Watch here for links to session slides. We will continuously update them as we get them, adding new ones at the bottom. They are also on the Speakers page if you want a face with the name.

Title: Making Money with WordPress
Speaker: Nile Flores
Slide: http://www.slideshare.net/blondishnet/making-money-with-word-press

Title: Using Sass in your WordPress Projects
Speaker: Jeremy Green ‏
Slide: http://www.slideshare.net/greenhornet79/sass-withwordpresskc

Title: Building Your Business Around WordPress
Speaker: Kristin Falkner ‏
Slide: http://www.kristinfalkner.com/wordcampkc-kfalkner.pdf

Title: Customizing the WordPress Dashboard for Better Workflow
Speaker: Brianna Privett ‏
Slide: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1M5dzIpSOiP9cIl2zLbzFtUpEDUhVgFUIo9BptoGaLsk/edit#slide=id.p

Title: How to Rock a WordCamp Even if You’re a Total n00b (Friday)
Speaker: Marc Benzakein
Slide: https://speakerdeck.com/javaboy42/how-to-rock-a-wordcamp-even-if-you-are-a-n00b

Title: How I Tell a Customer They are Wrong and Make Them Love Me (Saturday)
Speaker: Marc Benzakein
Slide: https://speakerdeck.com/javaboy42/how-i-tell-my-customer-their-wrong-and-make-them-love-us

Title: Version Control Using Git
Speaker: Frankie Jarrett
Slide: http://frankiejarrett.com/wordcamp-kc-version-control-using-git/

Title: WordPress Basics
Speaker: Jim Grant
Slide: http://www.slideshare.net/jimgrant2/word-press-basics-for-meetup

Title: Getting “Hooked” on WordPress Hooks
Speaker: Michael Stowe
Slide: http://www.slideshare.net/mikestowe/get-hooked-on-wordpress-hooks

Title: Modern Development Environments for WordPress
Speaker: James W. Lane
Slide: http://jwl-wc.co/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/WordCamp-KC-2014.pdf

Title: WordPress Security is Like a HHAM Sandwich
Speaker: Jason Yingling
Slide: http://www.slideshare.net/Red8Interactive/hham-for-wp-security

Title: WordPress When You Mean Business
Speaker: Rebecca Haden
Slide: http://www.hadeninteractive.com/wordpress-when-you-mean-business

Title: Telling Your Story with WordPress About Pages and Author Bios
Speaker: Shane Purnell
Slide: http://www.slideshare.net/PlatformGiant/telling-your-story-with-wordpress-about-pages-and-author-bios

Title: Basic Plugin Recommendations to get your WordPress Website Started
Speaker: Nile Flores
Slide: http://www.slideshare.net/blondishnet/basic-plugin-recommendations-to-get-your-wordpress-website-started

Title: Best Practices for the Post-Photoshop World
Speaker: Jeremy Fuksa
Slide: http://www.slideshare.net/3rdmartini/alternative-design-workflows-in-a-postpsd-era-37139781

New!
Title: Developing Your Own Plugins
Speaker: Pippin Williamson
Slide: http://www.slideshare.net/pippinw/wpkc-2014

Title: Better Theme Organization
Speaker: Brent Schultz
Slide: http://prezi.com/yl4x6et37erm/better-theme-organization-brent-schultz-at-2014-kc-wordcamp

Every year all around the world, WordCamps are attended by people who want to learn more about WordPress. At the end of 2013, almost 20,000 people had attended a WordCamp since they began in 2006.

So you may be asking yourself “What would I get out of it?”.

Perks of Attending WordCampKC

1. It is one heck of a deal.
   WordCampKC is $40 for a day of learning, food, fun, and a lot of really really good networking. If you want to pay a lot of money for that then we can point you to some in KC, but we love being the best bang for your buck!
2. WordCampKC is filled with local support and speakers…
   We will have some items for you from our local sponsors so that you get a chance to experience the city that is on everyone’s “next big thing” list. If you’re local, then make sure to connect with all of our amazing, KC-based speakers!
   
