Laurie M. Rauch wants to live in a world where code is pretty and well-written, proper grammar isn’t a lost art, and chocolate cures everything.

A WordPress-loving front-end web developer, Laurie runs Code Diva, which specializes in WordPress theme development, customizations, and coaching. She also teaches Advanced Web Design at Sheridan College.

When she’s not playing with code, you can find her trying to add a little pretty to her home, unashamedly watching more TV than anyone possibly should, and playing soccer with her dachshund, Oscar.

Presentation: How to Build a Child Theme

“I love sharing my passion for code – whether it’s helping my students or speaking at a WordCamp – and my goal is to make code less scary and more approachable for people who never thought they’d be able to do it.” Continue reading →

Rami Sayar is a technologist passionate about the intersection of art, design and the web. For the past 5 years, he has been experimenting with the bleeding edge of emerging technologies, determined to find use for them in everyday life.

In his current role as a Developer Evangelist for Microsoft Canada in Montreal, Rami covers technical areas such as open source technologies, open data, and cloud computing, as well as growth hacking and marketing. He is a frequent international speaker and has spoken at prestigious conferences such as FITC, ConFoo, DroidCon, CUSEC, KWS and TEDx at HEC Montreal.

Rami is prevented from sleeping by his curiosity for experimentation, his insistence on shipping high quality code and helping startups survive the grind.

Presentation: Here Be Dragons – Debugging WordPress

“Few people ever present talks on debugging WordPress even though most wp devs will spend most of their time debugging. Quite paradoxical.” Continue reading →

Zack Tollman is Application Architect on the WIRED tech team. Before joining WIRED, Tollman worked as Technical Lead at the Theme Foundry and Senior Web Engineer at 10up. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Lawrence University and PhD from Washington State University. He currently lives in San Francisco with his wife and dog.

Presentation: HTTP/2 and You

“With all of the exciting new technologies in our industry, we tend to forget about the core protocols and APIs that gave rise to the web. As we get farther and farther away from these core concepts, we begin to forget to optimize for these basic protocols. I’m excited to give this talk because HTTP/2 is revitalizing interest in HTTP and I feel strongly that every developer should have a cursory awareness of these concepts.” Continue reading →

“Victoria BC has given me enough quirky and wonderful music, arts and adventures to keep me entertained for the last 9 years. In the event of a fire I would save my cat, my friends, and my computers – though not necessarily in that order.”

Presentation: Building and Maintaining a Distributed Workforce: A Startup Story

“I’ve always specialized in customer service and staff support roles, but working for a globally distributed company has given me a new appreciation for the nuances of working and interacting in a digital space. There’s an art to what we do, and I’m both a fan and a student of the process.” Continue reading →

Alex is a pioneer in orchestrating cloud-based systems to meet the needs of small and medium sized business (SMBs). His company, NewPath Consulting, provides business-relevant technology advice and education to prepare SMBs for optimizing business activities through the cloud. NewPath Consulting delivers a curated and integrated suite of cloud-based products to help clients become more productive, powerful and profitable.

Alex worked with the Ontario Public Service as an information management advisor and team lead in the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade as well as a product manager at two technology startups. He started his career as a developer at Apple in Austin, Texas.

Alex is also an active participant in the cloud community in Toronto and abroad including businesscloud.to, TechConnex.ca, GoDaddy Pro, WordPress, and Formstack product communities. Continue reading →

Since 1998, Allan has been working as a SEO/SEM with web development experience. He is an accomplished writer having several ebooks to his credit. Allan has over the years helped over 800 clients achieve top rankings on all of the major search engines. He is considered an online marketing guru having done interviews on newspapers, radio, and TV. Allan is a graduate from Dalhousie University and holds a BSc. in Physics. Continue reading →

“I am the Director of Web Development at Orion Group, a WordPress development and digital marketing agency located in Wisconsin. I also serve as webmaster for Ex Fabula, a nonprofit storytelling organization. My hands-on experience with WordPress began in 2005, when I migrated my personal site to WordPress. In my spare time, I write, develop grassroots ARGs (Alternate Reality Games) and try to solve Fermi’s paradox.” Continue reading →