Cindy Reed is a writer, speaker, and teacher blogging at the award-winning site The Reedster Speaks, where she writes with humor and clarity about family life, mental illness, progressive politics, and her underwear. Her work has appeared on The Huffington Post, In the Powder Room, Yeah Write, I Just Want to Pee Alone, and WhatToExpect.com. She is a two time recipient of BlogHer’s Voices of the Year award, in the humor and op-ed categories, and has spoken on nonfiction storytelling at WordCamp Asheville and the Boarding Area Conference for travel bloggers. Cindy is a master online teacher and currently teaches the popular online course Storytelling for Bloggers. Now on life’s third chapter, she previously has worked as an academic and an attorney. She lives with her family in Asheville, North Carolina.

Connect with Cindy on Twitter (The Reedster Speaks), Twitter (Storytelling for Bloggers), and Facebook so you won’t miss a pearl of wisdom that drops from her lips.

WCATL 2015 Session – What’s Your Story? Harnessing the Power of Story to Engage Your Readers

Whether you’re starting a personal blog to share your thoughts and ideas, or blogging to promote your business, storytelling is the most effective way to engage your audience. Recitations of facts or personal journal entries might convey meaning, but stories provide your audience with a relatable entry point into your subject matter. Story inspires, teaches, and stimulates discussion. The well-told story is memorable and unique, positioning you as a trusted voice.

In this presentation, we’ll look at all the elements of creative nonfiction storytelling so you can create the most compelling content for your blog, one 400-600 word post at a time. Using examples from published blog posts, you’ll learn to:

• Identify the Central Conflict in each post:  What is your one reason for writing this piece?
•  Use Narrative Structure:  Begin like a boss, stick a fork in it when it’s over, and conquer the muddle in the middle.
• Make it interesting:  Employ the storyteller’s toolkit:  Develop setting, character, plot, and dialogue. Use literary devices to make your true stories as readable as fiction.
• Show, Don’t Tell:  Avoid telling your readers what to think and feel and illustrating instead, using sensory descriptions and imagery.
• Hone Your Authentic Voice:  Discover and trust who you are as a writer.
• Edit and Polish Your Work:  Create a checklist to catch errors in grammar, spelling, and proofing.

Nic is a web developer in Atlanta, GA. He works at 352 Inc as a developer, and is an active member of the Atlanta web community. He regularly speaks at events and meet-up groups, organizes workshops and volunteers his time to a number of tech community initiatives.

Before becoming a web developer, Nic worked as a Network and Systems Administrator, Security Analyst, and even Operations Manager; all of which give him a unique perspective on creating for the web.

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Nic has been living in Atlanta for 15 years.

WCATL 2015 Session – Battle of the Stacks

When you first start as a developer all you care about is the code. As you progress and become more concerned with performance you begin to realize that there’s a whole world of possibilities and no clear indication of what works best.

In this presentation we’ll look at different combinations of web server technologies including Apache, NGINX, HHVM, PHP-FPM, and more, then we’ll run load tests on each one of them (all running a WordPress site) in a head to head competition to find out which one is the Last Stack Standing.

Patrick spends most of his work day planning new projects improve WooCommerce. Before that he was on the WooCommerce dev team and released several extensions. He just moved to Denver and loves being outside, running, and practicing yoga. He finally finished the WooCommerce Cookbook a book he’s been working on for a year.

WCATL 2015 Session – Plugin Development
Panel Presentation with Russell Fair, Mike Schinkel, Naomi Bush

Jill Anderson of Jill Lynn Design is that rare breed of designer and developer who partners with talented designers, copywriters, and agencies on their websites, and their client’s sites. Jill is passionate about crafting beautiful and innovative websites focused on clear positioning and positive user experiences. As a freelancer for over 13 years, she loves typography, code, and WordPress. She lives in the Atlanta suburbs and enjoys hanging out with her husband and 5-year-old son. And cat, Peanut, the chief paperweight. She tweets @JillLynnDesign.

WCATL 2015 Session – Applying the 7 Principles of Design to WordPress

Contrast, emphasis, balance, unity, pattern, movement, rhythm—what do these mean and how can we use them to design better WordPress websites? In this talk, I’ll break down each design principle and show practical examples to use on your next website design. Perfect for those who didn’t go to design school or just need a refresher/primer.