3. …but we also attract some big national talent.
   We will also have some speakers from Nebraska, New York, and Oregon. Come out and show them what all this Midwest, Google Fiber lovin’ hospitality is about!
4. We are open to all levels of experience.
   Everyone started somewhere. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never installed a WordPress site or if you’re supporting a portfolio of 50 clients, you are welcome here. We have attendees who started at zero, but are now making a living doing what they love with WordPress. Come learn about WordPress, learn about people, or just connect to your technology tribe.
5. We have raffles.

Raffles!?

Yes, we have items to raffle. For your $40 ticket, you will be entered into a drawing for an iPad Mini (plus case), a Lynda.com prize pack, and multiple KC Local Prize packs. Your name is removed once you win something and you do have to be present to win, but that should be easy since you’ll be doing all that learning and fun-having already!

What are you waiting for?! Go buy your ticket and get your learn on!

This guest post is by Austin Gunter

If you’ve spent enough time working with WordPress, you’ve come across the ubiquitous “WordCamps” and probably asked the question, “What the heck is a WordCamp?” Hopefully at this point you’re considering attending a local one, and you want to know, “How can I make the most out of my weekend?”

This is a good post to read before you go. It will help you make a conference plan to maximize your weekend. There’s a lot you can get out of a WordCamp, so let’s help you decide what that is!

Continue reading on http://www.wpbeginner.com/events/making-most-wordcamps.

• A way to take notes: pens/paper, laptop/tablet
•  Lots of questions
• Water and snacks
• Business cards
• Check back as we add more

A way to take notes—a laptop is not required

You will want to take notes. So bring your favorite way to capture what is happening. Notebooks & extra pens. If you use a laptop to capture notes, bring that. However, a laptop is not required at WordCamp.

The sessions are not instructor-led tutorials where you follow them through a lesson using a laptop. They are mostly in presentation format. Each speaker is can post their slides on the WordCamp Kansas City website so that they are available for you. SlideShare is a popular format, although some people may post PDFs.

Internet access will be available via WiFi. However, sometimes WiFi access in crowded locations, where many people are trying to access the resource at the same time, can be problematic.

Lots of questions

Spend some time looking at the session schedule and plan your day. Prepare questions for the speakers. If they cannot address the question during the talk because of time constraints, they will be available during the day.

Water and snacks

It will be busy day. You will want to take in as much as you can, quickly move between sessions, meet friends in the hall, and make new connections. Make sure you are hydrated and well-fueled. While WordCamp Kansas City 2014 will have snacks and plenty of drinks, including coffee, and lunch, if you prefer you may want to bring a water bottle and some healthy and portable in-between-meal snacks like granola bars or trail mix.

Business cards

You will meet new people at WordCamp Kansas City 2014. Bring business cards so that they can follow up with you after the event.

If you’re thinking of attending a WordCamp, you may be wondering what to expect. Though each WordCamp will be different (based on the organizers, speakers and attendees of each event), there are some general guidelines that all WordCamps follow, as well as some things you can expect at your WordCamp no matter where it is.

It’s about everything WordPress.

What makes something a WordCamp, as opposed to a BarCamp or an [insert-name-here]Camp? The content of sessions is firmly focused on using and developing for WordPress. Issues around blogging, business, and social media that are related to WordPress use may be included, but the bulk of the program (at least 80%) is specifically about WordPress. The use of the WordCamp name indicates that it is a standalone event dedicated to WordPress, and to prevent confusion, WordPress “tracks” within larger events such as BarCamp or other conferences are no longer called WordCamps.

The best bargain you’ll get all year.

WordCamps are not meant to be big, fancy, expensive conferences. WordCamps are meant to be low-key local gatherings that are affordable — cheap, even — to allow people from all walks of life to attend, meet, share, and learn. Sponsorships and donations make this possible, keeping ticket prices low, usually below $40 for a 2-day event. It’s not uncommon to meet WordCamp speakers who are featured at expensive web industry conferences like South by Southwest. WordCamp is one of the best bargains around.

