Less than 24 hours to go until the inaugural WordCamp Port Macquarie kicks off at Charles Sturt University. We’ve got the speakers, sponsors, volunteers, and food/drink ready. All that’s left is wait for you lovely people to show up, learn, make friends, and enjoy yourselves!
An email was sent to ticket holders last night with more details about what to expect over the weekend. If you didn’t get one, please get in touch with us and we’ll get you out the info.
The event wouldn’t be possible without the support from the event sponsors:
We’d also like to thank the amazing faculty at Charles Sturt University who have been so supportive of this event and generously allowed use of their facilities.
Just a reminder, double demerits apply from today until Monday due to the long weekend. Please drive safely and responsibly!
No matter how much planning and lead time you allow, in the world of IT it always feels like it comes down to the wire to successfully deliver a project. And like an adolescent trying to do a last-minute cram session to prepare for their final exams – with Red Bull in one hand and pen in the other – us organisers have been burning the midnight oil to ensure that come Saturday the 5th of October, WordCamp Port Macquarie is ready for attendees, speakers, and sponsors alike.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what we’ve been up to…
A sneak peak at the printed schedule organiser Tracey Kemp has been working on this week.
Make sure you thank the speakers when you see them; they are volunteering their time, and many of them are travelling from out of state at their own expense to attend. We’ve also got a number of local speakers lined up for you, including Luke Bennett, Jenna O’Connell/Mariane Power, Veronica Lind, Cath Fowler, and Jake Jackson.
Attendee Badges
Attendees who’ve purchased a ticket already will receive a unique custom-made environmentally-friendly attendee badge made out of wood, which is then printed on with a laser. Those who purchase in the next three days will still get a badge, but it will be generic.
A finished badge all ready to go
After the event, the lanyard can be handed back to us and the badges composted, returning to the earth whence it came. Of course, all attendees are welcome to keep their badges as a trophy of sorts should they so desire.
On Site Visit to Charles Sturt University
This week we took a final visit to the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Port Macquaire campus (where WordCamp is being held) to make sure everything is in order for the event. While on sight, Brisbane WordCamp’s official mascot Wapuunder took a tour of the campus.
Professor Eugene Eucalyptus and Wapuunder hanging out at CSU
The inaugural Port Macquarie WordCamp wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of CSU. We are very fortunate that the CSU staff recognise the goals of WordCamp align with their own institution; that is, we both want to share knowledge indiscriminately and strengthen community through education. You’ll see a number of CSU students at WordCamp this weekend, and we hope they get a lot out of the event.
Wapuunder at the main entrance of CSU
Have you met Sandy yet?
While Wapuunder is a life-size Wapuu, the official mascot of Port Macquarie, Sandy, was only recently born in digital form. Talented designer and co-organiser, Mel Lawrence, created a time-lapse video showing off exactly how Sandy was created:
The health talks we’ve included in the line-up is unique to WordCamp Port Macquarie. A 2014 study made available on beyondblue found that 46% of people surveyed considered their workplace mentally unhealthy, so the idea of the health talks is to start a dialogue to change this stat.
The focus for Mental Health Month this year is sharing your journey. That can be talking with friends and family, connecting with your community (in person or digitally), sharing your story with others, or reaching out to someone who might need your help.
People interested in the health talks should consider attending:
We’re only five days out until the inaugural WordCamp Port Macquarie kicks off at Charles Sturt University on October 5-6.
Presentations
We’ve locked in 21 amazing (volunteer) speakers over the weekend, with a wide variety of topics being discussed. We also have a two panel sessions over the weekend, where a group of experts in their respective fields discuss/answer your questions. The speaker presentations include:
Tomorrow we are getting the attendee badges “printed” for the event. I’ve put quotes around printed because we’re actually having the artwork lasered onto wood (both cool and environmentally friendly). To ensure you get your custom-made badge with your name on it, make sure you purchase your ticket tonight (only $55).
