Haven’t you wished you could ask any question to an “expert” at WordCamp? Problem is that many talks have short Q&A sessions – and while we encourage speakers to visit the Happiness Bar after the talks, it’s still difficult to ask sometimes. Also there could be someone ELSE in the room that has a great answer, or would love to bond over the subject you’re interested in.
Like last year, this is part of the reason why we are bringing three “Ask The Expert” sessions to WordCamp Miami this year. In a nutshell:
- One person knowledgable in a particular field
- No slides, no prepared presentations
- Approx 30 min of that person answering as many questions as possible
Think of this as a mini-town hall or a Reddit “AMA”.
Got a question about WordPress security? We have a person for that.
Got a question that touches on development? We have a person for that.
Although you can ask any legit question, we tend to suggest topics to help guide the conversation.
There are three “Ask The Expert” spots and they are all on Saturday, March 17th. We are updating our schedule page as these speakers are confirmed. However we want to share with you the six experts we have lined up so far.
Adam Warner
Suggested Questions And Topics: Got questions about security on the web and about your WordPress site? Then ask Adam.
Andrew Norcross
Andrew (or Norcross, as most know him) is a Senior Engineer and Developer Advocate at Liquid Web, focusing on internal product development and being a voice inside the WP community itself. 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 amazing son and a rescue dog that believes he’s a human.
Suggested Questions And Topics: Andrew is not only an accomplished developer but has formerly run a well-recognized WordPress plugin company: Reaktiv Studios. So developers who have questions related to plugins or perhaps have a question regarding having a business around WordPress plugins might want to see Andrew on March 17th.
John Maeda
John Maeda is an American executive spearheading a new convergence across the design + technology industries. He joined Automattic in 2016 as Global Head of Computational Design + Inclusion and previously served as Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a world-leading venture capital firm and was the 16th President of the Rhode Island School of Design.
His books include The Laws of Simplicity, Creative Code and Redesigning Leadership. He holds degrees in Electrical Engineering + Computer Science from MIT, an MBA from Arizona State U, and a PhD from University of Tsukuba in Japan. Maeda draws on his diverse background as an MIT-trained engineer, award-winning designer, and executive leader to help businesses and creatives push the boundaries of innovation in their markets and fields. He has appeared as a speaker all over the world, from Davos to Beijing to São Paulo to New York, and his talks for TED.com have received cumulative views of over 2 million to date.
Maeda was the recipient of the White House’s National Design Award, the Tribeca Film Festival’s Disruptive Innovation Award for STEM to STEAM, the Blouin Foundation’s Creative Leadership Award, the AIGA Medal, the Raymond Loewy Foundation Prize, the Mainichi Design Prize, the Tokyo Type Director’s Club Prize, and induction into the Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame.
Suggested Questions And Topics: Got questions about design and user experiences? Then ask John.