager here at Big Boom Design.
Once again, I’m writing this from our office in West Asheville. The rain has made a quiet, productive atmosphere today, I’m hearing a lot of quiet clicking and key tapping. But the excitement is building. We’re only two days out from WordCamp Asheville 2019!
We are so pleased to be Gold Sponsors of WordCamp Asheville for two years in a row. Boomer, a founding organizer, has been an avid supporter of the local WordPress community for many years and we’re happy to be involved in WordCamp at nearly every level.
Some of us are volunteering at Precamp, the day-long WordPress bootcamp Boomer’s leading on Friday. I’m speaking Saturday afternoon about project management on the cheap. We’ll be hanging around the booth Saturday and Sunday, stop by and say hello or meet more of the team. Make sure you pick up some new swag or challenge us to a holodeck battle–er, vintage console video game.
On the Theme
It’s especially significant to me to be speaking at WordCamp this year because of the Star Trek theme. I’m a pretty casual fan myself, but my grandmother was an avid watcher of all the shows. She inducted all her kids and grandkids into not just science fiction television, but also scifi literature and a general interest in space, along with my engineer grandpa.
Whenever I stayed over at their house, the evening’s activity was always watching whatever new or syndicated episodes were on. My grandpa would highlight them in the TV Guide for her every week. I’d often go to sleep still hearing the sounds of tense bridge-decision-making or away-team-adventuring. My mom took me to a Trekkie convention when I was little–it’s one of my earliest memories. Some Klingon cosplayers scared me in the cafeteria, albeit not intentionally.
When I saw the WordCamp theme for this year, it made me think not only about my own family history, but also how grateful I am that the WordPress “Federation” exists. All the people making WordPress better, more usable, and showing us the ropes, making it possible to be hands-on with technology that not everyone would be able to access if WordPress or its community didn’t exist. So live long and prosper, WordPress contributors, teachers, and users! It’s going to be a great WordCamp and I hope I see you there.