WordCamp Miami 2016 Adds New JavaScript Track, Freelancer’s Workshop, and Kids Panel

WordCamp Miami 2016 organizers are ramping up for their 8th event to be held February 19-21 at the Florida International University School of Business. Ptah Dunbar is stepping up as the lead organizer for the event, which is expected to draw more than 700 attendees.

BuddyCamp Miami will kick off the event on the 19th, led by John James Jacoby who will be sharing on the current state of BuddyPress.

“Last year I think organizers and speakers were impressed with the developer-related talks and how many people were learning first-hand what BuddyPress can do.” organizer David Bisset said. “This year we are hoping to do that plus explore how others are using BuddyPress (in building websites and plugins) beyond the obvious ways it can be used.”

WordCamp Miami will also host its usual Beginner’s workshop and will continue its How-To track, which received positive reviews last year. Speakers will continue the camp’s new tradition of going directly to the Happiness Bar to answer questions after their talks.

New “Learn JavaScript Deeply” Track

In response to Matt Mullenweg urging developers to learn JavaScript, WordCamp Miami will be hosting its first “Learn JavaScript Deeply” track for attendees on Sunday, February 21st.

“The track is very much setup as an almost full day workshop with a great local developer Michael Schofield hosting,” Bisset said. “As it’s planned now, the day starts off with several speakers introducing the required tools for working with JavaScript and WordPress. From there we explore the more advanced aspects of JavaScript while touching on frameworks such as BackBone, AngularJS, and React.”

WordPress developers Josh Pollock, Camden Segal, and Kevin Stover will be presenting along with local and surprise speakers. Attendees will receive resources after the event that they can use to continue learning and writing code.

New Freelancer’s Workshop

In 2015, WordCamp Miami hosted a general workshop day for more than 300 attendees. This year the conference will host a Freelancer’s Workshop on February 19th.

“We have so many freelancers (or people wishing to jump into freelancing) in South Florida, it seemed like a no-brainer once we clearly saw that the number of speaker submissions would support such a workshop,” organizer David Bisset said.

The workshop will cover subjects like pricing strategies, branding yourself as a freelancer, and client relations. Keeping freelancer topics in a separate workshop allows WordCamp Miami’s business track (held on Sunday, February 21st), to be more focused towards businesses and less on individual freelancers.

WordPress Users: The Next Generation

WordCamp Miami will be hosting its first kids’ panel, “The Next Generation of WordPress Users,” on Sunday, February 21st. Organizers are actively looking for children under 18 who use WordPress and/or those who blog on other platforms. The panel will showcase how young people are using WordPress, what they think about blogging, and what other technologies they are using for publishing.

“Miami has always been youth-friendly but we thought a panel would be a good way to bring more young ones into the weekend schedule so that WordPress developers and leaders get to hear the childrens’ viewpoints and thoughts – what tools they are using – why they are using them, etc,” Bisset said. “The newest generation will soon be the ones creating the new WordPress themes or plugins (or perhaps building something totally unique). I think their viewpoints are just as important as those who might be looking for that next great JavaScript app powered by WordPress.”

The 2016 edition of WordCamp Miami will have something for everyone, from beginners to more advanced WordPress users, with its schedule of unique tracks and workshops. This event has sold out every year, so if you intend to go you’ll want to grab your ticket soon.