WordCamp Fayetteville Set for Late July at the U of A

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Brian Hilliard, WordCamp keynote speaker

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The seventh annual WordCamp Fayetteville will be July 22-24, with workshops throughout that Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development on the University of Arkansas campus.

The keynote speaker for WordCamp Fayetteville will be Atlanta-based Brian Hilliard, co-author of the best-selling book Networking Like a Pro. The Duke University graduate's focus is on marketing for entrepreneurs.

The key day for the conference is Saturday, July 23, at the Reynolds Center, part of the Sam M. Walton College of Business. Tickets are $35, which includes the full day on Saturday, the Jam Session (informal tutoring) on Sunday morning, and social events on Friday and Saturday evenings.

WordCamps are designed for new and experienced users of WordPress, the world’s most popular content management system with usage estimated at 75 million websites. WordCamps are organized by community volunteers all over the world and the events are designed for all levels of users from beginners to developers.

Sessions offer a wide range of topics that center around using WordPress. These topics include basics for novices, tips for nonprofits and businesses, improving content, development and design, and web security. This year’s schedule of sessions will be available on the website soon. All session speakers are local or regional WordPress users who have expertise in their given area.

Eric Huber, chief creative officer and co-founder of Blue Zoo Creative of Fayetteville, continues to be the lead organizer for WordCamp Fayetteville for a second year. Huber said the WordCamp Fayetteville 2016 committee made a change to the schedule format this year after seeing the new format prove successful at other WordCamps, including the recent WordCamp Kansas City.

The change is that sessions will not be divided into tracks. Instead, each session hour will include a more user-focused course and a more developer-focused course. The more relaxed format will make it easier for participants to decide which session to attend instead of feeling like they must stick with a specific track. For example, one session such as the planned “Anatomy of a Website” or the session on legal guidelines for influencer marketing could easily have fit into several of the previous tracks.

Included in the $35 ticket are pastries with coffee or tea during sign-in Saturday morning, snacks during the day, with box lunches and soft drinks at the noon break. Friday's reception will be at Teatro Scarpino with Saturday's after-party at Powerhouse Seafood & Grill, with complimentary hors d'oeuvres at each. The location for Sunday’s Jam Session is still being finalized and the information will be available on the event website soon.

Registration is limited; sign up at 2016.fayetteville.wordcamp.org. The event has sold out every year, so tickets will not be available at the door. Each person who registers by July 11 will be guaranteed a WordCamp Fayetteville T-shirt, and meal preferences must be made by July 18.

The website 2016.fayetteville.wordcamp.org has more details.