Open to all, content galore, shared with community.

WordCamps do not discriminate, and WordPress users, developers, designers, and other enthusiasts should all feel welcome at a WordCamp, regardless of their experience level. Sessions generally span a variety of formats, including lectures/presentations, live demos, Q&A, workshops, ignite-style lightning presentations, panels, interviews, and any other format you can imagine. Presentations are shared with the broader WordPress community by posting session slides/videos to the WordCamp channel on WordPress.tv.

Making connections, promoting collaboration.

Getting to meet and learn from other WordPress users face-to-face is one of the main reasons people attend WordCamps. Many WordCamps set up an informal “genius bar” staffed with experienced WordPress volunteers who try to help fellow attendees with their WordPress questions. In addition to learning from each other, attendees often find new collaborators, employees/employers and potential co-conspirators in the WordCamp crowd. These new relationships can lead to exciting WordPress projects throughout the year. Many WordCamps also set up a “job board” for attendees to post job openings, business cards, etc. Ideally, every WordCamp is the annual “big event” of a local WordPress meetup group. If no such group exists, a WordCamp can be a great way to kick it off.

Locally organized and focused.

Each individual event is organized by local WordPress users, developers and fans. We provide guidance, but the elbow grease is theirs. Showcasing local talent is one of the best things about WordCamp, and the program includes local speakers/presenters whenever possible. It’s fun to hear from WordPress lead developers and other prominent WordPress personalities, but WordCamps are not meant to be a lecture circuit with the same speakers at every event, so the best WordCamps tend to have both local and visiting speakers.

Volunteers everywhere.

It is generally acknowledged that participating in WordCamps is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to give something back to the WordPress community. Each WordCamp is operated by tireless volunteers, from the organizers who plan it all to the volunteers who work the event and the speakers who donate their time to teach you new things. It takes a lot of people to make a WordCamp happen, so remember to thank the volunteers who made it possible.

Accurately represents the WordPress project.

WordCamp organizers, speakers, sponsors, and volunteers are seen by attendees as representing WordPress and the WordPress community, and for many it’s their first impression. Because of this, every WordCamp follows some basic guidelines to vet these personnel and ensure that their communications in these roles provide accurate information and respect the positions and policies of the WordPress open source project.

It’s not about the money.

Most WordCamps use up all their sponsor and ticket money in planning the event, but when there is a surplus, it is used to benefit the community, not treated as profit to be pocketed by the organizers. Surplus money is used for things like: funding an ongoing WordPress meetup group’s get-togethers, seed money for next year’s WordCamp expenses, sponsoring a local developer to work on a contribution to WordPress.org, or donating it to the WordPress Foundation. WordPress-based conferences organized as money-making opportunities are not approved to use the WordCamp name.

Perks.

Though it’s not mandatory, many WordCamps use some of their budget to create commemorative t-shirts or other swag (this is significantly cooler when there are good designers on the organizing team, ha) and/or to provide food and beverages to attendees at the event. These things should definitely be considered potential perks rather than guaranteed entitlements, as each organizing team decides for itself how to spend the money they’ve raised from sponsorships and ticket sales, and these are often the biggest expenses. Information about what’s included with each ticket purchase will be listed on each individual WordCamp’s website.

Fun. Fun! More fun!!

We almost forgot to mention the most obvious part of WordCamps: they’re fun! Getting to geek out for a day or two with other people just as obsessed with WordPress as you are is just plain awesome. You’ll meet people who are crazy smart, insanely inspired and inspiring, and maybe even a handful of talented singers. Most WordCamps follow the conference with an afterparty at a nearby location where you can have a few drinks with your new friends and hatch your (WordPress-based, of course) plot to take over the world.

Now that you’ve bought your ticket, you’re probably trying to figure out where to stay. Whether you’re looking for local gems or reliable standards, Kansas City has a lot to offer.