The schedule has been released and we really do have something for everyone. From Beginner to Advanced, Tech, non-Tech, Business, Hosting, Security & Performance, Marketing & SEO and Health & Wellbeing – everything is covered!
We’re excited to announce the next batch of speakers for WordCamp Port Macquarie. We’re kicking off in only 11 days! Tickets are only $55 and you can get them here.
A sisterpreneur team, Mariane and Jenna combine their expertise across psychology, education, career development and organisational culture to deliver bespoke, evidence-based solutions to organisations keen to make their mark in the world.
Jo Minney is a WordPress developer based (for now) in Perth, Western Australia. She is passionate about UX, data-driven decision making, cats and travel – not necessarily in that order.
I run a successful Online Marketing Agency that works with business to create websites that work… meaning they get leads and enquiries to turn into customers. Throughout my career I discovered some pretty cool tools and apps that helped in my business and now work with clients as well. I also run the "Business Owners …
Sally is an author, writer, erratic blogger and small business owner who advocates for connection, communication and collaboration. Sharing about networking is my passion.
Stephen is a senior developer at Wordfence, where he tries to frustrate attackers by helping to secure WordPress sites. During his time cleaning infected websites, he gained an appreciation for clever malware, layered obfuscation, and Harry Potter passages. When he’s not writing code or looking at malware, he can be found practising lock-picking and studying …
We’re excited to announce the next batch of speakers for WordCamp Port Macquarie. We’re kicking off in only 11 days! Tickets are only $55 and you can get them here.
Ben is a Profits Coach and Virtual CFO with over a decade of experience helping online and offline businesses improve their profits, free up time, and understand their numbers.
Dee is a huge fan of the WordPress community, has organised many WordPress events in Australia, and speaks at WordCamps and meetups whenever she gets the opportunity, both at home and around the world.
Ricky is a self taught web professional who found and fell in love with WordPress, and the community behind it while looking for a CMS platform. He now works for WP Engine providing a Digital Experience Platform for WordPress user around the world.
I’m a wife, mother and grandmother who somehow found her way into building websites back in 1996. As the MC who introduced me at the Brisbane WordCamp put it… that makes me older than Google. Yes, I was around before the Google boys set up shop in their mother’s garage. By 1998 I was building …
We’re excited to announce the last batch of speakers for WordCamp Port Macquarie. We’re kicking off in only 10 days! Tickets are only $55 and you can get them here.
Kim is a WordPress designer and developer based in Sydney. She founded her agency Bumbershoot Creative in order to bring together her web, photography, and videography skills. She has a passion for best practice web development and is always keen to learn new tips and trips. A lover of classic sci-fi, her two furry technical …
I'm a grumpy old sod who: 1. Built his first website in 1996 2. Became involved in SEO, affiliate marketing and eCommerce in 1998 3. Began doing it full time in 2001 4. Began using WordPress in 2004. Over the years, together with my partner Toni, I've build websites for a wide variety of businesses. …
20 years of IT experience, specialising in high performance websites and scalable infrastructure. Current Chief Security Architect at Conetix Web Hosting. Author of the NGINX Cookbook (Packt).
Veronica Lind is the co-founder and Business & Marketing Strategist at Vermilion Pinstripes, a sales marketing and communications agency helping local, regional and global executives build business confidence and thrive.
Have you met Sandy? Sandy is our little mascot Wapuu.
What is a Wapuu you ask? Wapuu are the great characters that represent the many WordCamps, WordPress Meetup and Communities around the world. The idea is each Wapuu is designed to represent the local area or community, meaning there are hundreds’ if not thousands of unique Wapuu that represent the world.
If you want to learn more about the History of Wapuu you can head over to wapu.us.
Brainstorming
We started brainstorming ideas about 12 months ago to find what would make our Wapuu fun, unique and local, something that said ‘Port Macquarie’ and ‘Relaxing’.
