Tag Archives: neit

What a Great Host!

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WordCamp RI would not be what it is this year without the generous help of New England Tech!  They opened their doors, and classrooms, to our group so that those who want to learn more about WordPress could do so at a convenient location with state-of-the-art technology.

If you’d like to learn more about the educational opportunities at New England Tech visit their website at http://www.neit.edu/.  You can follow them on Twitter at @NEInstituteTech and visit them on Facebook.

WordCamp RI is bringing together a diverse group from our RI and SE MA area: students, organizers for non-profits, owners of small businesses, bloggers, and techies.  All coming together to learn something new about WordPress and its potential value for our website and blogging needs.

Welcome to WordCamp RI and thank you New England Tech for being such a great host!

Are you ready?

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Can you believe it?  WordCamp RI kicks off in less than a week!  Make sure you are prepared.

  1. Are you registered?  (Remember students with a valid student ID get free admission by pre-registering with the code WCRI-STDNT.
  2. Power up your laptop.

That’s it!  Now you are ready!   Come with your laptop and questions to get valuable help with your website right at WordCamp RI.

Friday you can choose from among three all-day workshops.  There’s a workshop for beginners, a workshop for coders, and a workshop for those who want to help with the open-source WordPress project.  Work on your WordPress project on your laptop right during the workshop with a session leader or two to guide the way.

Saturday choose from among 15 seminars.  There are a variety of sessions, for beginners to advanced coders.

Don’t forget the Happiness Bar!  The Happiness Bar is WordCamp RI’s version of the Help Desk.  Volunteers will be staffing it all day Saturday.  This is a great opportunity to sit down, one-on-one, with a volunteer and brainstorm about your website or get help with a particular problem.  Access to the Happiness Bar is included with your registration ticket!

To cap off a great two days of WordPress knowledge is the After Party.  This year it will be at Chelo’s on the Waterfront with a delicious selection of appetizers in our own private room overlooking Greenwich Bay.

Should you bring anything else?  Business cards might be in order.  You could easily meet some folks with whom you’d like to keep in touch.

WordCamp RI will be held at the New England Institute of Technology in East Greenwich, right off Route 4.

Here are all the links you need:

Tickets

Schedule

Location

WordCamp RI blog

Sponsors (Here’s some trivia for you, the sponsors are the reason tickets are only $20 and free for students!  Thank you sponsors!)

Speakers

See you at WordCamp RI – September 25 and 26, 2015 (Friday and Saturday) – New England Tech, East Greenwich RI.

“WordPress offers something for everyone”

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Ajay Coletta on the drums

Ajay Coletta on the drums

Ajay Coletta is a teacher, WordPress fan, and a Rock-and-Roller. He’s a professor at the site of this year’s WordCamp RI: New England Tech in East Greenwich.

Wait, what? Back up a second. Rock-and-Roller?? Yes. Read to the end of this post to get the scoop.

But first, Ajay (A C) talked all things WordPress and WordCamp with WordCamp RI (WC RI).

(WC RI) What is your favorite part of WordCamp?  
(A C) Meeting people and learning how they use WordPress.

(WC RI) How much coding/web development/other will an attendee need to know to get something out of WordCamp?
(A C) The need for coding is really only for folks who want to do more advanced things with WP, there is so much to learn from WordCamp that does not require code.

‪(WC RI) What would you say to someone who says: “I know nothing about websites and will be totally overwhelmed.”
(A C) The concern about being overwhelmed is understandable, and applicable to many things in life, but the learning curve for WP is minimal and there is plenty of great support everywhere, so as long as you are willing, you are more than half way there.

‪(WC RI) What would you say to someone who says: “I know so much about websites and WordPress there’s nothing I could get out of WordCamp.” 
(A C) The Internet and how we use it is constantly changing, the best way to stay on top is by networking with those folks who are completely immersed and you find them at Word Camp.

‪(WC RI) You’re the professor of WordPress classes at the New England Institute of Technology.  With all the options for websites existing in the world, why do you focus on WordPress with your students?
(A C) In our GMW (Graphics, Multimedia and Web) design department, we had a meeting several years ago to decide what platform our students would use to build their creative portfolios. WordPress was the clear choice for the great online support, design flexibility and web compliance, including responsive design for mobile devices. ‪

This is the first time Word Camp Rhode Island will be held at New England Tech; many are not aware of the fantastic programs, faculty and facilities at our stunning East Greenwich campus. Come out and experience it; I will be there. Let me show you around.

(WC RI) When does the learning stop for WordPress and the World Wide Web in general?
(A C) Our WordPress classes run in conjunction with our digital portfolio classes in our Associates & Bachelors degrees, and even though students have graduated, they often stay in touch because they understand that in order to stay competitive, learning a great CMS like WordPress should never stop.

(WC RI) What do you get out of WordCamp?   
(A C) The opportunity to network, learn more about new features and WP events, and often align folks with students who could help them as interns or maybe even employment.

(WC RI) What is your level of comfort with creating and maintaining websites?  What do you do with WordPress?
(A C) I feel I have good comfort with creating and maintaining websites for clients and myself. I am currently creating two new custom themes named after my twins “Sarika and Devie” – I thought it would be fun to include design & theme options that sort of represent their personalities: yes, my “child” themes!

(WC RI) What impressions do you come away with about the other speakers/volunteers/sponsors/the organizers?    
(A C) I am always inspired by the folks at Word Camps and love being able to share my experiences with my students. In my courses I explain that many of the folks you meet at WordCamps build websites and blogs for a living using WordPress; they use the platform to offer services to clients who have real needs and are very willing to pay.

Besides being a teacher and creator of WordPress websites, Ajay is also a member of AIGA, DesignxRI and various Meetup Groups.
(A C) I love to teach and speak and am open to any opportunities. Let’s connect! www.eastsidemedia.com is a good place to start.

And now the part you’ve been waiting for:

(A C) I also love music and am thrilled to be in “Hey Nineteen” – A Tribute to Steely Dan. I have been playing drums and percussion for a while and this is my dream gig. I manage the band’s website www.hey19band.com and WordPress makes updating content and tracking and collecting info a breeze.
Check out hey19band.com and see a video testimonial from Rick Derringer. Really! (Hang on Sloopy, he’s going to Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo.)

Follow us:
https://twitter.com/WordCampRI

https://www.facebook.com/wordcampri

meetup.com/WordPressRI