Here are some of the ideas we first came up with:
Port Macquarie Pine and/or Palm Trees
Koala Park / Kangaroo / big cat
Peppermint Park
Fantasy Glades
Baz Luhrmann – Grew up in Port Area – Wapuu as a movie/character
Beach Towel
Beach Wear
Beach Ball
Sandcastle
Painted Break wall Rocks
Lighthouse
Strawberry Farm/Tomatoes
Whale Watching
Dolphins
Camels
Skate park
In the end Mel our designer felt the Port Macquarie Lighthouse stood out as one of the main landmarks and images of Port Macquarie. Who hasn’t visited the lighthouse while in Port to see the beautiful sunsets or watch the sea life swim by.
We also decided to add some fun and relaxation into the design to really make sure the Wapuu was enjoying themselves in Port Macquarie, this was done by making the Lighthouse into a sandcastle, a fun way to explore and pass time on one of our many amazing beaches.
Designing
To design our Wapuu, Mel found some reference photos, vectors and inspiration and got creating.
Tacking Point Lighthouse – Used as Reference
Elements of the design process
Once the references were ready, Mel got designing and vectoring our Wapuu. This process took about 8 Hours+ as we really wanted our Wapuu to be special.
We know you don’t have 8 hours, so we have speed up the process and made a nice time-lapse so you can watch the magic happen in under 5 minutes.
Enjoy the video.
Sandy – Our Creation
With a bit of love and vector design we had our unique Wapuu, which we decided to name Sandy. Sandy is a happy Wapuu having a fun day making sandcastles of their favourite lighthouse on the beach. Don’t worry, Sandy has put sunscreen on already.
Sandy making a lighthouse sandcastle.
There are still tickets available for our very first WordCamp and we would love for you to come! WordCamp Port Macquarie is October 5-6 and you can get your tickets now!
Cameron Jones is the founder of the premium plugin store Mongoose Marketplace, best known for the Mongoose Page Plugin used by more than 30,000 WordPress websites. He lives on the Gold Coast, plays for AFL and cricket clubs and takes care of a very hungry teenager.
With the plethora of WordPress plugins available to download, it can be difficult to filter out the good from the bad. While there are many excellent plugins out there for many different needs each website has, there are a handful that I’ve found to be indispensable from my websites no matter what purpose it serves. …
Cath Fowler is an award-winning SEO consultant and copywriter who helps businesses get found and look good online. With over 15 years of marketing experience, Cath uses SEO smarts and compelling copy to establish your brand as the leader in your local area or industry. She loves working with financial services clients and regional businesses of all kinds – to help the little guys compete on the big stage.
You've got a beautifully designed website that looks a million bucks. But there's just one problem. Noone knows it exists. If you're getting next to no organic website traffic. If you want to be found online you need some understanding of search engine optimisation. In this session you'll learn: – What is SEO? – Why …
Working from home comes with challenges; while you get more freedoms it can and does isolate you from society. If you combine that with running a business, having a mortgage, and being a single-income household, it can be very stressful and is a challenge to maintain a healthy work-life balance. This talk is about my …
You can't run a business using WordPress if you don't have a handle on generating qualified leads. In this talk I'll show you how to.. * Select and research your ideal client or niche * Educate prospects at different steps in the sales funnel * When to use Google, Facebook and LinkedIn ads in your …
Shot overlooking Flynns and Nobbys Beach at Port Macquarie. Credit: Jake Jackson
There’s only a month to go until WordCamp Port Macquarie #WCPMQ kicks off (October 5/6) at the Charles Sturt University Port Macquarie Campus. As the inaugural Camp for Port Macquarie (and the first regional Camp in Australia), us organisers are both excited and nervous 😅.
Here’s a quick recap of where we’re at with the event organisation so far:
Ticket Sales are officially opened. Get access to the two-day event, lunch both days, and the networking afterparty on Saturday evening for only $55.
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, please see here:
Cookie Policy
